Most males' hair is short enough that changing their hair for figure skating requires little effort. A decent rule of thumb is to trim a boy's hair on a regular basis, particularly before figure skating contests. Although most figure skating judges prefer short hair, certain guys do choose longer styles for ice skating. The top teams in the world usually have long-haired coaches who know how important hair is to ice dancing. The coach represents the team and helps decide what kind of style will best suit his or her athletes. In fact, some people think that long hair is actually better for ice dancing because it gives the dancers more freedom of movement. In addition to helping them be flexible on the ice, long hairs also need less maintenance than those with shorter hair. There are no chemicals used in professional figure skating so the boys need only worry about getting a good haircut. Figure skaters often have tattoos, but these usually aren't allowed during competitions. If a guy does have tattoos, they're usually covered by a helmet when he goes out on the ice. Some people think that cutting your hair too short can be dangerous because there might be parts of your skull showing under your hat or helmet. But this isn't true for most guys who go into figure skating as minors. At most tournaments, boys are allowed two inches (5 cm) of hair on their heads.