Junior to Senior: What Do You Look For First?

[gsk8]

What do you consider the most reliable early indicator of a successful transition from junior to senior in singles?

Not a full package—just the first thing that stands out to you when evaluating a newly senior skater.

Do you prioritize:

• Technical base (e.g., jump mechanics, scalability to quads/3A)?
• Skating skills and fundamentals?
• Consistency under pressure?
• Physical development and injury resilience?
• Or something else?

Interested in what people see as the best predictor, not just a checklist.

Feel free to use examples!

 

[NanaPat]

For pairs I believe it's tech content. There is a big gap between what is pretty good content for a junior pairs vs what is needed in seniors. Take for examples two Canadian pairs who have been quite successful in Juniors: Kemp/Elizarov and Desroches/Thrasher. Both have been to the JGP final more than once and have one a Junior Worlds medal.

Yet they had very different results in their Senior competitions last year. They both went to Ice Challenge, but while K/E achieved the tech minimums for Sr Worlds, D/T missed the minimum TES for 4CC by a whisker. Because of this, fans are worried about D/T moving up to Seniors. They are entertaining and charismatic skaters with good skills in general, but their weakness in the SBS jumps and throws could mean a real struggle for them in Seniors.

 

[dorispulaski]

One big predictor of senior success, especially in dance, is evidence of the support of the federation for the team. Dance careers have longer arcs. It takes international assignments to help the team move up the rankings, and that only happens with the support of the federation. So if I see a newly senior team getting assigned to the TBA spot at the country's GP event, I have more hope for the team.

In the old days, evident musicality was my big tell for up and coming junior dancers. Nowadays, timing and connection to music is less important in seniors, but these are the teams whose success I hope for.

 

[ladyjane]

It's funny. On the one hand I like the men to be 'skating young' but on the other not too Juniorish. The first one seems to be a positive indicator for future success (although obviously the 'skating young' will of course go away in time, but then he will be a mature skater), the other not so much. It's a very fine line between the two as well as being awfully subjective. It's got nothing to do with jumping ability, but skating skills do play a part as well as interpretation of the music.

I take the example of Jason Brown: in his iconic River Dance programme he was 'skating young', full of exuberance and enthousiasm, the skating skills and interpretation of the music were also there. It wasn't juniorish. Despite possible ups and downs along the way, even then I thought he would be a great senior skater (of course he was skating senior then, but still very young). I am still a fan of his skating. I love watching him.

I don't know if there's something similar in the women.

In pairs I do think the tech content is rather important to evolve as a successfull senior pair (as @NanaPat stated above), although I have seen examples of a Chinese (?) pair with sbs doubles but with good triple throws at the start of going senior, who still went to be relatively great seniors (after getting the triples later).

I think in ID Ice Coverage and Speed is important when making the transition, but it is not enough. A slow couple with too little ice coverage will never truely make it as a senior couple, but if you do have those, it will be necessary to get more to continue te grow.

 

[noskates]

I singles I look for performance. After watching all the junior disciplines at Nationals this year, many of the men and some of the women are jumping all over the place. The technical seems to be there but maybe not the consistency (but you can say that about the seniors, too) As a skater matures I expect their performances to mature. Musicality, centered and fast spins, in-betweens and transitions.

 

[Anna K.]

• Or something else?

Money.

 

[frompolandwithlove]

Skating skills and fundamentals. 17yo boys are not at their peak yet, they will get stronger, they will learn to add more quads. But if they can't skate properly, then I assume it never was a priority in their training and there is a big chance they don't pay much attention to this aspect of figure skating. Low PCS might motivate them to work on that, but I'd say it is more difficult to acquire certain skills and habits if they have not been developed from early childhood.
On the other side, 17yo girls start to lose their jumping arsenal (if they can do any quads in the first place) and sooner or later will have to rely on pretty much the same set of jumps as every other woman in the field, so if they don't have great skating already, they will fall behind. (obviously purely hypothetical considerations, I don't know any female skater in recent years who would rely on big jumps, but the point stays - fundentals are even more important if everyone is doing the same content)
On personal note, I'm greedy and my favorite part of figure skating is... well, pretty skating . Skaters can have all the jumps in the world, but they can't hold my attention with jumps only.