Random Figure Skating Questions

[Ic3Rabbit]

Question about music choices:

Can guys skate to music usually skated to by females? etc. Swan Lake, Carmen, Tango de Roxanne?

Those songs are not gender specific and have and will continue to be skated to over the years.

 

[rmsxvi]

Ohhh thats cool! Just found out Daisuke Takahashi skated to Swan Lake too so!

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Ohhh thats cool! Just found out Daisuke Takahashi skated to Swan Lake too so!

And many male skaters have done programs to Tango de Roxanne: Evan Lysacek, Andrew Torgashev and many many others.

 

[karne]

Question about music choices:

Can guys skate to music usually skated to by females? etc. Swan Lake, Carmen, Tango de Roxanne?

Max Aaron's done all three - Tango de Roxanne in 2010-2011, Carmen in 2013-2014, and Swan Lake in 2015-2016.

But the real Carmen King is Plushenko's playful flirtatious Carmen from Salt Lake City.

 

[hanyuufan5]

I've heard people mention "scary" toe picks. What's scary about them? I've also heard about people tripping over them. How does that happen?

 

[rikaquegira]

I have a question that I think it’s kind of dumb but I don’t know the exact rule: if a skater finishes an element after the music, for instance, a spin(which is a common last element), how does the scoring work for that?

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I think it could hurt PCS due to poor execution of choreography but I think time violations only happen if you skate beyond the time limit allowed. I’m not certain though but felt like chiming in

 

[rikaquegira]

I think it could hurt PCS due to poor execution of choreography but I think time violations only happen if you skate beyond the time limit allowed. I’m not certain though but felt like chiming in

I see... So if a skater finishes the rotations after the music has ended they still count for the spin? If they finish a spin after the time limit they’ll get a time violation because they were still moving after the time allowed AND their spin will be affected too, right? That’d make sense. Although I’d prefer if: the music is over, the program is over.

 

[gkelly]

Although I’d prefer if: the music is over, the program is over.

But sometimes the music is cut too long or too short, so the time deduction is based on when the skater started and finished moving, to be consistent.

Also sometimes the sound system is at fault and music skips or plays at the wrong speed, in which case the skater can skate the way she usually does and finish after the music but within the time limit through no fault of her own. Any negative effect on musical interpretation would be sufficient punishment; no need to apply an additional deduction for finishing after the music when it was the music and not the skater at fault.

This is rare at elite events, not that uncommon in local rinks using the rink CD player.

 

[NanaPat]

I see... So if a skater finishes the rotations after the music has ended they still count for the spin? If they finish a spin after the time limit they’ll get a time violation because they were still moving after the time allowed AND their spin will be affected too, right? That’d make sense. Although I’d prefer if: the music is over, the program is over.

I don't think it affects the mark for the spin itself. It affects the PCS because they weren't with their music and if they go over the total time allowed they get a time deduction. The time deduction and loss of PCS aren't as big as what they'd lose if they didn't do the element at all, which is why they finish the element, though they know they're going over-time. Sometimes you'll see them visibly hurrying through the last element.

 

[karne]

I see... So if a skater finishes the rotations after the music has ended they still count for the spin? If they finish a spin after the time limit they’ll get a time violation because they were still moving after the time allowed AND their spin will be affected too, right? That’d make sense. Although I’d prefer if: the music is over, the program is over.

No. So if they go overtime, they get a time violation, but the spin will count as whatever they do. Where you usually see spins affected is when the skater hears the music end, panics and rushes out of the spin, missing a position or not holding one for long enough etc.

 

[rikaquegira]

Thanks for the replies!
Just one more thing: the only way the spin(and I guess other elements) scoring will be affected then in this case is in the bullet “element matches the music”, right? Because if the music is already over then the element will not match the music.

 

[rikaquegira]

But sometimes the music is cut too long or too short, so the time deduction is based on when the skater started and finished moving, to be consistent.

Also sometimes the sound system is at fault and music skips or plays at the wrong speed, in which case the skater can skate the way she usually does and finish after the music but within the time limit through no fault of her own. Any negative effect on musical interpretation would be sufficient punishment; no need to apply an additional deduction for finishing after the music when it was the music and not the skater at fault.

This is rare at elite events, not that uncommon in local rinks using the rink CD player.

Right! That makes sense. [emoji4]

 

[silver.blades]

I've heard people mention "scary" toe picks. What's scary about them? I've also heard about people tripping over them. How does that happen?

Toe picks come in different shapes and sizes depending on the level and kind of blade. They're scary because they can cause you to trip and toe pick falls in particular tend to really hurt. A skate blade is not flat, it is slightly curved. This means that if you lean too far forward the toe pick can hit the ice, abruptly stopping your glide and causing you to fall.

It is also possible to trip over the toe pick the same as you might trip when walking. This is usually caused by skaters who "toe push" (use a front to back motion like walking instead of pushing from the side of their blade.) and/or skaters who drag their feet.

 

[hanyuufan5]

Toe picks come in different shapes and sizes depending on the level and kind of blade. They're scary because they can cause you to trip and toe pick falls in particular tend to really hurt. A skate blade is not flat, it is slightly curved. This means that if you lean too far forward the toe pick can hit the ice, abruptly stopping your glide and causing you to fall.

It is also possible to trip over the toe pick the same as you might trip when walking. This is usually caused by skaters who "toe push" (use a front to back motion like walking instead of pushing from the side of their blade.) and/or skaters who drag their feet.

Thank you! So, if none of that has ever happened to me in years and years on recreational skates (up to Freeskate 1-ish), is it less likely on good blades, too? Looking at the better ones, I don't see how the size or shape of the toe pick would matter except for toe jumps and such. Aren't they not supposed to touch the ice other than for those?

 

[Ducky]

Thank you! So, if none of that has ever happened to me in years and years on recreational skates (up to Freeskate 1-ish), is it less likely on good blades, too? Looking at the better ones, I don't see how the size or shape of the toe pick would matter except for toe jumps and such. Aren't they not supposed to touch the ice other than for those?

Sadly you should expect to deal with one bad "toe-pick" fall because recreational blades aren't as curved and don't have as large as a toe pick. It happens. But it's a live and learn and try not to do that again kind of thing.

Unless you're coming from hockey. In which case.... toe pick.

 

[treblemakerem]

I think it depends on you and what blades you get/had before. I don't remember whether I tripped much in my recreational skates, but I used to trip over my toe picks all the time in my first pair of real figure skates. They were Riedell strides with the Capri blade that came with them. I upgraded to MK pros a couple months ago and don't think I've tripped on my toe pick once. I also switched to jacksons which have a higher heel, not sure if that made any difference though.

 

[khi]

Thank you! So, if none of that has ever happened to me in years and years on recreational skates (up to Freeskate 1-ish), is it less likely on good blades, too? Looking at the better ones, I don't see how the size or shape of the toe pick would matter except for toe jumps and such. Aren't they not supposed to touch the ice other than for those?

Skated for a long time on rec skates, had no issues, moved to some intermediate-ish skates/blades, was nervous of the toepick but largely had no issues, downsized my skates and moved to another intermediate blade, tripped over my toepick on a basic move in such a way that I broke my leg. (got too far forward on my blade and got the toepick stuck in the ice)

Basically skating is just a bit unpredictable at times, and this is the sort of reason that some people are scared of bigger toepicks! Many people have had a toepick fall where they whacked their knee. If you're moving up to a more advanced blade, you shouldn't be scared of the bigger toepick but just be aware of it at first. Everything on your blade will be in a slightly different place (balance points, spin points...) As the other reply said, rec blades tend to be flatter with a smaller toepick that is higher up off the ice, so you're less likely to accidentally trip over it.

 

[bostonskaterguy86]

I think it depends on you and what blades you get/had before.

This is very true. Some people have trouble when they change to a blade with a different main rocker radius (many beginner blades have an 8’ main rocker while many intermediate blades are 7’). Also, when you get up into advanced blades, many of them have larger, aggressive toe picks to help with getting good height on toe jumps - the JW Pattern 99 is a good example of this. Generally by the time you need advanced blades your skating skills are good enough that this isn’t much of an issue for you, but it’s not unheard of for a couple trips to happen while a skater is adjusting to a new blade.

 

[silver.blades]

Thank you! So, if none of that has ever happened to me in years and years on recreational skates (up to Freeskate 1-ish), is it less likely on good blades, too? Looking at the better ones, I don't see how the size or shape of the toe pick would matter except for toe jumps and such. Aren't they not supposed to touch the ice other than for those?

Rec blades tend to have less aggressive toe picks, so you are less likely to trip over them, but it still can happen.

The primary use of toe picks is to spin and jump. They should not be used at all during basic skating, but can come into play (very slightly) on some of the turns,