Athlete Centered Skating

By Sean Marshinski

Following is a brief analysis of the top fifteen long programs skated at New England Regionals in the Juvenile Girls final round event. The purpose of the analysis is to determine what skills might be necessary to place top 4. We will also look at the group as a whole to see what trends exists, how skaters maximize their scores, and opportunities for skaters to hypothetically separate themselves in the future.  The discussion is broken down into an analysis of jumps, spins, choreographic -sequence, and components.

Jumps

At the Juvenile level, skaters are rewarded a bonus for all double axels and triple jumps attempted.  Earlier in the year a new rule was passed allowing triple jumps in juvenile for the first time ever. Despite this rule change no skater in the New England region attempted a triple.  This may reflect the inability of coaches to be able to respond to rule changes adequately that occur in the middle of the season, a commonly discussed issue. Several skaters attempted double axels.  The first-place skater performed one double axel, while the second and fourth place skaters performed two each.

The average base value for jumps of the top four skaters was 16.87, which is actually higher than what the top skater achieved at 15.11. The high score for jumps is 20 points achieved by the second-place skater. The low score for jumps in the top 4 was 14.8 by the third-place skater.  Interestingly, the base value of the third-place skater for jumps was only 13.08 which was nearly identical to the average of the top 15 skaters base value. She was able to increase the total score through positive GOE’s.

It seems that skaters who can score a total of 15points for jumps in the juvenile level can contend for a medal.  Furthermore, despite a one point bonus for each double axel and triple attempted, there were only 4 skaters in the top 15 to try double axel. Although much more difficult, it does seem that skaters can contend without a double axel, so long as they receive very high GOE scores on all jumping passes.

 Spins

You probably can’t win with spins, but you certainly can lose.  The large majority of the top 15 (11/15) skaters achieved 2 level 4 spins. Almost all skaters achieved a base value of 6 points for spins.  One skater achieved a 6.1 by doing a level 3 flying sit spin, instead of a level 4 sit spin. Some skaters also elected to perform a level 3 layback bringing their base value to 5.9.

Without performing a flying spin, skaters can achieve a maximum base value of 6 points. This leaves an opportunity for skaters to gain points on competitors by developing a level 4 flying sit or flying camel.  Coaches and skaters could develop these spins during the off season to maximize the base value.

Although some points were left on the table by not choosing to do flying spins, the group made up for it with very positive GOE scores. The group as a whole averaged an additional 1.02 points in GOE from spins with the highest GOE rewarded adding an additional 1.72 points. That is equal to gaining an extra jumping pass. 

The take away message about spins in Juvenile is that quality matters. Skaters are not only achieving primarily level 4 spins, but they are also achieving very high GOE for the spins.  Skaters must work off ice, stretching and strengthening, and take time on the ice to develop spins with great speed, position, creativity, and centering.  Even with two level 4 spins with 0’s for GOE a skater would fall behind the average of this group. Adding a flying sit level 4 with positive GOE’s would maximize base value.

Choreographed Step Sequence

The Choreographed steps in Juvenile are interesting in that every skater receives a base value of 2 points for executing the element.  Therefore, differences are achieved purely through GOE.  Unlike a leveled step sequence the focus here is not on achieving clean turns, clusters, rotations, etc.  Instead, skaters who have success with this use their choreographed step to show their skating skills, performance, and ability to capture the audience and tell their story. Without analyzing numbers we can see that choreographers should be smart in designing the sequences with choreography that serves the skater and the story or feeling they are trying to portray within their programs.  Although complex turns can be used, it is not advised if they are supporting the skater in demonstrating their skills.  If difficult turns are featured, but only bog down the skater’s flow and are done with poor quality, it is perhaps better to leave them out.

As coaches, we have to make decisions to treat the sequence as both developmental (teaching skills to the skater for the future) and functional (allowing them to have success in the present). We feel it is important that skaters develop difficult turns and the skills that will be required in leveled sequences later on, but also learn how to perform, hit musical highlights, skate with great speed and flow.  We consider these important developmental milestones. The skaters who scored well on this element seemed to strike a solid balance between both of these goals.

Component Scores

Component scores were impactful in determining the results on the top 4 skaters.  While the second place skater scored 5 points more in jumps than the first place skater, the first place skaters was able to achieve a nearly 5 point advantage in components.  It seems that skaters should try to achieve approximately 23 points or around 3.75 for each of the three components scored at the Juvenile level to be competitive. Since the skating skills component is factored to be the most important component score, focusing extra on skating skills could help skaters separate themselves. At the Juvenile level, judges are asked to look for speed as a factor of skating skills.

Final words

To place top 4 at the Juvenile level, a skater must be sure to have level 4 spins of a high quality.  You cannot win the event with spins but you can certainly lose points that will be hard to make up in other areas.  4 out of 5 top skaters performed double axels, so developing a double axel for Juvenile is very important but skaters must be sure to focus on the components as an opportunity to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.  A nicely package program with great skating skills can go a long way.

2A?

3?

JUMPS

SPINS

StepSeq

Components

Placement

Base Value

GOE

Total Score

Level 4?

Base Value

GOE

Total Score

Base Value

GOE

Total score

Skating Skills

Performance

Composition

Interpretation of Music

Total Factored Score

1

1

0

15.13

0

15.13

2

6

1.74

7.74

2

1.17

3.17

4.38

4.31

4.63

27.6

2

2

0

18.98

0.33

19.31

2

6

1.2

7.2

2

0.5

2.5

3.75

3.5

3.56

22.8875

3

0

0

13.08

1.72

14.8

2

6

1.63

7.63

2

1.08

3.08

4.19

4.25

4.25

26.3375

4

2

0

20.32

-0.32

20

2

6

1.11

7.11

2

0.25

2.25

3.63

3.44

3.44

22.2125

5

1

0

15.52

-0.45

15.07

1

6.1

0.16

6.26

2

0.75

2.75

3.75

3.63

3.75

23.2875

6

0

0

13.76

1.01

14.77

2

6

1.36

7.36

2

0.42

2.42

3.63

3.63

3.5

22.525

7

0

0

13.5

-0.48

13.02

2

6

1.35

7.35

2

0.92

2.92

3.63

3.81

3.88

23.225

8

0

0

12.37

0.27

12.64

1

5.9

0.91

6.81

2

0.75

2.75

3.56

3.75

3.56

22.4875

9

0

0

13.02

-0.21

12.81

2

6

0.48

6.48

2

0.33

2.33

3.5

3.56

3.38

21.81

10

0

0

11.02

-0.28

10.74

2

6

1.84

7.84

2

0.5

2.5

3.44

3.75

3.69

22.2

11

0

0

10.39

-2.21

8.18

2

6.5

1.15

7.65

2

1.17

3.17

3.19

3.81

3.94

21.65

12

0

0

12.69

-2.09

10.6

0

5.1

1.16

6.26

2

0.67

2.67

3.38

3.5

3.56

21.5

13

0

0

11.7

-1.36

10.34

1

5.9

0.23

6.13

2

0.25

2.25

3.13

3.06

3.00

19.3125

14

0

0

10.85

-0.79

10.06

2

6

0.8

6.8

2

0.33

2.33

2.81

3.00

2.75

17.725

15

0

0

11.2

-1.23

9.97

2

6

0.2

6.2

2

0.25

2.25

3.13

2.69

2.81

18.6125

Top 4

16.8775

0.4325

17.31

6

1.42

7.42

0.75

0.75

3.9875

3.875

0

3.97

24.759375

5-10

0

0

0

0

11-15

0

0

0

0