Alissa Czisny Layback Level 4

[triciamatsuda]

I love Alissa's spirals and spins, but for some reason I like Sasha Cohen's better... just my opinion though. Alissa is a lovely skater, and her spins and spirals are to die for

[macerface]

the one thing i love about her biellman is that she doesn't crunch her head to her back/butt, her upper body stays upright and doesn't bend backward. it's a much nicer position in my opinion than caroline's or mirai's.

[aNiMeDgUrL]

@macerface

caroline + mirai stretch their head back because by doing so performs the hyper extended biellmann spin; which means that instead of the body being in a tear drop shape, the leg is stretched almost completely straight, and head is brought back as far as possible. to be able to do a biellmann already is intense, so i give props to all 3 skaters either way :D they ALL have AMAZING layback spins.

[IIIRikaIII]

OMG! Perfect spin!

[maria8933200]

nbh jjtYjlhioy,v

[herm712]

@anubethc45 i agree with you there. however back when caroline first started senior (prior to her growth spurt), she and alissa were pretty even in terms of speed. caroline's physical changes have slowed her down a lot (jumps and spins) but alissa has been able to maintain the quality of her spins throughout her career. however, i still find caroline's classic layback better positioned than alissa's, tho alissa is much faster than caroline now...

[Rperfilyev]

Nagasu's spins are more better!

[steph095iceskate]

I think alissa holds a better postion though, the strength and the fluidity is evenly carried through her layback, her most recent biellmann spins are to die for! so many revs and such a good position! Love Alissa, there is a clear reason as to why she is my idol!

[PecanSandees23]

Lovely.  And for those who said she couldn't pull it together: 2010 Grand Prix Champion.

[EyeMAbrain]

@PecanSandees23 and 2011 US champion!!!! :)

[TheMinimandan]

her biellmann is really good i can't even do that i'll probably break my leg but i won't stop skating cause it's awesome.

[dvdneely]

that is really exquisite! i think she is great and wish she could overcome the nerves of competition, because she is so lovely to watch!

[kianoconnell]

that is a lvl 4 layback! but zhang's should be lvl 5 layback though! lol

still it's the most amazing layback i've seen if i've never seen zhang's or mirai's!

[sgjake21]

alissa's leg position is much better than marai's and a little better than caroline's. altogether, i think that caroline and alissa are pretty much equal... but marai... i don't think her's is anything to write home about.

[kianoconnell]

leg position at the biellman then yes... still i think mirai has an amazing layback spin too! there's no doubt that alissa has one of the best layback though!

[jimeniuxxobo]

what is the name of the song?

[hcsylg]

Alissa's spin is really fast, flexible and gorgeous. I have never seen that speed. Caroline Zhang is also amazing at spin. but in layback speed, Alissa looks more fast :) My eyes can't follow her spin.

[limide]

amazing!

[Lucithen]

she's a clockwise spinner! rare. gorgeous layback.

[gcucolo11]

shes not a clockwise spinner, shes just a left handed skater! everything she does is left handed. but yea, its absolutely stunning :-)

[Lucithen]

well, thats pretty much the same thing...the majority of skaters spin and jump counter-clockwise. She is clockwise.

[mistybabe5489]

actually the hand you write with has nothing to do with which way you turn or spin.

[goofy12618]

generally it does. right handed people jump and spin counter clockwise while the lefties go clockwise. Usually the really gifted, and unbelievably ambidextrous people can jump the opposite way.

[uwoeric]

I write/eat with my left and throw with my right, when I jump I go counter-clockwise. It's all messed up! lol~

[Uglefanatikeren]

Most of the times yes, but not always. Some skaters write with their right hand, throws with it, etc etc, and still jump clockwise...

[smurfiennes]

if this one is level 4, which level is that zhangs pearl then?

[sgjake21]

caroline zhang doesn't even have her matured body yet and it is doubtful that she will have a layback as good as alissa's when she does mature... for now it's good, but you can't compare the two.

[herm712]

well Zhang is taller and more mature now and it doesn't look like her height has affected her flexibility or her speed. she still has the best layback in the ladies field at this point: very fast, very centered and no one can hit the positions like she can. it's insane...

[sgjake21]

i very much disagree. caroline's spins are often slow...

[herm712]

i very much disagree. comparing the two of them together, Zhang's positions are much more difficult and they are pretty much matched in speed. but i wouldn't take anything away from Czisny's spinning...mainly b/c that's the best thing she does...

[sgjake21]

Matched in speed? Nope. Zhang is more flexible, I will give her that... but Czisny is 22, and she is STILL extremely flexible. For me, Zhang still has a few years to prove herself... that's just my opinion. And spinning is one of the best things she does. Her artistry is simply unmatched... except maybe by Sasha. Alissa's spirals and split jumps are very impressive too!

[herm712]

in speed they are about even. Czisny, like Sasha, is a beautiful skater but a flat out awful competitor. she can never calm her nerves enough to skate cleanly, just like Sasha. that national title she won last year was a one-time fluke; that will never happen again. you see the US didn't even bother sending her to the last competition of the season. she has no shot of making the olympic team especially with Zhang, Flatt, Nagasu and now Sasha back in the mix. she'd be good for show skating tho...

[sgjake21]

She didn't go to the competition because she chose not to... it's in her blog on her website. And I guess we'll see what happens next year... She is a nervous skater, and I hope to God that she can get over that. Do you not even WANT her to skate clean? If she got it together, she would be the best this country could offer. I'm still pulling for her.

[herm712]

Whether she chose to or no, that doesn't excuse the fact that doesn't compete well. They sent the 2 strongest US skaters. Period. I'm sick of waiting on Czisny to pull herself together. If she ever did she WOULD be the most talented US skater; same could have been said for Sasha Cohen. It counts when it matters and Alissa has never skated strongly where it matters. Keep pulling for her, definitely; but I just choose to put my faith in skaters who have proven they are strong in competiton.

[evespikey]

i agree, she'd do well, and would love to see her in shows...unless the fear the affects her at competitions would affect her at shows as well!

[shmoofoobean44]

it must be in "zhang" level where noone else can get close to doing it

[uwoeric]

Zhang's is also a level 4... lv4 is the highest you can get. But Zhang will probably score higher for the quality of her layback, which is exquisite, she usually gets lv4 and +3GOE on top of that.

[FigureSkater2009]

She's good (better than I will ever be), but I like Caroline Zhang Pearl's better

[sergioayala]

La comentarista tiene razon es una posicion bastante ortodoxa, pero... la velocidad es increible, aun que no me gusta mucho la posicion de la pierna libre.

[waddleduckie1]

Alissa's and Sasha's spins are both gorgeous. Its sad when Alissa falls because she is such a brilliant skater. The same thing that happened to Alissa also happened to Sasha.

[memuysexyfosho]

it is The best layback ever, seriosuly no one comes close to her :D

[pagsmiley]

@memuysexyfosho Sasha cohen's layback is better IMO.

[Gedevanishvili]

I agree !

[1hipster1]

she and her spins are both gorgeous

[alejandraae]

the spins really are her especialty... just gorgeous