- Joined
- Sep 14, 2008
- Country
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How tired are you of footwork sequences that take 30+ seconds to complete?
I'm extremely tired of them. Every skater takes a minimum of 30 seconds to attempt a Level 4 footwork sequence in their programs these days. Some of these sequences go on for 40+ seconds. That's 1/4 of an entire Short Program.
There is no skater in the World who can do these sequences with every moment of it working with the music. Doesn't matter if it's Takahashi, Chan, Asada, or Jason Brown - they always get stuck on a couple of the steps or turns that stick out like a sore thumb, saying "I'm useless and I don't add anything to this program, but I'm required to be here in order to satisfy an arbitrary rule."
I believe the rules should be changed so that only 22 seconds worth of footwork, counted continuously from the moment the footwork sequence is called as "starting", are allowed to count for determining the level of a sequence. I picked this amount of time because, having extensively studied footwork and gone back and counted the durations of the best footwork sequences ever, none of them ever took more than 22 seconds from start to finish to create their full effect. The GOE guidelines should also state that a clear shape on the ice is required or else points are deducted. I'm very tired of footwork sequences that go in every which direction with no reasoning behind it other than to cram steps/turns in the easiest way possible.
The SP needs to go back to having 8 required elements, since less time will be spent on a single footwork sequence. 2 footwork sequences for the Men should be required and a footwork sequence + spiral sequence should be required for the Ladies. The spiral sequence level rules just need to be altered from how they used to be so that we don't see the same damn sequences all over the place. The crappy catch-foot spirals should not count as a difficult variation. Positions that are actually difficult variations should only need to be held for 2 seconds in order to count as a feature. The classic spiral position with excellent extension (Michelle Kwan level or better) should automatically count as a difficult variation. Make a fully-extended split jump or stag jump inbetween spiral positions count as a feature. Allow 3 spiral positions done quickly in a series to count as a level feature, so that spiral sequences can be better used to interpret fast-paced music and not be ALL about hyper-flexibility.
I'm extremely tired of them. Every skater takes a minimum of 30 seconds to attempt a Level 4 footwork sequence in their programs these days. Some of these sequences go on for 40+ seconds. That's 1/4 of an entire Short Program.
There is no skater in the World who can do these sequences with every moment of it working with the music. Doesn't matter if it's Takahashi, Chan, Asada, or Jason Brown - they always get stuck on a couple of the steps or turns that stick out like a sore thumb, saying "I'm useless and I don't add anything to this program, but I'm required to be here in order to satisfy an arbitrary rule."
I believe the rules should be changed so that only 22 seconds worth of footwork, counted continuously from the moment the footwork sequence is called as "starting", are allowed to count for determining the level of a sequence. I picked this amount of time because, having extensively studied footwork and gone back and counted the durations of the best footwork sequences ever, none of them ever took more than 22 seconds from start to finish to create their full effect. The GOE guidelines should also state that a clear shape on the ice is required or else points are deducted. I'm very tired of footwork sequences that go in every which direction with no reasoning behind it other than to cram steps/turns in the easiest way possible.
The SP needs to go back to having 8 required elements, since less time will be spent on a single footwork sequence. 2 footwork sequences for the Men should be required and a footwork sequence + spiral sequence should be required for the Ladies. The spiral sequence level rules just need to be altered from how they used to be so that we don't see the same damn sequences all over the place. The crappy catch-foot spirals should not count as a difficult variation. Positions that are actually difficult variations should only need to be held for 2 seconds in order to count as a feature. The classic spiral position with excellent extension (Michelle Kwan level or better) should automatically count as a difficult variation. Make a fully-extended split jump or stag jump inbetween spiral positions count as a feature. Allow 3 spiral positions done quickly in a series to count as a level feature, so that spiral sequences can be better used to interpret fast-paced music and not be ALL about hyper-flexibility.
