Some words about what constitutes “skating skills” and “SS”
For some UNFATHOMABLE reason people kept sending me questions about SS (and posture) after my last few posts, and to be honest (as I keep pointing out) I’m not an expert and would rather not say anything beyond “This is how I see it, I guess?” However, there is a very knowledgeable Japanese person on Yahoo Answers who used to be a competitive skater and who writes long replies to various questions regarding figure skating, and one of her (many and detailed) answers summed up how I feel about the “different types of basic ‘skating skills’ contra ‘SS’ and what and how they are valued by the judges” in a much more concrete way than I could ever do. So I’ve decided to share my translation of her comment. This was written in reply to a question about what makes Yuna Kim’s step sequences good, but the topic of discussion is quite general. You can read the entire exchange in Japanese here. I might translate more of her posts if there’s interest.
What makes [Yuna Kim] superior to other skaters is her speed. I do not believe any figure skating fans would disagree on this point.
What they do disagree on, however, is what is creating this speed. Generally speaking, there are two opposing fractions: people who believe this speed is created by crossovers, and people who believe it is created by blade [edge] technique.
If I may be blunt, this is a prime example of both sides being right and both sides being wrong. Kim cannot accelerate using sparse crossovers, so when she starts skating, she does progressives quite strictly. On the other hand, once she has gained a certain amount of speed, she can continue to skate while performing steps and turns without losing speed. She is not an outstanding basic skater, but she does possess sufficient abilities for a top skater.
Other than speed, she is also a well-balanced skater. Her merit is not in doing anything extraordinary, but in doing everything sufficiently according to the standards. She is a generalist, not a specialist.
Skating skills are multifaceted:
If a skater is good at putting pressure on specific points along the edge of the blade, they will glide over the ice simply by placing their blades against the ice.
If a skater can change their feet, edges, center of gravity, and direction all with the correct timing, they will be a compulsory figures type of skater.
If a skater is good at tilting their edges against the ice, their traces against the ice will be highly defined and they will be skilled at controlling and using their speed.
Even if we only look at the very basics of skating types, we have the above three. You end up with different types of skating depending on which of these you polish to what degree and in what combination.
A very easy to understand example would be the ladies medalists of the recent [2018] Olympics:
1 is the basic skating style of Osmond. To this she adds elements of 2. 3 is the basic skating style of Medvedeva and Zagitova. Medvedeva has been in the process of polishing 1 between the last two seasons [2016-2017 to 2017-2018], while Zagitova has yet to polish 1. However, Kostner, who came 5th, is superior in all three aspects.
Why did Zagitova, who has the lowest skating skills out of the three medalists, attain SS scores high enough to become a gold medal contender? Because she does many steps and turns. This is the same reason Medvedeva became an undisputed world champion at a young age. So there is also a type of skating skill that depends on how many steps and turns you can do without stopping. This is a relatively recently “discovered” skating skill. By current rules, SS has been found to be as such.
By combining these elements and arranging them in various ways, a skater can meet the requirements for skating skills. There is no real reason to become a standout basic skater. To be honest, the smart way is to not polish your skating skills too much. The best strategy following the current rules is to become skillful to the point where the judging will reflect it, and then polish your skating more only if you can make extra allowance to do so, while prioritizing improvement in other, weaker areas.
As a rule, this is how Orser’s skaters develop. They are based in Canada, so they keep to 1 as the basics of their skating skills. Only European skaters skate with clear traces reminiscent of compulsory figures.
In Yuna Kim’s case, her skating skills are also dominated by 1 while she puts no effort into 2. Regarding 3, she had the skill to tilt her edges deeply at specific important points, and she was skilled at adjusting her edges depending on context. She would use shallow edges when performing jumps where a shallow edge increased her success rate, and she would tilt her edge to take advantage of the speed she had already gained. In turns and steps, she would incline her blade enough to create curves that would be approved, but not so much that controlling this edge would demand extremely high skill. Not many people can attain the dexterity to respond properly to so many different situations.
