Focus underotation skater lost spontaneity

[largeman]

I think once ISU scrutinizes prerotation too, it can create a lot of skaters who jump and skate like Carolina Kostner.

Yes please!

 

[skylark]

Personality and performance is a good thing in figure skating, but I'm not so sure about spontaneity.

I thought the aim of the skaters was to skate "just like I do in practice". Usually when they start changing the program it's because they missed something. For example, if they didn't do the second half of a combination, and decide to turn a later single jump into a combo to regain the points lost, or they downgrade a jump and have to change a later jump to avoid Zayaking. This may lead to "spontaneity", as in a program "made up on the fly", but it doesn't usually enhance the performance, as they may become tentative or "absent" though thinking about what change is required.

I can't speak for others, but when the OP mentioned spontaneity, I thought more of being in the moment, completely feeling and performing the intent and emotion of the music and the program.

When I watch Mirai skate, I have no doubt that she's concentrating on her technique, and I wouldn't be surprised if thinking so much about underrotating isn't a huge part of that, since it's her biggest technical issue. But in the immortal words of mrrice, she looks like she's taking a physics exam.

When I watch Ashley skate, I know in my head that she's also thinking about her technique and doing it like she's trained, rather than slipping back into UR habits from when UR wasn't penalized so harshly. And yet Ashley takes me into another world with her skating. "Emotion, controlled by focus and training" is how Kurt B. described how Ashley skated and earned her World Silver Medal.

Ashley gives me an experience of a world through movement (and upper body counts in PC as well as foot choreography, and adds to the difficulty of the movement). She transfers emotion from herself to audience members, including those watching video. This is not easy to do, and it requires both compartmentalization and integration. It also requires dedication to giving something to the audience through performance values.

Ashley's my favorite example but not the only one of course. Others who give me that experience, off the top of my head, are Javier, Shoma, Adam Rippon, Papadakis/Cizeron, Hawayek/Baker, Tobias/Tkachenko, Volosozhar/Trankov, Haven Denney/Brandon Frazier.

 

[skylark]

And yes, how many times have we heard the argument, "it's a sport." The athleticism is part of what draws me in and is something to celebrate. And it's a performance sport, so performance counts. I think URs are penalized too severely at the moment, but I've noticed the skaters don't complain; they're accustomed to skating and performing within the requirements of the sport.

 

[NanaPat]

I can't speak for others, but when the OP mentioned spontaneity, I thought more of being in the moment, completely feeling and performing the intent and emotion of the music and the program.

That may be what you thought, and it's likely what the original poster meant, but that's not the meaning of spontaneity. Spontaneous is "performed or occurring as a result of a sudden inner impulse or inclination and without premeditation or external stimulus". Maybe the skaters want to look like they're being spontaneous (i.e., not over-concentrating or over-thinking), but there is no real spontaneity in competitive figure skating routines. Too many requirements, both of the sport and of the judging system.

 

[narcissa]

And yes, how many times have we heard the argument, "it's a sport." The athleticism is part of what draws me in and is something to celebrate. And it's a performance sport, so performance counts. I think URs are penalized too severely at the moment, but I've noticed the skaters don't complain; they're accustomed to skating and performing within the requirements of the sport.

who would complain? that's basically saying "I underrotate a lot so make sure to always review my landings" haha

 

[skylark]

That may be what you thought, and it's likely what the original poster meant, but that's not the meaning of spontaneity. Spontaneous is "performed or occurring as a result of a sudden inner impulse or inclination and without premeditation or external stimulus". Maybe the skaters want to look like they're being spontaneous (i.e., not over-concentrating or over-thinking), but there is no real spontaneity in competitive figure skating routines. Too many requirements, both of the sport and of the judging system.

Well, I have a habit of trying to discern another person's meaning rather than insisting on a dictionary definition.

However, spontaneity = spontaneousness = the quality of ... coming from natural feelings without constraint. https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/spontaneousness


So in this ^^ particular definition of spontaneity, my interpretation works, very well, to describe what (IMO) the very best figure skating performances accomplish. It's like a little miracle of compartmentalizing and integrity, and it's what I love most about figure skating.

 

[NanaPat]

Well, I have a habit of trying to discern another person's meaning rather than insisting on a dictionary definition.

However, spontaneity = spontaneousness = the quality of ... coming from natural feelings without constraint. https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/spontaneousness


So in this ^^ particular definition of spontaneity, my interpretation works, very well, to describe what (IMO) the very best figure skating performances accomplish. It's like a little miracle of compartmentalizing and integrity, and it's what I love most about figure skating.

Except that you've left out half the definition. Without the editing, it is "the quality of being spontaneous and coming from natural feelings without constraint". (Bolding added)

The same site headlines its entry on spontaneity as "Acting with spontaneity might mean bursting into song on the street, or throwing down your rake and jumping in a pile of leaves — in other words, doing something without thinking it through beforehand."

So the natural feelings and lack of constraint is a sideline/add on. The main definition is lack of planning and being impulsive.