Agree/ disagree with what Dick Button said last night about most difficult skating?

[jdachs]

He said it was pairs skating. Agree or disagree? I tend to agree because both skaters have to do their best. Also, it depends on trust and timing and really being in synch with your partner. It is hard enough to have a great routine as a solo skater but when there are two skaters?

Anyway, what do the rest of you think?

[phoenix]

I don't know, he may be right.

But I've always believed that the pairs girls are the toughest girls in the sport, for their strength & for their fearlessness, and for how hard they crash coming out of throws, etc.

[Isk8NYC]

I think Pairs is the most dangerous of the disciplines.

I think Singles skating is the most demanding. Judges and fans demand perfection and the competition is fierce.

[MQSeries]

I'd like to see pairs do dance moves during their step sequences. That would be way cool.

[Isk8NYC]

Pairs and singles skaters already do use "dance moves" - they use the same edges, turns and twizzles. We rarely see swing rolls because of the time pressure to keep moving, but lots of mohawk, choctaws and slide chasses.

[Johnny_Fever]

Some regard pairs as a wide open field. If a girl is a competent free skater, but her jumps are not quite up to par by singles standards, I would encourage her to give pairs a try.

The problem is the shortage of guys. You can become competent at singles freestyle and ice dance essentially on your own. Obviously, pairs has elements that simply can't be done without a partner.

There is an element of danger to pairs, but lifts can (and should) be perfected off ice.

[Johnny_Fever]

I'd like to see pairs do dance moves during their step sequences. That would be way cool.Ice dancing is starting to look more like pairs. They're doing spins now. Its about time they allowed the distinction to become more fuzzy.

[dbny]

I even noticed Dance lifts creeping into the Pairs choreography lately. I do agree with Dick that Pairs is the most difficult figure skating discipline, but I think Dance is a close second. This is obviously a fairly subjective judgement.

[RachelSk8er]

I think it depends on your perspective.

Pairs is hard because you not only have to learn to jump and spin, but you have to time your jumps and spins, adjust the stride in your stroking and your turns, and every other detail to match another skater who, in most cases, is a foot or more taller/shorter than you. Female pairs skaters have got to be some of the toughest athletes to allow themselves to be lifted and thrown. It requires so much strength out of someone who is typically so little to do those lifts and throws.

Dance at least has a little less height disparity between skaters, but they are typically skating much closer together.

Then throw in modern day high level synchro, which is very tough mentally. Particularly under IJS, there is a lot of pressure when you know that a fall, or even a botched turn in a step sequence, will cause your team to lose points, can be a difference in placement, and you're not just letting down yourself or you/a partner but a whole team that has worked its butt off all season. And it's not easy having to not only about what your entire body is doing, but where your entire body is in relation to skaters all around you while going down the ice at a high speed, particularly in something like a no hold step sequence where you're not connected and have to maintain spacing. (If you've never seen anything but your local preliminary team, search You Tube for Team Surprise, Nexxice, the Haydenettes, Marigold, etc.)