Style Guide for USFSA

[AgnesNitt]

https://www.usfigureskating.org/content/Style%20Guide/2015-16styleguide.pdf

[twinskaters]

*swoon*

I love when clients give me a style guide. Not that USFSA is a client of mine, but I appreciate them making writers' jobs easier!

[skategeek]

OK, is the PDF showing up weird for anyone else, or is it just me?  The letter combination "fi" isn't appearing.  (I had something like this happen once before, years ago... printed a pdf of a journal article and the lowercase "t" was missing throughout.  Showed up fine on screen, though.)

[nicklaszlo]

AgnesNitt, if you had read the style guide you would know that, sadly, we are not allowed to call it "USFSA" any more.

It's great they have standards.  Now if only USFSA would fix that Canasta Tango diagram in the rule book.

[nicklaszlo]

OK, is the PDF showing up weird for anyone else, or is it just me?  The letter combination "fi" isn't appearing.  (I had something like this happen once before, years ago... printed a pdf of a journal article and the lowercase "t" was missing throughout.  Showed up fine on screen, though.)

That's a common problem with ligatures.

[FigureSpins]

AgnesNitt, if you had read the style guide you would know that, sadly, we are not allowed to call it "USFSA" any more.

I know this is true and I smirk every time I write "USFSA" anyway.  I also use "ISIA" instead of "ISI."  Equal opportunity offender, that's me!

It's great they have standards.  Now if only USFSA would fix that Canasta Tango diagram in the rule book.

Is that on Step 2 - the RFO-Pr?  You know it's a glaring error when I notice it right off the bat since I only look at dance patterns twice a year.  I puzzled over that one on my birthday.  Wonder if anyone reported it to the Rulebook committee?

[Query]

The legal name of the organization is the U.S. Figure
Skating Association, but in text it should always be referred to as
U.S. Figure Skating.

But why not use the legal and what I think is worldwide the more widely recognized name?

Especially since USFSA (the proper, legal name) does not own usfs.org, but does own usfsa.org - and that is what I bet most of us type at the browser.

And of course USFS in common use is the United States Forest Service.

And by the way, if Firefox is set up in a reasonably secure fashion,

  https://www.usfigureskating.org

will create a warning:

This Connection is Untrusted

You have asked Firefox to connect securely to www.usfigureskating.org, but we can't confirm that your connection is secure.

Normally, when you try to connect securely, sites will present trusted identification to prove that you are going to the right place. However, this site's identity can't be verified.

In other words, something is wrong with the www.usfigureskating.org's site credentials - a problem that also applies to https://usfsa.org.

Oh well...

For those of us that are dumb, I take it the referenced issue on the Canasta Tango on page 379 of http://usfsa.org/content/2015-16%20Rulebook.pdf is that step 2 should be an inside edge rather than an outside?

But there is another defect that affects all progressives shown in the USFS(A) ice dance documentation. The ice tracing is not a correct ice trancing. AFAICT, the tracing of the second step of a USFS(A) ice dance progressive should always cross the first step tracing. This makes interpreting the shown patterns more difficult.

I admit that DG 5.12 in http://www.usfsa.org/Content/Tests%20Book%20Moves%20&%20Dance%20diagrams.pdf

DG 5.12     Progressive  or Run
(Pr or Run): A step or sequence of steps on the same lobe and in the same direction, in which the free foot,
during the period of becoming the skating foot, strikes the ice be
side and travels past the skating foot, thus bringing the new
free foot off the ice trailing the new skating foot, and in such
a manner that some impetus is gained from the edge of the foot which is becoming
the free foot.

doesn't imply a cross, but every ice dance coach I've had has insisted that the second step must eventually wind up inside the arc of the first step.

(Caution - Unlike the ISU, the USFS(A) does not use the same definition for "progressive" in all disciplines. I am quoting the Ice Dance definition.)

[icedancer]

 I honestly don't know what this thread is about, but as far as progressives go I think the rulebook has it right - the steps of the progressive do not cross.

Interesting that the 2010 yearbook you sited Query the progressive steps are correct - LFO-RFI-LFO etc., but in the yearbook that I cart around (2013-2014) - the steps are not labelled correctly.

It was about that time - 2011 that the diagrams changed - I think some of them were computer generated and some of our skaters determined that NO ONE could do the Killian choctaw the way it is drawn in the rulebook - it is physically impossible!  I see it is drawn in this rulebook that way as well - oh well, good thing it is an "optional pattern" dance!!

[sarahspins]

They have another written guide about their logo variations and usage.. I actually expected to see that when I pulled up the PDF

[nicklaszlo]

Wonder if anyone reported it to the Rulebook committee?

A dance coach told me he pointed it out to Patricia St. Peter when she was still USFSA president.

It's sure to be fixed now that it is on Agnes's blog.

[nicklaszlo]

I also use "ISIA" instead of "ISI."

I thought ISIA was the Ice Skating Institute Asia.

[sarahspins]

I thought ISIA was the Ice Skating Institute Asia.

Once upon a time it was the Ice Skating Institute of America.

Somewhere I still have a bunch of badges that say ISIA, because that's what i twas when I earned them - it changed to ISI a few years later

[Query]

I honestly don't know what this thread is about, but as far as progressives go I think the rulebook has it right - the steps of the progressive do not cross.

Oh dear. You are right. I was thinking of the underpush - but of course, it leaves no trace, because the pushing foot stays still on the ice. (I guess I could still argue the shown tracing is potentially a little wrong, because if you have a hard underpush, as I was taught, the arcs of steps 1 and 2 would not be parallel. But a lot of people don't push very hard, especially at a Preliminary Dance level.)

OOPS....     Thanks for catching that.

(BTW, I am talking about a FORWARD progressive, which is what appears in the Canasta Tango.)

>Interesting that the 2010 yearbook you sited Query the progressive steps are correct

I'm not sure what you mean, but the quotes referenced in this thread were done by pointing and clicking from usfsa.org, yesterday, not in 2010. i.e.,

http://usfsa.org -> Technical Info -> Rulebook -> Rulebook (7/1/15) (PDF) -> Searched for Canasta, until pattern appeared

I also searched for "Dance Glossary" in the same Rulebook, whose URL is http://usfsa.org/content/2015-16%20Rulebook.pdf

However, the judging form, at

http://www.usfigureskating.org/Content

does show the RFI edge - and is dated from 2000. So it would seem that skaters and judges are told that different things are correct.  OTOH, I'm not sure that those judging forms are still used... I got to it by searching for "judging forms" at usfsa.org, and I've noticed that searches sometimes access out of date stuff.

EDIT: If anyone wants to complain about the rulebook Canasta, they can maybe contact the rules committee via  https://www.usfsaonline.org/InternalDirectory/CommitteeDetails?comId=1371 - but it's a members only page. But I bet the rules committee sees A LOT of complaints about a lot of things, and they might not look at them all.

[Query]

What I can say about this style guide: Some people like to make rules.

Then again, without reading it, I would never have known about Fantasy Figure Skating. (OMG!)

I saw a very athletic 10 year old skate incredibly well yesterday. (Her dad said she was taking 3 skating lessons that day at two different rinks, in addition to a gymnastics lesson!) I've been skating longer than that, and can't do nearly as much. Some days fantasy skating seems like all I can do. 

[FigureSpins]

Really?  The annual threads about it on skatingforums didn't enlighten you?

[Loops]

I just saw Agnes' blog post.  It made me get out my 90-91 era rulebook.  That step in the Canasta is correctly labelled.  Looks like they've also changed the way they diagram the counts for each step.

Very glad I have this 'antique' laying around.......

[AgnesNitt]

I just saw Agnes' blog post.  It made me get out my 90-91 era rulebook.  That step in the Canasta is correctly labelled.  Looks like they've also changed the way they diagram the counts for each step.

Very glad I have this 'antique' laying around.......

Man, how do you do a RFO progressive?    Do I have to delete that post?    I actually got a 'funny' out of it.

And my coach prefers I do a crossover for testing. It's the local 'standard' or something.

[AgnesNitt]

A dance coach told me he pointed it out to Patricia St. Peter when she was still USFSA president.

It's sure to be fixed now that it is on Agnes's blog.

Wait, wait what? I almost expect to get a sharp letter from USFS that if I can't pass a dance I'm expected to keep my mouth shut. 

What about my unpublished rant about the skills teaching set up for USFS freeskate levels. It drives me nuts, but I've held it back posting it because I thought I would get huffy comments from people. In case you care, for an example they put alternating back crossovers in Freeskate 6. Isn't that a bit late?

[Loops]

No, no!  In my edition, it's labelled as an RFI.  That's what I meant by "correctly labelled". -1 for clarity on my part.

[AgnesNitt]

No, no!  In my book, it's labelled as an RFI.  That's what I meant by "correctly labelled". -1 for clarity on my part.

Okay, that's a relief. 

[Loops]

Guess my better worded comment to that effect didn't pop up on the blog page?  I even called them USFSA, just well, because. 

[AgnesNitt]

Guess my better worded comment to that effect didn't pop up on the blog page?  I even called them USFSA, just well, because. 

Just checked, there's no comment. Feel free.

http://icedoesntcare.blogspot.com/2015/09/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-troublesome.html

[icedancer]

I admit that DG 5.12 in http://www.usfsa.org/Content/Tests%20Book%20Moves%20&%20Dance%20diagrams.pdf

doesn't imply a cross, but every ice dance coach I've had has insisted that the second step must eventually wind up inside the arc of the first step.

(Caution - Unlike the ISU, the USFS(A) does not use the same definition for "progressive" in all disciplines. I am quoting the Ice Dance definition.)

Query - when I opened your link here it brought me to a 2009-2010 rulebook where the LFO-RFI step is correct.

[Query]

Query - when I opened your link here it brought me to a 2009-2010 rulebook where the LFO-RFI step is correct.

That is the test book, not the rulebook. But

  http://usfsa.org -> Technical Info -> Rulebook

seems to imply that the test book isn't used any more.

Alas, my link should probably have been replaced by

  http://www.usfigureskating.org/shell.asp?sid=20820

because that dates from 2015, though I'm not sure how to get that from usfsa.org, or usfigureskating.org, just by pointing and clicking.

It refers to the 2010 Trial Judging Form

  http://www.usfigureskating.org/content/TJ_canasta-tango.pdf

which has a RFO edge.



Anyway, this is way off-topic. Besides, no one is perfect, not even a Rules Committee...

-----------------

The ISU, at

  http://www.isu.org -> Member Federations

says "The United States Figure Skating Association" is the U.S. member.

-----------------

Anyway, should all future posts to skatingforums.com comply with the Style Guide?   

If so, the topic for this thread should have been "Style Guide for US Figure Skating".