Pairs Free Skate

[blue dog]

I am sorry--like Joesitz has said previously on another board, fastest should mean nothing in skating. There are times when skaters are skating at a breakneck speed when the music is SLOW--are they forgetting that there's music playing?

 

[cassieandcheetah]

I am sorry--like Joesitz has said previously on another board, fastest should mean nothing in skating. There are times when skaters are skating at a breakneck speed when the music is SLOW--are they forgetting that there's music playing?

No, that's not true. One of the reasons why B/S deserved the gold as much as S/P did in 2002 was because they were just so much faster than the Canadians. If you remember, they skated to Thais, a pretty slow song, but they were flying on the ice the whole time. Same for Gordeeva and Grinkov. I don't know how the teams of late have come to slow down so much because none of them I've seen are as fast, so perhaps you're right blue dog, I guess people just gave up on speed in favor of precision of their elements???

 

[pengdequan]

I so agree!!! B/S and G/G were the fastest teams! S/Z don't even come close. The real question though is, which team was faster, B/S or G/G???

No,please look at 99 worlds,so fast.S/Z basic skating skills not as strong as traditional Russian teams,but their ability to keep that speed through the pgramme is unmatched by any pair in the world.You must admit that.
"s/Z don't even come close."his sentence is ridiculous!S/Z flow in the ice as well,look at 2007 worlds.

 

[pengdequan]

Gosh, S&S have excellent skating skills - better than all the other teams at the final. Especially compared to the Zhangs who have such stiff knees.

Yes,zhang not as good as s/s,but how can they match s/z,t/m in skating skills?

 

[cassieandcheetah]

Yes,zhang not as good as s/s,but how can they match s/z,t/m in skating skills?

I respect your opinion, but you seem a bit biased. Are you Chinese? It's just I've never heard anyone say that Shen and Zhao skate faster than Berezhnaya and Sikarulidze, let alone Gordeeva and Grinkov.

 

[Cal Girl]

Today pair teams have to do so much more of the inbetween moves, footwork etc that it appears they aren't skating as fast as the other older Russian teams. At least that is the way it seems, especially during the footwork and required spirals etc. The footwork used to be a highlight to a program now all that matters is if you get the necessary level and it has nothing to do with the mood of the music.

 

[pengdequan]

I respect your opinion, but you seem a bit biased. Are you Chinese? It's just I've never heard anyone say that Shen and Zhao skate faster than Berezhnaya and Sikarulidze, let alone Gordeeva and Grinkov.

My mother is Chinese.But s/z skate faster than them is the opinion of one of my friends who can be a judge!He is a sports teacher.And many of my friends agree with that as well.So let us stop this topic,no matter who skate faster,they are all gorgeous skaters who will be remembered forever.

 

[silver.blades]

I am sorry--like Joesitz has said previously on another board, fastest should mean nothing in skating. There are times when skaters are skating at a breakneck speed when the music is SLOW--are they forgetting that there's music playing?

Speed should be kept up through the entire program regardless of the music. Speed of music should=speed of movement across the ice. The movements should reflect the music speed and slow music normaly requires smooth stroking but speed should be present no matter what the music.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Are we talking about figure skating or speed skating?

Proper movement to the music will give skaters the proper speed. No one is suggesting one should skate slowly and carefully, although I see a lot of that.

From what I've seen, Plush would skate fast until he had to do an element and he would then come out of character and carefully and slowly execute the element. He woudl then pose for his fans and then race to the next element. I'm sorry but I was not overwhelmed.

However, I will agree with anyone who wants to get rid of the music and watch the skaters do their elements at high speed and have them timed as part of the score.

Joe

 

[cassieandcheetah]

Are we talking about figure skating or speed skating?

Proper movement to the music will give skaters the proper speed. No one is suggesting one should skate slowly and carefully, although I see a lot of that.

From what I've seen, Plush would skate fast until he had to do an element and he would then come out of character and carefully and slowly execute the element. He woudl then pose for his fans and then race to the next element. I'm sorry but I was not overwhelmed.

However, I will agree with anyone who wants to get rid of the music and watch the skaters do their elements at high speed and have them timed as part of the score.

Joe

gosh, why can't you see that speed does matter? During the 2002 Olympics, even Sandra Bezic admitted that B/S' s speed was second to none! As the poster above said it's very very important. And how about all the criticism regarding Caroline Zhang and how slow she's on the ice? It definitely affects the audience, and it doesn't look good. I guess you can be fast, and slow depending on the flow of the music, but if you're constitutively slow, it's not going to reflect on you so well. And how about the whole Tara vs. Michelle saga in Nagano? As much as I know michelle, I know what people are talking about her being slow that day now, because when I saw her olympic FP, it wasn't half as fast as her nationals performance. I think she just froze up that day or something. But speed does matter and I'm sticking by it. I like you Joe, but it's a bit infuriating that now you think I, as well as others, are mistaking figure skating for speed skating. What an erroneous claim!

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

sorry Cassie but I stand by feeling that speed in accordance with the music and choreography is the way to go. I think you are confusing me with wanting slow skating. I emphaically do not.. I want measured speed throughout the program. B&S had wonder musicality with the correct speed. Their Chaplin program showed the various speeds used. It was all to the music. they were an excepional team.

for single skaters I would suggest you watch Yuka Sato who has the most unbelieveable speed in figure skating.

Joe

 

[cassieandcheetah]

sorry Cassie but I stand by feeling that speed in accordance with the music and choreography is the way to go. I think you are confusing me with wanting slow skating. I emphaically do not.. I want measured speed throughout the program. B&S had wonder musicality with the correct speed. Their Chaplin program showed the various speeds used. It was all to the music. they were an excepional team.

for single skaters I would suggest you watch Yuka Sato who has the most unbelieveable speed in figure skating.

Joe

I'm sorry Joe. I understand what you mean. I'm going to go cool down some right now. IT's just that this speed thing is something I mulled over for a long time because I kept getting dismayed to see that all the pairs teams of today have slowed down so much, so it's become much less interesting to watch them, as all of them appear so laborious and tentative....

 

[silver.blades]

Are we talking about figure skating or speed skating?

Proper movement to the music will give skaters the proper speed. No one is suggesting one should skate slowly and carefully, although I see a lot of that.

From what I've seen, Plush would skate fast until he had to do an element and he would then come out of character and carefully and slowly execute the element. He woudl then pose for his fans and then race to the next element. I'm sorry but I was not overwhelmed.

However, I will agree with anyone who wants to get rid of the music and watch the skaters do their elements at high speed and have them timed as part of the score.

Joe

The choreography of a program is very important to me, I never said I'd rather watch a speed race, but speed is important as well. Skaters don't need to be extremly fast like Kostner or Plusheko, but they do need speed and flow (which is gained by speed more often than not) to have a good performance. I think you miss interpretied my post. Skaters don't need to go at breakneck speed to have appropriate speed. But without movement across the ice the flow is lost and without flow it's no longer skating, it's a wannabe form of dance that dosn't quite cut it. Name a skater with good flow who is slow. It's not possible to have the flow without speed, even if the skater isn't the fastest, they can still be described as having spedd across the ice which is nessisary no matter what the music speed is. The speed of the steps is more reflective of the speed of the music, not the speed across the ice. And slow music can work with fast steps, and vice versa it's difficult and takes good choreography but it the music dosn't have to dictate the movements for them to work in relation to eachother.