What rule changes would you like to see next season?

[Amei]

I want 3A allowed in junior women’s SPs and quads—in senior women SPs.

Basically, the same set of rules for men and women

Yes, though I do say I love that the junior ladies and their coaches in a metaphorical screw you to the ISU in finding the loophole that they could do a triple axel as part of their combination in the SP and then do the solo double axel to satisfy the solo axel requirement and not violate the whole can't do a triple axel to fulfill their axel jump requirement rule.

 

[Mathman]

I am waiting to see if anything will come of the proposal to have two programs of equal length, one emphasizingh "tech" and one for the "artists."

I tend to take the long view. Back in the day, tech was much more importanrt. "Tech" meant tracing school figures. If your circles were rounder than the other guy's, you won, and generally a deficit in tech could not be overcome by excellence in free skating. (See Scott Hamilton versus Brian Orser at the 1984 Olympics.)

It was decided that this did not make for a very interesting spectator sport. Starting in the 1970s the figures part was diminished in importance and eventually eliminated. Instead we had show skating, music, costumes, story-telling, razzamatazz.

But big tech woul;d not be denied. This is a sport, after all -- what the customers want are heroic leaps and bounds. The men's events in the last two Grand Prix events have shown the end result.

Some spectators say, yay look at at all those (sort of) quads. To others, this is school figures all over again. Will the pendulum swing back the other way?

 

[alexocfp]

I got one that is out of this universe:

How about we make it one big competition? One category. Men, women and children competing for the medals.

No age limits, everyone vs everyone.

Kamila vs whoever the top male skaters are. Akatieva vs other top male skaters who I don’t know.

Will also solve the problem of lean fields.

And get more mainstream press for skating since that one time that one skater got clubbed in the knee.

 

[lariko]

Also, I want in pair skating the sbs jumps to be awarded separately for each partner like the ID does for twizzles.

 

[LiamV426]

1) I'd like to see falls penalised more than they are. I think the +5/-5 system has taken steps in the right direction but I'm sick of all the splatfests. Tbh I'm not even sure you should get any points for an element you fell on. I'd be fine with the element being invalidated (same case if you fall during a spin or step sequence). Is that too harsh of me? Ok how about instead of zero points you get the downgraded BV? So a fall on a 4Lz gets you a BV of 5.9 (3Lz), in addition to -5 GOE and a deduction. Same if you fall on a 3Lz, you only get the BV of a 2Lz.

I just want to see cleaner programs and I think penalising falls more will encourage people to attempt jumps they know they can land. I don't know if my suggestion is the best way to go about it but if you lose BV automatically for under-rotating then the same should be applied to falls as you did not complete the element.

Some other ideas that have already being mentioned and I agree with:

2) Separate judging panels for all Senior A competitions.
3) Factor the woman's PCS as 1.0 in the SP and 2.0 in the FP. Maybe also increase the men's to 1.2 in the SP and 2.2 in the FP.
4) Get rid of the compulsory solo jump in the SP for juniors. It's just silly, and allow the girls to a solo 3A like the boys. Definitely don't allow Quads in the SP, I'd fine with not allowing them in the FP either tbh.
5) Raise the age limit.

 

[alexocfp]

1) I'd like to see falls penalised more than they are. I think the +5/-5 system has taken steps in the right direction but I'm sick of all the splatfests. Tbh I'm not even sure you should get any points for an element you fell on. I'd be fine with the element being invalidated (same case if you fall during a spin or step sequence). Is that too harsh of me? Ok how about instead of zero points you get the downgraded BV? So a fall on a 4Lz gets you a BV of 5.9 (3Lz), in addition to -5 GOE and a deduction. Same if you fall on a 3Lz, you only get the BV of a 2Lz.

I just want to see cleaner programs and I think penalising falls more will encourage people to attempt jumps they know they can land. I don't know if my suggestion is the best way to go about it but if you lose BV automatically for under-rotating then the same should be applied to falls as you did not complete the element.

Some other ideas that have already being mentioned and I agree with:

2) Separate judging panels for all Senior A competitions.
3) Factor the woman's PCS as 1.0 in the SP and 2.0 in the FP. Maybe also increase the men's to 1.2 in the SP and 2.2 in the FP.
4) Get rid of the compulsory solo jump in the SP for juniors. It's just silly, and allow the girls to a solo 3A like the boys. Definitely don't allow Quads in the SP, I'd fine with not allowing them in the FP either tbh.
5) Raise the age limit.

For #1 it’s a fair point. But penalizing the quads so excessively will mean less attempts at them.

For the ladies, we are still at the invention stage. There are going to be spectacular blowups while the the chemicals are experimentally mixed together. The roof has been blown off the lab a few times. Haha

And sometimes, the anticipation is enough. You wait all week to see if Trusova will in fact land her 5 quad attempts.

Don’t have the expertise to even begin to rebut or comment on 2 and 3.

#4 I can see both sides. Not allowing quads ties into the anticipation I mentioned above. You need to wait until day 2 to see them.

#5 is a vehement no from me. If you are good enough to sore with the big dogs, you should be allowed to. Can’t grow the sport if your juniors are better than your seniors.

Imagine if Germany’s national football team was worse than it’s under 18’s. We have this in a way in skating.

 

[gliese]

1) I'd like to see falls penalised more than they are. I think the +5/-5 system has taken steps in the right direction but I'm sick of all the splatfests. Tbh I'm not even sure you should get any points for an element you fell on. I'd be fine with the element being invalidated (same case if you fall during a spin or step sequence). Is that too harsh of me? Ok how about instead of zero points you get the downgraded BV? So a fall on a 4Lz gets you a BV of 5.9 (3Lz), in addition to -5 GOE and a deduction. Same if you fall on a 3Lz, you only get the BV of a 2Lz.

Uhhh hell no. I can attest to the fact that falling on a triple jump is way harder than landing a double. If that weren't the case, skaters would start attempting triples the second they get their doubles. They don't.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

1) I'd like to see falls penalised more than they are. I think the +5/-5 system has taken steps in the right direction but I'm sick of all the splatfests. Tbh I'm not even sure you should get any points for an element you fell on. I'd be fine with the element being invalidated (same case if you fall during a spin or step sequence). Is that too harsh of me? Ok how about instead of zero points you get the downgraded BV? So a fall on a 4Lz gets you a BV of 5.9 (3Lz), in addition to -5 GOE and a deduction. Same if you fall on a 3Lz, you only get the BV of a 2Lz.

I second the motion to make falls an invalid element, at the very least for the SP if not the FP - you should be awarded for what you did, not what you tried to do. In every other CoP sport if you don't execute the difficulty you don't get the points, so I see no reason for figure skating to be different. I also don't like that a skater with one pop in a short program can end up failing to make the free skate but a skater with one or even two falls can still make it - at least the skater with the pop sucessfully executed a single or double jump. And no, invalidating falls wouldn't be penalising quads, it would be penalising failure, which sports kind of already do in the form of losing.

 

[nussnacker]

Think? It’s ISU, so it’s going to be something stupid, like the prerotation stuff or something.

Wish? Get rid of the 3 per country rule!!!

 

[nussnacker]

I second the motion to make falls an invalid element, at the very least for the SP if not the FP - you should be awarded for what you did, not what you tried to do. In every other CoP sport if you don't execute the difficulty you don't get the points, so I see no reason for figure skating to be different. I also don't like that a skater with one pop in a short program can end up failing to make the free skate but a skater with one or even two falls can still make it - at least the skater with the pop sucessfully executed a single or double jump. And no, invalidating falls wouldn't be penalising quads, it would be penalising failure, which sports kind of already do in the form of losing.

That probably isn’t going to hurt top competitors, who are generally very confident in their triples and rarely have falls on them. Whom it’s going to hurt is lower level skaters, who fall more often on triples. It’s just going to create a wider score gap between lower level skaters from smaller feds and top competitors from big federations. /taking ladies discipline as an example/

 

[AxelLover]

1) Excessive prerotations should be penalised.

2) Quads should be allowed for ladies in the SP.

3) The PCS factor should be the same for men and ladies.

4) URs and wrong edges should lead to reduced BV, but they should not a priori affect the GOE.

5) The BV of quad twists and throws should be increased.

 

[yuumagical]

Oh yeah - here's a different one. Require venues hosting ISU events to meet a standard ice temperature that is appropriate for figure skating (which is especially important for venues that normally host ice hockey games). Both Skate America and Skate Canada had parts of their competitions affected by ice that was too cold/too hard, resulting in splatfests for the men, in particular.

That's a really good idea, although when I think of ice that is inappropriate for skating, I would think that ice that is at too warm of a temperature (such as during IdF in Grenoble a couple of years ago when puddles were clearly visible) would be worse for skating. I went to skate at a halfway melted outdoor rink once and found it difficult to maintain contact with the ice.

Please correct me if I am wrong, though, I am not much of a skater, I primarily do swizzles and enjoy gliding around the ice, lol.

 

[lappo]

Same tech content for men and women allowed.
Effectively separate the PCS from the tech content and reward it in the proper way.
Also, not a rule but I would like a gala when skaters show a program of their choice from the past, just to see what each of them would choose and how they would perform it.

 

[lariko]

Also, ban announcers from using ISU bios as introductions for the skaters and give announcers a sheet with the proper countries and name pronunciations.

If we are banning announcers, I vote that we make it mandatory to provide no commentary streams for all major competitions, or at least forbid commentators from talking during the program.

 

[lariko]

That's a really good idea, although when I think of ice that is inappropriate for skating, I would think that ice that is at too warm of a temperature (such as during IdF in Grenoble a couple of years ago when puddles were clearly visible) would be worse for skating. I went to skate at a halfway melted outdoor rink once and found it difficult to maintain contact with the ice.

Please correct me if I am wrong, though, I am not much of a skater, I primarily do swizzles and enjoy gliding around the ice, lol.

While we definitely don’t want them to double as synchronized swimmers, hockey temperature cold ice is dangerous for obvious reasons. And it’s far more common than Grenoble, because rinks are mainly ice hockey oriented.

 

[Minz]

If we are banning announcers, I vote that we make it mandatory to provide no commentary streams for all major competitions, or at least forbid commentators from talking during the program.

I’m not saying to ban announcers, I‘m really saying to give them (and commentators) more information about who/what they are talking about because it seems like a lot of them have absolutely no idea. A pronunciation sheet would be for skater names and such.

Regarding commentary, I don’t mind if you are telling me about a jump (if you actually know what jump) or something but I don’t need/want a full life story in the middle of the Step Sequence.

 

[lariko]

I’m not saying to ban announcers, I‘m really saying to give them (and commentators) more information about who/what they are talking about because it seems like a lot of them have absolutely no idea. A pronunciation sheet would be for skater names and such.

Regarding commentary, I don’t mind if you are telling me about a jump (if you actually know what jump) or something but I don’t need/want a full life story in the middle of the Step Sequence.

I can’t stand them repeating the scorecard. It’s right there. If they have something to contribute, do so during the replays. But no, they have to chatter during the skate offering what nobody asked them for. Anyway, if people love Simon, just provide commentary-free stream for other who can’t stand him. It’s about as necessary for me as nail scratching on the glass during the skating.

 

[MCsAngel2]

That's a really good idea, although when I think of ice that is inappropriate for skating, I would think that ice that is at too warm of a temperature (such as during IdF in Grenoble a couple of years ago when puddles were clearly visible) would be worse for skating. I went to skate at a halfway melted outdoor rink once and found it difficult to maintain contact with the ice.

Please correct me if I am wrong, though, I am not much of a skater, I primarily do swizzles and enjoy gliding around the ice, lol.

If there's puddles on the ice at an ISU event, that means something's broken and there's a good chance the event will be delayed, but I don't think it's as dangerous as hard ice. (unless it's so melted the surface is down to the paint).

Hard ice (ice at ideal hockey temps) is potentially very hazardous for figure skaters. It means the blade can't cut through properly, to anchor the skater, when landing a jump. And the harder the landing (from a skater who weighs more, like men, or from a higher rotational jump like a triple axel or a quad), the more likely the blade will skid or skitter instead of cut through the ice.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

I got one that is out of this universe:

How about we make it one big competition? One category. Men, women and children competing for the medals.

No age limits, everyone vs everyone.

Kamila vs whoever the top male skaters are. Akatieva vs other top male skaters who I don’t know.

Will also solve the problem of lean fields.

And get more mainstream press for skating since that one time that one skater got clubbed in the knee.

Sure, if that means everyone has to compete in pairs and ice dance events too

Bring on those SBS quad/3A attempts! Also, let's see how singles skaters with allegedly good skating skills fare when all they can do is step sequences.

I know who I'd bet on. It's surprising how many ice dancers have a triple (or quad) in their back pocket just waiting to be unleashed...

 

[moonvine]

For the love of all that’s holy, devalue jumps. A lot.