There has been some unrest on the forums regarding what figure skating has become about. While I don't agree that we should curb technical and athletic advances in the sport, I do believe that figure skating should be judged in a more balanced fashion to give more incentive to train other areas of skating too. Possible proposals:
1. More levels for spins/step sequences, and make them actually worth something. 5 points for a change foot combination spin vs 13 points for a 4Lz. Hmm. I wonder what I'm going to work on. Also, I feel spins have stagnated. Increase their base values, or add more levels for more kinds of features. For instance, require more positions, more speed or more rotations for higher levels. Something to set the spinners apart.
Similarly, make it more damaging to miss your levels on the step sequence or spins. Skate Canada, for once, made it more interesting in this category. We could have more levels here too, and make the highest level step sequence worth 6 or 7 BV. Then, you could easily lose 3 or 4 points on a step sequence because levels and GOE.
And the choreo sequence judging is so strange. Skaters get a free +4 points on average compared to how much work they need for other elements. Although I wouldn't mind a second step sequence either.
2. PCS. Right now, you can skate robotically with fairly large disconnect with the music and still score 85% in PCS (applies to both men and women). Putting your heart and soul into a performance might get you to 90. (Jason Brown). Is that fair? PCS should be scored over a wider range so that different varieties of skaters can all compete. AND, although this won't be implemented, please have a separate judging panel for this. Set the scale so that a 70/100 PCS in junior men means something different to 70/100 in senior men, so that you're not constrained to fitting in the entire spectrum of skaters on a single scale.
What does everyone else think? Please refrain from discussing things like body types and age limits here. My focus is on the judging itself and encouraging other forms of figure skating skill, not excluding certain skaters. It's more constructive to create a system where skaters with diverse skills can all compete with each other.
1. More levels for spins/step sequences, and make them actually worth something. 5 points for a change foot combination spin vs 13 points for a 4Lz. Hmm. I wonder what I'm going to work on. Also, I feel spins have stagnated. Increase their base values, or add more levels for more kinds of features. For instance, require more positions, more speed or more rotations for higher levels. Something to set the spinners apart.
Similarly, make it more damaging to miss your levels on the step sequence or spins. Skate Canada, for once, made it more interesting in this category. We could have more levels here too, and make the highest level step sequence worth 6 or 7 BV. Then, you could easily lose 3 or 4 points on a step sequence because levels and GOE.
And the choreo sequence judging is so strange. Skaters get a free +4 points on average compared to how much work they need for other elements. Although I wouldn't mind a second step sequence either.
2. PCS. Right now, you can skate robotically with fairly large disconnect with the music and still score 85% in PCS (applies to both men and women). Putting your heart and soul into a performance might get you to 90. (Jason Brown). Is that fair? PCS should be scored over a wider range so that different varieties of skaters can all compete. AND, although this won't be implemented, please have a separate judging panel for this. Set the scale so that a 70/100 PCS in junior men means something different to 70/100 in senior men, so that you're not constrained to fitting in the entire spectrum of skaters on a single scale.
What does everyone else think? Please refrain from discussing things like body types and age limits here. My focus is on the judging itself and encouraging other forms of figure skating skill, not excluding certain skaters. It's more constructive to create a system where skaters with diverse skills can all compete with each other.