Sometimes these things get out of hand...

Just so you are aware, "Passing" a test is different than mastering the skill. I point this out because it is quite the norm for a skater to be ready to take a test and receive just a passing score. In fact until you get to the higher standard tests it's almost unheard of for skaters to pass with anything other than the minimum (in my area anyway). Therefore unless you are really really great at your elements, you'll receive a deduction because that is likely to put you under the passing average.

I just think that if you worked really hard to be able to get your skills ready for testing you won't want something so silly to mess up your chances of acheivment.

Good Luck! and please let us know what you decide and what the outcome is

LOL! These threads really do seem to take on a bizarre life of their own. But that's sorta how a verbal conversation goes too. All it takes is one slightly tangential comment, then a reply to just that comment, then <poof> you've got a bizarre thread!

You're assuming that what people tell you about judges is true. How do you know what a judge wrote or what they meant or what the context was? A "nice blue dress" comment could have been the judge trying to find something nice to say on a test sheet or simply a little mental reminder so he could remember easily which skater that was in the 30 seconds he has to rank 16 different skaters. If you've never been the victim of judging bias in a test or competiton, I think you should refrain from assuming the worst. Judges work their butts off and give up HUNDREDS of hours of their free time. I think they deserve the benefit of the doubt. Almost everyone I know who's ever failed a test was able to find some really good reason for why they failed. Usually the reason had nothing to do with the fact that they just didn't skate the test well.

As you should be, but until it actually happens to you (not some friend of a friend) ... well, see the above comments.

Agreed, but have you actually heard a judge say that?

Uh, what? If you're talking about Katarina Witt, how do you KNOW there weren't any points deducted? Do you have the judges individual score sheets? All I saw in the media were the final scores. You couldn't tell what the deductions were.

Your progress toward test goals is admirable. I hope you go out and have the skate of your life, no matter what you're wearing. Goodness knows, we need more adult skaters! I didn't mean to sound really harsh in that last post. I was trying to get a point across to a poster who misunderstood what I was saying. You have to decide what's right for you. I just hate to think that you may be basing some of your assumptions or actions on heresay or gossip or innuendo or whatever. I'm not saying that the occasional "bad" judge doesn't exist, but it really bugs me when people attribute all kinds of evil to a group of hard working volunteers.

I'm going to combine my answer here, I have enough replies as it is!

Yes, passing a test and knowing how to do it are two different things, I am no stranger to that, (and I've seen people work for months to perfect the simplest things) Yes, I can do three turns, could they pass? Maybe, doing them on pattern? Needs some work! But if I practice hard and I get it perfected and I do test and not earn any significant deductions that would case me to fail, then I best not fail because of my looks, that would be uncalled for. I will accept being failed if my skating ability deserved it, but not if a judge thinks I should be wearing black boots instead of white, pants instead of a kilt, or yellow instead of blue.

Well, as for hearsay as to what a judge said or it's context, I shall say that many of the comments told to me were made by good friends of mine, I've never known them to lie. I've also been able to ask my question directly to three visiting judges, they were not amused, in the end they pretty much told me that figure skating is a women’s sport, and men should only skate in pairs. Now wether I just ruffled their feathers a bit being the only male skater asking such questions or if it was in fact their opinion, I'm not sure.

Mmm, I'm not sure if it was Katarina Witt, I am so bad with my memory at times trying to remember everything. You are right though, I do not know if she received any deductions for her attire, again, I heard this from someone second hand. Supposedly she did not, and she won first place also, but I agree, I didn't see her marks or remarks in person, or read any definitive truth, so please forgive.

And no, I don't think every judge is evil, it's one of those typical things, for every bad thing you hear, you don't hear the other nine good things. I take many things with a grain of salt, and it's not that I don't trust the comments made from people, but as with some things, your milage may vary.

Steven

__________________
"A sure sign of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result." - Albert Einstein
"A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular." - Adlai Stevenson
"Got Edge?" - Steven J. Arness - Coachless, two years and counting.
"He who carves himself to suit others will soon whittle himself away."
"Sometimes you get what you want but loose what you have."

The thing is, judges are human beings and as such, are never going to be unbiassed. The best ones try very hard not to be - I know one judge, for instance, who really dislikes solo dance, but if he has to judge a solo dance class at a competition, or a solo dancer taking her test, he will do so fairly and to the best of his ability.

Here are two stories that I eyewitnessed quite recently. A friend of mine went out to take her Level 6 free dance test. After she had skated, the judges passed her, but then one of them asked for her coach to come forward. "Please could you indulge me, and go and skate it again," she asked the skater. "You've passed, no question of that, but I want to tell your coach what I dislike about what you are doing!" So on this occasion a judge, who had disliked the skater's style and some other things about the dance, nevertheless passed the skater. Please note, this is not hearsay - I was there at the time and heard what the judge had to say, although not to the coach as I went round the other side of the rink to tell the skater's mother what was happening!

But even judges lose it sometimes! At a recent competition, one judge marked several skaters a whole mark higher than the other judges were. He said afterwards that he'd "totally lost the plot" at one stage during the competition, and he admitted that he panicked when he realised what was happening, and wondered what on earth the other judges were seeing that he wasn't! It made for an interesting class..... and a friend who was trial-judging that day said the whole experience (it was her first competition) was utterly terrifying!

__________________
Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!