From: jkaplenk@lucpul.it.luc.edu (Joe Kaplenk)
Newsgroups: rec.skate
Subject: Re: Quad Competition
Date: 8 Oct 92 17:57:40 GMT
Organization: Loyola University Chicago

In <92Oct6.123956pdt.11832@alpha.xerox.com> Michel_Denber.WBST147@xerox.com writes:

>I've seen some mention here about about doing figures on roller skates.  This
>may be a dumb question, but could someone explain to me how this works?  Like
>do you tie a magic marker to your skate, or maybe dip your wheels in ink before
>starting?  On ice, figures are judged by the tracing left by the blade.  I
>don't see how you can get the same effect on a floor.

>			- Michel

>denber.wbst147@xerox.com

Recently I've been doing some quad roller skating figures and
have made some observervations based on my ice skating background.
Sorry for the delayed response as I did some research and talked
with some pros in order to answer this question.

Quad figures are done on circles that are already marked  on the floor. The
objective  is to trace over the lines that are approximately 1 inch wide
The major difference between quads and ice figures  is that there is no impression
left on the floor to inspect.  This requires the judges or coach to travel
up and down the floor as  the skater is tracing the circles.  The judges
look for your wheels to stay centered over the tracing,  much as your blades
do on ice. The pushes, body position and flow are also very important.

There are also inside and outside edges, though it
is not as obvious as in ice and is more dependent on the boot and leg
lean. It's interesting that on quads the boots are as stiff as possible
for figures and more flexible for freestyle. This is just the opposite
of ice freestyle and figures.  I was fitted for ice freestyle custom boots
by George Teri of  SP-Teri at the Roller  Skating Nationals and
he gave me a good  explanation of these differences.  
 
Most figures on quads are identical to those on ice. In addition there are
3 serpentines in the USAC/RS figures rule book labelled nos 111, 112 and 113
that allow for additional pushes that would not be allowed on ice. For example
looking at the diagrams for these serpentines a skater is allowed to make a  push at 
a change from one circle to another for a total of 4 pushes per tracing as opposed
to 2 pushes on the other serpentines. 

I suspect this is due to allowing small children and older adult beginning skaters
to make it around. On ice your circle  is 3 times your height and you can mark it with
a scribe, but on quads you have to follow a definite painted pattern. For a small
child this could be a difficult task  if only 2 pushes were allowed per
tracing as is done  on ice.   The circles  could easily be 5 or 6 times 
the child's height. An older adult beginner might have a problem also. 

Figures on quads can usually be done anytime during the club sessions I've 
attended, unless the club has set aside a dance only session.  So you
will often have a mix of dancers, freestyle skaters and figure skaters
on the floor at the same time as opposed to separate patch. freestyle
and dance sessions on ice.  In addition, there may be several 
skaters sharing the same series of cirles, which is almost never
seen on ice.

There are also additional figures that allow for pushes at the 
top and bottom instead  of in the middle. There would be  a change
of body position and edge in the middle, much like the serpentine. There
would  be no push at the change of edge. There would, however, 
be only 2 circles.

there are also 3 turns, mohawks and choctaws,  etc. in some of the
more advanced  figures.  


-- 
Joe Kaplenk,
jkaplenk@lucpul.it.luc.edu
312-764-1212 home, fax at home 312-465-0406
Newsgroups: rec.skate