It is part of the history of the sport to refer to jumps as being "cheated" or even to refer to skaters "cheating their jumps" meaning underrotating. I.e., in that context the word "cheating" is synonymous with "underrotating."
That terminology has not historically been used to refer to skaters "cheating ON their jumps," which implies that the skaters are cheaters who are breaking rules and trying to get away with something.
Let's talk about another kind of technical error.
Bracket and counter turns involve counterrotation from the entry edge into the turn, and rockers involve counterrotation on the exit edge.
In brackets, the skater stays on the same circle, changing from inside to outside edge or outside to inside at the same time as changing from forward to backward or backward to forward. There should only be two edges involved, and the exit edge should be opposite to the entry edge in both forward/backward and inside/outside.
For counters and rockers, the skater changes to a new circle at the point of the turn. They change from forward to backward or vice versa but do not change which edge of the blade they're on. The result is that the direction of travel changes from clockwise to counterclockwise or vice versa.
Including a variety of these difficult turns is necessary for earning higher levels in step sequences (it's impossible to earn level 4 without executing one or two of each successfully); and judges will also reward if they see them in transitional content.
It is very common to lose the counterrotation on the entrance to a bracket or especially counter, make a small to medium change of edge, and then turn a three turn (the easiest one-foot turn) to end up on the intended exit edge.
For rockers, it's pretty common to turn a three turn to end up on the wrong edge and then quickly change edge to the correct exit edge.
In school figures, it was very strictly enforced that skaters stayed on the correct edges when making the turns -- judges would get down on the ice to look for flats or edge changes in the tracings.
In free skating, the judges are not on the ice, the ice is usually not clean enough to see the tracings, and the judges or tech panel panel might be 50 meters away from where some of the turns are executed. So there is a little more leeway.
Also, the skaters are often traveling at higher speed, which makes it harder to maintain precise edges.
But if the tech panel sees these errors they won't give credit for the turn and call a lower level than the skater was hoping for. If a judge notices such errors, especially several of them in the same program, that would affect their GOE for the step sequence and/or the Skating Skills component.
Here's Gary Beacom lamenting that he doesn't see many true brackets in freestyle programs and giving tips on how to do them correctly. At 3:30 he gives an exaggerated example of changing edge before the turn to make a three turn instead of a bracket.
In this video about how to do counters here he warns about making counter turns into three turns.
Here is a different coach talking about how she teaches counters, with examples of skaters rocking onto the wrong edge before making the turns.
Skaters might sometimes refer to these errors as "cheating" the turns or even, as an analogy, "flutzing" the counter entry, although that's less common terminology than with jumps.
How do you feel about the moral quality of skaters who make these kinds of turn errors on a regular basis?
If you think skaters who underrotate their jumps (or change edge on lutz/flip takeoffs) are cheating, what do you think about skaters who get away with changing edge on their required turns?
Are skaters who can't do pure turns (but who "slip through" to elite levels by virtue of being able to rotate more in the air) less worthy than those who are masters of on edge and turn quality?
Do fans not care because commentators never show close-up replays and explain these turns in detail? What if that kind of information was provided to help clarify why some step sequences (and other elements in ice dance) don't receive the levels they're aiming at?
These may be fun but are not representative of anything, not even of this forum, with 120 people taking part in a poll where the forum has thousands of members. And of course ISU should be interested in reaching a bigger part of the public than the most active posters on one of many fan forums.
Chen made mistakes, multiple at that, at worlds 2017. How is it beyond expectation that he'd be scored lower?
She still does classes with the IOC, and advises Korean skaters. She was present in the stands at PyeongChang. She awarded medals at 4CC 2020.
And now I'm just also regretting that we're not given slow motion focusing on skates, of Step Sequences and transitions clusters for those who have, but the time between the bows and the scores announcements is limited...
