How Figure Skaters Weave Their Magic (non-fiction) - by Anne Shier (a.k.a. "Annie")

(From the web site:  http://figureskating.about.com)

I’ve often wondered how competitive figure skaters do what they do.  Not having been trained as a figure skater myself to do these different kinds of moves, I thought that I sort of knew what the different moves were, but I wanted to find out what the proper name of each move was and how it’s supposed to be done.  So, I’ve embarked on a self-imposed research project here to find out the details of some basic figure skating moves.  In the meantime, I also want to know what makes one figure skater better than another. 

First of all, there are four basic categories of moves:  1) Edges and Turns, 2) Spins, 3) Jumps, and 4) Connecting Moves.  Of these, Spins and Connecting Moves have some sub-categories that should be mentioned:  the Spin sub-categories are:  a) Upright Position, b) Sit Position, and c) Camel Position; and, the Connecting Moves sub-categories are:  a) Grace Moves, and b) Small Jumps.  I’ll cover only the Edges, Turns and Spins here.  I’ll start with the first basic category:  Edges and Turns.  I would love to talk about the different kinds of Jumps and Grace Moves done in figure skating here too, but Jumps, in particular, is a major category that needs to be addressed separately in another short story.

Edges and Turns:  Recognizing the Edges (of a Figure Skate):

Figure skating is defined in terms of “edges”. The bottom of a figure skating blade is ground into the shape of a hollow circle, and the “points” of the circle are what actually touch the ice. These points are called edges, and each skate blade has 2 of them — the “inside edge”, and the “outside edge”. For example, on the skater’s left foot, the right side of the blade would be the “inside edge” (the inside of the legs).

There are 8 ways to skate, described by a combination of the foot, direction of movement, and blade edge. They are as follows:

Code   Description:

LBO    Skating on the Left foot, Backwards, on the Outside edge

LBI     Skating on the Left foot, Backwards, on the Inside edge

RBO   Skating on the Right foot, Backwards, on the Outside edge

RBI     Skating on the Right foot, Backwards, on the Inside edge

LFO    Skating on the Left foot, Forwards, on the Outside edge

LFI      Skating on the Left foot, Forwards, on the Inside edge

RFO    Skating on the Right foot, Forwards, on the Outside edge

RFI     Skating on the Right foot, Forwards, on the Inside edge

Most skating elements can be described as a combination of edges using the above terminology.

Recognizing the Turns - 2-Foot:

Some turns involve both feet, and are called two-foot turns. The best known 2-foot turns are Mohawks and Choctaws.

Mohawk:

A Mohawk changes feet, changes direction (i.e. front-to-back or back-to-front), and maintains the same edge (i.e. if you started on a Right Back Outside edge, you end up on a Left Forward Outside edge). The common "step-forward" is technically called a Mohawk.

For most skaters, the most common Mohawks are the RFI-LBI (you sometimes see this before flip jumps, and you often see it when a skater just needs to change direction quickly), and the RBO-LFO (you often see this before waltz jumps, as well as Axel jumps and Salchow jumps.

 Choctaw:

 A Choctaw changes feet, changes direction, AND changes edge (i.e. if you started on a Right Forward Outside (RFO) edge, you end up on a Left Backward Inside (LBI) edge). In the Preliminary MIF test "Alternating 3-Turns" element, the step from one lobe to the next is a Choctaw (for instance, one of the lobes ends with a RBO edge, from which you step onto an LFI edge for the start of the next lobe - this is called an RBO-LFI Choctaw).

The Choctaw is most frequently performed in footwork sequences.  It’s a good element to use because it’s pretty dramatic, and unusual enough that it'll usually get noticed and remembered -- especially if you show that you can do it both ways, and cleanly (quietly with good flow).

Recognizing the Turns - 1-Foot:

One-foot turns are most recognizable when performed in a “compulsory figure” pattern where the tracing becomes obvious, but all may be performed while free-skating. Indeed, each of the turns is a central figure in at least one of the Moves-in-the-Field patterns.

Three-Turn:

The Three-Turn earns its name because of the resemblance of its tracing to the printed number “3”. It is a one foot turn which, if skated on a compulsory figure stays on the same circle, but changes direction and edge. For instance, a three-turn started on a left forward outside (LFO) edge (my personal favourite) finishes on a left back inside (LBI) edge. The direction of the “cusp” (pointy part) of the three-turn is toward the center of the circle which is being skated.

Bracket:

The Bracket is similar to the three-turn in that it stays on the same circle, and changes direction and edge. The difference is that the cusp (pointy part) points AWAY FROM the center of the circle being skated. It is generally considered to be a more difficult turn. The Bracket earns its name because of the resemblance of its tracing to the printed “[curly] brace” or “bracket” character.

Rocker:

The Rocker is a turn which, if performed on a compulsory figure, would move the skater from one circle onto a different one. The Rocker changes circle and direction, but maintains the same edge. For instance, a Rocker entered on the Right Forward Outside (RFO) edge will finish on a Right Back Outside (RBO) edge. The cusp of the Rocker points toward the center of the original circle (the direction of the rotation in the turn is “normal”).

Now, I’ll cover the Spins, including an introduction to spinning on ice, followed by the various kinds of spins.

Recognizing the Spins:

While they may be less "exciting" than jumps, spins are an essential part of any good free-skating program. Spins add the balance and beauty that makes the program appealing. Spins are identified according to the position achieved by the skater while spinning. There are as many variants of the spin as there are people to imagine them, but they all fall into one of 3 basic categories based on their spinning position -- upright, sit, and camel spins.

As with jumps, most spinners spin in a counterclockwise direction, but these descriptions assume a counterclockwise spinner. As it is for jumps, if you are looking at a clockwise spinner, swap the feet in the descriptions. Most skaters spin in the same direction that they jump.

Note that spins are called "forward" spins or "backward" spins. This has nothing to do with the direction of rotation, but rather which foot the skater is on while spinning. For a conventional (counterclockwise) spinner, a forward spin is performed on the left foot, and a backward spin is performed on the right foot. For most skaters, backward spins are more difficult.

Spins present the skater with endless opportunities for variety and innovation. Each of the 3 major POSITIONs (upright, sit, camel) can have variation in the details of that position (where are the arms? where are the legs? etc). Each spin can be performed either forwards (left foot) or backwards (right foot). The entry to a spin can be forward or backward; you can change edges within a spin (did you know that spins had a rotating edge?). The sit and camel positions can be entered either directly, or from a "flying" entry (basically the skater "jumps" into the spin). Like jumps, spins can be performed "solo" or in combination. A spin combination is a spin which changes position, or changes foot (or both) while the skater continues to rotate.

What do judges look for?

When judging a spin, the judge looks primarily at the quality of the position(s) attained, the number of revolutions achieved, and the quality of the "center" (does it stay in one place on the ice?).  For instance, relative to position -- for a sit spin, lower is better; for a camel spin, higher is better; on a layback spin, more arch is better. In all cases, a position which includes an attractive blending of arms, hands, legs, and body is better. On rev counts, in all cases, more is better. Note that judges don't start counting revs until the spin position is attained (centering revs don't count, revs while you're struggling to get into that Biellman position don't count). In IJS events, a position is not counted unless it has at least 2 full revolutions. The spin's "center" refers to the degree to which it stays in one place while spinning. A spin which "travels" across the ice is less attractive (and less correct) than one which stays well centered.

Upright Spins:

Upright spins are the simplest variety of spin, and the earliest learned. The skater assumes a basically upright position while spinning. Advanced skaters spin on a single foot; beginners initially learn to spin on 2 feet. Basic upright spin positions are described on this page; more advanced upright spins such as the Layback and Biellmann are described separately.

Basic Two-Foot Spins:

In the very earliest spins, the skater will leave both skates on the ice while spinning, performing what is called a Two-Foot Spin. Both feet are on the ice, roughly parallel to each other and about a shoulder-width apart while the skater rotates around the center of the circle they describe. This is a teaching spin, and often the skating pro (coach) will introduce the feeling of a one-foot spin by starting from a two-foot spin then picking up the right foot.

Basic One-Foot Spins:

Once the skater graduates to one-foot spinning, spins can be skated on either of the feet — if skated on the left foot, the spin is considered to be a Forward Upright Spin; if skated on the right foot, the spin is considered to be a Back Upright Spin (remember that most skaters spin in a counterclockwise direction -- for clockwise spinners, a forward spin would be on the right foot, a backward spin on the left). For beginning skaters, the free leg (the one NOT on the ice) is usually bent, with the ankle near the skater's knee.

Scratch Spins:

A variant of the upright spin is the Scratch Spin, which can be performed either on the left foot (Scratch Spin), or the right foot (Back Scratch Spin). In either case, the position is similar to the standard upright, but the skater rides a little bit more forward on the blade and pulls in tighter. The free foot usually gets "lower" or closer to the ice. This produces a much faster rate of spin. The Scratch Spin is the very dramatic spin that many skaters end their programs with.

Crossfoot Spins:

Another variant of the upright spin is the Crossfoot Spin. The crossfoot spin is usually performed by male skaters and is similar to the forward upright spin.  When performing a crossfoot spin, the skater straightens the free leg and crosses it in front of the skating leg.  The free foot (left foot) is placed next to, but "outside" the skating foot with its blade parallel to and very close to the ice. Like a scratch spin, this rotates very quickly and the legs give the effect of a climbing "barber pole".

The descriptions above of Edges, Turns and Spins tell me why figure skating techniques often look confusing.  But to a figure skating judge, these details are necessary to know in order to properly evaluate a figure skater’s performance.  And, to a figure skating coach, these details are necessary to know so that he/she can start teaching a simple step of an element to a beginner and proceed to more difficult steps (by adding difficulty to an element, step by step).  As for the ordinary, untrained viewer (like me), repeated observation may help a person to learn these details over time, but more likely, without some explanation and demonstration (teaching) of the techniques of using edges in figure skating, it might be more difficult to tell which edge of the skate is being used by the skater, in which direction the skater is moving, or the foot that the skater is using for each move. 

From a judging perspective, the execution of Edges, Turns and Spins is very similar to that of gymnastic moves, in my mind.  The skater is expected to perform each element technically correctly and also to add elements that have creativity and innovation in order to make their performance stand out and be noticed.  If the performer can perform all of the required elements (for their competitive level) and make each element unique in some way, he/she has a much better chance of being noticed by the judges and of being marked higher for each element, as well as, for his/her overall performance.

copyright 2014, Anne Shier.  All rights reserved.