It's off topic, but I'd like to go further on that question.
What is the penalty for not doing a required element ? (SP/LP)
e.g. Mao Asada's SP ate GPF. She didn't do the single triple, and it didn't look like they gave her any deuctions (of course, she didn't get the score for it)
http://www.usfigureskating.org/content/First-Aid-Single_2007-08-15.pdf
This document explains how various situations are to be handled . . . once you figure out how to interpret the document. There are separate documents for pairs and dance.
Here's how I understand it. Experienced judges or technical specialists/controllers might be able to give a more accurate account of the latest rules. Under the 6.0 system, penalties and requirements were somewhat different in the short program and were quite loose in the long program.
I'll use senior ladies requirements as examples. Some specifics would be different for other levels or other disciplines.
For the
short program there are some very specific required elements, so you only get credit in the base mark for elements that fill those slots. You don't get credit for anything that you don't do, you don't get credit for anything that is a different kind of element that doesn't count even as an attempt at one of the required ones, and you only get 8 slots to fill.
If you perform an element that meets some basic definition of an element and that element fits into one of the required element slots, you get credited with the attempt and you get the base mark for what you actually did, with the appropriate GOE.
If you attempt the element but the attempt is not even successful enough to be called as an element, you get no points for that element. If it's recognizable what you were attempting from the entry, it will be called as that kind of element with no level or no number of revolutions for a jump but will get no base mark and no GOE.
If you just leave out an element completely, you get no points for the element and nothing is called, and you end up with 7 instead of 8 elements listed on the protocol. That's what happened to Asada at the GP Final.
If you perform an element that does not fit into any of the required element slots, you get no credit for it but it block a slot so you can't do the correct element later and get credit.
If you repeat an element (e.g., fall on a spin entry or jump takeoff, get up and try again), you get no credit for the second attempt even if it's successful.
And so forth.
For the
long program, senior ladies get 7 jump slots (of which up to 3 can be combos or sequences), 4 spin slots, 1 step sequence slot, and 1 spiral sequence slot. They don't have to use all those slots, but they don't get credit for anything they don't do (naturally) or for an extra element after all the slots for that kind of element has been filled.
The only kind of jump element that's required is some kind of axel jump (forward outside takeoff; single, double, or triple; in combination or not; landing on either foot).
If the skater hasn't done any kind of axel by the 7th jump slot, then whatever she does do in that slot will get no credit. If she does an axel as her 8th jump element, it will get no credit because she only gets 7 jump slots.
If she attempts an axel as the 1st-6th jump element but pops or "waxels" on the takeoff so there is not enough rotation to count as a nondowngraded single axel, it will be called as A with no base value and no GOE, it will fill a jump slot, but it will meet the requirement for an axel attempt.
There are also three kinds of spins that are required in the long program: a flying spin, some sort of combination spin, a spin in one position. The other spin can be anything the skater wants. Some spins can meet two of those requirements (i.e., a flying spin always either also will be in one position or it also will be a combination spin) but each spin can only fill one of the required slots. So if the skater gets to the 4th spin slot and still hasn't done three different spins that meet those three requirements, the 4th spin won't count.
I truly admired Takahashi's hip-hop Swan Lake and enjoyed Adam Rippon's techno take on Bach, but there is no sense in judges giving out 6s and 7s for choreography on their free programs. Romeo&Juliet, Moonlight Sonata and Carmen were all the same for me - front-loaded jumps, steps with frantic arm-flailing and zero connection to music.
