Random Figure Skating Questions

concorde said:

I was noticing the Grand Prix scoring and notices that most skaters got dinged at least once with "x Credit for highlight distribution, base value multiplied by 1.1" What exactly does this mean?

For the ladies, I noticed that there were some negative scores associated with them so I assumed it was an under-rotation issue. But then with Hanyu and his 3A, I noticed that there were positive scores associated with this x. I am confused so I am hoping someone can explain this.

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Not a ding -- quite the contrary.
The "x" signifies jumps performed in the second half of the program -- which are rewarded with 10% extra credit over the base value.

concorde said:

I was noticing the Grand Prix scoring and notices that most skaters got dinged at least once with "x Credit for highlight distribution, base value multiplied by 1.1" What exactly does this mean?

For the ladies, I noticed that there were some negative scores associated with them so I assumed it was an under-rotation issue. But then with Hanyu and his 3A, I noticed that there were positive scores associated with this x. I am confused so I am hoping someone can explain this.

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After the second half of the program, jumps get a 10% bonus on the base value, so when there's an x beside it, it's to mark that it was in the second half so the base value is multiplied by 1.1 (eg 3Lz in the second half would be worth 6.60 points opposed to the usual 6.0)

golden411 said:

ETA:

But at the same time, it is possible that the skater would receive negative GOE for a jump with an "x" -- the same possibility as if it were in the first half in the program.​

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I would suspect that the chances of negative GOE would be slightly higher after the halfway mark, simply because skaters are more tired by then. For most skaters, it's a little riskier, which I think is part of the reason there's more reward.

But that's just a hypothesis. It would be interesting to do an actual comparison to see frequency of negative vs. positive GOE

peg said:

I would suspect that the chances of negative GOE would be slightly higher after the halfway mark, simply because skaters are more tired by then. For most skaters, it's a little riskier, which I think is part of the reason there's more reward.

But that's just a hypothesis. It would be interesting to do an actual comparison to see frequency of negative vs. positive GOE

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Sorry for my poor choice of words. I was trying to say only that the "x" does not confer immunity from negative GOE.

Didn't mean the "same" in a mathematical sense, either theoretically or empirically. But I understand your hypothesis.

golden411 said:

Sorry for my poor choice of words. I was trying to say only that the "x" does not confer immunity from negative GOE.

Didn't mean the "same" in a mathematical sense, either theoretically or empirically. But I understand your hypothesis.

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Putting a word nerd in a job where they deal with statistics is a dangerous combination

I sort of sensed what you meant, but it lacked clarity

peg said:

Putting a word nerd in a job where they deal with statistics is a dangerous combination

I sort of sensed what you meant, but it lacked clarity

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Fellow word nerd here.

But I won't bore others with a further response -- except to say that I have edited my post above to delete the second half of the sentence under discussion. The first half stands alone without it.

Thank you!

When you look at the GOEs, it make sense since the majority are negative.

I don't know if this question has been asked/answered (and I'm not going to read 89 pages of posts to find out), but are Tanith & Peter actually @ the GPF or in a studio back in the US as they commentate?

So, this might be a really, REALLY stupid question...but, here goes: A lot of skaters talk about how competition nerves makes what they do in practice everyday really hard. And, a lot of skaters mention one or both of two things in particular: the way adrenaline rush impacts them and the way the nerves make them stiff or their legs really heavy.

My question/s is/are: is there any (legal) way to practice for adrenaline rush? And, leg stiffness/heaviness (here, I was wondering if some sort of weight tights might help?)?

This might sound weird but I would think speaking in front of large groups would help. Sure there are other ways thru strength and conditioning means but just being comfortable in front of large groups of people can help settle the nerves. After all...Machida said he was I'm great shape and that wasn't the factor for his shortcomings.

This is a somewhat random question about the ISU rules - I can't seem to find any information on this. Some skater's do sequence jumps marvelously (I'm mostly thinking of Hanyu's beautiful 4T+3A or Wagner's lovely 3Lo+2A, which she regrettably isn't doing this season), but these sequence are rarely used because of the reduction in base value. So my question is, can a skater do a sequence without calling it a sequence and just get high GOE on both jumps - or does the technical caller immediately deem any two jumps with sequence-qualifying steps between them a sequence? In case this isn't clear, let's just hypothetically say Hanyu chose to do something like:
1) 4T
2) 3A
3) 4S
4) 3F
5) 3A + 3T
6) 3Lz + 1Lo + 3S
7) 3Lz + 2T
8) 3Lo

but did the first two jumps like so - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wICH1Jpsq8M - would the technical caller immediately change this too:
1) 4T + 3A SEQ
2) 4S
3) 3F
4) 3A + 3T
5) 3Lz + 1Lo + 3S
6) 3Lz + 2T** (invalid element, b/c it's fourth combo)
7) 3Lo

I was just curious because from a GOE perspective it would make sense for Hanyu and Ashley to do their sequences but not use them as a combo pass. I assume this isn't allowed, but I want to be certain.

emma said:

So, this might be a really, REALLY stupid question...but, here goes: A lot of skaters talk about how competition nerves makes what they do in practice everyday really hard. And, a lot of skaters mention one or both of two things in particular: the way adrenaline rush impacts them and the way the nerves make them stiff or their legs really heavy.

My question/s is/are: is there any (legal) way to practice for adrenaline rush? And, leg stiffness/heaviness (here, I was wondering if some sort of weight tights might help?)?

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Journaling (writing about your thoughts and feelings) before you skate in competition may help. There's a NOVA program about this, here you go:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/sian-beilock.html

It's a good 10 minute video.

Has any coach, other than Orser, had both a male and female Olympic Gold Medalist?

caelum said:

So my question is, can a skater do a sequence without calling it a sequence and just get high GOE on both jumps - or does the technical caller immediately deem any two jumps with sequence-qualifying steps between them a sequence?

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I think the callers will call what they see, according to the rules.
So if it meets the definition of a sequence, they'll call it as a sequence. They can't know what the skater intends. Planned program content sheets don't override what the skater actually does on the ice, because skaters are allowed to change their layout from what they submitted in advance.

The reason why it's usually more valuable to do the jumps in sequence than as two isolated jumps is because that leaves open another jumping pass that the skater can fill with another jump for more points.

With something like 4T+3A+Seq, however, the loss of points to the sequence multiplier is likely to be more than the value of a double axel, if the skater has used up all the triples that could be repeated, or a repeat triple if available.

In your example, he could avoid the 3Lz+2T being invalidated by just leaving the 2T off the second lutz because the first one was also in combination so a solo 3Lz would also be a valid element. And then he has an extra slot open that could be used for a double axel or other double jump.

If the skater can do two difficult jumps in close proximity and wants to use them as solo jumps each with high GOE and then also include 3 combos/sequences elsewhere in the program, then my advice would be to put in a few more steps between the two jumps so it becomes clear that there is no intention of meeting the definition of a jump sequence.

As long as both jumps and the steps in between are executed cleanly and clearly, they should be able to get the scores they want.

With jump sequences, there is always a risk that a mistake on the first and extra steps fumbling to get into the second will mean that the element will be called as the first jump +Seq with 80% base value and no credit at all for the second jump.
That could also be a risk with two intended solo jumps in close proximity linked by steps.

High reward if the effort is successful, potential significant loss of points if fumbled and called according to what the caller sees.

Icey said:

Has any coach, other than Orser, had both a male and female Olympic Gold Medalist?

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Carlo Fassi comes to mind. He coached both the men's and women's gold medalists in 1976.

Oh, and Galina Zmievskaya

How do countries without a history of figure skating get a spot for their skaters at the World Championships? Or do all countries who are part of the ISU automatically get one spot as long as the TEB requirements are met?

Has anyone or any team skated to purple rain by the artist formerly known as Prince? The costuming would be epic!!

Sam-Skwantch said:

Has anyone or any team skated to purple rain by the artist formerly known as Prince? The costuming would be epic!!

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Emanuel Sandhu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_a92bcjeGI

gallavich said:

Emanuel Sandhu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_a92bcjeGI

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You have much knowledge

gravy said:

How do countries without a history of figure skating get a spot for their skaters at the World Championships? Or do all countries who are part of the ISU automatically get one spot as long as the TEB requirements are met?

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All federations are entitled to send one entry per discipline.

For some years there were qualifying rounds and only the top 30 skaters went on to the short program final round.

Most recently there have been minimum technical scores, so now all federations are entitled to send one entry per discipline who has achieved the minimum score.

The scores for Worlds are set high enough that many smaller federations will not have any qualified skaters.