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- Jun 21, 2003
Wrong ideas you used to have about figure skating...
- Thread starter VenusHalley
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- Oct 21, 2017
Same here!
Also, I used to think figure skating competitions happened only once every four years, at the Olympics. I was quite surprised, but happy, to find out about the existence of the Grand Prix series and the European and World Championships!
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- Mar 22, 2018
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I'll take that as a green flag
But truly, all hail Ted, he actually tries with foreign names 
I can't say the same with the... ahem, other commentators. Including Korean ones, I've once heard a commentator say Johnny 'Wear'. Another recent case, I think this was a reporter, not a commentator, but he somehow got the idea that Valieva was pronounced 'bel-li-eh-ba' (to be fair Korean doesn't distinguish b/v, soft g/j, r/l, and so on), and I was screaming at my notebook like "Noooooooooooo" 
On the pronunciation of Salchow, the Korean transliteration sounds like 'sal-ko', so I've always called it that. And now I'm confused too, have I been saying it wrong for the 8+ years since I became a fan??
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2017
- Before I watched my first competition, I didn't know that skaters jumped and thought that their marks only depend on spirals, spins, etc.
- That the free program lasts 5 minutes in all disciplines.
- That there was no requirements on the number of elements and the skaters could do as many as they like.
- That skaters change their program for new competition (what a disappointment to find out that sometimes they don't even change from season to season).
- And my favorite one: I didn't know Ladies, Men or Pairs existed. The sport was frequently called 'Ice Dancing' and Dance is the most popular event where I live.
- That the free program lasts 5 minutes in all disciplines.
- That there was no requirements on the number of elements and the skaters could do as many as they like.
- That skaters change their program for new competition (what a disappointment to find out that sometimes they don't even change from season to season).
- And my favorite one: I didn't know Ladies, Men or Pairs existed. The sport was frequently called 'Ice Dancing' and Dance is the most popular event where I live.
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- Oct 20, 2017
I didn't know "toeloop" had anything to do with "toe" because of the way Polish commentators pronounced it.
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- Sep 1, 2015
Actually I was puzzled why they seemed to use the same programs at every event I came across. I was like "oh that's boring. why don't they invent something new for every occasion???"
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- Jun 26, 2012
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Our Dutch commentator used to call the toeloop a 'Cherryflip'. When the commentator changed to somebody else, suddenly the cherryflip was never heard of again. However, a new jump was introduced: the Spot. It took me ages to realise that the same jump was meant: the toeloop!
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- Mar 24, 2019
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As a child/teenager, I genuinely believed that it was possible to progress in skating without the presence of parents at the rink/club/competition/club show auditions, etc. Looking back, I realise that in reality, I didn't stand a chance without a parent/adult to promote and support me, while I got on with the business of training. It's probably fortunate that my ultimate ambition was to coach rather than compete!
When I skated as a kid, adding double jumps was a much slower process and very few skaters mastered triples. (There was only one skater attempting any at my rink.)
So when I came back to skating and more intense fandom as an adult, I thought that which jumps a skater was doing, or which dance patterns a dance team could do, were the most meaningful measures of who was better than whom or what level they should compete at.
After I attended my first Nationals and my first local competition sitting through all events, I got a better sense that the "what" was less important than the "how well" -- that speed and confidence and edge quality were more important than exactly what skills were included. (Although difficulty did count too. And also artistry within compable skill levels. But basic skating ability was the most important.)
And just because I can skate a pattern that intermediate dance teams might use in competition doesn't mean I'm anywhere near their skill level.
So when I came back to skating and more intense fandom as an adult, I thought that which jumps a skater was doing, or which dance patterns a dance team could do, were the most meaningful measures of who was better than whom or what level they should compete at.
After I attended my first Nationals and my first local competition sitting through all events, I got a better sense that the "what" was less important than the "how well" -- that speed and confidence and edge quality were more important than exactly what skills were included. (Although difficulty did count too. And also artistry within compable skill levels. But basic skating ability was the most important.)
And just because I can skate a pattern that intermediate dance teams might use in competition doesn't mean I'm anywhere near their skill level.
As a child watching figure skating I thought gliding on the ice somehow helped you rotate faster, because it felt impossible that someone could make so many rotations in one jump. Then I saw a profile of a teenage skater (can't remember who) and she casually jumped a double axel in her room at home. I was astonished.
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- Jan 10, 2014
I thought most skaters would do (at least) a competition every week during the winter time. Like... one season for a skater would mean 20 competitions or more. I mean, they skate only about 7 minutes in total for a competition, so it couldn't be that hard, right? 
I was very disappointed when I found out that I have to wait almost 2 months to watch the skater I liked again. (The first competition I watched was probably a GPF)
I was very disappointed when I found out that I have to wait almost 2 months to watch the skater I liked again. (The first competition I watched was probably a GPF)
To tell the truth, I still don't know how to pronounce Salchow. The "w' is pronounced as an English "v," right? So the last syllable is "kov." (Ulrich Salchow was Swedish (though actually born in Denmark, IIRC)).
I don't know how to pronounce the first syllable. But I am pretty sure that the following is dead wrong (in both syllables, plus the ch sound).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CoiQr6Pl-k
Lol, that sounds Chinese to me.
Mary is almost right except for how she pronounce sal.
Sal is pronounced as in Swedish sallad. But americans usually pronounce the Swedish a as in English salad. And to nitpick the l is too ’thick’ .
Actually I think no one in Sweden cares
You are doing fine with your lessons Mary!The last syllable is as you thought; kov.
Not me, but a friend(when younger) thought the skaters in dance and pairs were all married couples. He used to call them wifes and husbands.
I didn't understand Ice Dance and Pairs were different disciplines and was frustrated the Ice Dancers didn't throw their partners a few meters into the air and still got gold medals.
Me too !!
And I didn't understand why in the SD the music was similar to all pairs
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2005
It took me a while to realize that a "flip" did not involve vertical rotation. I kept watching and hearing that a skater had a flip coming up and then being disappointed that it was just another jump and not a backflip.
This is going to date me, but when I first started figures practice, we called it "patch" because the ice was split into 20 patches, and each skater got a patch to practice their figures. I did not understand that I was not allowed to do whatever I wanted on my patch - I guess I thought it was my own private patch, so I could practice my one-foot spin, which I was super excited I had learned to do. One of the pros hissed at me - actually hissed, I can still hear it - no spinning on patch!
- Joined
- May 19, 2018
Oh, yeah, some of these remind me of some others: I thought men's and ladies' were the only disciplines, because those were the only ones my dad watched.
I was so thrilled to find out, whoa, there are disciplines where men and ladies skate together!? Throw jumps and dance patterns and lifts are a thing!?
I also didn't know that there were any competitions below senior level. Then I was surprised to find out there were competitions below junior level as well. And now one of my top 5 favorite current men's skaters is a 9-year-old.
I was so thrilled to find out, whoa, there are disciplines where men and ladies skate together!? Throw jumps and dance patterns and lifts are a thing!?
I also didn't know that there were any competitions below senior level. Then I was surprised to find out there were competitions below junior level as well. And now one of my top 5 favorite current men's skaters is a 9-year-old.
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2015
Oh, and I also had the illusion that I could just step on the ice and do pretty much the same thing as them skaters I saw on TV - until I stepped on the ice for the first time and discover with horror how actually slippery the ice is :eekn:
So I can blame my mum that the only fs discipline I knew when I was a child was ice dancing as she was watching only it. But once I was ill and stayed at home so I had TV set for myself - and it was probably Sarajevo Olympics when I saw Katarina Witt. My first thouht was: "Where is her partner?", followed by "Why such a beautiful lady has to skate solo?"
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2006
Lol, that sounds Chinese to me.
Mary is almost right except for how she pronounce sal.
Sal is pronounced as in Swedish sallad. But americans usually pronounce the Swedish a as in English salad. And to nitpick the l is too ’thick’ .
Actually I think no one in Sweden cares
The last syllable is as you thought; kov.
Not me, but a friend(when younger) thought the skaters in dance and pairs were all married couples. He used to call them wifes and husbands.
Yes, from two native Swedes it's pronounced Saul-kov. I'm gonna send Ted an email demanding he start pronouncing it correctly!!! LOL People the world over will be like "What the heck????"
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2006
I thought all jumps were called axels...don’t ask me how I thought of something so stupid
The first competition I watched was the 2010 Olympics and I literally thought “Wow! Yuna Kim landed 11 axels!”
I thought they were all called lutzes at first, LOL.
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