Customer Reviews

The OFFICIAL BOOK OF FIGURE SKATING

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The problem with this book is its lack of focus. It is apparently intended to be a coffee table book judging by its size and format and some of the contents like the brief outlines of skaters and their "Great Moments" Yet the chapters on "How to Skate" and "Fitness for Skating" are aimed at participants in the sport who are not likely to drag this book to the rink learn how to do an Axel. If this aimed at the casual fan, a section on how to identify jumps and other moves would have been more useful and appropriate.

Another problem involves the authorship of the book. The editor, if there was one, chose only to note authors of some of the chapters and only noted them at the Table of Contents. It was jarring to be reading the chapter on choreography and suddenly find it switch from 3rd person to 1st person and then have to turn back to the Table of Contents to see who is talking.

Finally, the book would have benefited by a good proof read. In the one page section on Elvis Stojko, for example, there are 3 errors.

The photography and layout, which are excellent, and the fact that it covers the 1998 season make this book adequate. For better information on skating try Kristi Yamaguchi's Figure Skating for Dummies, or Beverly Smith's Figure Skating, A Celebration.

I'm a figure skating fan and I thoroughly love this book. Written by the U.S. Figure Skating Association, this book includes a history of figure skating, biographical sketches of famous figure skaters, how to skate, fitness, information about competition and judging, and much, much more. This book also has many beautiful, full-color photographs of figure skaters and also has instructions and clear pictures on how to perform various skating moves. This is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it to all figure skaters, fans, coaches, and anyone who just wants to learn more about this wonderful sport.

Of all the figure skating books i've read, this is definitely the most elaborate and enjoyable one so far. It is a book for all skating fans, skaters, or anyone who is mesmerized by the sport. I believe that this book gives you all the info. you need about the history, evolution, stars, results, judging, personalities and much more of figure skating. (Those are only a few of the chapters included in this book.) It also includes wonderful photographs(black/white + color) of today and yesterday's skaters. It even has an illustrated section which describes all of the freestyle and cumpulsory moves of figure skating. If you are looking for a book that involves anything that has to do with figure skating, then you should reach for this first off the shelf. It is DEFINITELY the best ice dancing book ever! **I would say that the reading level would be from about RL 4, up** A MUST READ for all who love the sport of Figure Skating. *Written by the members of the USFSA( United States Figure Skating Association) itself.

I feel that this book contains all the basic information that anyone with a casual interest in figure skating needs. There are sections on its history, major competitors within the sport, how to do (or identify in my case) various jumps, spins, and artistic moves, and how skaters are judged in competition. It has helped greatly as I watch different amateur competitions leading up to the Olympics...at least I can now tell exactly what the skater is doing and why she/he is scored a particular way myself, where before, I mainly relied on the commentator doing coverage to fill me in.

Some people complain that a certain book they purchased on figure skating is not "official." Well, this is about as official as you can get. Written by the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA), this book is jam-packed with everything any die-hard skating fan or any amateur skating fan could ever want to know. The Official Book Of Figure Skating scores major points with a cooler-than-ice intro by Peggy Fleming herself, then escalades into covering every topic including the very evoulution/history of figure skating into the costumes that the top figure skaters wear today. This book is for three specific people: 1. A die-hard skating fan who loves looking at glossy pictures of her favorite stars and also loves to gush and dream about meeting them 2. The serious athlete who buys the book for help and instruction with his/her's jumps and spins, physical fitness/training advice, and help with what moves he/she needs to perform in their short and long programs 3.The average person on the block who just buys the book partly because he/she is bored and partly because he/she views it as another book on the shelf to brag about and feels that he/she could benefit with SOME knowledge of figure skating. Chapter 1 is basically a comprehensive and thorough description of the history of figure skating and how it began, while Chapter 2 describes the individual personalities that made figure skating so popular and who were so instrumental in building the foundation of what it is today.
Also, weaven throughout the book are one-page profiles of some of the most prolific skaters old and new, such as Tara Lipinski and Scott Hamilton. Chapter 3 gives an outline of the skate boot itself and differentiates between "good" skates and "bad" skates. Chapter 4 tells the reader how to skate and gives slow motion sketches and instructions on every figure skating move from jumps to spins and tells you how to perfrom them. Chapter 5 is dedicated to the proper fitness and training regimen for skaters, while Chapter 6 is probably the tween skating fan's most studied chapter: Fashion in Skating. It describes in chronological order the changes in fashion from the 1900's, World War-eras, 50's,60's, 70's, and so on.
It shows the progression and the different style and changes in costumes in the decade-eras by description and pictures. Chapters 7 and 8 are basically a guide to creating the perfect routine and what moves you are required to perform in that routine while also detailing what forms of competition you can expect to see in each field. It describes the programs that are commonly seen in each category, such as ice dancing, mens, womens, and pairs, while flashing back to some legendary programs in the past, such as Kristi Yamaguchi's and Brian Orser's. Chapter 9 gives a decription of every skater's personal enemy and the system that can either make them or break them: judging. However, since this book was published in 1998, before the 2002 judging scandal, the 6.0 system has been abolished and I would recommend not reading through this chapter if you are a real skater but only reading it through for reminiscing's sake.
The last items to note are the record book and the list of USFSA figure skating clubs in the U.S. The record book is just the final statement to the reader that this book covers everything figure skating from A to Z and leaves absolutely NOTHING out by giving records of all the U.S., World, and Olympic Champions in all four categories of skating from the very beginning of each category while the list of skating clubs can be helpful if you or someone you know wants to find a USFSA club in your area to join. In conclusion, if you want to know anything about figure skating, look no further than right here. Sure, the other books with glossy photos of all the major skaters are nice and easy-on-the-eyes, but this book has the cold, hard facts on figure skating. Just as schools teach ancient to modern history in class, this book teaches the same ancient to modern history about figure skating; and I can assure you, if there was ever a "school" of figure skating, this would be the textbook.
Yup, this is truly the "Official" Book Of Figure Skating!

This is quite an amazing book! Anybody can read it! I found it in the adult section at a library but it also is a great book for young figure skaters. The best part about it is that it shows you how to do all the jumps and unique stretches. I guarantee you'll love this book within a week of reading it!

The photography is lovely, but beyond that garnish there isn't a whole lot of substance. Until I came to this site, I had no idea that Peggy Fleming "wrote" the book, only that she provided the introduction. A winner for the casual fan, but not a must-have for those within the sport.

"The official book of Figure Skating" is the best factual book about figure skating and its history I have ever read. Being a skater myself, it gives all of the inside information on the sport that makes it a lot easier to follow the action. It includes most all of the past and present skaters and bios on them. I didn't find any errors, like I have found in some other encyclopedias on figure skating. Really informative for a first time skater or spectator. The USFSA has really put some time into this book, and I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys the beauty of figure skating or just wants to find out more about the sport or their favourite skater!

I love this book...but even the important skaters only got a one page biography written about them. I think that is quite a shame, all else is great though...

This is quite an amazing book! Anybody can read it! I found it in the adult section at a library but it also is a great book for young figure skaters. The best part about it is that it shows you how to do all the jumps and unique stretches. I guarantee you'll love this book within a week of reading it!