S
SkateFan4Life
Guest
OK, I realize that skaters must set up their jumps, and certain amount of preparation time is necessary to assure a successful takeoff and landing. And some skaters have their own, unique way of preparing to take off.
That being said, there seems to be a profusion of skaters who really, really telegraph their jumps. Their triple lutzes, for example, are proclaimed for about 10 seconds as they glide backwards to the corner of the rink where they plan to execute the jump. It's a choreographical dead zone, IMHO.
I'm not criticizing any of these wonderful skaters, but take a look at some of them - Dagmar Lurz, the 1980 Olympic bronze medalist, Gregorz Filipoliski, the 1989 World bronze medalist, even Elizabeth Manley, the 1988 Olympic silver medalist -- precious seconds of their programs were eaten up by gliding backwards in preparation for the triple lutz. I even have an old videotape of Dick Button competing in the 1952 Olympics. He glided backwards down 3/4 the way of the rink in preparation for his double lutz jump. No choreography there!
I'm not sure whether I would characterize Irina Slutsakaya's triple loop preparation as "telegraphing", but it comes very close to being that, IMHO.
That being said, there seems to be a profusion of skaters who really, really telegraph their jumps. Their triple lutzes, for example, are proclaimed for about 10 seconds as they glide backwards to the corner of the rink where they plan to execute the jump. It's a choreographical dead zone, IMHO.
I'm not criticizing any of these wonderful skaters, but take a look at some of them - Dagmar Lurz, the 1980 Olympic bronze medalist, Gregorz Filipoliski, the 1989 World bronze medalist, even Elizabeth Manley, the 1988 Olympic silver medalist -- precious seconds of their programs were eaten up by gliding backwards in preparation for the triple lutz. I even have an old videotape of Dick Button competing in the 1952 Olympics. He glided backwards down 3/4 the way of the rink in preparation for his double lutz jump. No choreography there!
I'm not sure whether I would characterize Irina Slutsakaya's triple loop preparation as "telegraphing", but it comes very close to being that, IMHO.