From: loosemore-sandra@cs.yale.edu (Sandra Loosemore)
Newsgroups: rec.skate
Subject: competitive figure skating FAQ list
Date: 5 Jan 1993 19:20:41 -0500
Organization: staff hacker @ Yale Haskell project
Distribution: rec
NNTP-Posting-Host: functor.systemsz.cs.yale.edu

This is the FAQ list for competitive figure skating.  It is posted
approximately monthly during the competition season.

Please send suggestions and corrections to loosemore-sandra@cs.yale.edu.
Last update:  13 Dec 1992

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How is figure skating scored?

  The singles and pair events each have two parts, the technical program
  and the free skate.  In the technical program, the skaters must
  execute eight required elements (jumps, spins, and footwork sequences),
  and there are mandatory deductions for failures.  In the free skate,
  there are no required elements, and falling or omitting elements counts
  against the skater only as far as it reduces the overall difficulty of
  the program, or if it disrupts the flow of the program.
  
  Skaters are given two marks, one for technical merit and one for
  artistic impression.  The technical mark is supposed to reflect the
  difficulty of the program and the clean execution of the elements.
  The artistic mark is supposed to reflect the choreography, music
  interpretation, flow, and balance of the program, and other factors
  such as making good use of the ice surface and skating with speed and
  sureness.
  
  The two marks from each judge are added together and used to assign
  skaters rankings.  (In the case of ties, the technical merit mark has
  more weight in the technical program, and the artistic mark in the
  free skate.)  Then the rankings from each judge are used to determine
  the overall placements; the skater with the most first-place votes
  places first, etc.  

  There is a complicated procedure for breaking ties and determining
  placements when no skater has a majority of votes, but the marks
  from all the judges are *not* added together, nor are the high and
  low marks discarded.

  The placements from each part of the competition are multiplied by a
  weighting factor, and then added together to get the final placements
  in the competition.  The factor for the technical program is 0.5, and
  the factor for the free skate is 1.0.
  
  Scoring for ice dancing is similar, except that the skaters must also
  skate two compulsory dances.  There is only one set of marks for each
  dance, and these are added together to determine the placements for
  that segment of the competition.  The factors are .4 for compulsory 
  dance, .6 for original dance, and 1.0 for the free dance.


Sometimes a judge gives marks that seem way too low.  Why is this
permitted to happen?

  First of all, remember that the marks given by a judge to a particular
  skater are meaningless compared to the marks given by other judges --
  all that matters is how *that same judge* ranks the skater compared
  to the other competitors.  Sometimes a judge consistently marks all
  skaters a few tenths lower than the other judges without giving them
  significantly different rankings.

  Because the competition results are determined by a majority vote of
  the judges, an individual judge can rarely influence the outcome of a
  competition by ranking a skater much higher or lower than is really 
  appropriate.  Furthermore, the referee of the competition is
  required to report instances of questionable judging, which can lead
  to disqualification of the judge in question for future competitions.
  (And in extreme cases of national bias, the ISU has been known to ban
  *all* judges from a particular country.)  So judges actually have 
  little motivation to try to deliberately manipulate the results of 
  the competition.


Why is skating judged on a scale from 0 to 6 instead of 0 to 10?

  The reason why skating is judged on a scale where the perfect mark is
  6.0 is because of its historical origins in tracing compulsory
  figures.  Each figure was skated three times on each foot, and the
  judges were supposed to count one "point" for each tracing.


What's the difference between ice dancing and pair skating?

  Ice dancing is supposed to be ballroom or folk dancing, adapted to
  ice.  In practice, the difference is that ice dancers are prohibited
  from doing the athletic free-skating moves that pair skaters do (jumps,
  spins, lifts, etc) and concentrate on fancy choreography instead.


The scoring in ice dancing often seem totally random to me.  What are
judges really looking for in ice dancing?

  It's often harder for a casual spectator to evaluate ice dancing
  performances than free skating because ice dancers rarely make major
  mistakes such as falling.  Some of the criteria that the judges use
  are how close the man and woman skate together, whether they change
  positions frequently, and whether they skate different steps instead
  of doing a lot of side-by-side shadow skating.


What about rules for professional competitions?

  In general, there *aren't* any rules -- each competition seems to have
  its own format and judging system.  The new pro-am events seem to have 
  adopted the basic amateur scoring system outlined above, but with some 
  relaxations of the rules regarding the length and content of the programs.


What are the different jumps?  How did they get such funny names?

  The thing that distinguishes the different jumps is the takeoff.  Most
  right-handed skaters jump in a counterclockwise direction and land all
  the jumps on a right back outside edge.  I'll describe all the jumps
  in this sense to minimize confusion.
  
  These are the jumps you see in competition most often, in approximate
  order from least to most difficult:
  
  toe loop -- the approach is on a right back outside edge.  The skater 
  then reaches back with the left foot and jabs the toe pick into the ice 
  to provide assistance for the jump at takeoff.  (This is the same jump 
  that roller skaters call the "mapes").
  
  salchow -- the takeoff is from a left back inside edge; the typical
  approach is from a three turn.  The right leg swings to the front just
  prior to takeoff to assist the rotation.  The jump is named after
  Ulrich Salchow, who dominated skating in the early 1900's.
  
  loop -- this is also an edge jump, with takeoff from a right back
  outside edge.  Usually skaters approach this jump by skating backwards
  on two feet, with the left foot crossed in front of the right.
  (In Europe, this is also known as a Rittberger jump.)
  
  flip -- this is a toe-assisted jump from the left back inside edge and
  right toe pick.  Like the salchow, the usual approach is a three turn.
  
  lutz -- this is a toe-assisted jump from the left back *outside* edge
  and right toe pick; this means that the approach curve has the
  opposite "direction" than the landing curve.  The most typical
  approach for this jump is a long, shallow edge diagonally across the
  rink.
  
  axel -- this is the only common jump with a forward takeoff, from a
  left front outside edge.  Because of this, a single jump is actually
  1.5 rotations.  Named after Axel Paulsen.


What about spins and other moves?

  back spin -- performed in the same rotation sense as a forward spin,
  but on the opposite foot.  Most right-handed skaters spin 
  counterclockwise, doing a forward spin on the left foot and a
  back spin on the right foot.

  scratch spin -- a fast upright spin.  So called because it is done
  on the forward part of the blade, so that the toe pick scratches the 
  ice slightly.

  camel -- a spin in the "airplane" position, e.g. the torso and
  free leg in a horizontal position.  A flying camel is a back spin
  in the camel position entered by means of a jump with a forward
  takeoff, similar to an axel.

  grafstrom spin -- a low camel spin, skated with a bent knee.

  death drop -- a flying spin similar to a flying camel, but where the
  skater immediately drops into a back sitspin.

  arabian or butterfly -- a jumping move similar to the entrance of
  a flying camel or death drop, but without the spin afterwards.
  Usually done in a series of two or three in a row.

  spiral -- an edge skated with the free leg extended and held higher than
  hip level.  A relatively easy move, but effective when done with good
  stretch and speed.

  spread eagle -- a figure skated on two feet with the toes pointing in
  opposite directions.  It can be done either on outside or inside edges.
  Again, this is a fairly easy move and its effectiveness depends on being
  done with speed and a good body position (namely, without the skater's
  bottom jutting out awkwardly).

  ina bauer -- a spread eagle variant where one knee is deeply bent and
  the other leg stretched behind the body.  Typically done with an
  arched back.


Why aren't professionals allowed to compete in the Olympics?

  The policy of the international governing body for skating, the ISU,
  has been that any skater who takes part in a competition that is not
  sanctioned by the ISU (or one of its national governing bodies, such
  as the USFSA) loses eligibility to compete in future "amateur" events.
  It used to be that the loss of eligibility was considered permanent,
  but after the 1992 championships, the policy was changed to allow
  professionals to regain eligibility if they stop participating in
  the banned activities.  At the same time, it was decided to allow a
  wider range of competitions to be sanctioned -- for example, competitions
  where both eligible and ineligible skaters compete for prize money.

  Aside from the matter of sanctioned competitions, the dividing line
  between amateur and professional status has otherwise become very 
  blurred -- so-called amateur skaters can still be paid for doing ice 
  shows, competitions, endorsements, TV appearances, and the like.


Why can't skaters do back flips in competition?

  Basically, because the consensus in the skating community is that back
  flips aren't really a skating move, and that if they were allowed in
  competition, the character of the sport might change in ways that are 
  seen as undesirable.  The same reasoning applies to other forbidden 
  moves, such as pair-skating moves where the man swings the lady around
  by her feet, or lifts above the shoulder in ice dancing.


Who's this Dick Button guy, anyway?

  Dick Button was the 5-time world champion and 2-time Olympic champion, 
  from 1948 to 1952.  He's widely credited with introducing the modern 
  athletic style of skating.  He was the first person to do a double axel, 
  and the first to do a triple jump (a triple loop).  He also invented 
  the flying camel spin.
  
  Here are some other people you hear about from time to time:
  
  Gus Lussi -- Dick Button's coach.  Also coached Dorothy Hamill.  His
  skaters are known for their superb spinning technique.
  
  Carlo Fassi -- Italian national champion during the 1950's, but better
  known as a coach.  His skaters have included Peggy Fleming, Dorothy 
  Hamill, John Curry, Caryn Kadavy, and Jill Trenary.  He moved back 
  to Italy a couple of years ago.
  
  Toller Cranston -- Canadian men's champion during the 1970's, now a
  choreographer and coach.  Known as a dramatic stylist.
  
  Tamara Moskvina -- Russian pair coach.
  
  Sandra Bezic -- Canadian pairs champion (with her brother Val) during
  the 1970's, now a choreographer (e.g., for Boitano and Yamaguchi) and
  TV commentator.
  
  Jutta Muller -- coached Katarina Witt, Jan Hoffman, and most of the 
  other well-known East German singles skaters.

  Ludmila & Oleg Protopopov -- Russian pair skaters who won Olympic
  medals in 1964 and 1968.  They're known for their ballet-like style.
  They also invented pair moves such as the inside death spiral.

  Tracy Wilson -- Canadian ice dancer; with her partner, the late Rob
  McCall, she won a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics.  Now a TV
  commentator.

  F. Ritter Shumway -- president of the USFSA at the time of the 1961
  plane crash that killed the entire US world team and coaching staff.
  He was instrumental in rebuilding the figure skating program in the
  US and setting up the memorial fund which now provides financial support
  for nearly all competitive skaters.


When are upcoming competitions?

  Here are the ones I know about:

  1992 Jr Worlds      Dec 1-6, 1992    Seoul, Korea
  1993 Europeans      Jan 12-17, 1993  Helsinki, Finland
  1993 US Nationals   Jan 17-24, 1993  Phoenix AZ
  1993 Worlds         Mar 9-14, 1993   Prague, Czechoslovakia
  1994 Worlds         Mar 22-27, 1994  Mukuhari, Japan


Why didn't [well-known skater] compete at [Skate America | Skate
Canada | Trophee Lalique | etc]?

  There are several of these "minor" international competitions that
  take place each fall.  They are sponsored by the various national
  skating organizations in order to provide some additional
  competition opportunities for their younger skaters, many of whom
  wouldn't qualify for a "major" international event like the
  world championships.  Established skaters go to these competitions
  too, to try out new routines or gain more media exposure.  But
  skaters typically only participate in one or two of these competitions
  each season, and it's unusual for all of the top skaters to show 
  up at any one of them.


What's the piece of music so-and-so is skating to?

  Well, I'm not a walking music encyclopedia, but here are the ones
  (mostly classical pieces) that I've been able to identify.

  Music from 1991/92 season:

   Paul Wylie
    (short program) "La Valse", by Ravel
    (free skate) "Henry V" film score; Symphony #3 ("Organ"), by Saint-Saens

   Kristi Yamaguchi 
    (short program) "Blue Danube Waltz", by Strauss
    (free skate) "Malaguena" from "Andalusian Suite", by Lecuona

   Nancy Kerrigan
    (short program) music composed for her by Mark Militano
    (free skate) "Born on the Fourth of July" film score

   Mishkutenok & Dimitriev  
    (short program) "Don Quixote", by Minkus
    (free skate) "Liebestraum", by Liszt

   Klimova & Ponomarenko
    (free dance) air from orchestral suite #3, by Bach;
    fugue from D minor toccata & fugue for organ, by Bach

   Usova & Zhulin
    (free dance) "The Four Seasons", by Vivaldi

  Music from 1992/93 season:

   Eltsova & Bushkov
    "Bacchanale" from "Samson and Delilah", by Saint-Saens

   Urbanski & Marval
    "Pictures at an Exhibition", by Mussorgsky;
    "O Mio Babbino Caro" from "Gianni Schicchi", by Puccini;
    "Spartacus", by Khatchaturian

   Mark Mitchell
    "Don Quixote", by Minkus

   Scott Davis
    "West Side Story" film score

   Nancy Kerrigan
    "The Beauty and the Beast" film score

   Lisa Ervin
    "Thais Meditation", by Massenet  

   Tonya Harding-Gillooly
    "Robin Hood" film score

   Josee Chouinard
    "Gayeneh", by Khatchaturian

   Yuka Sato
    "Don Quixote", by Minkus