Additionally, due to difference in body size, strength,, and power, there are a few differences in the ladies' programs as compared to he men's programs. This unit on anthropometry and figure skating is to provided you with additional information which you may share with your class which may provided either a better appreciation of the sport of figure skating, or some interesting scientific facts to enhance your science classes. Body Shape Generally speaking, one would expect, smaller athletes with slightly shorter than average limbs to excel at figure skating, since this would allow them to obtain a smaller moment of inertia while spinning and jumping, and thus spin faster. Obviously not all figure skaters fall into this category, many other components go into making a champion skater. Strength and power are very important for jumping and for holding tight body positions against large g-forces during spins.
Many skaters are concerned with developing sufficient strength without developing muscle bulk.
Muscle bulk would tend to make the skater larger, which would mean his or her moment of inertia would increase. However, with proper weight training skates can develop strength and power without increasing muscle bulk and this problem can be eliminated. Gender Many of the gender differences observed in skating are actually due to body size. On average, women tend to be smaller than men, so they usually can spin faster. As you watch the Olympics, you may notice some ladies completing jumps which have very low jump heights.