Sonia's thoughts on the GPF can be found here.
http://www.iceskatingintnl.com/current/content/World without Sky.htm
http://www.iceskatingintnl.com/current/content/World without Sky.htm
GPF Commentary by Sonia Bianchetti
- Thread starter gsrossano
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A few factual mis-observations, and also some faulty reasoning, but I like the points she's brought up. I don't think that the lack of clean programs, in ladies anyway, is so much due to the inability to land clean jumps as it is due to the complex footwork, spins, spirals required in between the jumps -- they make it impossible for skaters to take a breath and refocus before attacking the second half of the program. Most falls/errors are happening in the second half. Nor is it due to their attempting more jumps than before -- most top ladies skaters are attempting 6-7 triples, which is about the same number as the last 5-10 years before COP was introduced.
54% seems like an under-estimate of the success rate of individual jumps. Obviously we're seeing more than 2% clean programs. Skaters probably achieve ~90% success rate on jumps that they place in programs, which means that the probability of a clean 6-jump program is .9^6= 53% success rate, and a clean 7-jump program is .9^7=48%. So we should expect to see about half of the programs to be clean, which was probably what happened under 6.0. But because skaters fatigue due to the jam-packed COP programs, their success rate on later jumps are dropping relative to in practice, so we're seeing clean programs in only about 10-30% of the skaters.
54% seems like an under-estimate of the success rate of individual jumps. Obviously we're seeing more than 2% clean programs. Skaters probably achieve ~90% success rate on jumps that they place in programs, which means that the probability of a clean 6-jump program is .9^6= 53% success rate, and a clean 7-jump program is .9^7=48%. So we should expect to see about half of the programs to be clean, which was probably what happened under 6.0. But because skaters fatigue due to the jam-packed COP programs, their success rate on later jumps are dropping relative to in practice, so we're seeing clean programs in only about 10-30% of the skaters.
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- Jul 14, 2007
It's funny because on TV they look the most boring to me.
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- Jul 11, 2003
Not unusual. Some people find Citizen Kane boring compared to Godfather; I don't. In fact I am capable of liking many.
Joe
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- Jul 14, 2007
Not unusual. Some people find Citizen Kane boring compared to Godfather; I don't. In fact I am capable of liking many.
Joe
haha, funny Joe because I actually have a friend who claims Citizen Kane was the most boring movie he's ever seen lol
her comments to me sound too biased to be credible journalism, but I appreciate her honesty and can relate to her maddening frustration with the changes in this sport. I think she genuinely cares and wishes that things were otherwise. As Stephane so aptly said in Turin, I really do hope people try and make changes so it's not just about the components and so skaters can win back their artistic freedom....
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- Jul 11, 2003
It's interesting cassie, that figure skating came along to show some technique with those blades. Hitherto, it was just for Speed Racing and Barrel Jumping for sport and transportation during the winter months. The 'art' of figure skating has since evolved to what it is today. I don't think it will go back. I believe it is a form of Dance and should be nurtured in that direction but the racers and jumpers see it otherwise. Bianchetti just has an opinion, unfortunately.
Joe
Front loaded versus bonus
The falls on jumps in the second half of the program - these are risks that the skaters are taking in an attempt to get the bonus points. Under 6.0, there was no reason to take that risk so we saw mostly front loaded programs.
Lin
The falls on jumps in the second half of the program - these are risks that the skaters are taking in an attempt to get the bonus points. Under 6.0, there was no reason to take that risk so we saw mostly front loaded programs.
Lin
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- Dec 16, 2006
I love figure skating, and I watch it for the artistry and the skaters, but if the skaters want something they should just take it upon themselves to make the change. The skaters should win back artistic freedom by doing less. I know that sounds stupid, and why would the skaters ban together, but that is the only way for them to do it--I doubt Speedy will listen to them. The only way for Speedy to change his ways is for things to become drastic, much the way the TV deals were almost nonexistent before he slashed prices.
Surprisingly, Speedy has backed off his unreasonable demands for inflated TV contracts. It is the first time I recall him backpedaling or admitting that he might be wrong about something. Can he possibly begin to listen to the skating world about CoP concerns? We can only hope.
Did Paul say on the telecast that perhaps only 3 spin sequences would be allowed in the LP next season? IS this a start? Or too little too late?
Did Paul say on the telecast that perhaps only 3 spin sequences would be allowed in the LP next season? IS this a start? Or too little too late?
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2003
I didn't here that but it is interesting that Paul knows about these things before they are enacted.
Joe
Brian Joubert "messed up his program"? Actually he withdrew because he had the flu. She needs to be a little more accurate on the facts there. According to wiki, Joubert has won gold in all 10/10 competitions he has attended in the past 2 seasons.
That makes me wonder - if a skater is scheduled for 3 GP events, and has to withdraw from the 1st or 2nd, will the 3rd count for them as a scoring event? Could a skater be swapped in later to give them a 2nd scoring event?
That makes me wonder - if a skater is scheduled for 3 GP events, and has to withdraw from the 1st or 2nd, will the 3rd count for them as a scoring event? Could a skater be swapped in later to give them a 2nd scoring event?
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- Jun 21, 2003
I'm pretty sure the answer to both questions is no.
Only pairs skaters can skate a third (non-scoring) event (I think because there aren't enough ranked pairs teams to go around). This year I believe only Pang and Tong and Sovchenko and Szolkowy had three events.
Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison also did 3 events - Skate America, Skate Canada and NHK trophy.
Kypma
Actually the quote is "They all messed up their programs badly in one or both of the Grand Prix events where they competed." Which refers to several skaters.
Joubert's Skate Canada FS could be described as messed up, being 10 points behind van der Perren in TES, including a fall, two elements with wrong edge calls, and four elements with negative GoEs. Whether that is messed up badly or just messed up, I grant, is a matter of opinion.
ACTUALLY, the quote is:
"Some of the top world single skaters unfortunately did not qualify. World individual champions Miki Ando and Brian Joubert were out, as well as Sarah Meier, Tomas Verner and Kiira Korpi, silver and bronze medallists at the European Championships. They all messed up their programs badly in one or both of the Grand Prix events where they competed."
The obvious conclusion which would be drawn by anyone reading this, is that all of the skaters listed did not qualify BECAUSE they messed up said programs. However, Brian Joubert won gold and then did not compete the 2nd time because of an illness. Whether you believe he "badly messed up" his only GP event is not relevant, since it still won gold, and had absolutely no bearing on his absence at the GPF. Similarly, Kiira Korpi withdrew from Skate America, so she had no chance at the GPF regardless of her 4th place finish at CoR. Miki Ando certainly messed up, there is absolutely no debate on that point. Sarah Meier was pretty close to Carolina Kostner, and would have gone to the GPF with a couple more points.
I'm not certain what Sonia's intent was when writing this article, but it seems to be intended to disparage the current state of figure skating as much as possible. There's plenty of room for disparagement of CoP and its effects on skating, such as the rewarding of flawed + technically difficult programs, yet she seems to be intentionally disingenuous about the reasons here just to fallaciously bolster her argument. I think that does a disservice to the entire argument. She'd have plenty of valid ammunition without resorting to tactics like that.
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- Jul 11, 2003
What happens when top Pairs teams get a 3rd chance is to improve their programs which P&T did because they were weak in SA, S&Z probably added a third for the experience. All these teams had already made the Final so it wasn't for competiting for the Final.
In doing so, they prevented lesser Pairs from earning a medal. IMO, not nice! Skaters work hard all year and whatever their level of skating is they should be able to compete for medals and not prevented from receiving one.
I think I'm the only one who cares. Posters seem to want to see only the best and do not care about others or the legitimacy of the sport.
Joe
In doing so, they prevented lesser Pairs from earning a medal. IMO, not nice! Skaters work hard all year and whatever their level of skating is they should be able to compete for medals and not prevented from receiving one.
I think I'm the only one who cares. Posters seem to want to see only the best and do not care about others or the legitimacy of the sport.
Joe
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