With the new rule changes, a fall on a triple lutz with the mandatory deduction is 2.9 (6.0 - 2.1 - 1.0, a -3 GOE is -2.1 points); whereas a fall on a triple toe with the mandatory deduction is .9 (4.0 - 2.1 - 1.0). Does this mean then that the ability to generate three rotations off a lutz entry edge is worth 2 points more than three rotations off a toe loop entry? I can see that it is difficult, but is it that much more difficult?
Maybe not quite that much, but more than a few tenths, for sure.
How many skaters are there
in the world in 2010 who are able to generate three rotations off a lutz entry edge vs. how many can do it from a toe loop takeoff? I'd estimate something like two to three hundred for the lutz, including both male and female skaters. More male than female, even though the absolute number of female skaters in the world is much larger.
Probably well over a thousand for the toe loop.
For one thing, a toe loop doesn't need a full 360 degrees in the first revolution; a true lutz needs a little more than 360.
I can concede to the point that rotating in the air should be worth something, but a fall on an element should reduce its overall value to something extremely low (at most, 2).
Suppose we have a requirement of "an axel jump" as is currently the case in a long program. Number of rotations optional.
Suppose several skaters each fall on their attempts, but this is what they achieve before falling:
A. Fully rotated triple axel
B. Triple axel short by >90 degrees
C. Fully rotated double axel
D. Double axel short by >90 degrees
E. Rotated single axel
F. Popped waltz jump or one revolution of axel
They all fell. Should they all receive the same reward (or punishment) for the attempt?
I believe the Tech Specialist has a monitor to see it in 2 dimentions, but only if he chooses to use it. Then there are the other two members of the Panel and do they also have a monitor?
Yes.
At the club competitions where I've seen the IJS in use, I think there was one fairly large monitor for the tech panel as a whole. When they do the reviews after the program, they can all watch the same monitor.
(During the actual program, they'd be watching the live skater on the ice.)
Does that monitor have a line built in the system showing the boundary of a back outside takeoff?
No.
The angle of the edge would always be different in relation to the monitor depending where the skater was on the ice.
Hah, I suppose for a technical event they could paint circles on the ice or use the hockey circles and say "Put your lutz on this circle. We'll judge the takeoff by how well it follows the line, with deductions if it swerves onto a tangent circle on an inside edge." There'd still be at least two acceptable placements for the lutzes, for clockwise and counterclockwise jumpers.
But that wouldn't work for programs, where skaters are encouraged to be creative in the placement and approaches to elements, and where they might be off by a couple of feet from one performance to the next, especially on rinks with different dimensions.