2015 U.S. Nationals practice reports
- Thread starter ice coverage
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2014
Ahh, ok. I thought the timing was interesting. Would be smart actually for them to do it I still say.
Polina did have red straps on under her shirt, I thought she just took off the long sleeve and had a red one under.
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2013
watched a bit and they all looked good.. :confused2:
Why is ashley doing 3ltzs-3toes? :shocked::confused2:
And why is she back with her 2013-2014 flip technic :hopelessness:
Wow, sad to have missed it but I should be at some of the ladies practices tomorrow. I'll make sure if to post my comments if I do. Any other details on Ashley Wagner is appreciated.
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2014
Do practice sessions influence the judging in any way? Do judges go to the practice sessions?
It's actually a good thing for the judges to watch the official practices at competitions, because it reduces the possibility that skaters will be judged by reputation or past performances instead of the way they actually skate at the event in question.
Chances are, the judges have already seen some of the competitors at previous events and are somewhat familiar with their strengths and weaknesses as well as the layout and content of their programs. If the judges didn't go to practices, then the other skaters that the judges weren't already familiar with would be at a disadvantage. Not only does attending practices give the judges an equal opportunity to see all of the competitors, but it also gives them an impression of how they are skating now as opposed to during past events or previous seasons.
The judges have an awful lot of things they have to look for during a performance, and it can be very difficult to catch everything when seeing a program for the first time. The skating goes by very quickly and there are no slow-motion replays. So becoming familiar with the skaters' programs in practices helps the judges do a better job in evaluating them in the actual competition. If the judges have a rough idea of the planned technical content of the program and where in the program the big jumps are, they're less likely to miss them in the final performance because they blinked at the wrong time or were writing notes or otherwise distracted. The practices also give the judges an opportunity to observe if the skaters are doing anything unusual or especially difficult, so that they know to look for these elements and give the skaters extra credit if they're completed. (For example, a lutz with an unusual footwork entry might be confused with an easier flip jump on first viewing, or a quadruple jump might be mistaken for a triple.) Conversely, practices also give the judges a chance to observe whether skaters have particular problems with faulty technique that they should especially watch for during the competition.
Besides keeping track of what technical elements the skaters complete, the judges also have to pay attention to factors like the difficulty and variety of connecting steps, whether the program is balanced in terms of its layout and use of the ice surface, and the skaters' speed, carriage, and ease of movement in harmony with the music. It can be hard to evaluate the overall structure and choreography of a program at the same time that you're looking for specific technical elements, so again it's helpful for the judges to be able to make some preliminary observations in the practice sessions. These factors generally don't change much in between practice and performance anyway.
In short, while judges are supposed to judge only what they see during the actual competition, watching the practices gives them a better idea of what to look for, so that they see the right things.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2014
That's a really great post, thanks!
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2014
doze
What about when skaters do partial runthrough i.e. skip jumps? Does that hurt them? Look bad? Annoy judges? Is there a possible strategy to it?
What about when skaters do partial runthrough i.e. skip jumps? Does that hurt them? Look bad? Annoy judges? Is there a possible strategy to it?
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2008
I'd have to guess it is all about conservation of energy and everything is strategy at this point. The judges have already seen it so they are not looking to probably count revs on spins etc but are looking at the details they miss as the poster said above. Peaking at a certain moment and using your energy is definitely deliberate I think?
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2014
I thought the judges might be there, but I didn't realize how important it was (for them). Thank you Doze!
I look forward to hearing everyone's reports from the practices even more now.
I look forward to hearing everyone's reports from the practices even more now.
Yes... a judge commenting anonymously to a Russian reporter mentioned that Yulia had issues getting the right edge for her flip during practice... and Yulia got called for it. The Eurosport guys thought the edge was unclear live and thought it looked good on replay.
Ever since this situation I've wondered if skaters need to be careful about what they show in practices and if judges can be influenced too much by what happens in practices.
A better question is if the videographers(or whoever is directing the camera angles) watch the practice sessions because figure skating videography can be pretty awful.
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Tweet of Gracie Gold's 3Z-3T: https://twitter.com/JohnWilsonBlade/status/557750949738217473
Snippet of Castelli/Tran's practice from Heather C: http://instagram.com/p/yGc6s6xOSK/
Snippet of Castelli/Tran's practice from Heather C: http://instagram.com/p/yGc6s6xOSK/
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