Compulsory (figure skating)

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Sonja Morgenstern performs a mandatory figure (1971)

The obligation is a former part of individual skating competitions in figure skating . The given figures had to be run as precisely as possible. The name of the sport, which in its initial phase actually only included compulsory figures ( jumps only developed later) , is also derived from their artistic execution .

Learning and training the required figures promoted discipline and control. They were considered essential to teaching basic skills. Figure skaters practiced them intensively in order to be able to present them flawlessly in competition. The figure skaters drew mandatory figures as precisely as possible in the ice and were rated according to their agility and accuracy. All figures were based on a circle. Further elements of the obligation were curves, twists, turns and counter-turns as well as foot, direction and edge changes.

Up until 1947, duty in most figure skating competitions made up 60% of the total. It thus formed the main component of the sport, but was not particularly attractive to viewers, as the presentation and evaluation often took several hours. Over time, their importance gradually decreased as their share of the overall rating decreased. In 1990, the International Ice Skating Union decided to cancel the obligation entirely the following year.

Execution of the figures

According to the US Figure Skating Federation regulations, the duty is to present "circular patterns that are drawn in the ice by the figure skaters to demonstrate the ability to make even, neat turns on circular circles." to draw these circles with just one foot. In doing so, they demonstrated their mastery of control, balance, suppleness and use of edges, which enabled them to execute precise and clean patterns on the ice. The compulsory figures prescribed by the International Skating Union (ISU) for international competitions in 1897 included "two or three touching circles with one, one and a half or two full circles on one foot, some of which contain twists or loops." , which the skaters left on the ice, formed the main focus of artistic expression in figure skating until the 1930s - the body movements during execution were secondary.

Irving Brokaw

For mandatory figures of the highest quality, the drawn circles lie on top of one another and the rotations are precisely aligned. Smallest deviations in the tracks or the shift in body weight can cause errors in the execution of the figures. The American figure skater Irving Brokaw published one of the first books on compulsory figures in 1915. He believed that when making the figures, the shapes were more important than the marks, and that the runners needed to find a comfortable and natural position to perform them. He expected the runners to draw the figures without looking down, as this would leave a “very careless impression”. Brokaw advised not to move your arms too much or to balance like a tightrope artist. The runners should stay upright and bend forward as little as possible. He also believed that the unused "balance leg" was just as important as the leg that performed the figures. It should only be slightly flexed, as too much flexing would negate its usefulness and make it look awkward.

Figure skaters who were well versed in performing compulsory maneuvers had to practice for hours to gain precise body control and to become intimately familiar with how subtle shifts in balance above the edge of the ice skate affected the tracks in the ice. According to author Ellyn Kestnbaum, many figure skaters found the figures and their visible results comforting and enriching. Sports reporter Christie Sausa believes that exercising figures helps make better runners and promotes discipline. Likewise, they could be practiced for a lifetime by runners of all ages and skill levels. The German news magazine Der Spiegel , on the other hand, expressed the opinion in an article published during the European Figure Skating Championships in Dortmund in 1983 that duty suppresses the creativity of runners, is "infinitely boring" and has survived decades without changes.

Figure elements

All compulsory figures are made up of the following elements: circles, curves, changing feet, changing edges and turning. The circle, the basis of all figures, was demonstrated on both the long and the short axis. Runners had to draw precise circular arcs in the ice, completing difficult turns and edge inserts. Each figure consisted of two or three circular arcs that touched each other and consisted of a continuous track (with the exception of a necessary brief interruption due to the change of feet). The diameter of each circle had to be about three times the body size of the runner and the radii of all semicircles and circles had to be about the same length. The arches had to start and end near the point where the long and short axes crossed.

Curves as part of the circles had to be run in an uninterrupted track and on a clean edge, without starting again and without wobbling. When performing the figures, a change of feet was allowed during the short time in which the runner shifted his weight from one foot to the other. However, this had to be done in a symmetrical zone on either side of the long axis. The runners could choose the exact position in which to set their foot in this zone. Typically this was done immediately after the long axis, with full body weight on the skate. At this point the track to be assessed began. An edge change took place at the intersection of the long and short axes. Its track had to be continuous and symmetrical and could be S-shaped. The edge change had to be as short as possible and could not exceed the length of the runner. No double marks, slides and scratches were allowed to be visible when turning. Edge changes before, during and after a rotation were also not allowed. The tips of the turns had to be the same size, the beginning and the end of a turn had to be symmetrical.

The most important compulsory figures included arched figures of eight (on the inner edge or outer edge, forwards and backwards), three and counter three, turn and counter turn, and loops. More on this in the article Figure Skating Elements . The most demanding compulsory figures were divided into six groups. At the end before the competition, the athletes were drawn into one of these groups. A few minutes before the start of the competition, a drawing was drawn to determine whether the arches concerned had to be started with the right or left leg.

  • Bow figure eight

  • Three (three-turn)

  • Against turning (counter)

  • Turn (rocker)

  • Counter triple (bracket)

  • Loop (loop)

rating

Evaluation of the figures (GDR championship 1967)

Der Spiegel compared the evaluation of compulsory figures with the work of forensic experts. After the runners had completed their figures, the judges carefully examined the circles drawn in the ice. This process had to be repeated twice. At the American championships, the compulsory part lasted five hours, and at the world championships even eight hours.

In 1961 the ISU published an evaluation manual. It described what the judges had to look out for during a compulsory competition. The effort and smoothness with which the runners drew their circles, the accuracy of the shape of the figure and the accuracy of the imprint on the ice were assessed. Judges paid attention to the following deviations, among other things: scratches, wobbles, spikes, deviations from a perfect circle, accuracy of the loops, double ruts (which indicated that both edges of the runner were in contact with the ice at the same time). The maximum grade of 6.0 represented an ideal situation that was impossible to achieve. Even Beatrix Schuba , who was considered the best of all compulsory runners, never got above the grade of 5.2.

history

Emergence

The Edinburgh Skating Club , the oldest ice skating club in the world, required prospective members to take a skill test that was similar to the later compulsory figures. The Skating Club in London, the second oldest skating club, also insisted on an ability test and created the "combined ice" (combined skating) , a series of symmetrical patterns on the ice, which would prove to the development of compulsory figures as fundamental. The American Skating Congress , the forerunner of today's American Skating Federation, introduced various forms of movement for competitions for figure skaters from the United States and Canada in 1868 . Competitions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries included specialty maneuvers, freestyle skating, and compulsory maneuvers, with the latter counting most for scoring. The first international figure skating competition took place in Vienna in 1882, and the rules applied there set a precedent for later competitions. Figure skaters had to run 23 compulsory figures and complete a four-minute freestyle. In addition, there was a part of the competition with special figures, in which they had to run figures that emphasized their advanced skills.

Ralph Borghard and Gabriele Seyfert examine the imprint of a compulsory figure during the GDR championship in 1964

Duty was an important part of figure skating until the 1940s. The first European championship held in Hamburg in 1891 even consisted exclusively of the presentation of compulsory figures. In 1896, the ISU held the first world championship in Saint Petersburg , with the competition comprising compulsory and freestyle. The runners had to run six compulsory figures, which the judges then assessed using an established standard. The compulsory figures made up 60% of the overall rating. Special figures were not part of the world championships, but were definitely on the program at other competitions, for example at the 1908 Olympic Games in London .

In 1897, at the suggestion of the British Association, the ISU introduced a catalog with 41 compulsory figures of "increasingly greater difficulty". They formed the standard for skill tests and competitions worldwide until 1990. After the Second World War, more countries sent figure skaters to international competitions. The ISU was then forced to limit the number of compulsory figures to be presented to a maximum of six, so that the evaluation did not drag too long.

Decline

In the 1960s, the obligation became increasingly obsolete. In 1969 the ISU decided to reduce its share of the overall rating to 50%. Television was the driving force behind this reform. It didn't delegate the duty as it wasn't interesting enough. Many television viewers did not understand that competitions could be won by runners who had developed a large lead in duty, but only showed mediocre performances in the freestyle shown on television. A particularly prominent example was the victory of Beatrix Schuba on in Sapporo discharged 1972 Winter Olympics , which was only the seventh-best in the freestyle and even three falls, could have allowed. For this reason the ISU decided on a further reform, unofficially known as "Lex Schuba". The compulsory program was rated at 40% from 1973, the newly introduced short program at 20% and the free program at 40%.

Sports journalist Sandra Loosemore attributes the decline in duty to a "lack of public accountability" on the part of the judges of international competitions and to incomprehensible evaluations. Since compulsory competitions were not televised, viewers could not be sure that everything was going well. The significantly lower number of ice rinks (and thus also training opportunities) in Europe compared to North America was another factor. Above all, the associations of economically less efficient countries pushed for the abolition in the 1970s and 1980s, as training the mandatory figures was time-consuming and therefore also represented a significant cost factor.

At its meeting in Davos in June 1988, the ISU decided to abolish the obligation for the 1990/91 season in international individual run competitions, both for men and women. 27 associations entitled to vote spoke out in favor, five abstained. Only the associations of the United States, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand were against it. In the 1988/89 and 1989/90 seasons the duty consisted of only two figures and made up 20% of the overall rating. Since 1990, compulsory figures are no longer part of the program of international competitions. At the national level, the US federation was the last to abolish them in 1999.

literature

  • Irwing Brokaw: The Art of Skating . American Sports Publishing Company, New York City 1915 ( online ).
  • James R. Hines: Historical Dictionary of Figure Skating . Scarecrow Press, Lanham (Maryland) 2011, ISBN 978-0-8108-6859-5 .
  • Ellyn Kestnbaum: Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning . Wesleyan University Press, Middletown (Connecticut) 2003, ISBN 978-0-8195-6641-6 .
  • Special regulations for figures. (PDF, 554 kB) US Figure Skating Association, accessed on March 5, 2019 .

Web links

Commons : Duty (Figure Skating)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Special Regulations for Figures. P. 1.
  2. ↑ a b c d Kestnbaum: Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning. P. 82.
  3. ↑ Kestnbaum: Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning. P. 59.
  4. ↑ a b Christie Sausa: Figures revival. Lake Placid News, September 1, 2015, accessed March 6, 2019 .
  5. ^ Brokaw: The Art of Skating. P. 15.
  6. ^ Brokaw: The Art of Skating. s. 19-20.
  7. ↑ Kestnbaum: Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning. P. 73.
  8. ↑ Kestnbaum: Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning. P. 84.
  9. ↑ a b c Eiskusntlauf: The worst. Der Spiegel , February 7, 1983, accessed March 6, 2019 .
  10. ↑ a b Special Regulations for Figures. P. 2.
  11. ↑ Special Regulations for Figures. P. 3.
  12. ↑ The damned duty: Unpopular but necessary: ​​the grammar of figure skating. Die Zeit , January 31, 1964, accessed on March 6, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Randy Harvey: It's Compulsory, but Is It Necessary ?: For Now, Tedious Competition Counts; Debi Thomas takes lead. Los Angeles Times , January 8, 1988, accessed March 6, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Hines: Istorical Dictionary of Figure Skating. S. XXV.
  15. ↑ Kerst Tree: Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning. P. 58.
  16. ↑ Kerst Tree: Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning. P. 60.
  17. ↑ Kerst Tree: Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning. Pp. 81-82.
  18. ↑ ISU history. International Ice Skating Union , accessed March 6, 2019 .
  19. ↑ Kerst Tree: Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning. P. 67.
  20. ↑ Hines: Historical Dictionary of Figure Skating. P. 12.
  21. ↑ Kerst Tree: Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning. P. 68.
  22. ↑ a b c Sandra Loosemore: 'Figures' don't add up in competition anymore. CBS SportsLine , December 16, 1998, archived from the original on July 27, 2008 ; accessed on March 6, 2019 (English).
  23. ↑ Volker Kluge : Olympic Winter Games - The Chronicle . Sportverlag, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-328-00831-4 , p. 453 .
  24. ^ Wolfgang Uhrig: Farewell to the dutiful winners . In: Swiss Olympic Committee (ed.): Sapporo72 . Bern 1972, p. 153-155 .
  25. ↑ a b Kestnbaum: Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning. P. 86.
  26. ↑ No More Figures In Figure Skating. The New York Times , June 8, 1988, accessed March 6, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Kestnbaum: Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning. P. 88.