Skating with a prop for Artistic - do you secure it?

[livestrong04]

Hi, I have a question about skating with a prop in an Artistic program. It's a small handbag that I hold by the strap. Should I secure the purse to my wrist or hand with some type of clear elastic strap? I have been practicing with the purse and up until today, I hadn't ever dropped it. Never done this outside of practice, though.

Now I am worried that with nerves in a competition, I might drop it, or open my hand in a reflexive action and send it flying across the ice. Are there penalties for losing your prop? In most of my program, I have my fingers wrapped around the strap just like you would normally carry a purse but in a few sections of the program I need to gesture with my hands or fingers and then the purse is just slung around my thumb (it's lightweight). At the very beginning of the program, I need the purse in one hand then immediately transfer to other hand where it stays. If I decided to secure the purse to my wrist or hand, I would just eliminate that change at the beginning.

What have others done? If you have secured your prop in your hand, what did you use for the securing? I watched a lot of the Adult Nationals videos and didn't see anyone lose their prop - I couldn't tell if anyone secured theirs, though.

Thanks! I wasn't even worried about this until I dropped it today - I just opened my hand and it was on the ice, right in front of me so I had to pick it up to continue skating.

[Clarice]

I've never secured a prop the way you describe, but you certainly could do that. There usually is a penalty for losing control of a prop - read your competition announcement, and it should tell you.

[Thin-Ice]

In USFS events, if you lose your prop and you don't pick it up within 10 seconds, you are disqualified. At PCAS, one of the skaters who was portraying Peter Pan carried a (fake) knife, and accidentally dropped it, but fortunately, was aware enough that she skated past it and picked it up on her way by, so there may have been a deduction... probably 0.1.... but as I recall she was still on the podium.

At AN, one of the skaters in my group had a scarf she tucked into her shirt at one point, but it fell out later and stayed on the ice. She was disqualified. Another skater in another event had her scrunchy or clip or something fall out of her hair, but one of her friends motioned to her and she went to the referee and said she had lost her hair clip or whatever it was within the 10 seconds. The referee had her pick up the costume piece and had her restart her program from the moment whatever it was hit the ice (or as near as the referee could tell).

I've never heard of anyone securing a prop with clear elastic, but if you're worried about dropping the purse, you might try it and see if it works for you. Better to find out ahead of time if that's an option that works.

Good luck!

[flo]

Unless it really adds to the program, I wouldn't use one. The closest to a prop that I've had is a jacket. Practice will help you feel secure with the purse.

[livestrong04]

Thank you everyone for the replies! I appreciate the information. The thought of being disqualified is a little scary. I have been practicing a lot, and I only dropped the purse the one time, and I took the hand gesture I was trying at that point out of the program. And then I realized that I won't be wearing gloves in a competition, which makes my grip much more secure. I had the opportunity to do an exhibition with the purse, without securing it to my wrist - and it went great! So I think I will be ok for a competition. Again, thank you all for the info and advice!

[flo]

Great! Enjoy.

[Skittl1321]

Thank you everyone for the replies! I appreciate the information. The thought of being disqualified is a little scary. I have been practicing a lot, and I only dropped the purse the one time, and I took the hand gesture I was trying at that point out of the program. And then I realized that I won't be wearing gloves in a competition, which makes my grip much more secure. I had the opportunity to do an exhibition with the purse, without securing it to my wrist - and it went great! So I think I will be ok for a competition. Again, thank you all for the info and advice!

Glad you are feeling less nervous about it! I think you need the purse for the program- it will help you get into it more and really feel the character. Keep us all updated about the competition!

[stacyf419]

I have a fake long cigarette holder as a prop for my flapper interp, and I secure it to my index finger with a thin black elastic band. Even though I always practiced with the prop (without securing it), I felt that at a competition, particularly AN!, I would be nervous and stiff and might be more prone to dropping it. It worked out very well.