What am I missing in Emanuel Sandhu's skating?

[rack]

I just had the good fortune to watch a tape of this year's Canadian nationals, so I got to see Emanuel Sandhu's short and long programs.

I know there are people out there who are devoted fans and admirers of his skating, but I'm not seeing why. His jumps are inconsistent, his spins no better than average, and his footwork, while above average, is not fabulous.

So what am I missing? Does he have great entries, air position or height in his jumps? Is his edging and stroking superior? Does he have unusual speed, terrific ice coverage? Tell me what I'm missing so when Worlds comes around I'll know what to look for.

Thank you!

[rjblue]

Originally posted by rack
Does he have great entries, air position or height in his jumps? Is his edging and stroking superior? Does he have unusual speed, terrific ice coverage? Yes. :D

His jumps are beautiful flowing jumps (when he doesn't pop them). He has great control of all his body, from his background in ballet. I've never seen him live, but from TV his speed seems superior. His spins have beautiful positions and transitions, not as fast as some though.

[BittyBug]

It's called line - he has beautiful carriage and extension - and he also has wonderful edges, IMO.

[Susie Q]

It's a bit unfortunate that you didn't get to see Sandhu's qualifying skate from Canadian Nationals. There, he was at his best.

I agree with the above poster who says that Sandhu's edges are wonderful. In fact, my opinion is that Sandhu has the best edges of any eligible male skater today. Deep and silent. :)

Also regarding his spins, although he could get lower in the sit spin, his camel spin (speed and position) are to die for. Watch the SP again and you'll see what I mean.

I posted this to another thread as to why Sandhu won Canadian nationals (some thought that Buttle and/or Andreev should have beaten him). Hopefully it will help you to see him in a new light. :)

1. Effortless speed and ice coverage; superior use of ice surface
2. Superior edge quality and basic stroking
3. Clean back outside edge with great flow on jump all jump landings (ie. not pitching forward or eeking out the triples) and great body position on landings (back leg extension and arm positions)
4. Big height and straight air position on jumps
5. Line and extension on camel spin; plus interesting and innovative spin positions that are well centred and fast
6. Lotsa moves in the field: ie. spirals, spread eagles
7. The best footwork in Canada; great speed, use of all edges, quick turns and changes of direction
8. Choreography that is detailed, innovative and shows great musical interpretation.
9. POSTURE

[Susie Q]

By the way rack, kudos to you for spelling his name right. A lot of people spell it Emmanuel....but there's only one "m". :)

I also want to add that while I can see how Emanuel wouldn't be everyones cup of tea, he does have a lot of outstanding qualities that can't be denied.

[Aussie Willy]

Basically I think he is the most interesting male skater out there today! He has the best musicality of all the male skaters and just beautiful lines. If he could get it together at Worlds he could definately win a gold medal. He is the Paul Wylie of this skating era.

Yes he has been inconsistent, but when his programs work they are fantastic.

[rack]

Thanks everyone.

Sandhu certainly does have great posture. I'm not a big posture person myself, so I tend to underrate or even not notice it, but Sandhu's carriage is beautiful.

I will look at his programs again with more enlightened eyes!

[Canskater]

Count me in with the original poster who fails to see the greatness in Sandhu. For me, he is a more graceful Ravi Walia ... with greater control over a very tall and lanky physique. I'm not impressed with his footwork (probably been spoiled by the likes of Browning), and maybe I just don't "get" his artistry. For me, Buttle is the skater of the future.

Just my .02

-- sheilagh

[Oracle]

Sandhu is to Men's skating as Cohen is to Women's. Beautiful line, stretch, & positions. Take the difficult jumps out of everyone's programs & these 2 would be your current World Champions! JMO!

[constanela]

I saw Emanuel live at Skate America. Besides all of the above (great edges, carriage, etc.) he also has an "X" factor I think that doesn't come across on TV. In practice, you could hardly not watch him. Even my father who doesn't know anything about figure skating picked him out of practice as the most interesting one to watch. Unfortunately, by competition, he had switched to his other personality and it wasn't there.

[Gaela]

Emanuel is a thoroughbred!! his ballet training is ever so evident in his skating. His dancing on the ice is always awesome.

What may have been missing was music you liked. I don't like his programs this year because the music seems choppy and harsh to me--but he is nonethless extremely musical and goes for a lot of different types of music. I prefer his classcial stuff, and loved Journey of Man. To me this years' programs don't do his line and tremendous flexibility credit. But that's just IMO, and I'm not fond of jazz!!

[Blade1]

Originally posted by Canskater
Count me in with the original poster who fails to see the greatness in Sandhu. For me, he is a more graceful Ravi Walia ... with greater control over a very tall and lanky physique. I'm not impressed with his footwork (probably been spoiled by the likes of Browning), and maybe I just don't "get" his artistry. For me, Buttle is the skater of the future.

Just my .02

-- sheilagh

I've got to agree with Canskater as well. Just to add, he isn't always consistant either which for a spectator watching gets really annoying !

[Orable]

well, I saw him for the first time on ABC at Skate Canada. I just love his line, his posture, carriage, edges. He reminded me of Alexei Urmanov in that sense--and that to me is a very good comparison. Emanuel's jumps were not the best (and I get the sense that he's iffy on this point) but I really don't even care that much about jumps, so that doesn't bother me. But the one thing I really loved about his skating is the choreography, the artistry, the interesting positions. The personality just explodes in the choreography, and I usually don't find that to be true in most N. American mens' skaters. jmho :)

Cheers, Orable

[Polish]

And Blade1, besides Yagudin, Plushenko, Hughes and Michelle Kwan, just WHO is consistent? :roll: Very very few skaters are "consistent". Takeshi Honda certainly is not consistent, Jeff Buttle has not been consistent this year (Skate Canada anyone?), Jennifer Robinson has never been consisent, Sasha Cohen is not consistent, Michael Weiss is not consistent, the list goes on. I think Sandhu takes far too much heat for the consistency issue when in fact about 95% of skaters out there also have their consistency issues. :P

[Blade1]

Polish your right about that, however as a spectator, it just gets so repetative, that sometimes I don't even want to watch. Its funny, I actually posted somewhere here at skatingforums on how I actually thought his exhibition number at Nationals this year was half decent and I enjoyed his performance. But when it comes to competitions I have different opinions when it concerns Emmanual.

[Ziggy]

Originally posted by rack
I just had the good fortune to watch a tape of this year's Canadian nationals, so I got to see Emanuel Sandhu's short and long programs.

I know there are people out there who are devoted fans and admirers of his skating, but I'm not seeing why. His jumps are inconsistent, his spins no better than average, and his footwork, while above average, is not fabulous.

So what am I missing? Does he have great entries, air position or height in his jumps? Is his edging and stroking superior? Does he have unusual speed, terrific ice coverage? Tell me what I'm missing so when Worlds comes around I'll know what to look for.

Thank you!
He probably has the best carriage/posture out of all men. His back is as straight as it gets all the time. The lines are always perfect. Compare it to Goebel who has his shoulders rounded on entries to jumps or Yagudin whose lines are often poor because he doesn't keep his body/limbs nice&straight. Even the best skaters in the world have problems with keeping good lines all the time. Sandhu doesn't have this problem. His spins are very good. Maybe not very fast but the positions he attains are top class. His footwork is not fabulous but above average indeed. Isn't that enough? :P As far as him staying straight, it is the case on the jumps as well. His position is good. I can't say anything about his speed/ice coverage as I have never seen him life but I assume that it's good from what I saw on tv. So now, if only he was consistent...

[tulip]

The odd time Sandhu tends to lean on his jumps (usually the 3A and quad) but I figure a lot of that has to do with his height and the fact he doesn't have a low centre of gravity. The guy is 6'0'' tall afterall.....

[Ziggy]

Originally posted by tulip
The odd time Sandhu tends to lean on his jumps (usually the 3A and quad) but I figure a lot of that has to do with his height and the fact he doesn't have a low centre of gravity. The guy is 6'0'' tall afterall.....
Well I think that he leans on his jumps at times when he blews them and lands on his butt which has to do with his consistency/fragility rather that with his technique.

[tulip]

Of course technique has something to do with it as well. At Canadian nationals, you can hear his coach in the K&C after the SP telling him he "stepped wide" on the quad. He was leaning on it and fell.

[Ziggy]

Originally posted by tulip
Of course technique has something to do with it as well. At Canadian nationals, you can hear his coach in the K&C after the SP telling him he "stepped wide" on the quad. He was leaning on it and fell.
Yeah of course you're right, it is bad technique. However I think that he knows how to do it right and just blows it and does it wrong because of the nerves.

[rjblue]

You'll rarely see a tall skater land a jump with bad technique. Somewhat shorter skaters like Elvis can power out a landing with a lean, but a tall skater has to be much more accurate. Ilia Kulik is the best example of that. His triple axels were perfect.

[mskater13]

I remember seeing Emanuel a long time ago, and he did a triple toe/triple toe/triple toe combination.. I thought it was so good.. perfect air position and everything.. I was impressed with his whole skate. But I haven't seen him since.

[Spinner]

Originally posted by Oracle
Sandhu is to Men's skating as Cohen is to Women's. Beautiful line, stretch, & positions. Take the difficult jumps out of everyone's programs & these 2 would be your current World Champions! JMO!

You know, that's quite an interesting comparison. It makes sense too in that both are known for their technical abilities, line, carriage, posture, positions, etc. yet inconsistency as well. Too bad there isn't a consistency 'pill' or we'd see some very different podiums in the past year or so. ;)

[Ziggy]

Originally posted by Spinner
You know, that's quite an interesting comparison. It makes sense too in that both are known for their technical abilities, line, carriage, posture, positions, etc. yet inconsistency as well. Too bad there isn't a consistency 'pill' or we'd see some very different podiums in the past year or so. ;)
I don't think so. There's much more to skating technique and presentation than lines, posture, carriage and positions.

[Spinner]

Originally posted by Ziggy
I don't think so. There's much more to skating technique and presentation than lines, posture, carriage and positions.

I think you missed what I was saying. I meant with their line, carriage, etc, a pill that would get their technical consistency to 100% would make them challenge the top world contenders right now, even medal ahead of them on occasion.

[Vash2003skate]

I watched him live at the 2001 worlds. His LP was one of the best. When he does not make mistakes on the jumps, his lines, extension, posture are beautiful.

Vash

[Ziggy]

Originally posted by Spinner
I think you missed what I was saying. I meant with their line, carriage, etc, a pill that would get their technical consistency to 100% would make them challenge the top world contenders right now, even medal ahead of them on occasion.
I know but even without jumps there is much more to skating technique and presentation than what Sasha and Emanuel have. Jumping is not their only problem.