View Full Version : Jennifer Robinson
evereg
11-04-2003, 08:25 AM
As a non-skater, I have a question that I hope some skaters can answer. Over the years, I have read the criticism that Jennifer Robinson is very slow. This is not news to you. I know that her speed has improved somewhat, but the Stake Canada reviews all stated that she was really slow again. My questions to you is why has she not made substantial improvement in her speed, and what does she need to do to improve it? I am rather baffled that her coaches have not tackled this problem by now. Is she being pushed to improve her speed?"
evereg
11-04-2003, 05:03 PM
bump...
unafaluna
11-04-2003, 11:14 PM
I agree. I can't understand why these things haven't been addressed over the past few years. Surely Dough Leigh and Michele Leigh are expert enough to see what's going on around them when they go to these different competitions. Jen has improved some but how many times can you hear about how slow she is? I also feel she lacks flexibility. I do enjoy her delicate style, but for the life of me I don't get why these other areas haven't improved. I also think over the past few years her programs look the same. Pehaps a change of choreographers would have been nice. I think Jen uses Lori Nichol and she's great but...haven't her programs gotten boring. Don't get me wrong, they're good but they're not WOW! Jen's skating always does well at nationals but, internationaly she's always a few places out of medal contention. I do believe she has the talent but so much of it hasn't been developed. I also think over the years technical difficulty is what's been focused on, but even so her under rotated jumps and slow spins haven't really improved. Well it's a whole new ballgame this year. I think the new judging system will be a be help to those skaters who are the "jumpers". It will force them to maybe improve their basic skating and edge quality. Any thoughts?
wow i had just noticed the same thing about this! It seems that her coaches arent noticing this lack in speed and i also think her adges arent doing that good either.......
Im not going to post what i might say next because it might be considered a spoiler!!(dbny)
evereg
11-05-2003, 08:02 AM
Originally posted by Jade
Im not going to post what i might say next because it might be considered a spoiler!!(dbny) Sorry, I wasn't sure where to put this thread. Perhaps it can be moved to another location.
sk8ingMom
11-05-2003, 09:40 AM
Originally posted by Jade
wow i had just noticed the same thing about this! It seems that her coaches arent noticing this lack in speed and i also think her adges arent doing that good either.......
Im not going to post what i might say next because it might be considered a spoiler!!(dbny)
I have two jesters!
:roll: For those who call others spoilers! :bow:
Most of the time i never mean anything i say i just dont think before i act !
But she called me a spoiler!:evil:
unafaluna
11-06-2003, 11:10 AM
Cup of China, sad results for J.Ro again. She's 10th out of 11. Go Jen, you can do it!
gandalf
11-06-2003, 12:21 PM
Originally posted by unafaluna
Cup of China, sad results for J.Ro again. She's 10th out of 11. Go Jen, you can do it!
More spoilers. :roll:
No she can't do it - that's the problem. And I think she'll be "doing" it even less under the new scoring system. Her under-rotated jumps just won't cut it with the judges. Sad but true.
I heard in an interview that Robinson was aware of her speed and was improving it with her coaches. Overall, I think that Robinson has improved her speed over the last few years, but she still has a long way to go...
To increase speed in one simple push off the ice, the skater would have to push "harder" into the ice. So, ways that Robinson could increase her speed is to do stroking exercises. These are like sequences of crosscuts and footworks in which Robinson would need to push harder off the ice on every step that she takes to maintain speed (I hope this makes sense). If her feet were only to do the movements but not push of the ice very hard, you'd notice that there was less speed. Done repeatedly, a skater will eventually push hard of the ice everytime because they get used to it. I have to say that I never really get the feeling that Robinson is as "into the ice" as other skaters. She just seems to push off and skate on the surface, but never really dig into the ice.
However, I don't deny that Robinson can have speed. I think it's the way her programs are made and the way she takes a lot of time to setup for jumps.
The way her program elements are put together, I get the feeling that she never really gets the chance to collect speed. I'm not sure if the program was modelled to her speed or if it was modelled to a higher speed and she decreases it. Like if the program was choreographed with her choreographer saying: "You need to get from point A to point B in 2 seconds. Now, PUSH!"; or if it was more like "How long does it take you to get from point A to point B?". Obviously the first way would force Robinson to increase her speed.
As for her jumps: For the 3lutz, she glides on her left foot for a relatively long time compared to other skaters before she finally decides to pick and jump. While she is gliding, she is obviously not increasing her speed and it's moments like this where she seems to go incredibly slow. But it's hard to change a person's setup for a jump because by changing the setup speed, you inevitably change a skater's pre-jump preparation and jump timing. And who knows, maybe she does it all in practice but in competition she becomes too nervous or concentrated to even think of her speed.
Another slow point in her programs are often footwork sequences, which, with the stroking exercises, could improve in speed eventually.
Hope this helps!
candace
11-08-2003, 12:56 PM
The results are up for the Cup of China. I will not say you will have to go look. I just don't understand. If she could only skate well in the short. Because it seams that she can skate well in the long and do well. But she is to low to move up to a higher place.
Azlynn
11-08-2003, 04:41 PM
I'm really not a fan, but I will say this... she HAS improved her layback over the years. It looks much better now than it did even two years ago.
However... other things just haven't improved, such as speed. I think choreography may play a partial blame in this. In terms of flexibility... for many of us, there's only so far you can improve... not everyone can be Sasha Cohen, no matter how much work they do on it.
alfongsucks
11-08-2003, 07:48 PM
sometimes coaches are so wrapped up with their skater and their gymnast, that they just think that their athlete is fantastic and they do not notice it as being wrong. I am amazed that they have not worked on this though, I am sure that someone has told them. Maybe if she does skate with better speed, everything else falls apart. Who knows. I have seen this in other coaches in gymnastics. They are so awestruck with their athlete that they never adress the corrections. Maybe it is time for a coaching change.
schnood
11-09-2003, 01:56 AM
I find it interesting that Jennifer's uncle is former NHL player Gaston Gingras, one of the fastest and finest skaters hockey has ever seen. He hasn't been in the NHL for probably 15+ years, but I have seen him play in an Oldtimers game as recently as last spring, and he's still an awesome skater. If only he could help her....
Jennifer's LP this year is painfully slow. Yes, it is slow music, but it's very boring. Her LP at Skate Canada felt about 10 minutes long. I'd rather see her skate to something a little more upbeat.
Originally posted by schnood
Jennifer's LP this year is painfully slow. Yes, it is slow music, but it's very boring. Her LP at Skate Canada felt about 10 minutes long. I'd rather see her skate to something a little more upbeat.
I totally agree. She's gone into a "plateau" in this department. I don't feel her long programs from the last two or three years have been different. All the same "style". It's a the oh-let-me-go-get-something-to-eat programs... Anyway, I'm not a huge fan, but I usually prefer her short programs (except poka dot one) and I did like the Libestraum (spelling?)...
Justine_R
11-09-2003, 04:41 PM
I do like jenifer Robinsons skating because she is very artistic and puts alot of detail into her skating...but she needs to get more speed.She needs to learn from sasha Cohen.:)
evereg
11-10-2003, 10:44 AM
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Caro
...Hope this helps! [/QUOTE
Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed answer Caro! Yes, it helped! :D
XdanceX
12-12-2004, 08:49 PM
personally i dont know what she's doing in there. i mean.. there are probably so many other skaters that are a whole lot better than her and have more going for them. :giveup:
Saundy
12-13-2004, 10:21 AM
personally i dont know what she's doing in there. i mean.. there are probably so many other skaters that are a whole lot better than her and have more going for them. :giveup:
This thread was started over a year ago and if you don't already know, Jennifer has since retired from eligible skating after the 2004 Worlds. She didn't even win Nationals this year, she took the bronze.
XdanceX
12-13-2004, 12:41 PM
oops my bad.. oh well.. :oops:
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