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Special thread for #FanyuGoldenWeek with the theme #GOATbehavior
It is not his most important achievement but it's usually an overlooked one and it's more remarkable than what it might seem at first sight:
Yuzuru Hanyu's fixed Flip
It is not his most important achievement but it's usually an overlooked one and it's more remarkable than what it might seem at first sight:
Yuzuru Hanyu's fixed Flip
Fixing heavy edge issues on flip or lutz is never an easy task, but it is even more impressive for outwards toe pickers.
But first of all, what does being an outwards toe picker means?
But first of all, what does being an outwards toe picker means?
Outwards toe pickers are those skaters who pick on the lutz and flip facing outwards. This is probably the most effective pick vaulting-wise, they get a very good support for their jumps, always with a lot of height, and also prevents any prerotation. For real, just 0°.
However, this technique, while being the most impressive from a physics point of view, is not the ideal. At picking to the outside they need to shift the position of the lower body. This almost always gives a textbook lutz as a result, but also a lot of edge problems on the flip.
In fact, if we look at skaters with no edge calls in their careers their toe pick is always facing inwards.
Here some examples, from left to right: Rika Kihira, Carolina Kostner, Boyang Jin and Michal Brezina
Here some examples, from left to right: Rika Kihira, Carolina Kostner, Boyang Jin and Michal Brezina
Currently competing, as far as I know, there are 4 top skaters with the toe pick facing outwards.
On the picture from left to right: Alexia Paganini, Mikhail Kolyada, Kevin Aymoz and Yuzuru Hanyu.
On the picture from left to right: Alexia Paganini, Mikhail Kolyada, Kevin Aymoz and Yuzuru Hanyu.
Other famous names with this technique are Jeffrey Buttle, Tara Lipinski or Tatsuki Machida.
All of these skaters except Tara have/had a clear edge problem on the flip.
Im still working on Tara's flutz, but looks like a mix of timing problem + natural tendency to separated feet
All of these skaters except Tara have/had a clear edge problem on the flip.
Im still working on Tara's flutz, but looks like a mix of timing problem + natural tendency to separated feet
Out of all these skaters, Yuzuru Hanyu is the only one who has succesfully and consistently fixed his edge on the flip.
For reference here the edge calls of these skaters through the years (Tara and Jeff didnt compete under the current edge call system)
For reference here the edge calls of these skaters through the years (Tara and Jeff didnt compete under the current edge call system)
Both Kolyada and Paganini had to get rid of the jump, in fact, she is the only current top lady who doesnt use a jump because of edge calls.
Machida had a lot of attempts until the 13-14 season when he got an stable quad, but never got to fully fix it.
Machida had a lot of attempts until the 13-14 season when he got an stable quad, but never got to fully fix it.
Aymoz kept it (except for the 16-17 season) and I was genuinely impressed when I saw he didnt have any call last season, but to be fair this was his 3F take off at IdF 2019, so I assume it is a judging thing rather than a consistent fix
Hanyu is the only one who got to fully fix it, not getting a single e call for the last 6 seasons straight, with only 4 ! calls out of 25 attempts.
Out of those 25 attempts, only 2 resulted in negative GOE, that gives a success rate of 92%, around as much as his 3A
Out of those 25 attempts, only 2 resulted in negative GOE, that gives a success rate of 92%, around as much as his 3A
Considering his vaulting technique and that he started his career with a 100% rate of edge calls which resulted in almost as much fail rate, this achievement is truly mind blowing.
It is not uncommon among top men with serious edge problems to drop that jump. More examlples are Keegan who has jumped only 9 3F since 2015, or Morisi with only 2 3Lz in his whole career.
It is a perfectly valid strategy to stop using them and focus on more difficult elements.
It is a perfectly valid strategy to stop using them and focus on more difficult elements.
The fact that Yuzuru with such talent and technical arsenal not only never put it out, but fixed it and got it to be such a reliable and textbook jump is for me one of the most defining GOAT behavior from him, and an important part of that Most Complete Single Skater Ever title.
