I've been posting here and there on this forum about artistic roller skating and its connection with figure skating and I decided to start a new topic to share some thoughts about how the two disciplines, although different, have somehow crossed their path.
I have been a roller skater myself and followed both sports for quite a while now.
I was always interested in pairs and never understood while Italy, who has a huge tradition in pair roller skating, never managed to produce decent ice skating pairs until after 2006 and even later than that.
I've always thought ice skating would benefit from the help of highly experienced roller skating coaches. In the end, luckily, that happened: we had great roller skating champions (first Zanforlin & Degli Esposti, then Guarise) switching to figure skating and they brought their coaches along. Those coaches started to work also with other pairs, teaching them how to perform pair elements and difficult lifts with change of positions. For instance Matteo’s roller skating coach (multi- world champion Patrick Venerucci) worked with Marchei & Hotarek as well. So ice skating coaches learned from them and that’s how we’ve managed to build many competitive pair teams in recent years and also have foreign pairs coming to train in Italy.
There is still a substantial difference between ice pairs and roller pairs though.
In roller skating kids start doing pairs since a very young age, competing in both pairs and singles, sometimes even their whole career. Matteo Guarise himself started skating pairs at age 5. In roller skating there is a progressive safe way to perform lifts which are done not higher than shoulder level, up to the youth categories. You can see an example here.
https://youtu.be/joy0jxhyo-A The guy in this pair was 14 years old. [OT: I just loooved this pair, so talented and promising… unfortunately he quitted and now is a very successful professional dancer].
This way the male partner progressively learn how to deal with a lifted weight, without risking injuries. The same doesn’t happen in ice skating and this drastically increases the risks of injuries. Lucrezia Beccari herself, when she was young, risked a career ending injury in a lift while trying out with a not experienced partner.
Speaking about lifts, the reverse lift has been compulsory for ages in roller skating, while only in recent years many pairs are performing it on the ice. IIRC it was not to be seen until Zanforlin & Degli Esposti brought it to the ice in 2008… not sure if that’s a coincidence or not! I loved that lift performed by Guarise and his partner Sara Venerucci as she achieved almost a split position. Watch it here: Venerucci & Guarise - 2008 Italian Nationals SP .
As of today there is a substantial difference between lifts performed on the ice and on the floor because in roller skating the male is allowed to do many more revolutions which leads to many difficult changes of positions from the lady.
See Matteo and his partner's first lift in their 2006 Junior World Championships at the beginning of their program… it lasted half a minute and covered almost a full rink! Venerucci & Guarise - 2006 Junior Worlds LP
One thing I’d love to see somehow transferred to the ice is the pair spin you see performed by the top roller teams with the lady being lifted by the man. I see this season figure skating rules changed and some of the pairs are already doing these tiny lifts while spinning… who knows if this leads to what I’ve been hoping for…
I’m speaking about the spin you can see in this program at min. 2: 2016 Worlds Tarlazzi & Lucaroni SP & LP
If you like pair skating I suggest to watch this team… This is probably the best pair team roller skating ever had in history.
And here the cross path between the two disciplines comes out so distinctively.
First their coach has always been interested in figure skating and travelled to watch fs competition live.
He built this pair and their programs just as if they were ice skaters with the goal to have them switch to figure skating and compete in the Olympics. And they would have definitely done wonders on the ice too with lighter skates on their feets. Both of them could jump all triples on rollers and were not only multi world pair champions but also world champions in men and women singles respectively.
Their coach had some of their programs choreographed with the help of ice dancers. Unfortunately the coach passed away in a tragic accident and all the plans for the team to switch to ice figure skating faded.
They went on to compete again despite the loss, coming up with what for me is one of the most impressive pair program I’ve ever seen. It's inspired to Michelangelo’s work art and earned 10s from all judges for artistic impression at 2018 Worlds. You can watch it here from min. 44 World Skate - Video Day 11 - Senior Pairs Long Program .
They always had very interest and unusual music choices and extremely high difficult technical content.
This pair retired last year leaving a huge gap in roller skating which I dunno if it will ever be filled. With no Olympic perspective there is basically only Italy producing good level pair teams nowadays.
Okay, this is a long post... maybe I'll share more about other disciplines later
I have been a roller skater myself and followed both sports for quite a while now.
I was always interested in pairs and never understood while Italy, who has a huge tradition in pair roller skating, never managed to produce decent ice skating pairs until after 2006 and even later than that.
I've always thought ice skating would benefit from the help of highly experienced roller skating coaches. In the end, luckily, that happened: we had great roller skating champions (first Zanforlin & Degli Esposti, then Guarise) switching to figure skating and they brought their coaches along. Those coaches started to work also with other pairs, teaching them how to perform pair elements and difficult lifts with change of positions. For instance Matteo’s roller skating coach (multi- world champion Patrick Venerucci) worked with Marchei & Hotarek as well. So ice skating coaches learned from them and that’s how we’ve managed to build many competitive pair teams in recent years and also have foreign pairs coming to train in Italy.
There is still a substantial difference between ice pairs and roller pairs though.
In roller skating kids start doing pairs since a very young age, competing in both pairs and singles, sometimes even their whole career. Matteo Guarise himself started skating pairs at age 5. In roller skating there is a progressive safe way to perform lifts which are done not higher than shoulder level, up to the youth categories. You can see an example here.
https://youtu.be/joy0jxhyo-A The guy in this pair was 14 years old. [OT: I just loooved this pair, so talented and promising… unfortunately he quitted and now is a very successful professional dancer].
This way the male partner progressively learn how to deal with a lifted weight, without risking injuries. The same doesn’t happen in ice skating and this drastically increases the risks of injuries. Lucrezia Beccari herself, when she was young, risked a career ending injury in a lift while trying out with a not experienced partner.
Speaking about lifts, the reverse lift has been compulsory for ages in roller skating, while only in recent years many pairs are performing it on the ice. IIRC it was not to be seen until Zanforlin & Degli Esposti brought it to the ice in 2008… not sure if that’s a coincidence or not! I loved that lift performed by Guarise and his partner Sara Venerucci as she achieved almost a split position. Watch it here: Venerucci & Guarise - 2008 Italian Nationals SP .
As of today there is a substantial difference between lifts performed on the ice and on the floor because in roller skating the male is allowed to do many more revolutions which leads to many difficult changes of positions from the lady.
See Matteo and his partner's first lift in their 2006 Junior World Championships at the beginning of their program… it lasted half a minute and covered almost a full rink! Venerucci & Guarise - 2006 Junior Worlds LP
One thing I’d love to see somehow transferred to the ice is the pair spin you see performed by the top roller teams with the lady being lifted by the man. I see this season figure skating rules changed and some of the pairs are already doing these tiny lifts while spinning… who knows if this leads to what I’ve been hoping for…
I’m speaking about the spin you can see in this program at min. 2: 2016 Worlds Tarlazzi & Lucaroni SP & LP
If you like pair skating I suggest to watch this team… This is probably the best pair team roller skating ever had in history.
And here the cross path between the two disciplines comes out so distinctively.
First their coach has always been interested in figure skating and travelled to watch fs competition live.
He built this pair and their programs just as if they were ice skaters with the goal to have them switch to figure skating and compete in the Olympics. And they would have definitely done wonders on the ice too with lighter skates on their feets. Both of them could jump all triples on rollers and were not only multi world pair champions but also world champions in men and women singles respectively.
Their coach had some of their programs choreographed with the help of ice dancers. Unfortunately the coach passed away in a tragic accident and all the plans for the team to switch to ice figure skating faded.
They went on to compete again despite the loss, coming up with what for me is one of the most impressive pair program I’ve ever seen. It's inspired to Michelangelo’s work art and earned 10s from all judges for artistic impression at 2018 Worlds. You can watch it here from min. 44 World Skate - Video Day 11 - Senior Pairs Long Program .
They always had very interest and unusual music choices and extremely high difficult technical content.
This pair retired last year leaving a huge gap in roller skating which I dunno if it will ever be filled. With no Olympic perspective there is basically only Italy producing good level pair teams nowadays.
Okay, this is a long post... maybe I'll share more about other disciplines later
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. You're younger than my daughter, so you'd be able to do more of the free skating moves. I understand the wheels are heavier than blades so while I still do double jumps on ice, I'd be doing well to get up to single jumps on wheels, which is why I'm going to aim for roller dance instead and leave the jumps for the ice.
I was beginning to wonder if the shop sites that said 55 were a typo, since the company then didn't seem to have anything between 55 and 90 in stiffness! I'll try them, and possibly the Risport dance boot, also a 65, for comparison. My partner wears Jackson custom boots with an 85 rating and is reluctant to reduce the stiffness, but his wife and I both told him to forget the macho attitude 
.
