Which skater in the last 20 years would've been best at comp figures?

Big Deal · Feb 28, 2015

Undoubtedly Patrick Chan and Yu-na Kim, Shizuka Arakawa.

BUT.
I think that the BEST concerning to edges are the icedancers. They should do the best figures. Like Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir, Albena Denkova,Maxim Staviyski, Marina Anissina,Gwendal Peizerat, or recently Guillaume Cizeron.

dorispulaski · Feb 28, 2015

mrrice said:
Another gal who was good at figures.....Tonya Harding. If only......

Yes, Tonya did well at figures.

Another plus for ice dancers, they have the ability to practice repetitive, perhaps boring, pattern dances, a similar skill to practicing figures.

And Charlie White belongs on that list of dancers who might do well in figures. As a junior in singles, Charlie was the first ever US guy, junior or senior, to get level 4 on a step sequence. And if anybody from recent years has, to paraphrase Carol Lane, the irritating habit of not making mistakes, it would be Charlie and Meryl. Meryl is the tougher of the two, but I suspect her limited vision and lack of depth perception would make figures difficult for her.

I doubt A&P would do that well, despite having great edges. They used to have CD's where the patterns shifted A LOT between iterations, so perhaps, like Meryl, they had visual issues? Or lack of concentration? Or no patience for practicing repetitive stuff? It is hard to know why they had that problem, but is something you can't do and score well at figures.

el henry · Feb 28, 2015

One more vote for the ice dancers. Those are the skills needed for schools.

I have to disagree with those arguing for their favorite skaters (such as Yuna or Patrick) with the elegant deep edges, etc. That does not translate to success at schools. No one was more elegant than Toller. But he did not master the compulsory figures. It really takes a mindset for competition in compulsory figures, and we just don't know (which is why we can discuss

peg · Feb 28, 2015

rollerblade said:
It's hard to imagine Kurt being bad at figures. The guy has magic feet! Did he trip over himself or something?

My recollection is that he found them too boring. But my memory might not be 100% accurate.

peg · Feb 28, 2015

el henry said:
One more vote for the ice dancers. Those are the skills needed for schools.

I have to disagree with those arguing for their favorite skaters (such as Yuna or Patrick) with the elegant deep edges, etc. That does not translate to success at schools. No one was more elegant than Toller. But he did not master the compulsory figures. It really takes a mindset for competition in compulsory figures, and we just don't know (which is why we can discuss

I think though with Patrick it's not just about the elegant deep edges, but the blade control and ability to generate seed out of nowhere. Also, it is known that his first coach made him spend a lot of time on basic skills.

Wo|flax · Feb 28, 2015

el henry said:
One more vote for the ice dancers. Those are the skills needed for schools.

I have to disagree with those arguing for their favorite skaters (such as Yuna or Patrick) with the elegant deep edges, etc. That does not translate to success at schools. No one was more elegant than Toller. But he did not master the compulsory figures. It really takes a mindset for competition in compulsory figures, and we just don't know (which is why we can discuss

I think Yuna and her nerves of steel and discipline is a pretty safe bet.
Brian also said he reduced her session times, meaning she could have used that time for more figures and still achieved everything she did in free skating.

stevlin · Feb 28, 2015

Paul Wylie was the last person to do school figures. I remember Toller Cranston saying that Todd Eldredge did wonderful school figures.

dorispulaski · Feb 28, 2015

I remember Toller saying that.

Weathergal · Feb 28, 2015

Rohene Ward. I read in an interview with him somewhere that he spent hours in the rink on his own practicing school figures, working on spinning in both directions, and creating his own choreography. I know he never had the competition mojo even though he's incredibly talented, but the nerves thing might be an issue, of course.

WeakAnkles · Mar 1, 2015

el henry said:
One more vote for the ice dancers. Those are the skills needed for schools.

I have to disagree with those arguing for their favorite skaters (such as Yuna or Patrick) with the elegant deep edges, etc. That does not translate to success at schools. No one was more elegant than Toller. But he did not master the compulsory figures. It really takes a mindset for competition in compulsory figures, and we just don't know (which is why we can discuss

Exactly. And there was often no carryover from success in figures to great free skating. They demanded different skills.

Tutto · Mar 2, 2015

IMHO any skater who invested enough time and effort into figures can be good. I recall many skaters who weren't good to start with, lost a few competitions 'thanks to figures', put in hours of practice (remember reading that Katarina Witt had to spend 2 hours daily on figures) got proficient and ... lost competitions again because meanwhile they fell behind on other areas or simply their opportunities were gone by that time. Abolition of figures was one of the best things happened to FS

Interspectator · Mar 2, 2015

It's interesting to see school figures, but I don't think anyone wants to see them back in competition like they were before.
Watching one or two people do them is fine. But seeing everyone do them would be awful.

FlattFan · Mar 2, 2015

Wasn't figure ranking always controversial? Like some people always miraculously got very high scores. I bet Carolina Kostner would have done real well under figures. They would make sure to keep her at the top prior to the SP and LP.

mrrice · Mar 2, 2015

Patrick Chan and though I never saw her do them. I would think Jennifer Robinson would have been good at figures. Didn't she come from a hockey family or marry a hockey Player. I know she wasn't the fastest skater in the world but you don't need speed for figures.

Someone from Canada please let me know. Thanks

Todd E. or Brian B. from the US

Skater Boy · Mar 2, 2015

Weathergal said:
Rohene Ward. I read in an interview with him somewhere that he spent hours in the rink on his own practicing school figures, working on spinning in both directions, and creating his own choreography. I know he never had the competition mojo even though he's incredibly talented, but the nerves thing might be an issue, of course.

I know there are a lot of Rohene Ward fans but he wasn't the best of competitiors so I don't think he would be great at figures. Besides practising a lot is quite different than performing them.

solani · Mar 3, 2015

FlattFan said:
Wasn't figure ranking always controversial? Like some people always miraculously got very high scores. I bet Carolina Kostner would have done real well under figures. They would make sure to keep her at the top prior to the SP and LP.

Isn't judging always controversial? I believe that judging figures was easier than judging free skates in the past. And we cannot check for ourselves, it's all speculating. When it comes to Carolina, i think that she was sometimes overscored, sometimes underscored and fairly judged most of the time. And I don't think that she would have done well at figures, her nerves ...

Mafke · Mar 3, 2015

One the fire and ice (?) documentary a judge claims that in his experience figures were scored more fairly than free skating.

Obviously not always* but there's no special reason to believe they weren't judged about as fairly as anything else.

For qualities that went into doing well, the following seem to stand out

discipline - all elite skaters are disciplined but some are more than others, figures benefitted from steady constant practice not intermittent intense focus

competitive nerve - the judges are standing a few feet away and a few centimeters can be the difference between placements

age - unlike free skating which has a peak and decline (in technical elements if not presentation) older comeptitors did better

liking figures - many brilliant free skaters enjoyed doing figures and probably practiced them more than others who found them a chore

size - a slightly heavier skater will have clearer edges than a lighter one, a lot of good figures skaters had kind of heavy (ie very muscular) legs

*back in 1988 Peggy Fleming strongly suggested, without actually saying as much, that Witt was held up in figures, look up the footage on youtube and see if you agree

Globetrotter · Mar 3, 2015

psusanne said:
Isn't judging always controversial? I believe that judging figures was easier than judging free skates in the past. And we cannot check for ourselves, it's all speculating. When it comes to Carolina, i think that she was sometimes overscored, sometimes underscored and fairly judged most of the time. And I don't think that she would have done well at figures, her nerves ...

I would agree with this. While Caro Kostner has probably the best basic skating skills and edges among her peers when she was competing, what did her in is her competitive nerves, or rather the lack of them. She was more a "happy" and "lovely" skater rather than one who was focused and result oriented. Sure, she had the goods but I do not think she had the mindset. For me, the same applies to Patrick Chan - despite his obvious talents, I doubt he had the concentration to practise the school figures which he may have found too boring.

My bet will be on someone like Yuna Kim or Tonya Harding or maybe even Yulia Lip or Ilia Kulik whose focus, and nerves and discipline will hold up to the demands of school figures. They may be the sort who can endure the repetitive and mundane in order to get the job done - of course I am referring to the Tonya Harding prior to her getting involved with her ex husband.

Meoima · Mar 3, 2015

Globetrotter said:
My bet will be on someone like Yuna Kim or Tonya Harding or maybe even Yulia Lip or Ilia Kulik whose focus, and nerves and discipline will hold up to the demands of school figures. They may be the sort who can endure the repetitive and mundane in order to get the job done - of course I am referring to the Tonya Harding prior to her getting involved with her ex husband.

Kulik of all people??? Eh... I am not sure about that. His concentration was questionable sometimes.

Which skater in the last 20 years would've been best at comp figures?

Big Deal

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.

peg

peg

Wo|flax

stevlin

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl

Weathergal

WeakAnkles

Tutto

Interspectator

FlattFan

Match Penalty

mrrice

Skater Boy

solani

Mafke

Globetrotter

Meoima

Match Penalty

Similar threads

Connect with us