Is ordinal judging easier to understand than the CoP? | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Is ordinal judging easier to understand than the CoP?

ballerynna

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 9, 2008
CoP, at least the end result, is easy to understand. Without knowing all the levels etc. you know Skater A had a higher score than Skater B. When all the details are out and you want to reason out how the judges arrived at that score, then it's a different story.

6.0 was easy to get if the ordinals didn't go all over place. So in some events where Skater A got mostly 1s or 2s then its understandable why he/she won over Skater B who got mostly 2s and a smattering of 3s and 4s.

But since I became a real fan of figure skating during CoP, I guess I understand it better. When I was watching as a casual fan (and a kid) during 6.0, I just rooted for whoever had the most 1s
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
^
I think that's mainly due to layman's psychology. Whether he is an expert or just a 10 year-old kid, one can give an ordinal number to each skater. "This guy is better than the previous guy but is worse than another guy" and so on. Then he has exactly the same set of numbers which can be directly compared with the official result. He may like it or not but in any case he can comment on it and be happy except a few complicated cases.

On the other hand in the current system, one has to decide the level of each element and GOE, multiply factor 0.8 or 1.6, adds the scores, determines PCS and so on to really compare (or compete) with the official protocol. But one cannot really do this in real time. What he has is some vague number at most which is not much useful because it cannot be directly compared with the official score.

In other words, you need a lot of analysis to get a final score in the current system, which is almost impossible for a relaxed viewers having a glass of wine in an armchair. You cannot just give one simple number with which you can declare you have finished your job and are ready to comment on judging.

I agree with this post entirely. :yes:

So now the question is this. Is it the job of the ISU to provide a satisfying emotional experience for the audience (old system) or to determine as objectively as possible which skater completed the most difficult program and did it best -- even, perhaps at the expense of allowing the audience to drift away?
 

evangeline

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
I agree with this post entirely. :yes:

So now the question is this. Is it the job of the ISU to provide a satisfying emotional experience for the audience (old system) or to determine as objectively as possible which skater completed the most difficult program and did it best -- even, perhaps at the expense of allowing the audience to drift away?

If it's the job of the ISU to provide a "satisfying emotional experience for the audience" we might as well ditch any form of a judging system and turn every competition into a phone-in/audience vote popularity contest cheesefest.

If the commentators do their job and try to help the paying public into understanding CoP by explaining levels, GOEs, etc, I doubt there would be much confusion. After all, I recall commentators used to explain why one skater got a 5.5 while another got a 5.7 when skating was under 6.0 too. But if commentators are openly bashing CoP and not even TRYING to explain why one skater's footwork got a higher level (for example) than another, I can see why the public thinks CoP is too complicated, if even the "expert" commentators do not like CoP.
 
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i love to skate

Medalist
Joined
Dec 13, 2005
Since I am from the "old school" of figure skating, yes the ordinal system is easier for me; I find COP a bit cumbersome. I don't know how the skaters (especially the "seasoned" vets) feel.

I think many of the skaters like the scoring system and as for the seasoned vets there really aren't many of them around anymore and soon they will be pretty much obsolete. For most of the skaters coming up through the ranks, COP has been the only judging system they've known so it isn't "the new system" as it is to the veterans; it's just "the system".
 
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