- Joined
- Jul 28, 2003
http://ptichkafs.livejournal.com/37359.html
Of stops, lifts, and lutz edging.
Oleg Vasiliev blog, September 15, 2008
As promised, I will talk today of the ISU Congress that took place in Monaco this past summer, and of the changes adopted there.
A few days before the start of Congress, the ISU technical committee puts together a list of suggestions from national federations, coaches, and athletes. For example, I received a letter from coaches in America that had fourteen pages of suggested changes to the current judging system. In essence, it came down to the current system being wrong and a new one being necessary. Clearly, this couldn’t be ignored as it is professionals’ opinions, and I correspondingly addressed each point. Ultimately, there were more than five hundred such various suggestions on figure skating changes.
Here are the major decisions the Congress adopted regarding figure (mainly pair) skating:
First. Time between the skater being called onto the ice and the start of the program has been shortened from two minutes to one. Some won’t have a problem with this, but other athletes are accustomed to taking their time to talk to their coach, check the ice, etc. However, this had to be done since television dictates their rules and tried to condense competitions to a reasonable minimum.
Next change relates to the athletes’ stops during skating. Last season, two Russian teams had a break in their free program skates (one on Russian Nationals, another at Worlds); upon discussing this at the ISU Technical committee, we concluded that some athletes could use this for their benefit. Most difficult elements are worth more in the second half of the program, so you can’t dismiss a possibility of an athlete coming up with an excuse to take break after the halfway point; they would then skate the second part less exhausted and could do better with the difficult elements. After lengthy discussions, we adopted a rule where almost any stop by an athlete or a team will be penalized by two points. However, the referee has a right to not apply the rule if the stop took place without the athlete’s fault, such as if electricity at the rink goes out or something similar.
Last season, only jumps and throws were worth the additional 10 percent if performed in the second half of the free program. This year, lifts and twist throws were added. I think this is right because the lifts are far more difficult toward the end of the program, and this can lead to better balanced programs. Also, singles don’t have elements such as lifts and twist throws, and their jumps are worth more in the second half.
Also, both single and pair skating will have one less element in the free program. Pair skaters are now also allowed to do two different twist throws in the free, so pairs will be able to do either two lifts and two twist throws, or three lifts and one twist throw. In terms of points, a triple twist is worth only a bit more than a lift, but it will allow for bigger variety, making free skating a bit more interesting.
Mukhortova and Trankov haven’t learned new twists this season, so we’ll stay with three lifts and one twist. In the Spring, though, I hope to try something new, and we could then add another twist.
There are also changes in how spins are judged. Before, one of the requirements for the more difficult level was three base positions on each leg; now, three positions on one leg suffice. Previous requirements were unreasonably harsh and unreasonable, though many athletes complied with it. This change has allowed my team to decrease the time and number of rotations on side-by-side spins in both programs. Now, they spin for three or four seconds less, which reduces errors. That element is relatively undemanding physically, but it requires a very high concentration. A combination spin with a change of leg requires about 15 rotations, and most of the small errors at competitions happen on the spins.
In pair short programs, combination spirals no longer has a requirement for at least one of the partners to continuously be in a spiral position. We removed it because it doesn’t really matter, and makes attaining level four practically impossible.
For lifts, rotations were previous counted from the moment the lady leaves the ices to the moment she lands. This season, the start is counted the same way, but the end is marked by the guy beginning to bend his elbows to get the lady down.
There were many changes in levels, but those are so minute they really only matter for the technical specialists. Those changes will make it easier for them to understand which difficulty level should be assigned.
There were some corrections made in the definition of a sit spin. In addition to the requirement for the hip to be no higher than the knee of the supporting leg, there is now one about the thigh being parallel to the ice. There are now more specific instructions for technical controller regarding the definitions of flip and lutz. In the lutz, there is now a differentiation between a minor and a major change of edge. Minor is one the athlete slightly shifts the edge at the last moment. It doesn’t cardinally change the essence of the jump, though it is an error, and the judges’ computers will display an “e” next to the jump symbol to indicate a wrong edge. In that case, GoE can only be negative. For a major change of edge, an exclamation point is displayed, with automatically leads to a three point deduction.
There is a ton of such small changes, and describing them all would take days. Really, the amount of work at the Congress seemed truly insurmountable. During my 12 days in Monaco, I only had a chance to stroll through the city once, and I had to give up the guided tour on our half-holiday to do that. The rest of the time, we started work at 8 in the morning, and finished at 8 or 9 in the evening.
The only perk I get as a member of the ISU technical committee is the understanding all the minutiae of figure skating rules and regulations. I absolutely must know all those rules, remember them, and know how to apply them. I don’t need to stare at each new communiqué and rack my brain over how it applies to this or that element.
Sure, in theory I could effect change that would be favorable to my athletes, but I have never done it nor will I ever do it. Firstly, it’s unreasonable to match the changes to a specific pair. Passing a change for a specific duo, I’d be making a big mistake as I could later have other athletes that would be hurt by those changes.
Secondly, my work is guided by the global idea of pair skating. It’s not about Russian, Chinese, or any other kind, but about pair skating as a beautiful and entertaining sport. The changes I suggested moved the discipline in that direction as we now encourage long spirals, long death spirals, long lifts, and other elements that delight the audiences and bring them aesthetical pleasure.
Of stops, lifts, and lutz edging.
Oleg Vasiliev blog, September 15, 2008
As promised, I will talk today of the ISU Congress that took place in Monaco this past summer, and of the changes adopted there.
A few days before the start of Congress, the ISU technical committee puts together a list of suggestions from national federations, coaches, and athletes. For example, I received a letter from coaches in America that had fourteen pages of suggested changes to the current judging system. In essence, it came down to the current system being wrong and a new one being necessary. Clearly, this couldn’t be ignored as it is professionals’ opinions, and I correspondingly addressed each point. Ultimately, there were more than five hundred such various suggestions on figure skating changes.
Here are the major decisions the Congress adopted regarding figure (mainly pair) skating:
First. Time between the skater being called onto the ice and the start of the program has been shortened from two minutes to one. Some won’t have a problem with this, but other athletes are accustomed to taking their time to talk to their coach, check the ice, etc. However, this had to be done since television dictates their rules and tried to condense competitions to a reasonable minimum.
Next change relates to the athletes’ stops during skating. Last season, two Russian teams had a break in their free program skates (one on Russian Nationals, another at Worlds); upon discussing this at the ISU Technical committee, we concluded that some athletes could use this for their benefit. Most difficult elements are worth more in the second half of the program, so you can’t dismiss a possibility of an athlete coming up with an excuse to take break after the halfway point; they would then skate the second part less exhausted and could do better with the difficult elements. After lengthy discussions, we adopted a rule where almost any stop by an athlete or a team will be penalized by two points. However, the referee has a right to not apply the rule if the stop took place without the athlete’s fault, such as if electricity at the rink goes out or something similar.
Last season, only jumps and throws were worth the additional 10 percent if performed in the second half of the free program. This year, lifts and twist throws were added. I think this is right because the lifts are far more difficult toward the end of the program, and this can lead to better balanced programs. Also, singles don’t have elements such as lifts and twist throws, and their jumps are worth more in the second half.
Also, both single and pair skating will have one less element in the free program. Pair skaters are now also allowed to do two different twist throws in the free, so pairs will be able to do either two lifts and two twist throws, or three lifts and one twist throw. In terms of points, a triple twist is worth only a bit more than a lift, but it will allow for bigger variety, making free skating a bit more interesting.
Mukhortova and Trankov haven’t learned new twists this season, so we’ll stay with three lifts and one twist. In the Spring, though, I hope to try something new, and we could then add another twist.
There are also changes in how spins are judged. Before, one of the requirements for the more difficult level was three base positions on each leg; now, three positions on one leg suffice. Previous requirements were unreasonably harsh and unreasonable, though many athletes complied with it. This change has allowed my team to decrease the time and number of rotations on side-by-side spins in both programs. Now, they spin for three or four seconds less, which reduces errors. That element is relatively undemanding physically, but it requires a very high concentration. A combination spin with a change of leg requires about 15 rotations, and most of the small errors at competitions happen on the spins.
In pair short programs, combination spirals no longer has a requirement for at least one of the partners to continuously be in a spiral position. We removed it because it doesn’t really matter, and makes attaining level four practically impossible.
For lifts, rotations were previous counted from the moment the lady leaves the ices to the moment she lands. This season, the start is counted the same way, but the end is marked by the guy beginning to bend his elbows to get the lady down.
There were many changes in levels, but those are so minute they really only matter for the technical specialists. Those changes will make it easier for them to understand which difficulty level should be assigned.
There were some corrections made in the definition of a sit spin. In addition to the requirement for the hip to be no higher than the knee of the supporting leg, there is now one about the thigh being parallel to the ice. There are now more specific instructions for technical controller regarding the definitions of flip and lutz. In the lutz, there is now a differentiation between a minor and a major change of edge. Minor is one the athlete slightly shifts the edge at the last moment. It doesn’t cardinally change the essence of the jump, though it is an error, and the judges’ computers will display an “e” next to the jump symbol to indicate a wrong edge. In that case, GoE can only be negative. For a major change of edge, an exclamation point is displayed, with automatically leads to a three point deduction.
There is a ton of such small changes, and describing them all would take days. Really, the amount of work at the Congress seemed truly insurmountable. During my 12 days in Monaco, I only had a chance to stroll through the city once, and I had to give up the guided tour on our half-holiday to do that. The rest of the time, we started work at 8 in the morning, and finished at 8 or 9 in the evening.
The only perk I get as a member of the ISU technical committee is the understanding all the minutiae of figure skating rules and regulations. I absolutely must know all those rules, remember them, and know how to apply them. I don’t need to stare at each new communiqué and rack my brain over how it applies to this or that element.
Sure, in theory I could effect change that would be favorable to my athletes, but I have never done it nor will I ever do it. Firstly, it’s unreasonable to match the changes to a specific pair. Passing a change for a specific duo, I’d be making a big mistake as I could later have other athletes that would be hurt by those changes.
Secondly, my work is guided by the global idea of pair skating. It’s not about Russian, Chinese, or any other kind, but about pair skating as a beautiful and entertaining sport. The changes I suggested moved the discipline in that direction as we now encourage long spirals, long death spirals, long lifts, and other elements that delight the audiences and bring them aesthetical pleasure.
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to the skaters trying to skate to fit them all in - or figure it out in the first place. Must be a choreographic nightmare. Kudos to all who take the ice.
