She should get credit for the steps, but she should not get double credit, once in the GOE for the element and again in the transitions component, for the same steps. That's where I think the scoring system is wrong -- they give a reward twice for the same thing. It seems like one or the other but not both would be more fair.
At the least, if you are going to reward difficult jump entries in the transitions component score anyway, and if you miss the jump, then I do not see the merit in giving a double reward for making the entry to an element so hard that you can't do it at all.
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My complaint is that a lot of what counts as incorporating steps and turns as part of the jump entry is often in fact little more than a couple of twitches. Maybe I don't have a good enough eye. To me this seems especially true in the required solo triple in the short program. I also have a problem with the "immediately" part. A lot of these jumps have turns and steps -- and then a long straight entry edge. I think this should be counted as transitions in program components, but not also as GOE bullets if they are too far in advance of the actual takeoff.
Speaking for myself, as general principles...
I think that the “Transitions” score covers everything in the program that is not itself an element. The “difficulty” criterion would include not only the difficulty of the steps or other moves themselves but also how they add to the difficulty of the element they lead into (or out of) -- which would be “not much” if there’s a long enough pause for the skater to readjust balance and timing before initiating the element. The “intricacy” criterion would include how closely steps etc. are linked to the elements and how closely elements are linked to each other. So mere quantity doesn’t guarantee a high Transitions score if there are gaps between the transitional moves and the elements.
Then there are also the variety and quality criteria. Of course, it’s easier to have variety when there is more quantity, but it’s no guarantee.
If the quality of the element suffers, the quality of the transition may also suffer -- which would often be more true on an transition exiting a move than entering one.
Also, some transition moves (whether directly connected to elements or not) enhance the Choreography of the program and should also be rewarded in that component. Others are just thrown in to add difficulty so they wouldn’t help the Choreography component; some might even detract from the unity, seamlessness, coherence, phrasing, etc., of the program, in which case they could have a negative effect on that component.
As for the GOE, difficult entry (or exit) is just one bullet point toward positive GOE. Two bullet points are required for each plus. So a difficult entry on its own doesn’t guarantee a plus, and an error that requires negative GOE would often cancel out the benefits of the difficult entry.
Doubling an intended triple jump in a freeskate and landing it successfully is not “missing” the element. If it’s a successful double, it would be judged as such, and the GOE would be whatever it deserves as a successful double based on the quality of the jump -- with difficult entry or exit if applicable -- and the base value and the value of the positive GOE if any will be significantly lower than for a triple.
In a short program if a jump is required to be triple then doubling or singling it requires -3 GOE, so there’s no GOE benefit to be had from a difficult entry.
For the solo jump in the short program, if there’s a notable pause between the preceding moves and the jump, the judges are supposed to reduce the GOE from what would be for that jump on its own, as executed, in a different (e.g., long program) context. Skaters put steps before the SP solo jump because they’re required and have been since the 1970s because steps before a jump is a skill the ISU has long wanted to reward. If they don’t do it on that one element where it’s required, they lose points. On other elements, they open the opportunity to gain points.
A failed jump will always lose points. In some cases good qualities about the jump, including a difficult entry, may mitigate the amount of points lost.
So sometimes transition moves before a jump will add to both the Transitions component and possibly other components and to the GOE for the jump. Other times they will help the PCS but will be able to do nothing for a failed jump that had too much else wrong with it. Still other times it will add to the GOE but contribute little to the PCS. And occasionally (the same simple transitions repeated too often in the program with weak quality and/or resulting in a failed element) they will contribute nothing positive at all. That’s why I think it makes sense to allow transitions that contribute positively to the performance in more than one way to be rewarded in more than one way.
And the same for elements, which can be rewarded in GOE for several different kinds of positive qualities, up to +3, and can also be rewarded in PCS if they contribute to various criteria of the various components.
Now, if you want to choose a specific jump from a specific performance, with transitions, we could analyze what’s good and bad about it as a jump and also how it fits into the program as a whole.
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