skatingforums
Watching the Zamboni => Spectator Skating Discussions => Topic started by: FigureSpins on September 02, 2011, 12:18:37 PM
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Here's a question to make you wonder:
Back in the day when Figures were required for elite competitions, did the competitors Flutz or Lip?
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Lots of them underrotated, so it wouldn't surprise me if they did- it just wasn't looked for strongly.
Why not go to youtube and watch some videos.
I've found that the "back in the day" skating isn't necessarily as good as people remember it to be. The TOP competitors sure were good, but there was just as much "okay" in the ranks as there is now.
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I've found that the "back in the day" skating isn't necessarily as good as people remember it to be. The TOP competitors sure were good, but there was just as much "okay" in the ranks as there is now.
I agree, though I'd almost have to say that I think there were far more "average" skaters 15+ years ago than there are now. The field worldwide is much deeper than it used to be.
What I find funny is going back to watching skating from 30-40+ years ago, and looking at the jump technique, it's all horrible by today's standards, even if the rest of their skating was exceptional.
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Look ma, no Flutz:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7kTnyOcPy4
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Here's a question to make you wonder:
Back in the day when Figures were required for elite competitions, did the competitors Flutz or Lip?
Here's a speech by Janet Lynn from 2008. She's very, strongly, pro-figures.
http://forums.about.com/n/docs/docDownload.aspx?webtag=ab-figureskate&guid=6043e6d7-8fbe-4253-babb-99893757d0c8
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Back in the day, free skating didn't have such an emphasis as time was being devoted to working on figures, so skills weren't necessarily as advanced in terms of jumps and spins. It is a shame that the edge control has been lost with the push towards harder and harder jumps and spins. The other shame is that IJS has pushed out some of the more unusual jump elements. Skaters aren't necessarily getting the credit deserved if they add a toe-less lutz into their programs. And I've seen in an old book that skaters used to land in spreadeagle positions (this is back in the early 1900s), while you're not going to be able to check a triple landing in a spreadeagle, it woud be an interesting feature in a program and isn't necessarily easier than some of the multi-revolution jumps.
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I've noticed this stuff too. The skaters are getting so much younger too. Back in the 1994 Olympics, most of the skaters were in their 20s but now you have the ones 16-20 that are kicking a whole lot of tail. I miss figures a lot and thought that it taught more patience and control. Now it is all about the speed, jumps and spins so fast they are a blur. My how things have changed.
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Ah, but pre-IJS and in the era of Figures, competitors had the luxury of indulging us with entertainment, especially the gentlemen. Today it's all speed, speed, speed, jumps, crazy spins with ugly positions for features, etc. Okay, I'm being a bit melodramatic. But I loved pre-1990's skating! Give me a flutz and a lip so long as there's artistry betwixt. :angel