- Joined
- Oct 20, 2010
My proposal is C (the whole program) = T (Presentation) + R (jumps) + L (non-jumps). The concept of a “global quality” (e.g., skating skills) pertains to a different equation and should be kept aside.
Presentation is a "global quality", by your reckoning. There are a lot of things that are covered under skating skills that are not counted twice. For example, and there are probably more I'm forgetting:
- Overall speed
- Efficiency in gathering speed: how many crossovers/progressives/stroking-type movements are used in between elements or more complex transitions
- Efficiency in maintaining speed: does the skater keep a running edge through non-footwork steps/transitions? use his/her edges to build or maintain momentum? or is s/he digging in with every turn and step, or even muscling through them[1]? The step sequences, especially at high levels, tend to be constructed in a way that breaks up the run of edge with movements where the skater is pushing hard to get momentum going again. Part of it is definitely the enormous amount of requirements, part of it is that a lot of these skaters would have a hard time showing that type of skating even with a sequence of steps where it was possible.
- Skating on one foot, especially if the skater doesn't use that level feature[2] for their footwork.
- Skating and turning in both directions
- Ability to hold a single edge well for an extended period
Most of those qualities can't be evaluated in the performance of elements at all. Especially men's singles, because of the tendency to get very convoluted in the leveled footwork and the lack of a spiral. "Skating Skills" is not very redundant at all. "Transitions" is the PCS category that could theoretically see a skater rewarded multiple times for the same thing: the TR mark, the Choreography mark, possibly Interpretation, and maybe jump +GOE in certain cases where it doesn't actually deserve a bullet point for difficult entry. I think that mostly comes down to the fact that Interpretation and especially Choreography just aren't that well thought out as components. Choreography, especially, is like the black budget of PCS.
[1] If you've ever seen pre-adolescent ladies singles skaters do twizzles, it should be obvious what I mean. I hate twizzles so freaking much. Twizzles can go die, for all I care. The overabundance of twizzles is the one thing I really unabashedly hate about the IJS. Even the Plague Of Poorly Executed Biellmann Everything was better than The Rise of the Twizzles. Twizzles are like truffles: best in moderation.
[2] I used to love one-foot footwork sequences, but I really wish skaters who weren't good at it would stop, and also that there were more features for levels.