Don't be intimidated. This is not a term paper assignment, lol. I'm just curious as to what people think is most important about skating. why they love it, why they think it's an important sport (if they do), things like that.
I like skating because I love movement. That's the first thing I look at in a skater, the way s/he moves--the flow of the body over the ice, the deep soft bend of the knees, speed, upper body expansiveness and expressivity. Of course a lot of the effectiveness of the movement across the ice comes from edging, but I'm not one to look at edging on first viewing. I like getting the whole effect first, the way the skater expresses the music, the way the skater expresses himself. I don't even pay much attention to which jumps they hit on first viewing, just whether or not they fall. I want to be spellbound when I first watch a program, even if I've seen the program several times before. After that, I'll look at the tape for the technical side--did they use the right edging on their jumps, was the edging deep, were the spins centered, etc. At a live event, there's nothing I hate more than somebody next to me giving a running commentary, ie, "She flutzed that, did you see it? Obvious flutz. And that spin wasn't very well centered. She prerotated that." I know a lot of people want to look at the technical things as they happen, but keep them to yourself, please!
Most important is how a skater makes me feel and for me that comes through the movement. This is of course the most subjective thing. I've seen some great skaters whom I know are great but who I just don't connect with. I enjoy them, but it's not like watching a skater I feel a special affinity with, even if they're technically not as good as the other. I love it best, however, when skaters with two distinct styles both affect me equally. This happened to me with G&G and Mishkutenok&Dmitriev at the Olympics pairs free skate in '94. G&G were pure and clean, like beautifully simple but very moving archecture. M&D were blood-red Russian passion. They didn't have G&G's technique, but they were skating their hearts out and way out on the edge, so to speak. I love them both. As a judge, I agreed that G&G deserved the gold, but it was wonderful to see two opposing styles expressed so beautifully by such powerful skaters. Plus there was the spunk and panache of Brasseure&Eisler. That's my idea of a great competition.
Those are just some thoughts. What do others look for in skating?
Rgirl
I like skating because I love movement. That's the first thing I look at in a skater, the way s/he moves--the flow of the body over the ice, the deep soft bend of the knees, speed, upper body expansiveness and expressivity. Of course a lot of the effectiveness of the movement across the ice comes from edging, but I'm not one to look at edging on first viewing. I like getting the whole effect first, the way the skater expresses the music, the way the skater expresses himself. I don't even pay much attention to which jumps they hit on first viewing, just whether or not they fall. I want to be spellbound when I first watch a program, even if I've seen the program several times before. After that, I'll look at the tape for the technical side--did they use the right edging on their jumps, was the edging deep, were the spins centered, etc. At a live event, there's nothing I hate more than somebody next to me giving a running commentary, ie, "She flutzed that, did you see it? Obvious flutz. And that spin wasn't very well centered. She prerotated that." I know a lot of people want to look at the technical things as they happen, but keep them to yourself, please!
Most important is how a skater makes me feel and for me that comes through the movement. This is of course the most subjective thing. I've seen some great skaters whom I know are great but who I just don't connect with. I enjoy them, but it's not like watching a skater I feel a special affinity with, even if they're technically not as good as the other. I love it best, however, when skaters with two distinct styles both affect me equally. This happened to me with G&G and Mishkutenok&Dmitriev at the Olympics pairs free skate in '94. G&G were pure and clean, like beautifully simple but very moving archecture. M&D were blood-red Russian passion. They didn't have G&G's technique, but they were skating their hearts out and way out on the edge, so to speak. I love them both. As a judge, I agreed that G&G deserved the gold, but it was wonderful to see two opposing styles expressed so beautifully by such powerful skaters. Plus there was the spunk and panache of Brasseure&Eisler. That's my idea of a great competition.
Those are just some thoughts. What do others look for in skating?
Rgirl