Telling others about figure skating

[GF2445]

I want to start this thread because as a fan of the sport, it is our responsibility, to some degree, to tell others about figure skating and get people around us interested about skating. With the winter games around the corner, it's the perfect opportunity to get people interested or at least talking about it at the water cooler at work or during lunch break.

Here are some questions to provoke discussion on this thread. These questions range from things you can talk about to someone who knows nothing about skating to those who don't watch but have some understanding. Some of these questions are great for those who you already have hooked on the sport and they still need to figure out a few things?

-What are some ways or strategies that we as fans can implement that can get people around us interested in skating skating, especially those in areas of the world that has little to no skating culture or areas where popularity has dwindled?
-What are some skating topics that you can talk about that would get people interested?
-If someone asks about how the scoring system works, what would you say so anyone could understand?
-How would you explain each discipline, event?
-how would you explain a short or a long program in each discipline?
-how would you explain in simple terms, the presentation score/program components?
-how would you explain in simple terms how the the elements are marked/ the technical element score?
-how would you explain the scores with (1) a protocol at hand and (2) without a protocol?
-what current skating rivalries or profiles would you bring up to wet someone's appetite because everyone loves rivalries, controversies, scandals etc.?
-how would you explain elements and levels and GOE?
-what happens if a skater makes a mistake on an element or not on an element?
-music
-costumes
-deductions
Etc.

Okay. Go nuts!!

 

[FSGMT]

I talk about FS to people who know almost nothing about it almost daily, and it's always funny to see their reactions and to answer their questions... One thing that always drives me crazy is discovering that a lot of people compare FS to ballet: they think "well, FS is like ballet on ice, isn't it?" and when you try to explain that there are jumps, competition, judges, falls, that not everything is about smiling and being graceful (I'm not saying that ballet is "only about smiling and being graceful"!), a lot of people look surprised, and they say like: "But... well, it's like shows, right? You do exhibitions and sometimes you compete against each other?" For example, I brought some people to a local competition some days ago and they were very surprised when they saw people falling so often and so badly... their questions were like "it's nice but... is falling so common?". Once, I was talking about FS to a friend and he said "but, determination is not THAT important in skating, right? It's more about being graceful, elegant and things like this?" And, I often see that a lot of people are not interested at all in marks and in the scoring system, I never had to explain it so someone, frankly...
I don't know if in other countries where skating is more popular people know a bit more about it, but in Italy the situation is this!

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

The worst thing I tend to hear is "Why do they fall if they practice so much?" Which is ridiculous because clearly all basketball players make 100% of their free throws, all divers hit 100% of their dives, all punters make 100% of their field goals, and all golfers hit 100% of their putts.

It's difficult convincing people that figure skating is beyond a performance sport and actually requires a great deal of athleticism, focus, and practice. Anyone who's actually been a figure skater knows how hard it truly is. I think breaking people's misconceptions of how hard it actually is and getting people to respect it more for it's actual athletic side is fundamental.

 

[GF2445]

I talk about FS to people who know almost nothing about it almost daily, and it's always funny to see their reactions and to answer their questions... One thing that always drives me crazy is discovering that a lot of people compare FS to ballet: they think "well, FS is like ballet on ice, isn't it?" and when you try to explain that there are jumps, competition, judges, falls, that not everything is about smiling and being graceful (I'm not saying that ballet is "only about smiling and being graceful"!), a lot of people look surprised, and they say like: "But... well, it's like shows, right? You do exhibitions and sometimes you compete against each other?" For example, I brought some people to a local competition some days ago and they were very surprised when they saw people falling so often and so badly... their questions were like "it's nice but... is falling so common?". Once, I was talking about FS to a friend and he said "but, determination is not THAT important in skating, right? It's more about being graceful, elegant and things like this?" And, I often see that a lot of people are not interested at all in marks and in the scoring system, I never had to explain it so someone, frankly...
I don't know if in other countries where skating is more popular people know a bit more about it, but in Italy the situation is this!

Thank you for sharing. It's interesting to know what it's like talking about skating in other countries. In my country, pretty much no one knows anything about figure skating (other than blades of glory) so when the winter Olympics comes along I tend to talk about it. I tend to show videos on YouTube of the world championships.

On the contrary, from my experience, people do ask about how a skating competition is judged and from that I talk about how the scoring system works. Even though they do not get everything about How IJS works, my friends seem to Get the gist of how it works generally. It's funny because when I explain how the scoring works, especially when talking about program components, most of my non-skating friends tell me that this system seems prone to bad/unfair judging...and it is. Neverless Even when I do explain the faults and scandals which came from of IJS, they don't seem turned off by it because they see the judging as something that is amusing and at times a spectacle in itself.

I find it helpful also to talk about the current skating stories, rivalries, controversies, backstories of athletes etc.
as it has that glamourous factor which at times can seem quite scandalous.

 

[Scrufflet]

Interesting topic! I have a friend who has had a mild interest. She would come to Stars On Ice every few years and enjoy it. Then I took her to Canadian Nationals this year and she was hooked! She loved the competitive aspect and now wants to come to everything. What to make of this, I don't know.

 

[meem]

When I tell people that my favorite sport is *competitive* figure skating (I emphasize competitive so they'll know I'm not talking about the shows), I get a funny look. I think because they see costumes instead of uniforms, and hear music, they don't think much of FS nor do they have any idea how strong & powerful skaters have to be in order to make it to GP comps and Nationals, etc. And, if they've never been on skates, they have no idea whatsoever how difficult it is to stay vertical. I don't even bother getting into the judging system...I just know if they heard that judges can take into consideration the age of a program or whether or not this athlete is effectively interpreting his/her music, that would be the end of the conversation and any interest. In the US, there won't be a return to major interest in skating, IMO, until we get another singles top skater (preferably female for some reason). So I enjoy skating wherever/whenever I can watch competitions (and I must admit I really enjoyed watching Worlds on my laptop and didn't have to constantly cringe whenever Scott shrieked/groaned/grunted/etc.)

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

The worst thing I tend to hear is "Why do they fall if they practice so much?" Which is ridiculous because clearly all basketball players make 100% of their free throws, all divers hit 100% of their dives, all punters make 100% of their field goals, and all golfers hit 100% of their putts.

I think the problem is that some competitions are won by skaters who make major errors that are visible to the casual viewer. Whereas before, someone would have to be clean and a great artist to beat someone like Surya Bonaly, those same skaters could fall twice and beat her under COP. The ISU needs to examine ways to encourage cleaner performances. Maybe that means pulling one jumping pass from the men's LP or some other scoring changes. When casual viewers watch skating and see someone win with multiple falls, I don't believe their thinking is "I must not understand the scoring system" but rather "these judges are crooked; didn't they see what I saw?"

 

[iluvtodd]

I send my friends Youtube videos of fs performances that I consider special/outstanding. Then I let them comment. If they seem interested, I show them more of particular skaters/styles, etc.

 

[GF2445]

I really liked the little segments that CBC did with this years coverage of skating. Every competition had a little segment called 'a skater's life' it was a great way to show what a skater faces and experiences daily in order to be the best. I also liked how they did an after show podcast after each grand prix.

 

[Olympia]

I have talked to people so far out of it that they refer to Michelle Kwan as "Nancy Kwan," an actress from years ago (probably conflating Michelle's name with Nancy Kerrigan's). All my friends know I love skating, and if they find an article about skating in a newspaper or magazine, they bring it to me. But honestly, it's hard to build fandom for a sport you can't see anywhere. The major newspaper in our area almost never has so much as a line of copy on a skating competition. Anything on TV is buried in the middle of the day on Saturday or Sunday, when my buddies are either out and about or putting in extra hours at the office for a deadline. I never even make it to a discussion of the judging system.

One advantage these days for me is that I can link couples skating (pairs and ice dance) to Dancing with the Stars. That's something that some of the rest of you might try as you're talking to friends.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

I think the problem is that some competitions are won by skaters who make major errors that are visible to the casual viewer. Whereas before, someone would have to be clean and a great artist to beat someone like Surya Bonaly, those same skaters could fall twice and beat her under COP. The ISU needs to examine ways to encourage cleaner performances. Maybe that means pulling one jumping pass from the men's LP or some other scoring changes. When casual viewers watch skating and see someone win with multiple falls, I don't believe their thinking is "I must not understand the scoring system" but rather "these judges are crooked; didn't they see what I saw?"

Yes, that is a problem. But when skaters attempt high difficulty, they are bound to make more errors. The sport could be made more "appealing" if guys only had to do one quad and women didn't have to do 3-3s, but then it wouldn't be challenging. I'd rather the sport challenge itself and people make errors in attempts to do so rather than people go for easy programs and skate those cleanly and the audience likes it. It's kind of like spins -- the public audience doesn't care about a change of edge in a spin or if a layback has a Biellmann or not, but those within the sport recognize it's harder. It's like gymnastics or diving -- you can tell when an athlete makes a blatant error like a fall off the beam or brings up a lot of splash, but they're also penalized for less obvious things like not connecting movements or not pointing their toes (perfect example is trying to explain why Maroney got silver and why Dragulescu beat out Shewfelt for bronze, after their falls on vault). And that's just for a 5-second dive or 2 minute routine... it's even harder explaining over the course of 4-4.5 minutes to a casual viewer what the skater has done right and wrong.

 

[Scout]

A non-figure skating friend of mine once initiated a conversation about skating, as she knows I figure skate. She is korean, so even though she doesn't know anything about skating, she knows Yuna and saw her Olympic and recent World performances. She was gushing about how amazing Yuna is, how much of a super star she is in korea, how beautiful her skating is. She mentioned how "that Japanese skater" is good too, but omg, yuna's skating is breath-taking.

I don't remember the exact details, but I mentioned how triple axels were mandatory for men, but very rare for women. I mentioned that at the Olympics, Mao did three beautiful ones. She then asked how many Yuna landed. I replied that she hadn't landed any. My friend was completely flabergasted. What? None? Queen Yuna didn't land the hardest jump at the Olympics? But she can land one, right? No? She never attempted one? What? Then why does she win?

It was really funny to see her reaction. She was completely shocked, as she had taken for granted that Yuna was laning triple axels in her programs. The truth is that, for my friend, a lot of the amazingness about Yuna comes from the fact that she Korean. All the jumps look the same to her, there is no understanding of difficulty or transitions.

For a lot of fans, there is no different between a double axel and a triple lutz or a cheated quad toe. They're all just jumps. They don't see the number of rotations in the air. And don't get me started on the transitions and PCS. This makes it very difficult for casual fans to understand and enjoy figure skating. If you can't understand why people who fall win, and people who skate flawlessly to the untrained eye lose, then you lose interest. These casual fans don't necessarily want to spend time learning the ins and outs of the COP.

I can sit down and watch a hockey playoff game, understand it and enjoy it thouroughly despite not watching any of the regular season. That doesn't always happen in skating.

 

[Krislite]

A non-figure skating friend of mine once initiated a conversation about skating, as she knows I figure skate. She is korean, so even though she doesn't know anything about skating, she knows Yuna and saw her Olympic and recent World performances. She was gushing about how amazing Yuna is, how much of a super star she is in korea, how beautiful her skating is. She mentioned how "that Japanese skater" is good too, but omg, yuna's skating is breath-taking.

I don't remember the exact details, but I mentioned how triple axels were mandatory for men, but very rare for women. I mentioned that at the Olympics, Mao did three beautiful ones. She then asked how many Yuna landed. I replied that she hadn't landed any. My friend was completely flabergasted. What? None? Queen Yuna didn't land the hardest jump at the Olympics? But she can land one, right? No? She never attempted one? What? Then why does she win?

It was really funny to see her reaction. She was completely shocked, as she had taken for granted that Yuna was laning triple axels in her programs. The truth is that, for my friend, a lot of the amazingness about Yuna comes from the fact that she Korean. All the jumps look the same to her, there is no understanding of difficulty or transitions.

For a lot of fans, there is no different between a double axel and a triple lutz or a cheated quad toe. They're all just jumps. They don't see the number of rotations in the air. And don't get me started on the transitions and PCS. This makes it very difficult for casual fans to understand and enjoy figure skating. If you can't understand why people who fall win, and people who skate flawlessly to the untrained eye lose, then you lose interest. These casual fans don't necessarily want to spend time learning the ins and outs of the COP.

I can sit down and watch a hockey playoff game, understand it and enjoy it thouroughly despite not watching any of the regular season. That doesn't always happen in skating.

I think one can appreciate and enjoy figure skating without knowing the intricacies of all the different jumps, spins, steps/turns, not to mention transitions and choreography. In fact, the majority of figure skating's "fans" at its peak surely couldn't distinguish between a 3Lutz and 2Axel, but they watched anyways because Michelle Kwan was on TV and she was breathtaking to watch, or because there was a juicy scandal (Tonya Harding & Nancy Kerrigan). Personally, I was such a ignorant "fan" long ago, before I knew about twizzles and mohawks. Many casual fans watch figure skating to follow certain stars--just like Michelle Kwan did for millions of Americans in the past, Yuna draws a lot of casual Korean fans who know nothing about figure skating. This is also true in many other sports.

How else did figure skating get as popular as did in the past anyways, if it was too difficult for the masses to comprehend its complexity? No, it's not because people were smarter in the past, and no their tastes were not more refined than now.

 

[Olympia]

That's really interesting, Scout. I can see how someone who only knows YuNa as an object of hero worship would be astounded that she doesn't do the supposed money jump. I know from my own experience that learning about the different jumps and the quality of the jumps would cause your friend to become even more amazed at her heroine's talent and skills. I still remember the first moment I noticed the amplitude of YuNa's jumps. I never again compared her to anyone else.

I don't know what the answer is about sharing skating with new fans (or friends you hope will become fans). When I first got interested in skating, I was so taken with what some skaters could do that I enjoyed skating even when I didn't understand why certain skaters came in ahead of others. (I discovered skating during the school figures era, so people would show up in first place, and one never knew why one's favorites were as far down as ninth place.) For some reason, this did not spoil my love of skating. But then I can be very odd about such things, so I never expect anyone to react as I do.

 

[skateluvr]

yuna will win Sochi based on those 3 wow factors, speed, rotations, humongous 3x3s. all else is good but not the best. she is a conglomerate now and while I am forever her skate fan, I have high hopes thing lady will become a superstar humanitarian. go yuna!

 

[Scout]

I think one can appreciate and enjoy figure skating without knowing the intricacies of all the different jumps, spins, steps/turns, not to mention transitions and choreography. In fact, the majority of figure skating's "fans" at its peak surely couldn't distinguish between a 3Lutz and 2Axel, but they watched anyways because Michelle Kwan was on TV and she was breathtaking to watch, or because there was a juicy scandal (Tonya Harding & Nancy Kerrigan). Personally, I was such a ignorant "fan" long ago, before I knew about twizzles and mohawks. Many casual fans watch figure skating to follow certain stars--just like Michelle Kwan did for millions of Americans in the past, Yuna draws a lot of casual Korean fans who know nothing about figure skating. This is also true in many other sports.

How else did figure skating get as popular as did in the past anyways, if it was too difficult for the masses to comprehend its complexity? No, it's not because people were smarter in the past, and no their tastes were not more refined than now.

I do agree with you. You can definitely enjoy figure skating without knowing all the intricacies of the sport. The problem is, when you see Denis Ten come second to Patrick Chan, and you don't understand it, it can taint the experience. You still loved watching Denis skate, you loved seeing his post-skate reaction, but you're befuddled at the results.

Yes, Yuna draws a lot of fans. Will those fans keep watching if Mao falls and wins, while Yuna seems to skate flawlessly (maybe she doubles some jumps that the casual viewer doesn't catch) and loses?

When you're a casual viewer and you don't understand why the performance that got you jumping to your feet, that was emotionally moving, earned a standing O, that didn't seem to have any errors, lose to something that had multiple obvious errors, it impacts the overall experience of watching the sport. I think that you lose some viewers that way.

 

[sky_fly20]

its useless especially for casual viewers, FS has too much music and theatrics involved on the ice
its like explaining how synchronized swinning or RG works. well they do enjoy watching it and are at awe when they see a near perfect skate in their eyes
they wont know much about UR, only those the naked eye can see like falls or band landing on jumps/spin errors

 

[Ladskater]

Most Canadian kids learn to skate at some point in their lives, either they live in the colder regions of Canada - like Prince George, BC - where I learned to skate or they live in towns and cities where ice skating rinks abound. Some kids become figure skaters while the majority become hockey players. At any rate, most Canadians are knowledgeable about figure skating and names like Kurt Browning, Brian Orser, Virtue and Moir and Sale and Pelletier are household names. So it's quite easy to discuss figure skating here.

 

[Olympia]

Yesterday I showed my co-worker a video of Davis/White's Die Fledermaus. She was entranced. I'm sure she has watched skating during the Olympics but doesn't pay attention otherwise. Whether she would ever become a regular viewer or any degree of fan, I can't say, but she certainly wanted more when the tape ended.

I think a lot of fans of ballet or dance could be convinced to cross over to skating fandom. But there aren't a lot of ballet fans all over the place either.