Prediction Thread after the Olys?

[Tonichelle]

Does it? if a skater has trained most of their career under it, they'd be more conditioned for it...

 

[Buttercup]

Toni, I'm fairly sure that all the conditioning in the world won't help you with a repetitive stress injury such as some skaters sustain to their hips and knees. Under 6.0 a skater could "rest" during portions of the program and slack off on some of the non-jump elements. Now skaters must train everything at really demanding levels and contort their body into all sorts of weird positions for high levels, and this takes a toll over time.

Also, I have to point out that most of the elite male skaters and many skaters in other disciplines came up under 6.0, not just as juniors but well into their senior career.

 

[Winnipeg]

Does it? if a skater has trained most of their career under it, they'd be more conditioned for it...

Perhaps but Tara Lipinski had that bad hip as a result, I am told, of doing too many reps of the 3L combo.

I was definitely thinking of the strain on the body and its impacts to the skater's future enjoyment of their lives after 30. It just seems like a lot are getting these hip, back, knee injuries that unfortunately, may be a real pain when they get beyone 30-40.

Having said that, you raise a good point to explore. Now that we are seeing the effects of this stress on skater's bodies, what has been studied or done to find out what really causes them and are there any coaching or training strategies that need to be adopted (or amend current thinking) to try and reduce the risk of injury?

 

[Tonichelle]

but these injuries were happening before the CoP - in the case of Alexei Yagudin, Tara Lipinski, and Evan Lysacek (who was having hip and knee issues in 2005 and it was already a well known problem from what I understood). Kurt Browning and Todd Eld back issues in the 1992 Olympics, IIRC... these issues are nothing new.

So blaming the CoP for everything (from injuries, to the wrong person winning, to global warming) seems a little unfair... it depends on the individual skater, how they're trained, and other outside factors as much as it is the pounding out jumps on the ice.

 

[Buttercup]

but these injuries were happening before the CoP - in the case of Alexei Yagudin, Tara Lipinski, and Evan Lysacek (who was having hip and knee issues in 2005 and it was already a well known problem from what I understood). Kurt Browning and Todd Eld back issues in the 1992 Olympics, IIRC... these issues are nothing new.

So blaming the CoP for everything (from injuries, to the wrong person winning, to global warming) seems a little unfair... it depends on the individual skater, how they're trained, and other outside factors as much as it is the pounding out jumps on the ice.

I'm not blaming CoP for injuries and I don't think there's more questionable calls than before. I do believe figure skating is very demanding physicially and there's a lot of potential for repetitive stress injuries (not to mention various other injuries and accidents). If I understood correctly, you suggested that training under CoP would make an athlete better conditioned and reduce the likelihood of injury; I'm not sure this would be the case. Good technique might help avoid some injuries, and conditioning can help avoid on-ice problems; hopefully better training methods will help skaters stay healthy over time. But this does not change the fact that the human body is not designed to rotate in the air and land on a very thin blade, or to contort itself into whatever wacky positions spirals and spins requires.

 

[Tonichelle]

no, what I said was skaters who have been under the CoP most of - if not all of - their competitive career will be more conditioned to the endurance aspect of it.

the Free Program used to be 5 minutes long, when it dropped to the 4.5 it is now skaters who'd had the 5 min most of their career had a very easy go at it because of conditioning. It only stands to reason that the CoP generation that is starting to enter the senior ranks are going to seem better ready than that crop that will most likely retire come 2010 (the group that got sandwiched between the two judging types).

I'm not saying injuries aren't going to happen. I just don't see why so many dump on the judging system about every little thing. The 6.0 saw just as many bad programs, horrible injuries/accidents and 'wuz robbing' the only reason it seems the CoP is worse is because it's in the internet generation so the fans have a way to keep complaining well past the competition

 

[trains]

In the old system, being the incumbent champion counted for a LOT. In the new system it is stll meaningful, but that champion has to continue to execute at an increasing technical level. You really have to want to stay in if you have already achieved your goals because the training continues to be even more punishing as the up-and-comers push the technical envelope.