Who misses figures? (any older skaters?) | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Who misses figures? (any older skaters?)

redhotcoach

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 4, 2005
Actually, mskater93 - the one foot loop is called a Loop Change Loop - at least in my ISU rulebook from 1993, (ISU fig 39 a) and that is the term that we always used. Perhaps paragraph loop is an Americanization of the term . The forward or backward edge is indicated by the RFO-LFI or RBO-LBI designation in front of the Loop Change Loop phrase.

BTW My coaches did refer to brackets as paragraph brackets at times.
 

Dramahkween

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 19, 2010
I'm getting so nostalgic reading this thread! There is nothing in the world that compares to the dimmed lights and the "sound" of a 5am patch session! All you heard was the quiet mumble of a coach here and there and that amazing sound of edges...::sigh:: And can any of us forget that feeling in the pit of our stomachs when we completed our last pattern and the judges would walk over and analyze every single mark on the ice? ::SHUDDERS:: SO terrifying! Oh, how I miss figures!

I don't think MITF is as effective as figures were, they are such different beasts!

As for the discussion above, I was always taught "Loop change loop" in figures, and my coaches would use the term "paragraph" more in reference to a footwork sequence in a freestyle program.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
I'm not sure if I miss school figures but I would be all for using the SP as an Element Championship. No music - just elements being judged as in all sports. Free Skate the next day with emphasis on artistry. Three medals awarded; for Presision Elements, Artistry, and Combined E and A. The Quad complainers will have their moment.
 

backspin

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
I have one name for you, Trixie Schuba. Many of us know what I am talking about. I remember the absolute fiasco of Trixie Schuba winning because of her superior figures. Unfortunately, she skated a really awful LP but won because of her figures. That's why they changed the system amd I was 100% for it. Still am. That should never happen again. That is the one part of the system I wouldn't change.

Removing figures from competition is entirely different from removing them as part of the training requirement. I don't think anyone's arguing for a return to competition, just like we don't do MITF in competition. But figures offered a level of training in finesse & control that we don't get from anything else.
 

gkelly

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Well, each national federation can require figures for lower-level competition or for testing at all levels if they want. USFS is putting some figures-like moves back into the Moves in the Field tests.

Each individual coach can require his or her skaters to practice edges and turns on circles, even to train specific school figures and to take the tests if their federation still offers them, as USFS does in theory (or ever offered figure tests -- some federations don't measure skill level by testing at all).

But the ISU can't dictate what happens outside of junior and senior competition. Even their novice competition rules are more guidelines that not all federations stick to. So they certainly can't require specific training techniques.
 
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