This has probably already been discussed previously so my apologies, however, would this constitute a L4 spiral sequence ( as long as each position was held 3 seconds) -- forward inside to outside COE spiral on left leg, mohawk, back x-over to fan on right leg (left leg in air), then bring leg from the fan position to a back spiral position (keeping leg above hip level and on outside edge) with a layover position of the body to create an unstable core position?? Any feedback/ideas would be very appreciated!!! Thanks!

Fan (Fire hydrant) is no longer a feature unless it is a full split.

Only the first three spirals count towards your features now.

I would say Shizuka's and Sasha's spirals from 06 Olys are still L4.

Thanks for that -- I knew they were changing the spiral levels but didn't think that it took effect until 1 September?? I probably just need to get on youtube and look at spiral sequences....

Until 8/31 it's a level 3 because you need a back inside edge for the "variety of edges" feature and your back spiral is on an outside edge.
After 9/1 it's a level 2 (since the back inside edge will no longer be required;any back spiral is fine), and it would be a level 3 if you have a variation on the fan spiral that affects the core body position and balance.
Although a layover position might count as a difficult variation on the fan spiral, it will probably depend on which technical specialist is calling your event, since no clarification has been posted yet regarding what constitutes a change of "core body position and balance" on that spiral.

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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

It's been covered in their annual training, however.

The effective date of the new rules also depends on what competition you're doing. The 2007-08 rules do go into effect on September 1, but each competition states in its announcement if it's using current (2006-07) or future (2007-08) rules.

Our club competition, held last weekend, was using 2007-08 rules, and most other competitions leading up to September 1 do because that way skaters don't have to change their programs right before regionals, which are in October here in the U.S.

Do you know when that is happening? I asked our resident technical controller not long ago and he had still not received any clarifications on the new rules.

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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

US Figure Skating has put up some "answers to questions" recently:
http://www.usfigureskating.org/conte...ISU%201445.pdf

Cheers,
Chow

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Yes, but unfortunately, they do not give any clarifications on the difficult variation requirements for a fan spiral.

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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

Thanks for all of the input -- in the UK it is difficult to get feedback because so few people are actually competing under the new system -- the links with the USFSA are very helpful!!

I know our resident TS is a NEW one and it was covered during training even though the doc wasn't even released in April officially.

Our TC (who is also a national & international gold judge) is pretty experienced and informed, but when I asked him for some clarifications on the new rule changes last month, he said he hadn't received any clarifications on them yet and wouldn't be able to answer any questions until he had. Wouldn't it be so nice if they clarified exactly what they meant BEFORE publishing these cryptic rules?!

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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

Hi everyone

This thread is perfect to maybe begin a discussion about how the utilization of the CoP as the main portion of the IJS has a major, major impact on certain facets of our competitive sport. There is potential, I believe, in the future for skating to be, once again, a sport with competitive developments and 'professional' developments, i.e. skating for entertainment v. points. The way things are going, it might be possible in the future for skaters to want to leave competition to skate creatively because of these definitions and labels and restrictions.

The use of the CoP as it applies to spirals is going to mean that at the elite levels, we will see many skaters doing the exact same sequence, i.e. the easiest way to get a level 4, over and over and over. There's room for creativity and beauty, but the skater loses the levels when they do this with uncaptured, undescribed, never seen before steps and moves. The spiral sequences will become 'stock', the term used in gymnastics for routines that have all the same elements to earn to coveted highest number of points.

Skating lost the 6.0 and gymnastics lost the 10.0. It appears they are taking similar developmental paths as competitive sports in the way they are judged. The CoPs tries to describe all the possible moves in skating, and it is rhetorical that the skaters will copy what the CoPs states will give them the most base points, creating 'stock' world-class programs.

In a way this is good, as it makes skating and gymnastics easier to judge, but in a way it is bad because it restricts the skaters and judges from using and ranking [I]beauty[I] highly for beauty's sake (in regard to beautiful leg line, extension, position, etc., not superficial beauty).

But, this leaves the door wide open for skaters fed up with doing stock routines to enter the world of skating for entertainment, with professional competitions that could be judged similarly to the 6.0 that are of a world class level. The public may be longing to see more professionals too, as competitive skating can get repetitive to watch if everyone is doing every single triple in combinations with no variety between each other's routines.


So I see potential for good and bad developments utilizing the current system, which is similar to the FIG system.

Cheers!

It would but that never happens.

Just lucky here because our resident TS just went through training in April where the new rules were all covered with examples.