Article by Janet Lynn
http://www.iceskatingintnl.com/archi...%20freedom.htm
Article by Janet Lynn
http://www.iceskatingintnl.com/archi...%20freedom.htm
Thanks for the link to the article. Very interesting read.
Granted skating is hugely less popular in the US that it was, but is that so in other countries?
Certainly it is wildly popular in Japan and Korea today. Ross Miner commented on the fact that tickets for the men's event at NHK sold out in "3 minutes".
Has the popularity of skating waned in Canada? In Germany? In France? In Russia? In Italy?
I hope our non-USA members will tell us.
Thanks, Mr. Rossano!
I believe generally speaking the scoring system has changed for the better. The more I study it, the more I like it. Though there are a lot to be improved. Regarding to popularity, it will be more unpopular in US with or without scoring system changes. The judging scandal really did the work to hammering down this sport imo. But there are huge cultural background and many factors contributed to it.
I'm all for loosening up in some areas in CoP but it should still be based on CoP. 6.0 should be thrown away forever because it was too roughly designed and measured, and reputationally based.
I read this article earlier and I agree with everything Janet Lynn had to say.
Especially the part about youth, and how they measure great performances of the past by today's COP, and find them lacking. Ahhh, the ignorance of youth.
Me, I don't have neither the time nor the desire to educate the ignoramus, let them wallow in their own stupidity and superiority.
I did find this to be an interesting read, and I agree with her sentiment; I don't like what skating has become under the COP. But the difficulty is the fact that skating is a judged sport, and you have to have some objective measurements to determine who wins and who loses.
My favorite line:
Teach skaters how to skate a resplendent language on ice with necessary self-government and set them free to beautiful music.
A resplendent language on ice. What a beautiful way of describing the element that calls me to skating every time.
I also agree with Janet. The fact that skating may still be popular in Japan and Canada has more to do with particular skaters than an enduring interest in the sport. And it doesn't change the fact that skating is on life support in the biggest media market, the US. One thing that needs to change, in my opinion, is the rewarding of tricks, like adding a Biellmann to a layback or twizzles to footwork to raise the levels and gain extra points. These elements are not the measure of a good skater. I see little kids doing Biellmanns at public skating sessions. But a beautiful classic layback, like Janet's or Sasha Cohen's, is rare. That is what should be rewarded, if a point system is to be used. I would get rid of levels altogether, in the long program at least. And the presentation mark needs to be revised, too. There are too many elements. I read that originally, the 6.0 system was going to be retained for the second mark. Too bad that view didn't prevail.
While interesting and well written, I think the article leaves out Larger forces at work in our societies. And the very nature of our cultures. Technology is fast making us very different people. And that is one reason why skating is looseing popularity with the general public. It does help to have your country have big, popular stars, but look at the Attendance at SkateFrance, which I have been watching this week after having made a DVD from Univ. Sports. Stop the video and look at the stands....just as bad as SkateAmerica. We live in a world where the average young person's attention span is 2-3 seconds....Dont believe me? Watch an MTV music video....I cant...it is too distracting....watch the young casual fans watching a Mirai or an Alissa skate and they still are constantly checking their cell phones.....You think skating is big in Korea? I have to wonder if maybe Yu-Na is big in Korea. At SkateAmerica Lake Placid, the Koreans came by the bussful from NYC to watch her, but almost all of them watched almost none of the rest of the skating....The sport is still popular in Canada and Japan. I just hope I am wrong about the US, but things arent looking all that good....
ITA. One huge problem is that the programs are just too hard now. Clean programs are so rare that there isn't anyone to get excited about. Adding to the frustration, at least for me, is that the announcers really don't get excited either. And why should they? They aren't even sure if they saw a "good" program, given that nobody knows until the marks come up whether jumps were fully rotated or spins achieved a certain level. Under 6.0 I had a good idea after watching a program where it would place. That isn't the case now, so I just wait until programs post on YouTube so I can just watch the "good" ones.Originally Posted by jenaj
Janet is dead on right describing most skater's programs today. She epitomizes the basics that made skating beautiful. CoP needs reform. 6.0 wasn't always fair but neither is CoP. Judging must become transparent.
I agree with a lot of things Janet says but I don't think it's that simple. I think in some ways the new scoring system does reward basic skating skills - it seems to reward a skater like Patrick Chan, for instance. The scoring system seems to regard him as far above nearly all his competitors and not for his jumps. So, I don't know.
Still, I guess Janet's point wasn't so much that the wrong people win but that the new system promotes awkward and joyless programs. I agree with what she says about the footwork sequence and the spins. I absolutely hate that skaters scrape out high levels for contorting their bodies even if the lines are ugly. If you truly have a beautiful bielmann or donut or I spin, great, use it. But skaters these days do horrid versions of those spins and get the points anyway just for doing it. Yick.
Am I the only that think Janet Lynn is barking up the wrong tree as most of the members to this forum are. The IJS does nothing but award points for different skating elements. If you do more difficult elements you get more. If you do easier elements you get less. If you do it well you get more. If you do it badly you get less. It has no control over what elements the skater does, who the skate choreographer is, or what music they choose or how much they care about skating skills. The skater, coaches, and federation are who have say and control in that department. If a skater wants they can do nothing but skate in circles to beautiful music. They will still be awarded points. If skater chooses to listen to music and work on there skating skills the ijs will shower them with points- aka yuna kim , patrick chan, daisuke takashi, jeremy abbott, etc but it also up to the skater , the coaching staff and the federation to promote that. It is not the job of an impartial judging system which trying to do its job which is being impartial. Mrs. Lynn need to be talking to skating clubs and the federation about building basics and the importance of program components not a judging system that just award points for what skater do best(what ever that may be.)
Unless I'm misunderstanding you, that's simply not true. There are many rules about which elements must and must not be used in which programs. The skaters and choreographers have a lot of restrictions to work around. People with expertise discuss these rules in many threads here.
This is a typical eloquent expression of personal opinions, even if they are those of a well respected person, that are based on non substantiated premises. Lynn may lament the lack of beauty in skating per her preference, but that is no grounds for negating all improvements in the sport since her days and linking her wistfulness to the loss of popularity of figure skating in the US, the causes of which have not been identified and validated with any comprehensive study and survey. But it is extremely unlikely to be due to a sole factor which happens to be a personal peeve.
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