Random Figure Skating Questions

[VegMom]

Do skaters pay for their coaches' travel expenses when they compete? Or do coaches actually want to travel with their skaters because they get to appear on TV?

In the US in my limited experience... Everything I've heard and read is that skaters pay their coach's travel expenses. Skaters will share costs when there are multiple skaters attending the same competition with one coach. My skater's coach almost always tries to arrange it so more than one skater attends each event to help share costs. And she doesn't book extravagant hotels etc.

Another coach at our rink explained to me that he doesn't like to travel unless it's a large group of skaters, like 10 or 20 to share costs. He doesn't think it's worth it and would rather arrange for another coach who lives in the area of the competition to assist the skater. He's trying to save the parents' money. But it all just depends, I know my skater wouldn't want to compete if he coach weren't there.

In law, the copyright of an image belongs to the person/company who takes the image, unless it has previously been agreed otherwise eg via a signed contract. Presumably, as with other junior sports, minor skaters who go events like the JGP would have to have a consent form signed by a parent or guardian and that would include permission for photographs to be taken/their image to be used for promotional purposes (a lot of images from the JGP turn up on sites like Getty Images, for example), videos to be placed online etc, and if that permission wasn't given, photographers would be instructed not to photograph that skater. But because any image taken belongs to the photographer or their employer, they can retain it for however long they like.

I'm not talking about Juniors. Those are technically minors but they're teenagers. I'm not as worried about their privacy. They've pretty much already signed up for national/international attention. I'm talking about videos from levels far below. It appears, for instance that they have video online for lower levels of competition when they occurs at a Regionals event. Like Pre-Preliminary and Preliminary level. That's children around age 6-10.

As a parent, I signed up for one competition and I was NOT able to leave the 'consent to video and photograph' check-box un-checked. The only way to allow the form to go through was to give my consent. Maybe they just had a bad programmer write the registration code. Maybe you could register for the competition and decline permission to film. But I kind of doubt it. I have been a parent long enough in this day and age to know that there are times when you just have to decide to either participate and give consent to lose privacy rights or you just can't participate in something. I feel like that's not something they can do under COPPA, but it is what it is.

 

[glenni03]

hi! i just want to ask as to how famous mao is at japan? it just that i always read it at forums but never see pictures or videos.


and also did mao skated for both sp and fp the fire ritual dance at finlandia? is it common to skate the same songs for different programs? thank you!

ps im a big fan of mao

 

[likevelvet]

hi! i just want to ask as to how famous mao is at japan? it just that i always read it at forums but never see pictures or videos.


and also did mao skated for both sp and fp the fire ritual dance at finlandia? is it common to skate the same songs for different programs? thank you!

ps im a big fan of mao

As an American, from what I understand from limited conversations with Japanese fans, Mao is certainly very well-known among sports fans in Japan, and is one of the most if not the most famous Japanese figure skater. She had a long senior career, plenty of time for her fame to simmer and set in. She deserves it.

And yes, her '16-'17 free skate used a section of the same music as her short program. Now that I think about it, I had never quite seen that before. I would say it's pretty uncommon. I've heard of people repurposing long programs into short, and keeping the same programs year after year or revisiting them (Yuzu, Seimei) but in my personal knowledge I have never seen the short and the long be the same in the same season. Granted, you barely notice since it's only a section of the music, cut with other pieces of music.

 

[glenni03]

As an American, from what I understand from limited conversations with Japanese fans, Mao is certainly very well-known among sports fans in Japan, and is one of the most if not the most famous Japanese figure skater. She had a long senior career, plenty of time for her fame to simmer and set in. She deserves it.

And yes, her '16-'17 free skate used a section of the same music as her short program. Now that I think about it, I had never quite seen that before. I would say it's pretty uncommon. I've heard of people repurposing long programs into short, and keeping the same programs year after year or revisiting them (Yuzu, Seimei) but in my personal knowledge I have never seen the short and the long be the same in the same season. Granted, you barely notice since it's only a section of the music, cut with other pieces of music.

thank you for the clarification! its a bit confusing upon seeing the video on youtube since they have the same song title.

as for mao's popularity, all i can say is wow! :-D :-D

 

[gkelly]

and also did mao skated for both sp and fp the fire ritual dance at finlandia? is it common to skate the same songs for different programs? thank you!

It's not common, but not unknown.

Offhand, the elite examples I can recall of skaters using music from the same sources (not necessarily the same tunes) in short and long programs in the same season are

Philippe Candeloro, The Godfather, 1994 and 1995 seasons (he played the Godfather at different ages over the course of 4 programs)

Irina Slutskaya, Phantom of the Opera on Ice, 1997 season

Denis Ten, The Artist soundtrack, 2013 season

 

[satine]

Do judges usually come from a competitive background themselves? Or did their simple love of the sport lead them to become a judge? Or is it something else entirely?

 

[likevelvet]

It's not common, but not unknown.

Offhand, the elite examples I can recall of skaters using music from the same sources (not necessarily the same tunes) in short and long programs in the same season are

Philippe Candeloro, The Godfather, 1994 and 1995 seasons (he played the Godfather at different ages over the course of 4 programs)

Irina Slutskaya, Phantom of the Opera on Ice, 1997 season

Denis Ten, The Artist soundtrack, 2013 season

I forgot about D10's Artist season!

Thanks for the examples!

 

[hanyuufan5]

Is it true that if you can do a jump off the ice, there's a good chance that you can do one more revolution on the ice? That's what I've heard. If I can do all of my singles very consistently off-ice, plus a shaky double toe loop, does that mean that I stand a better chance of doing all my doubles and maybe a triple toe loop on-ice eventually?

Also, do your most comfortable singles necessarily translate to easier doubles? I looooove me some toe loops. As of my pathetic, rental-skate-clad present, they're far and away my best jump. Is that likely to change when I get good skates or with more rotations, or does a clear strongest jump usually stay that way?

 

[karne]

Do judges usually come from a competitive background themselves? Or did their simple love of the sport lead them to become a judge? Or is it something else entirely?

Most of the time, yes. They may not have been the most high-level skaters, but they are almost always skaters themselves. Some are parents/relatives.

Is it true that if you can do a jump off the ice, there's a good chance that you can do one more revolution on the ice? That's what I've heard. If I can do all of my singles very consistently off-ice, plus a shaky double toe loop, does that mean that I stand a better chance of doing all my doubles and maybe a triple toe loop on-ice eventually?

Also, do your most comfortable singles necessarily translate to easier doubles? I looooove me some toe loops. As of my pathetic, rental-skate-clad present, they're far and away my best jump. Is that likely to change when I get good skates or with more rotations, or does a clear strongest jump usually stay that way?

No, it doesn't, and doing jumps off ice is a very different proposition to doing them on ice. Not to mention someone who is still in rentals should really not be trying off-ice doubles at all. And you really shouldn't be doing jumps in rentals, either. Even single toes.

 

[DSQ]

I’m having such problems with the two food turns. I can do 90 degrees but it’s that last 90...

Plus now I’ve got my own skates and I’m not using rentals they’re so sharp it’s much harder to find the point on the blade where I turn on.

Any advice?

 

[g8rsara]

I’m having such problems with the two food turns. I can do 90 degrees but it’s that last 90...

Plus now I’ve got my own skates and I’m not using rentals they’re so sharp it’s much harder to find the point on the blade where I turn on.

Any advice?

I am having the same problem!! I wish I had the solution. I’ve been getting better by trying to “lead” with my shoulders, but it’s not there yet. It’s so frustrating!!

 

[DSQ]

I am having the same problem!! I wish I had the solution. I’ve been getting better by trying to “lead” with my shoulders, but it’s not there yet. It’s so frustrating!!

I hope someone answers us, I’m heading skating tonight to practice!

 

[rmsxvi]

Can anyone explain to me the difference between an 7" and an 8" blade rocker? im new into this stuff and im confused what different do they provide.

 

[trains]

Do judges usually come from a competitive background themselves? Or did their simple love of the sport lead them to become a judge? Or is it something else entirely?

In Canada judges must have a minimum skating level to begin training. Here is good info on the process.
http://www.skatinginbc.com/become-judge-and-evaluator

 

[hanyuufan5]

Do rippon jumps get significantly harder with increasing rotations? I actually find them easier than the regular arm position for singles, probably because they force me to keep straight and not lean forward.

 

[concorde]

Do rippon jumps get significantly harder with increasing rotations? I actually find them easier than the regular arm position for singles, probably because they force me to keep straight and not lean forward.

I was told it depends on how you learn the jumps.
I know of one gynamist-turned-skater that could only land jumps with Rippon arms.

 

[bostonskaterguy86]

I can’t seem to find an answer to this one via Google ... but why specifically is the flip jump called a “flip?”

 

[gkelly]

No idea.

According to Wikipedia,

"The origins of the flip jump are obscure. Starting in 1913, the jump was known for many years as a Mapes (now applied to the toe loop in the jargon of artistic roller skating), but it is not known for certain if Bruce Mapes was the inventor. It was certainly being commonly performed by the 1930s."

I've read a few books about skating from that period, but none explained where the name of the jump came from, if they named it at all.

 

[GoneWithTheWind]

I hope this isn’t a stupid question, but it has been bugging me for a while: is it possible for a skater/team to return to the junior ranks after skating as a senior, providing they were age eligible? I know some compete in both senior and junior, especially at national level, but, what if a skater/team skated internationally in senior competitions (eg: on the GP/CS circuit, at senior Worlds) for a season, while still being age eligible for junior, and then decided to return to junior competition for the next season. Not sure why they would but, hypothetically, would this be allowed? And, if so, has it ever happened?

 

[gkelly]

Last I heard (but I don't remember where, probably not from an official document), skaters could not compete in junior events after winning medals at senior ISU championships.

Rules might have changed over the years, but I can think of some older examples of age-eligible skaters competing at Junior Worlds after medaling at a Grand Prix event, so at least at some point that didn't disqualify them from junior competition.

Skaters can only do either Grand Prix or Junior Grand Prix in the same season, not both even they're age eligible for both. There was a time when it was allowed for pairs, given the relatively low number of pairs worldwide compared to other disciplines, but I believe that is no longer the case.

National rules or definitions regarding junior and senior eligibility may differ significantly from the ISU's definitions and rules, as well as from one country to another.