Directional Twizzles and singles skaters | Golden Skate

Directional Twizzles and singles skaters

lzxnl

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Nov 8, 2018
As the title suggests, do you guys know of many skaters that are skilled in twizzling opposite to their natural direction? Many skaters are noticeably slower when they twizzle clockwise, for instance. Yuzuru Hanyu himself didn't twizzle very fast clockwise in last season's free program, for instance; they were more consecutive three turns.
 

Flying Feijoa

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I think most skaters known for their footwork (Kurt Browning, Stephane Lambiel?), and/or who did ice dance on the side (e.g. Javier Fernandez, Jeffrey Buttle), would be pretty good at twizzling both ways, plus skaters who were made to learn spins/jumps opposite their natural direction, like Satoko Miyahara.

Side note, it seems rare to see long twizzles in either direction (more than 3 consecutive) in singles skating step sequences. Maybe because to get the level requirements (range of difficult turns, multidirectional skating etc.) it might make more sense to have just one or two twizzles, leaving more room to stick in some counter/rocker clusters for variety's sake. Just my guess.

P.S. regarding Hanyu, not sure if it's his actual clockwise twizzling ability that was the problem... He just seemed really tired in general doing that particular step sequence, maybe because of health/focusing on quads/the music slowing down at that section (I'm probably in a minority to dislike Origin's choreography).
 

Ic3Rabbit

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Jeremy Abbott, Ryan Bradley (who even jumps in both directions), I'm pretty sure one of the shibs.
 

kolyadafan2002

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Jeremy Abbott, Ryan Bradley (who even jumps in both directions), I'm pretty sure one of the shibs.
Interestingly enough Lambiel jumped both ways too. He often in exhibitions did double Axel's in sequence jumping both ways, and on practice he could perform many triples both ways.

Back to the question, many people are like me: we find it very hard and unstable when twizzling the other way, but when we do it right and compare on video it has same speed and aesthetics as normal way.
 

cohkaix

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Mao Asada, esp. in referring to the 2010~11 Ex. Ballade No. 1 (choreographed by T. Tarasova).
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

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I think most skaters known for their footwork (Kurt Browning, Stephane Lambiel?), and/or who did ice dance on the side (e.g. Javier Fernandez, Jeffrey Buttle), would be pretty good at twizzling both ways, plus skaters who were made to learn spins/jumps opposite their natural direction, like Satoko Miyahara.

Side note, it seems rare to see long twizzles in either direction (more than 3 consecutive) in singles skating step sequences. Maybe because to get the level requirements (range of difficult turns, multidirectional skating etc.) it might make more sense to have just one or two twizzles, leaving more room to stick in some counter/rocker clusters for variety's sake. Just my guess.

P.S. regarding Hanyu, not sure if it's his actual clockwise twizzling ability that was the problem... He just seemed really tired in general doing that particular step sequence, maybe because of health/focusing on quads/the music slowing down at that section (I'm probably in a minority to dislike Origin's choreography).

Origin wasn't Hanyu's best choreography. Not enough highlights - while it had bursts of energy, it didn't have the driving force throughout that program like Seimei had. But I actually did quite like the footwork sequence in it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrSmWJnFMa4#t=1m45s. There's a RFO twizzle which is done perfectly fine, but the sequence itself could use more clockwise turns in general and you could see the depth of edge on his clockwise turns isn't as secure as his CCW turns which is common for many skaters who don't "equalize" their depth of edge in both directions.

"Other direction" twizzles are exceedingly hard that even World and Olympic level skaters have difficulty with them, because it's essentially trying to spin in the other direction. Even a skater like Miyahara who is known for spinning in both directions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLbcJOnvmZs#t=2m doesn't have the same depth of edge in her clockwise direction - although the CW twizzle-loop combo is textbook.
 

1111bm

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Dec 31, 2016
P.S. regarding Hanyu, not sure if it's his actual clockwise twizzling ability that was the problem... He just seemed really tired in general doing that particular step sequence, maybe because of health/focusing on quads/the music slowing down at that section (I'm probably in a minority to dislike Origin's choreography).

Of course he must've been tired or sick or... :rolleye:

That StSq comes right after his first two jumps and one spin, so how tired can he be at that point (compared to much later in the program). And even if they got worse due to exhaustion, that would still be telling us, that his CW twizzles are less consistent for him and are more easily affected.
Also, the music does not slow down, it actually accelerates when he starts doing his twizzles there.

From what I recall, his CW Twizzles have always had a tendency to look a bit less fluid and somewhat slower (I'm thinking back to his Worlds LP in 2012 or Sochi SP in 2014, because that's where it kinda stood out to me. He might've improved since then though, for all I know).


Side note, it seems rare to see long twizzles in either direction (more than 3 consecutive) in singles skating step sequences. Maybe because to get the level requirements (range of difficult turns, multidirectional skating etc.) it might make more sense to have just one or two twizzles, leaving more room to stick in some counter/rocker clusters for variety's sake. Just my guess.

I would think it's because to get a Twizzle counted in terms of level requirements, it doesn't need to be that long, so they're just doing the safe minimum. Doing longer Twizzles carries a higher risk of screwing them up or have them look a bit wonky I guess, especially when it's a fast-paced StSQ. I'm not necessarily a big fan of long Twizzles, unless the music calls for one, because that's when they can be very effective (see Satoko's StSq in her 18/19 SP in its early versions f.i.)

ETA: Speaking of Satoko's long Twizzle in the end of the program, at Skate America you can see her briefly opening up her leg position during the Twizzle. Not sure if that was a momentarily loss of control which she quickly covered up? If so, it goes to show why long Twizzles can be 'risky'.
 

kolyadafan2002

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I would think it's because to get a Twizzle counted in terms of level requirements, it doesn't need to be that long, so they're just doing the safe minimum. Doing longer Twizzles carries a higher risk of screwing them up or have them look a bit wonky I guess, especially when it's a fast-paced StSQ. I'm not necessarily a big fan of long Twizzles, unless the music calls for one because that's when they can be very effective (see Satoko's StSq in her 18/19 SP in its early versions f.i.)

from an ice dance perspective, the only thing that's necessary to really get a twizzle counted is to ensure they are not three turns. That requires either staying on a wholely straight leg, or staying on a bent leg without rising and falling, or moving between straight and bent but not with the rhythm of the three turns if you understand what I mean (e.g bending for three twizzles rising for three twizzles).
 

Flying Feijoa

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Of course he must've been tired or sick or... :rolleye:

That StSq comes right after his first two jumps and one spin, so how tired can he be at that point (compared to much later in the program). And even if they got worse due to exhaustion, that would still be telling us, that his CW twizzles are less consistent for him and are more easily affected.
Also, the music does not slow down, it actually accelerates when he starts doing his twizzles there.

I didn't mean to use Hanyu's state of health as an excuse for choppy CW twizzles... It's more that he looked so drained of energy that I couldn't tell which was a bigger factor, twizzle ability or fatigue (stamina's always been an issue). I agree that there's a bigger difference between the two sides for him vs some other skaters, though.

I was referring to the second part of the step sequence, where the music changes from a staccato-ish violin to something with sound effects that sound like zooming aeroplanes (to be precise, everything after that thing which looks like a T-stop with foot in front). Flow, speed and depth of edge go down noticeably, free leg and upper body become kind of sloppy. Unsurprisingly he missed level 4 quite often (still got the standard >+1 GOE though, like all skaters at that level who don't trip on their toepicks...) As always, I wish there were bigger differences in base value for levels and for GOE for step sequences (a technical element!) not to be linked so predictably to PCS.
 

Blades of Passion

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Almost nobody does them in a way that looks great or adds any artistic value to a program. It's very unfortunate how the rules require skaters to do so many specific turns in both directions for their footwork sequence; there is other more interesting choreography to display. Multi-direction jumping is given absolutely no special credit in the scoring system, and multi-direction spinning is just one small level feature that can be replaced by something far easier, so it's quite hypocritical to treat it as such an overwhelming requirement for footwork sequences.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

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Almost nobody does them in a way that looks great or adds any artistic value to a program. It's very unfortunate how the rules require skaters to do so many specific turns in both directions for their footwork sequence; there is other more interesting choreography to display. Multi-direction jumping is given absolutely no special credit in the scoring system, and multi-direction spinning is just one small level feature that can be replaced by something far easier, so it's quite hypocritical to treat it as such an overwhelming requirement for footwork sequences.

There is a vast difference between multi-direction jumping and multi-direction spinning versus multi-directional turns in FOOTWORK. As footwork is supposed to exhibit fundamental skating ability, it's not too much to ask that the skater (especially an elite skater) exhibit the ability to capably do turns in both directions in a relatively balanced way to achieve the highest level in that element. StSq is a technical footwork element first and foremost, not an artistic footwork element (which ChSq accounts for - it's literally called a choreographic step sequence, because it places less emphasis on the technical turns/steps and more on the "choreography to display").

Multi-directional jumping (especially triple jumps) is so incredibly rare that giving it any significant bonus would simply favour skaters who have decided to develop that -- it would be like giving a greater bonus to 3Z+3F because it's incredibly hard to land a triple jump on the opposite foot. A good judge should give such multi-directional/non-traditional jumps higher GOE. But what are we supposed to do - develop an entirely new scale of values for opposite-direction jumps/spins?

I'm actually glad spinning in both directions is given minimal value too because so many skaters would just do it to garner extra points and produce sloppy spins - whereas a skater who can do it properly gets a level feature (and higher GOE for creativity/originality). Also, the feature isn't THAT hard to achieve - it's only 3 rotations in a sit or camel position... yes, it might be harder than other features but it would be cumbersome to award level features based on comparative difficulty to each other (e.g. to many skaters, a change of edge for 2 rotations or a difficult exit or a crossfoot is easier to execute than having sufficient speed/ability to hold a position for 8 revolutions).

Multi-directional spins and multi-directional jumps are one thing and should get credit but that's up to the skater to include them and up to the judge to sufficiently reward it in the execution/program composition mark. It's not asking much to encourage multi-directional turns -- especially in footwork of all things. It's a fairly straightforward way of standardizing footwork sequences but still leaves room for creativity. Nobody is forcing the skaters to do them. And if they do them poorly, they should be marked down on GOE. And doing multi-directional turns in order to achieve an extra level in footwork is comparable to spinning in both directions to achieve an extra feature in a spin... if anything a spin is easier to max the level because you can still add features to max out the level of the spin in case the multi-directional attempt is unfulfilled/not enough rotations, whereas in footwork you need to properly hit the turns in order to get maximum marks (which makes sense - a spin shouldn't have to require both directions to achieve full marks, but footwork should).

I also disagree that every movement needs to contribute to the artistic integrity of a program. Yes, if a twizzle is artistically done (which of course, is purely subjective) then that should be credited (either in GOE for the sequence or PCS) but sometimes movements are executed for fulfilling requirements and they won't always look beautiful, nor should they all have to.
 

ladyjane

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As a clockwise jumper, spinner and favoured turning in footwork (be it a twizzle or otherwise) at a very low level myself and always encountering difficulties in doing moves the other way round, I like watching skaters who do good clockwise moves and especially by anyone for whom this direction does not come naturally. Whatever the points, levels or GOE's granted for multi-directional moves, I just enjoy watching them and be in awe of anyone who can execute these well both ways.
 

cohen-esque

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Jan 27, 2014
There is a vast difference between multi-direction jumping and multi-direction spinning versus multi-directional turns in FOOTWORK. As footwork is supposed to exhibit fundamental skating ability, it's not too much to ask that the skater (especially an elite skater) exhibit the ability to capably do turns in both directions in a relatively balanced way to achieve the highest level in that element. StSq is a technical footwork element first and foremost, not an artistic footwork element (which ChSq accounts for - it's literally called a choreographic step sequence, because it places less emphasis on the technical turns/steps and more on the "choreography to display").

Multi-directional jumping (especially triple jumps) is so incredibly rare that giving it any significant bonus would simply favour skaters who have decided to develop that -- it would be like giving a greater bonus to 3Z+3F because it's incredibly hard to land a triple jump on the opposite foot. A good judge should give such multi-directional/non-traditional jumps higher GOE. But what are we supposed to do - develop an entirely new scale of values for opposite-direction jumps/spins?

I'm actually glad spinning in both directions is given minimal value too because so many skaters would just do it to garner extra points and produce sloppy spins - whereas a skater who can do it properly gets a level feature (and higher GOE for creativity/originality). Also, the feature isn't THAT hard to achieve - it's only 3 rotations in a sit or camel position... yes, it might be harder than other features but it would be cumbersome to award level features based on comparative difficulty to each other (e.g. to many skaters, a change of edge for 2 rotations or a difficult exit or a crossfoot is easier to execute than having sufficient speed/ability to hold a position for 8 revolutions).

Multi-directional spins and multi-directional jumps are one thing and should get credit but that's up to the skater to include them and up to the judge to sufficiently reward it in the execution/program composition mark. It's not asking much to encourage multi-directional turns -- especially in footwork of all things. It's a fairly straightforward way of standardizing footwork sequences but still leaves room for creativity. Nobody is forcing the skaters to do them. And if they do them poorly, they should be marked down on GOE. And doing multi-directional turns in order to achieve an extra level in footwork is comparable to spinning in both directions to achieve an extra feature in a spin... if anything a spin is easier to max the level because you can still add features to max out the level of the spin in case the multi-directional attempt is unfulfilled/not enough rotations, whereas in footwork you need to properly hit the turns in order to get maximum marks (which makes sense - a spin shouldn't have to require both directions to achieve full marks, but footwork should).

I also disagree that every movement needs to contribute to the artistic integrity of a program. Yes, if a twizzle is artistically done (which of course, is purely subjective) then that should be credited (either in GOE for the sequence or PCS) but sometimes movements are executed for fulfilling requirements and they won't always look beautiful, nor should they all have to.

Part of the basic definition given for a step sequence is that is to be skated in harmony with the music, which is definitely an artistic consideration, and not meeting this artistic requirement so is considered a “serious error.”

Your post is confusing. Asking skaters to demonstrate footwork in both directions is a good thing because it’s something we should expect anyway, as part of their fundamental skating skills, and isn’t even too much to ask—therefore, we should give it the highest Level of credit there is, while skaters who go well above and beyond what is expected by spinning and especially by jumping by both ways don’t need to get anything? Except for a handwavey “PCS” and for some spurious claims for more GOE based on a criterion that, for jumps, doesn’t even exist?

CanadianSkaterGuy said:
Multi-directional jumping (especially triple jumps) is so incredibly rare that giving it any significant bonus would simply favour skaters who have decided to develop that...

Yes? What’s supposed to be so wrong with that? “Women jumping quads is so incredibly rare that giving them any significant difference in BV would simply favour skaters who have decided to develop their quad jumping...” Skaters who master rare and difficult skills ought to get more credit for them compared to skaters that don’t.
 

1111bm

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Dec 31, 2016
Multi-direction jumping is given absolutely no special credit in the scoring system, and multi-direction spinning is just one small level feature that can be replaced by something far easier, so it's quite hypocritical to treat it as such an overwhelming requirement for footwork sequences.

There is a vast difference between multi-direction jumping and multi-direction spinning versus multi-directional turns in FOOTWORK.

Are multi-direction jumping+spinning and footwork even that much related? (apart from Twizzles who require actual revolutions)
I can't jump or spin CW, I fall out of axis/drop my shoulder when trying to turn in CW direction. That might be due to less or no practice though. But I don't have a preferred side for footwork turns (Twizzles and Loops excluded though). Some feel better when done CW, others CCW. And actually, I can do more turns in CW direction than CCW. :shrug:


from an ice dance perspective, the only thing that's necessary to really get a twizzle counted is to ensure they are not three turns. That requires either staying on a wholely straight leg, or staying on a bent leg without rising and falling, or moving between straight and bent but not with the rhythm of the three turns if you understand what I mean (e.g bending for three twizzles rising for three twizzles).


I meant in terms of revolutions required. AFAIK a Twizzle needs to have a minimum of at least 1.5 revolutions to be counted as one? What you're talking about is correct execution, which obviously is another crucial point for it to be recognised and counted as a Twizzle.


I was referring to the second part of the step sequence, where the music changes from a staccato-ish violin to something with sound effects that sound like zooming aeroplanes (to be precise, everything after that thing which looks like a T-stop with foot in front). Flow, speed and depth of edge go down noticeably, free leg and upper body become kind of sloppy. Unsurprisingly he missed level 4 quite often ...

Yes, I know which part you mean, that's after his series of Twizzles. And yes, it was pretty obvious, at least to me, that he used that part of the StSq to take a little break. I like his Origin StSq up to that point exactly, because then it falls totally flat for me, because it looks like he's just going through the motions and taking a breather.

Btw, I think he regularly lost a level because his brackets in Origin often had unclear edges and he also only did one 'classic' choctaw, so he didn't have another 'back-up turn/step' to make up for a 'lost' bracket. He also does an inverted choctaw (I feel that Shae-Lynn likes to put those into programs :p), but I'm not sure those get counted or even recognised by tech panels?
 

Blades of Passion

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There is a vast difference between multi-direction jumping and multi-direction spinning versus multi-directional turns in FOOTWORK. As footwork is supposed to exhibit fundamental skating ability, it's not too much to ask that the skater (especially an elite skater) exhibit the ability to capably do turns in both directions in a relatively balanced way to achieve the highest level in that element.

Footwork is not inherently supposed to exhibit "fundamental skating ability" (which can be worded as "one type of skating ability"). It's supposed to show what you can do with your feet and overall body; how you can dance. Quick movements, unexpected movements, body line in motion, rhythm, expression. Kurt Browning did a footwork sequence all on toepick. Baiul did all kinds of toepick steps that have been totally abandoned. Multi-direction turning of various types can be shown throughout an entire program. There is no need to drastically cut down on flow, creativity, and character of a singular sequence and specifically require so much of it there.

It's not asking much to encourage multi-directional turns -- especially in footwork of all things. It's a fairly straightforward way of standardizing footwork sequences but still leaves room for creativity.

Any number of criteria could possibly be "standardized" in the rules, and skaters could just choose which they want to do. There are many different ways to skate and it should be the goal of the sport to have engaging programs with personality, not shove these blocks of dead weight that are currently called footwork down everyone's throat. The sport needs to draw viewer and participant interest, not push it away.

sometimes movements are executed for fulfilling requirements and they won't always look beautiful, nor should they all have to.

The ultimate goal of a performance should be for every moment to look pleasing or purposeful or impactful. If it doesn't, then those components need to drop.

But what are we supposed to do - develop an entirely new scale of values for opposite-direction jumps/spins?

It wouldn't be hard to just give a percentage bonus to an element, or specific numerous bonus for showing a type of rare skill.
 

Flying Feijoa

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Btw, I think he regularly lost a level because his brackets in Origin often had unclear edges

Oh, they were brackets? I wasn't even sure, some of those turns were too flat for me to recognise just from his feet, I had to guess from the arm/free leg movement... :hopelessness:
 

gkelly

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Jul 26, 2003
There is a vast difference between multi-direction jumping and multi-direction spinning versus multi-directional turns in FOOTWORK.

The biggest difference, in my experience, is the speed of rotation. Most footwork turns are only half a revolution -- one for loops, more for most twizzles (subject of this thread). So aside from the the twizzles, rotational speed/centrifugal and centripetal forces are not particularly significant issues in threes, brackets, counters, rockers, mohawks, choctaws, at least not compared to spins and jumps and quick twizzles.

Rotational speed, or lack thereof, is also probably why opposite-direction camel spins are more common than other positions.

Multi-directional jumping (especially triple jumps) is so incredibly rare that giving it any significant bonus would simply favour skaters who have decided to develop that

This is also true for skaters who have decided to develop the ability to rotate more times in the air.

The ability to rotate 3 or 4 times in the air depends both on natural potential and on the decision and discipline to develop that skill. The ability to rotate 2 or 3 times in the air in one's less preferred direction also depends on both natural potential and the decision and discipline to develop that skill. Some skaters will have the potential for one of those skills but not the others. Some will never be able to achieve either no matter how hard they try. Some lucky few will be able to develop both types of skills.

So why not build in rewards for both types?

It's easier to just count rotations and assign a base value to reward each jump type as defined by takeoff and number of rotations. (Which has then been further complicated by edge and rotation calls that reduce the base value by a percentage, by the second-half bonus, and by +SEQ and +REP designations.)

Figuring out how to reward multidirectional jumping would be more complicated, but it could be done, and I think it should be.

The biggest issue would be making sure that the tech panel will recognize all the opposite-direction jumps. It would be easy to miss some if they're done as solo jumps. So, as with multidirectional spinning, it would probably be necessary to reward this skill only in the context of jump combinations or sequences.

-- it would be like giving a greater bonus to 3Z+3F because it's incredibly hard to land a triple jump on the opposite foot.

My thoughts have been more along the lines that it would be appropriate to give a bonus to the last jump in a combination because in most cases it's more difficult to than the same jump in isolation. Depending how the bonus is calculated, that could reward flips at the end of combos because of the higher base value.

If nothing else, the fact that the base values for flip are somewhat higher than those for other jumps that might make it somewhat worthwhile either as a way for skaters to avoid "wasting" the second jump of the SP combo on a lower value toe loop, or doing combos with non-toe-loop endings in the freeskate offers more opportunities to repeat higher value jumps.

But the base value difference is not huge -- especially for doubles, at non-elite levels -- and the fact that toe loop combinations are easier to save and easier to cover ice on means that with no additional bonus the GOE advantage of the toe loop combination would usually outweigh the base value advantage.

But there would need to be some other mechanism beyond base value for rewarding combos such as one-foot axel into triple or quad salchow, for example.

A good judge should give such multi-directional/non-traditional jumps higher GOE.

The problem is that often the quality of these combinations is lower than those of easier combinations. Primarily because they are in fact more difficult. And also because without an incentive to learn them, most skaters don't spend much time these skills starting from lower levels.

There is currently no wording in any of the written judges' guidelines to encourage GOE reward for unusual combinations or extra difficulty in the way the jumps are combined.
If the ISU doesn't want to build automatic bonuses awarded by tech panel calls for these kinds of extra difficulty into the Scale of Values and would rather leave it up to each judge's discretion, there could at least be some official acknowledgment that judges should consider extra difficulty and/or creativity of jump combinations in their GOEs.


I'm actually glad spinning in both directions is given minimal value too because so many skaters would just do it to garner extra points and produce sloppy spins - whereas a skater who can do it properly gets a level feature (and higher GOE for creativity/originality).

The level feature is the reward. Just like any other reward conveyed by the tech panel calls, if the skater meets the minimum requirements to earn the feature, they get the level whether it was done "properly" or sloppily or anywhere in between.

Originally that feature was available in all spin positions. Some skaters/pairs took advantage of the opportunity to earn the feature with basic upright spins, so now upright spins in the opposite direction no longer earn the feature.

Again, there's nothing specific in the GOE guidelines or elsewhere to define multidirectional spinning as worthy of the creativity bullet point. Some judges might see it that way; others might feel that anything that's officially specified as a level feature doesn't count as creative. And some features seem creative the first time someone does them, but if many skaters discover it's relatively easy to achieve, many skaters will be doing it and it won't seem so creative any more. Which doesn't make it any easier.


Also, the feature isn't THAT hard to achieve - it's only 3 rotations in a sit or camel position... yes, it might be harder than other features but it would be cumbersome to award level features based on comparative difficulty to each other (e.g. to many skaters, a change of edge for 2 rotations or a difficult exit or a crossfoot is easier to execute than having sufficient speed/ability to hold a position for 8 revolutions).

Agreed. There are a variety of different spin features specified that can be used to increase the level/base value; skaters can use whichever features they are best able to achieve.

So why not have some comparable method to earn extra points for jumping both ways etc.?

It's not asking much to encourage multi-directional turns -- especially in footwork of all things. It's a fairly straightforward way of standardizing footwork sequences but still leaves room for creativity. Nobody is forcing the skaters to do them.

Yes.

Skaters need to include variety of turns in both directions, on both feet, to earn higher levels. No one forces them to earn higher levels, but the incentives are very clear.

Aside from dancers, they don't need to include multidirectional twizzles in both directions to earn those levels. Twizzles are only one type of turn, that was required for dancers before IJS and not even mentioned in the singles/pairs step sequence features for the first few years of IJS.

Footwork is not inherently supposed to exhibit "fundamental skating ability" (which can be worded as "one type of skating ability").

Sure it is.

Especially under IJS, as the first GOE bullet point, one of the mandatory ones, is "deep edges, clean steps and turns." There are GOE reductions for Poor quality of steps and turns and for Lack of flow and energy.

But in 6.0 also. See, e.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mZW9XzHfC4

It's supposed to show what you can do with your feet and overall body; how you can dance.

That too.

There are also GOE guidelines about expressing the music, using the whole body, creativity.

Some skaters will be much stronger at the skating skills parts of this element than the artistic parts; other skaters will be stronger in the artistic areas and weaker in technical skill. The ideal would be to excel at both simultaneously.

It certainly seems to have been a conscious choice on the part of the IJS designers to reward edges and flow and multidirectional skating, and also to reward use of the music and use of the body both in the available level features for step sequences and in the GOE guidelines for this element.

I also have the impression that it was a conscious choice to reward skating skills such as difficult turns that had been required in school figures and that had often gotten short shrift from many skaters of all levels in the postfigures, pre-IJS era.

And, as CanadianSkaterGuy pointed out, the Choreographic Sequence is the element that was introduced specifically to emphasize the artistic skills with less emphasis on skating skill per se.

Any number of criteria could possibly "standardized" in the rules, and skaters could just choose which they want to do. There are many different ways to skate and it should be the goal of the sport to have engaging programs with personality,

I agree that there could be more features available for leveled step sequences that would allow for more variety in different ways to earn higher levels.

However, I see nothing wrong with designating an element as one in which a variety of difficult turns in both directions will be specifically rewarded. Or possibly several alternative element types that skaters could choose from, with different features available.
 

Blades of Passion

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the Choreographic Sequence is the element that was introduced specifically to emphasize the artistic skills with less emphasis on skating skill per se.

There's no good reason regular footwork sequences should be less artistic than this element. Programs are supposed to be fully cohesive throughout and I don't think the "choreography sequence" should be the one token element between both programs that allows people to have freedom. I wouldn't say that element is necessarily supposed to display more artistry either; a large part of its purpose is just to show things like spirals and hydroblades that aren't credited in the other footwork.

The current judging of the choreographic sequences is quite atrocious too; many skaters do lazy sequences with both low content and low artistic value, yet receive big GOE. There's little incentive to do a fully choreographic step sequence or long spiral sequence with amazing extension, because in the end it would get barely any more points than the mediocrity other people are displaying.

However, I see nothing wrong with designating an element as one in which a variety of difficult turns in both directions will be specifically rewarded.

The current footwork doesn't really have variety though (certainly not as much as we should be seeing). It's too predictable and similar looking because you know everyone has to show the same turns in both directions, and also clusters of 3. It very much detracts from possible better choreography, and other types of difficult footwork, that we could be seeing.

Imagine if it was required in footwork to constantly pat the top of your head and rub your stomach as you do it. Yeah, that takes a specific kind of skill to do, but who cares. We shouldn't have to see it from everyone. Professional dance choreographers don't have to throw every type of turn in sequence into every piece they create, why should it be required here? Also imagine if it was required of songwriters to put 6 different octaves in every song they make. That would just be tiresome and overly constricting.
 
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