Which discipline is the most popular? And why?

tothepointe said:

Ice dance adds in something that the singles or the pairs don't have. Which is the relationship to ballroom dance and a strong storytelling component. It's rare you'll have a top ice dance team that is not artistic.

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Really???...i feel nothing when I watch ice dance, they may be artistic, but all of the programs seem the same to me and i'm a huge dance fan (on the floor)...if i'm want to watch ballroom dance (which I do)...i watch actual ballroom dancing....maybe i'm weird...

I loved pairs but then it stagnated when the pairs would do the same old difficulty. Like the top teams in the world would have SBS 2As which have been around since forever.

To me, it's much more exciting now and elements aren't just being done, they're being done with more height, speed and risk. Lifts are getting more creative, and the envelope is being pushed. Unfortunately quad throws are abysmally low. But the jumps are starting to improve in difficulty. Still doesn't have quads and many 3-3s though which is probably why it's lagging behind the singles disciplines and it's not as pretty to watch as some dance programs.

There's something rather robotic and mechanical about pairs unison vs ice dance unison. Probably because they are constantly thinking given how risky the discipline is.

I love all of the disciplines, but if I have to skip one in a competition because I can't afford to watch skating all day, it's usually pairs. To me, it's like a combination of men's, ladies', and ice dance and thus a bit less unique. That being said, I wish I could watch it every time, too. Why can't time turners be real?

It's like the old nursery rhyme: when it's good, it's really really good, and when it's bad, it's horrid. Not just horrid, but frightening. There are 1000 ways to have a serious accident in pairs that just don't exist in singles. I enjoy watching the top 10 or so teams tremendously but when you get into the teams that can't land throws more than 50% of the time and with shaky lifts, it's not fun.

Went to watch FS for the first Time, I think pair is the most interesting to watch if I didn’t have faves for mens/ladies ...

I am speaking for myself and my opinion has nothing in common with opinions of others.

For me it has to do with beauty of skaters. In pairs the teams are very unbalanced - a big muscular guy and a seriously underdeveloped woman/girl. Plus, the women are not feminine enough and are usually unattractive. The costumes are unappealing too. Again - it's my own very subjective perception. There is a stress on athleticism and execution of elements rather than on visual beauty.

The dances are exactly opposite - the women are gorgeous, feminine and ethereal, while the men are masculine and supportive. The woman and the man are matched with each other and they are visually very well balanced. There is a stress on visual beauty and pleasing artistic reception. The costumes underline those attributes too.

That's pretty much it.

I think the biggest selling points for pairs are also the biggest detractors if they aren't done well.

Twists and throw jumps - super impressive if they're done well, and can be big wow moments (especially the throw jumps). A crash catch ruins the twist. And throw jumps aren't impressive when they're not even close to landed because then it's just a throw and not a throw jump (minor stumbles, hang on, falls from a half-landing can be passable if the entry and throw were good). And a tentative throw/catch takes away from the impressiveness as well.

Lifts - stable lifts in nice positions are cool. Shaky lifts are scary and not in a good way

Sbs jumps and spins + synchronicity - anything done in sync looks cool, and especially with jumps and spins. But they look wayyy worse when out of sync, even if good separately. 2 people in sync > 1 person > 2 people out of sync. Only exception is if the pair's sbs jumps are so out of sync that they become successive jumps (but that defeats the whole purpose).

Chemistry - if a pair has great chemistry, it enhances the performance/program so much more. It goes beyond just synchronicity - when a pair is really skating together, and not like two separate people who are doing the same thing and holding hands half the time, it makes the performance/program much more cohesive. And performance ability too, but poor performance isn't fun to watch regardless of discipline.

And an additional thing - pairs split a lot so you don't always get to watch them grow and improve together. If it happens early or late in their careers, it's not a huge deal (early - there's not much to lose, late - they're already established). And sometimes it can work out for the better if it was initially a poor pairing (although generally these splits occur early). But trying to get invested in a pair only for them to split is kinda annoying. Whereas single skaters are either gonna still be there, or retire, so it's easier to get invested. this is also a thing in ice dance, but the discipline is so different that it's basically watching dance or nothing, whereas for pairs, similar aspects can be found in singles/dance. singles skaters do more impressive jumps, ice dancers tend to have better chemistry/performance, there are lifts in dance (albeit different ones).

EDIT: I FORGOT ABOUT DEATH SPIRALS
those look good, if done well. And they have to look stable. The men tend to look kinda awkward but it's fine as long as the lady has good position and the overall death spiral is done well and is stable.

I don’t know. I have never watched pairs

I stopped watching pairs totally when heavy crashes, blade to head hits and other heavy injures become so frequent and even common.

Actually last time I watched pairs competition life was long ago when Dmitriev the Senior dropped Kazakova from a lift head first and she continued to skate till the very end despite her apparent brain concussion.
It was enough.

It depends on your location. Pairs is the most popular discipline in Germany,

For the same reason as why singles tennis is more popular than doubles tennis.

I don’t know about most people, but one major reason I don’t watch pairs is because it scares me. I can’t help but imagining wild accidents in my head when I watch them so...

Mathman said:

It's a conundrum to me. By all rights pairs ought to be the most popular discipline of all. It requires basically the same individual skills as singles skating does, plus partnering skills and broader choreographic opportunity.

Compared to ice dance, at least no one questions that pairs skating is a "real sport."

Yet it is no more popular these days than synchronized diving. I don't know.

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This is interesting...because I love synchronised diving! Diving's hard enough as it is, so the fact they can do it and keep in unison (mostly) is pretty jaw-dropping!

I enjoy all the disciplines. I used to be confused by ice dance, but after seeing Torville and Dean's Bolero on YouTube a few years back (I'm a bit slow ) I started paying more attention and came to really love it

I love watching pairs, although admittedly I haven't seen too many bad falls thankfully - I do recall earlier in the season at one of the first events a Chinese pair (I think?) skated an exhibition and the man dropped the lady and my heart stopped for a moment! She was OK though. Thankfully, I didn't see the Ashley Cain incident, because it sounds utterly terrifying (so relieved Ashley's OK!) But I do like a fabulous triple twist and the throw jumps and lifts are exciting to watch.

Of course, Aussie interest in pairs has been ignited by the fact that one of our own Katia and Harley won Australia's first ever Junior Worlds medal (a gold!) in it They're having a tough senior season at the moment, but they're an exciting team to watch.

I also enjoy seeing the different personalities on the ice, like for example with Maxim T and Tatiana V, he was the fiery one and she was the calming influence, where as Aliona S is the firecracker with her partner being the calmer one. Then there was Valentina and Ondrej who were both super fun-loving and my personal favourites T/M - who's personalities I can't quite describe, but I'm intrigued by them.

I like all disciplines, including synchro (although that of course is a different beast altogether) but of the 4 traditional disciplines, men's singles, ladies' singles, pairs and ice-dance, my personal favourite actually are the pairs. Ever since the Olympics in 1994 and I got fascinated by M/D and G/G. I aslo liked B/E at that competition (who won bronze).

I like the whole idea of specific pairs elements - twist lifts (now that is an element I wouldn't mind seeing more of because it's so uniquely part of the pairs and difficult to execute properly and with a high level and preventing crash landings), death spirals and throw (or 'assisted') jumps - but also the SBS jumps and SBS spins particularly because they have to be as synchronised as possible. Yes, I realise it can be painful to watch when the jumps fail or there are nasty falls (expecially after the throws as they are so difficult to land) but I really can enjoy a well choreographed and executed pairs programme. not boring at all. Of course, there's a rise and fall as in all disiciplines and sometimes stagnation. So, after 2002 (yes, the year of the scandal) I got a bit bored as I felt the discipline was stagnating and becoming somewhat robotic, but somehow after 2002 I lost a bit of interest in all disciplines, and I only picked my love for figure skating truly up again in 2010. By then the Chinese had established themselves as a powerhouse, but with great choreography as well, I started to enjoy the Germans but V/T also became very interesting to watch. At this year's Olympics, the Pairs were an absolute highlight with the wonderful free skate by Aljona an Bruno but also by many other examples of good skating. S/H's Short was also a wonderful highlight.

True, there are many examples of little androgyn doll-girls being thrown into the air (not zo interesting to watch) but there are also many examples where it is shown pretty well that the women have to be very strong as well. And capable (you have to be to land the throws, but also strong in the arms with many of the lifts).

I'm a fan, that's obvious. It was the one competition in the GPF I followed totally, and got blown away by J/C's Free skate.

Pairs used to be my favorite discipline. Then it became a boring splatfest that was more about ticking off elements than putting together a coherent program that was interesting to watch. Plus ugly, scary lifts that, again, were difficult for difficult's sake rather than serving an artistic purpose. I pretty much prefer Ice Dance at this point, not because there is any less ticking of elements, but there does seem to be a bit more creativity. Although I have even been avoiding the technical (or whatever they call it this year) program recently because of the constant stream of Latin dances in recent years. I am just sick, sick, sick of them and not everybody can pull that kind of dance off. Of all the patterns in the world, WHY the constant Latin ones for the technical? I'm even sick of the costumes.

silverfoxes said:

I like pairs much more than ice dance, but I certainly understand why some would find it too dangerous to be enjoyable. I definitely don't like seeing very little girls getting tossed about by much bigger partners...yes, I understand they all have to start somewhere, but I'd rather watch a more evenly matched, mature pair at a decent level. Of course serious accidents can still happen as in Ashley's case, but the smaller and more fragile the girl, the more it makes me nervous.

As for ice dance, maybe I'd be into it if there were more diversity of programs. I'm so bored with the "sensitive artiste," faux-romantic style...make ice dance weird again!

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I love this! "Make ice dance weird again". My new motto. Makes me want to go back and watch Sinit/Gasz videos.

I like pairs a lot, before I even became a figure skating fan, I thought figure skating was only ladies and pairs (imagine my surprise when I found out ice dance was a thing, lol). I've come to enjoy and have favorites in all disciplines now, but pairs holds a special place in my heart. Like someone above said, when it's good, it's really good. At it's best, a good pairs program will have amazing, well-executed technical elements, great emotional connection between the pairs partners, and great choreography. I'll be honest though, I only watch the top flights for pairs and ice dance (with a few exceptions), whereas I am more open to watching lower ranked skaters for singles. I imagine others feel similarly.

Also, I thought the pairs competitions in Worlds 2017 and 2018 Olympics were amazing! I realize we don't have that kind of depth at the moment, but I'm hopeful it'll improve. Especially with Sui / Han and Yu / Zhang coming back soon and James / Cipres rise this season. Hopefully Tarasova / Morozov iron out their issues of late to make Worlds 2019 a good show.

silverfoxes said:

I like pairs much more than ice dance, but I certainly understand why some would find it too dangerous to be enjoyable. I definitely don't like seeing very little girls getting tossed about by much bigger partners...yes, I understand they all have to start somewhere, but I'd rather watch a more evenly matched, mature pair at a decent level. Of course serious accidents can still happen as in Ashley's case, but the smaller and more fragile the girl, the more it makes me nervous.

As for ice dance, maybe I'd be into it if there were more diversity of programs. I'm so bored with the "sensitive artiste," faux-romantic style...make ice dance weird again!

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You have put your finger on the primary cause of my dissatisfaction and waning interest this season. I love this sport, but I'm getting bored. Most of the programs, not just in dance, are looking so similar. I'm fine with a flowy lyrical program, but dang, did everyone need to go in that direction all at once? And if they didn't do that, they basically chose music in the same vibe as they've skated before.

For me, the only three programs with any originality or freshness to them are Disco Brits, Korean Romeo, and Australian Disaster Grease. Nathan's Caravan is a bit of an outlier, but not by much. Just about everything else merges together into a mushy recollection rather than something memorable.

Frankly, this is what led to my disinterest in pairs for so many years. The pairs could have swapped music and basically skated the same elements to the same choreography they already knew for their own programs, and it wouldn't have made any difference.

mrrice said:

In the US.....I think it's a lack of depth and our recent showings at Worlds. I can't think of the last US pair to make the Podium at Worlds. I don't believe even Ina and Zimmerman medaled at Worlds did they? It's sad but, I think Kristi and Rudy or maybe it was Tai and Randy that were the last pair to Podium at Worlds.

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Tai and Randy were the last World Champions from the US, in 1979. But pairs are the least popular across the board. I was watching a GP (can't remember which) with 6 pairs, and I was thinking jeez, all a team has to do to make the podium is finish in the top half. That's sad.

gossipcow said:

I like pairs a lot, before I even became a figure skating fan, I thought figure skating was only ladies and pairs (imagine my surprise when I found out ice dance was a thing, lol). I've come to enjoy and have favorites in all disciplines now, but pairs holds a special place in my heart. Like someone above said, when it's good, it's really good. At it's best, a good pairs program will have amazing, well-executed technical elements, great emotional connection between the pairs partners, and great choreography. I'll be honest though, I only watch the top flights for pairs and ice dance (with a few exceptions), whereas I am more open to watching lower ranked skaters for singles. I imagine others feel similarly.

Also, I thought the pairs competitions in Worlds 2017 and 2018 Olympics were amazing! I realize we don't have that kind of depth at the moment, but I'm hopeful it'll improve. Especially with Sui / Han and Yu / Zhang coming back soon and James / Cipres rise this season. Hopefully Tarasova / Morozov iron out their issues of late to make Worlds 2019 a good show.

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Once you venture outside the top 8-10 pairs in the world, I find that viewing the discipline can be terrifying.