Skaters who improved their Skating Skills program component over time | Golden Skate

Skaters who improved their Skating Skills program component over time

A

Anna K.

May I see a flying camel, please?
Medalist
Joined
Feb 22, 2014
Latvia
I have a new challenge for knowledgeable members of this forum: When you watch videos taken over a longer time interval, can you spot the improvement of skaters’ skating skills?

I think I have a perfect example to start the challenge (thank you @gkelly for finding these videos):

Video #1 (from the skater’s first senior season):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDEqF3ykrgA&t=4m10s

Video #2 (her WC winning performance from 7 years later):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC_-cCb_Ezk

How much skating skill improvement can you spot in her elements and transitions? Can you put it in terms of the Skating Skills Component under IJS?

Please, post more examples of skaters whose skating skill improvement has caught your attention so that we can keep this challenge going! (Ice Dance fans, I'm counting on you!)
 
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I don't understand the reason the skater wasn't named as MK above.
Once realizing what skater it was, her skating skills were never too bad TBH.
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Ice Dance: Lilah Fear has come a long way.

2016 FD
2025 FD
 
When I first watched Todd Eldredge skate in the early 1990's, I cheered for him as the next up & coming US men's competitor. He was known as a "technician" back then. I wasn't blown away by his skating back then, but that started to change once I saw him skate to his "Chaplin" program (I realized that he had a sense of humor even though he has a rather serious persona in many of his Olympic eligible free skate programs). By the mid 1990's, I felt he was really beginning to develop artistry as well, to become a more "balanced" skater.
 
iluvtodd said:
When I first watched Todd Eldredge skate in the early 1990's, I cheered for him as the next up & coming US men's competitor. He was known as a "technician" back then. I wasn't blown away by his skating back then, but that started to change once I saw him skate to his "Chaplin" program (I realized that he had a sense of humor even though he has a rather serious persona in many of his Olympic eligible free skate programs). By the mid 1990's, I felt he was really beginning to develop artistry as well, to become a more "balanced" skater.
Click to expand...
This is a good example because I can strongly disagree ;) I looked up the videos that have 10 years between them and I'd say that his skating skills DID NOT IMPROVE much.

Meaning, he has respectable skating skills here in 1989:

- YouTube

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www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

and he has respectable skating skills there in 2000 Improve Ice pro competition:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

but his skating skills have changed very little especially compared to other departments (his spins have significantly improved, he has significantly more expression and fun when he skates). Maybe he generates a little more speed, has more confidence, and a little better control, but he still needs same series of crossovers to generate speed just like he did ten years ago, his edges have not become deeper, his glides have not become longer... any other aspect that I forgot?
For comparison, Michelle also needed a series of crossovers as a teenager but at her peak, she needed just one short cross-step and it catapulted her across the ice; her teenage spirals were just so regular spirals, while the ice coverage and edge control during spirals that she developed later was just... That's what I call improvement :eek:
 
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iluvtodd said:
When I first watched Todd Eldredge skate in the early 1990's, I cheered for him as the next up & coming US men's competitor. He was known as a "technician" back then. I wasn't blown away by his skating back then, but that started to change once I saw him skate to his "Chaplin" program (I realized that he had a sense of humor even though he has a rather serious persona in many of his Olympic eligible free skate programs). By the mid 1990's, I felt he was really beginning to develop artistry as well, to become a more "balanced" skater.
Click to expand...
His artistry definitely improved that he became one of my favorites to watch back in the 90s!
 
It's pretty normal for skaters to improve in both skating skill and performance quality as they mature. Among those who do make big improvements, anyway.

Here's another example with a big difference between Worlds debut and world title:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
gkelly said:
Here's another example with a big difference between Worlds debut and world title:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
Click to expand...
The opening pose alone. :)
 
iluvtodd said:
When I first watched Todd Eldredge skate in the early 1990's, I cheered for him as the next up & coming US men's competitor. He was known as a "technician" back then. I wasn't blown away by his skating back then, but that started to change once I saw him skate to his "Chaplin" program (I realized that he had a sense of humor even though he has a rather serious persona in many of his Olympic eligible free skate programs). By the mid 1990's, I felt he was really beginning to develop artistry as well, to become a more "balanced" skater.
Click to expand...
I'm a great admirer of Todd, but it's funny how people see different things. I dislike Chaplin programs, including Todd's.

What I like most about Todd's skating is that he exuded masculine power and understated grace. Outside of the Chaplin program, there was nothing unnecessarily foppish or put on. His skating was straightforward. The elements were crisp. His programs did not need press releases to explain what they meant. His costumes were tasteful, not at all garish. He excelled at what @Mathman calls "this is me, skating."
 
Anna K. said:
[Michelle Kwan's] teenage spins were just so regular spins, while the ice coverage and edge control during spins that she developed later was just... That's what I call improvement :eek:
Click to expand...
That is an interesting observation to me. IMHO Michelle :love: :love: :love: was never an outstanding spinner. She had a certain lack of flexibility in her neck and back hat prevented a truly first class layback. In her teenage years she could get away with a youthful Y-spin, but it wasn't so effective in a more mature skater. She experimented with different positions, such as heart-shaped (hands clasped behind back) in compensation.

When the IJS came out, the new change of position requirements were a challenge and in fact she hurt her back trying to master them, although by that time she was approaching the end of her career anyway. :(
 
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Mathman said:
That is an interesting observation to me. IMHO Michelle :love: :love: :love: was never an outstanding spinner. She had a certain lack of flexibility in her neck and back hat prevented a truly first class layback. In her teenage years she could get away with a youthful Y-spin, but it wasn't so effective in a more mature skater. She experimented with different positions, such as heart-shaped (hands clasped behind back) in compensation.

When the IJS came out, the new change of position requirements were a challenge and in fact she hurt her back trying to master them, although by that time she was approaching the end of her career anyway. :(
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LOL I meant spirals but I still had Todd's spins in my mind so I wrote "spins" there, too :laugh:

Anyway, thanks for reading my post attentively. You are the only one who noticed :biggrin:
 
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I don't know that can name skaters who have improved over time (but all the examples are great to watch), but I was wondering if anyone thought Eteri's skaters improved in their skills over the years. So many have had such short careers, I wonder if they ever had the time to get better.
 
Skatingcat said:
I don't know that can name skaters who have improved over time (but all the examples are great to watch), but I was wondering if anyone thought Eteri's skaters improved in their skills over the years. So many have had such short careers, I wonder if they ever had the time to get better.
Click to expand...
I think it's a case of an embarrassment of riches. In the last decade we saw one super-charged junior after another come along to muscle the established ladies aside.
 
Mathman said:
I was thinking more of presentation than of blade to ice skills. In presentation he went from painful to watchable, and actually not bad.
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This thread is about blade-to-ice skills, not about presentation or any other general improvement. I guess it is now CLEAR AND OBVIOUS after I made changes in the title.
It looked to me that there was some improvement in this department in your example. Small, but that's what makes it interesting because it's harder to put a finger on it.
 
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Mathman said:
Alas, that lets me out. :( When it comes to PCSs, I am stuck at the level of, "Oh, isn't that pretty!"
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That lets you out of the comparison challenge but it doesn't meant that the examples you brought up are invalid.

Actually, any videos with a wider time gap can serve as relevant examples because the skating skills will either improve, or stay same, or maybe even fall a level i.e. as a result of an injury (I can't think about an instant example but this is probably good since I prefer focusing on positive examples).

So, everybody is welcome to submit examples that they find interesting but the rules go that only skating skills are getting discussed on this thread :)
Talking about which (the discussion) I would use this opportunity and ask those willing to analyze to stick to the form "this is what I look at" and "these are signs/tips that I rely on when I evaluate skating skills" and then leave it there rather than go at each other like "you idiot, you don't see what I see"... hope that I'm not asking too much :slink:

Yup, I'm still hoping that somebody might bite on the comparison challenge and give us the regular folks more tips what to look at when we want to spot an improvement in skating skills ;)
 
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