Wow I haven't competed yet but One thing is for sure...I'm gonna let my coach worry about all the technical stuff. I just wanna go out there and put on a clean performance and have fun. After reading some of the posts [in the underrotated jump analysis thread]...it just seems like way too much for me to worry about and I think it will take the joy out skating for me. I think that's part of the reason why I haven't competed yet. I'll probably be one of the few skaters that won't want to go into the kiss and cry just because I won't care what my score or placement is.


BlackManSkating

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Proud to be one of the few black men out on the ice

Goals
Pass my Silver Moves Test
Finish Choreography for Silver Program
Land a Clean Double Toe and Double Lutz
Work on Double Axel and Rockers
Speed up back Camel

You won't need to worry about that--because we don't have a kiss & cry area!! Just a sheet with placements taped to a wall or bulletin board about 30-45 minutes after the event is finished!

Except at ANs for IJS events when they announce scores right away. There is usually not an official kiss & cry, you're usually just hanging out where you got off the ice.

There is nothing worse than the time between when you get in there and the time your score and current placement are announced. It feels like YEARS! But being in there the year my synchro team won nationals was one of the best moments of my life. (We were the 2nd last team to skate with a team that had the lowest scores all year after us so at that point we knew we had it.) Waiting when you're not at the end to see if anyone pulls ahead of you his horrible, too. I'd rather find out all at once on a sheet of paper.

Team waiting nervously:


National champs going NUTS!

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

I remember tearing out of the photo room after my team was done with pictures and running back to hear the scores to see if you'd won or not. I was so thrilled for you!!

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"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

I think skating competitons are so anti-climatic in how results are given out (for lower levels). You hang around for 20 minutes and then look at a piece of paper. If you won, you need to go over to the medal table. That kind of sucks.

At our local ISI competition they had an announcer do the awards, and you didn't know your place until the announcement. At the synchro competitions I've been to they had all the teams (from lots of events) come out on the ice and announce it then- so you were surprised by your placement and had that feeling of YES! or when it came time to get awards.

With Kiss & Cry, you get that same anticipation, and then the nervous anticipation of seeing others get their scores. But with the paper- eh. It's easy enough to not bother checking if someone doesn't come find you to get a medal.

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

I'm pretty sure I picked you up and almost carried you with me. Ha ha.

That does kind of stink. Especially if a lot of people aren't around when it's posted, you did well and start doing a happy dance, and the few people around look at you wondering what is wrong with you. That happened to me after solo dance at ANs last year. I got some strange looks when the final results went up.

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

But don't ever, ever, EVER trust your coach to know what's wanted for a given competition. ALWAYS read the instructions for yourself and give your coach a copy, as things can vary between competitions, and even if you don't much mind how you place as long as you skate clean, too silly to be penalised for omitting a required element, or putting in an illegal one!

I agree with the rest of your post, though. After all, you can't control what the other skaters do, and you can't control what the judges are going to think; all you can do is go out there and try to skate your absolute best, revelling in having the ice all to yourself for a few minutes! And skate for such audience as is there, too - Robin Cousins is on record as saying he never bothered with the judges, who had to be there anyway; his idea was to please the paying audience! Quite right, too!

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

Unfortunately, a lot of coaches are still overwhelmed by IJS and cannot be depended upon to make sure all of your elements get credit in competition. My coach is excellent with technique and presentation, but if I trusted him to make sure I was meeting the requirements and getting the maximum possible levels on my spins and spirals, I would be in deep doo doo!

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

I'm really lucky that my coach stays on top of things. She gets a new rule book every year (ISI and USFS) and she does expect me to know the new rules when I compete (or now test). I do believe every coach should know the rules regardless. We had one coach that took 6 kids to a competition and didn't bother to update her book (ISI)...was floored when NONE of her kids placed. Come to find out they didn't do ANY of the required elements because her book was so outdated. If I was a parent of one of those kids I would have been really ticked!

I compete just for the fun & joy of skating solo in front of people. I look at it as my chance to solo, since I never get that in any of the shows I do (this year was the first year I even got a spotlight part, after 7 years of shows).

ISI Competitions are fun, nerve-wracking, and the awards are anti-climatic. Most now post the rankings and you do pick up your medal at a table...gee-whiz. Bowie (Valentine Classic) does a small ceremony, which is nice. You should maybe think about it.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Regarding coaches being up on IJS and Rule Book changes, once the Continuing Education Requirements become mandatory on July 1, parents will be able to check lists on the USFS web site to see what category their coach falls into. Category B coaches will have passed a test on the Rule Book, and Category A coaches will have passed an additional test on IJS. (They also will have passed tests in basic sports safety and in ethics.) I've already done mine, and while passing the test doesn't guarantee a coach has all the answers, it does mean they don't have an excuse for not knowing how to find out.

When I was preparing for my Bronze Free test last year my coach kept telling me to leave the scratch spin out if I didn't have time. I had to remind her that it was a required element for Bronze!

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You miss 100% of the shots you never take.--Wayne Gretzky

I think a lot of coaches don't know the adult rules because they don't work with adults regularly (or maybe they have a few but they do not compete or only really skate recreationally) and don't learn them until they need them. (That's no different than freestyle coaches not knowing much about dance or synchro rules, or anyone working in a profession with different "areas" of knowledge--doctors and lawyers learn what they need to in order to get certified or licensed and then specialize in various areas.) I think in that situation it goes both ways, the skater needs to also be involved in making sure the coach knows the rules and they themselves know what they need to do or not do.

When I started with my coach 3 yrs ago, I was only working on dance with him and only testing standard track at the time. When I decided I wanted to do freestyle and compete at adult competitions, I did have to fill him in on the rules and I still have to update him when there are changes. I was the one who took him a cut of music, the well balanced program sheet, and a rough layout of a program and said "help me" (3 weeks before my first ANs in freestyle). He's learned what he knows about adult skating mostly from working with me, and I'm usually the one he goes to when he has questions for his other adults. I'm fine with that, I don't take from him because he does or doesn't know the rules, I take from him because he's an excellent technician, he motivates and pushes me, and our personalities mesh very well.

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

That's because unless there are a lot of downgrades, the score is quick by the time you bow and help out the sweepers and get off the ice.

FWIW, it was really awesome skating second to last last year in a big group at ANs and having my score and current place announced and knowing even if the last skater was lights out, I was going to medal. The big group hug that was commencing as the score was announced was the topper and the icing was having my mom and step dad there.

The only time I think they actually do a real "kiss and cry" area is for TV. Even when they started making a kiss and cry area for synchro at nationals in 95 or 96-ish (before that we had to stand on the ice in a line facing the judges while scores were announced), it's never more than an area where you hang out right when you get off the ice, sometimes with a riser so half the team can stand on there there and they hang the competition banner in the background.

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

My first comment about bows and sweepers was intended to be funny...

In the UK open marking is the norm, even under the 6.0 system; however, except at championships there is never a kiss and cry area, you just get off the ice and either wait for your marks to be called, or disappear into the changing-rooms if you don't want to know!

I hate kiss and cries, on the rare occasions I've used one - you never quite know where to look, or what sort of expression you want on your face! One exception was one year at Sheffield, for the British Adult Championships, where they did provide a kiss and cry, and also gave you a glass of water and your CD back when you went to it. That was nice - I needed the water!

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

i have only been in a Kiss & Cry twice, both times at Canadian Adult Nationals and I rather liked it. I am not a very accomplished skater and knew I would never finish highly but the Kiss & Cry is just part of the experience and I was proud to be there (with my coach).

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

Hi

Well, this discussion reminded me of the movie: Cutting Edge. The ice hockey guy and his partner skated their best, but were only given low marks, which the hockey guy thinks so unfair.......

I think part of the kiss and cry comes from audiences and judges. Judges normally go according to the preference of the audience, and if you suddenly have some newbies on the ice, or those who changed partners who are less well known, the judges seemed to be less favourable to them.

londonicechamp