Tomoki Hiwatashi has a clear goal this season: regaining consistency with his jumps. The 21-year-old skater's career highlights include winning the 2019 World Junior title and twice medaling in the Championship-level men's event at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships®. However, of late, Hiwatashi has struggled with jump problems. Consistency continued to elude him at his first Grand Prix event, Skate Canada International. He hopes to achieve better results at this week's NHK Trophy.
"Throughout the off-season, what I really focused on was my consistency in jumps," Hiwatashi said. "Because that hasn't been great the whole last year. So I've been trying to get that up."
Hiwatashi feels that lack of attention to detail impaired his consistency. "As I get used to a jump, I feel like I tend to get sloppy with it," he admitted. "If the technique changes, you're able to do it for a while. But one day, you can't do it. And you notice that wasn't the right technique."
Hiwatashi and his coach, Damon Allen, have worked to restore and improve his technique. They reviewed old videos to zero in on Hiwatashi's original technique and then re-imprinted that back into the jumps through repetition.
"I feel like doing it over and over again really helps," Hiwatashi said. "But doing it too many times, when I'm failing and messing up, wouldn't help. So I'm trying to limit the numbers."
Hiwatashi's other technical priority is adding the quadruple Salchow to his programs. He has performed the quadruple toe loop for some time, but has struggled to add a second quad. Last season, he experimented with quadruple Lutz. This season, he's focusing on quad Salchow.
"For quad Salchow, I started to pop less after some minor changes with the technique," Hiwatashi noted. "I feel a lot more consistent with [quad] Salchow than with [quad] Lutz. So I felt like quad Salchow would be a little smarter. I've already landed one or two in the program."
Hiwatashi is also seeking the right balance with his programs and presentation. He decided to keep last year's short program, set to the jazz-pop song "Standards" by Leslie Odom, Jr., and choreographed by Mark Pillay, noted Canadian choreographer. Pillay has choreographed Hiwatashi's short programs since 2018.
"I felt like I could do more with the short program than I did last year," Hiwatashi commented. "I wanted to perfect it and make it good for this season, which is very important, because of the Olympics."
Hiwatashi asked Pillay to create his new free skate. Pillay suggested music from the soundtrack to
The Artist. Hiwatashi was initially doubtful, as the soundtrack has been used frequently for skating programs.
"I tend to not like doing music that I hear a lot at competitions," Hiwatashi explained. "I want to be original. I always want my programs to be different. But, the way Mark edited the music … I feel like the tracks that he used are a little bit different. So I tried it, and it worked out perfectly. The program came to me very quickly, and it fits me very well."
Hiwatashi has skated several programs to jazz music. He feels that jazz complements his skating style.
"I like music that has a little bit of quickness, excitement, and a good tempo. Music that goes up gradually and gives me those kinds of climactic moments," Hiwatashi explained. "I like music [that] I can dance to, rather than slow music. Especially with the tricks that I can do."
Among Hiwatashi's tricks are leaps, or mini-jumps, that many fans recognize as a distinctive feature of his style. Hiwatashi performs a high and dramatic Russian split jump in many of his programs--often eliciting cheers from audiences--as well as other leaps.
"A lot of skaters can't do a lot of those leaps, or split-type jumps, but I can do it," said Hiwatashi. "I feel like they're my special moves, at this point."
"Now, working with Mark [Pillay], he understands what I can do," Hiwatashi said. "So he's the one who's like, 'Can you do this?' or 'Can you do that?' There are things I never knew I could do, that he's come up with, and it's fun."
An important element of the Russian split is, of course, flexibility. Hiwatashi said that flexibility came naturally to him as a child: "When I was three or four, I'd go from both legs straight in front of me, and I'd just go through a split and to the back."
That natural flexibility allows Hiwatashi to perform the Biellman spin, as well as the Russian split. The skater notes that maintaining such flexibility requires effort. "Keeping it is always difficult and requires training that you go through every day," he said.
Hiwatashi is looking forward to skating at NHK Trophy in Japan. "It's very enjoyable skating in front of all those crowds that love figure skating," he said. There, he will continue his quest for consistency.
"I would love to perform a clean program," Hiwatashi said of his goals at NHK Trophy. "Consistency is something that I've been working on, and I want that result to come out."
Hiwatashi wants to skate clean not only for competitive reasons, but also for his fans and supporters. "I really appreciate the people who support me--the fans, my parents, my coaches, and my club," the skater said. "I appreciate people for just watching me skate in general."
Fans can watch Team USA this week at NHK Trophy live and on-demand on
Peacock Premium. Check out the
Grand Prix Series Competition Central page to follow Team USA throughout the season.
