Gliding gracefully with gravity-defying maneuvers and amazing speed. All that wrapped up in 4 minutes or less, while dressed beautifully with sparkle and bling. So much goes into a figure skating program. So what are the elements of figure skating?
It’s your favorite competition to watch. Sasha Skater is on the ice. Cue music. Music starts and away she goes. Wait a minute something is definitely wrong. Oh yes, she’s jumping, now there’s a nice spin, but she’s skating around the rink in the same pattern that everyone who has ever skated on a public session knows very well. Yes, it’s true that this never happens. The reason why comes down to one word- choreography. It’s like a well decorated room where you would not see all the artwork on one wall. Neither would you see all the furniture on one side, and all the lamps on another side. Elements + choreography= A well balanced figure skating program.
Well-balanced Figure Skating program
A well balanced program starts with specific elements that are required by the governing bodies of the sport. For a skater in the USA that would be U.S. Figure Skating and the ISU. THE ISU (International Skating Union) governs figure skating and speed skating throughout the world. Therefore any skater that has made it to an international level would have to abide by the rules of the ISU. Skaters at the grassroots and up through the national level in the United States follow the rules of U.S. figure skating.
The technical elements of the program are the jumps and the spins. However, they must be interspersed with connecting steps and transitions. The placement of the jumps and spins on the ice is also very important. The combination of these technical elements as well as the artistic features provide a well-balanced program. In the world of scoring a competition, the formula would look something like this: Technical elements score + Program Component Scores = Total.
High Scores for the Well-balanced Program
A well balanced program means high scores. There are five program component marks. The combined total of these program component scores and the technical scores gives the final mark. At this point the math can be a bit complicated. However the five program components are skating skills, transitions, performance, composition, and interpretation of the music. In all disciplines skating skills make up the higher percentage of the marks. Skating skills include the balance maintained, the use of edges, the flow across the ice, the speed and acceleration, and last but not least skating in both directions while on one foot.
Figure Skating Jumps
Edge Jumps- Axel, Salchow, Loop
Toe jumps- Toe loop, Flip, Lutz
Spins
Upright, Camel, Sit. From these 3 basic positions arise a variety of spins. For example, in the photo at the right the skater is doing an upright spin in the position called a layback. In addition she has pulled her leg up from the classic layback position and thus the spin is now a “haircutter” spin.
It’s amazing to watch how all of these elements can be incorporated into a well-choreographed program. Moreover, it is also a work of art. Therefore, as you watch from directly above the ice, the intricate patterns that are traced on the ice are beautiful to see. Of course, the most exciting and highest level of competition is the Olympics.
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