Customer Reviews

Spectator's video guide to Figure Skating [VHS]

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American Skating World Magazine review by Chris Bothner-By
Although there are many professional competitions and skating shows being broadcasted, the National, World and Olympic events capture the imagination in a different way, and they are the only ones where requirements and scoring are critically important. In this video, Ann-Margreth Frei places emphasis on the amateur competitions and points out the differences in requirements and scoring between this and professional competition. It is divided into three sections: single skating including jumps spins and footwork. Pair skating and ice dancing, and a brief discussion on scoring.
Ann-Margreth presentation starts with an explanation of the edges on the blades and how they are used, and the basic turns, jumps and spins. The jump section is divided into jumps with edge take-offs, pointing out that the Axel is the only one with a forward take-off, and second the jumps with a toe take-off. All are shown as singles, doubles and triples. The latter two being shown at normal speed and slow motion. The use of charts showing the degree of difficulty of the jumps is very helpful for the spectator.In the spin section, all the basic forward and backward spins are shown as well as combinations and variations, flying spins and some more spectacular spins such as death drop and those multiple change foot and position are explained as well as mistakes like traveling. Footwork is included in the spin section with mention of specialized moves such as spirals and spread eagles. The pair section deals with the various lifts, spins and jumps, relating the latter two to single skating also showing the holds used and pointing out the importance of unison and the compatibility of size and temperament between partners. The difficulty of landing throw jumps and exits from advanced lifts is pointed out. In both of these segments, some of the recorded mistakes are retained in the tape with explanations of what went wrong, and how it affected the scoring. Ice dance, presented as ballroom dancing on the ice with a partner in almost constant contact, is compared with pairs, and the basic partner positions and some of the basic steps are shown. Compatibility of the partners is of course important here too. Compulsory dance, an original dance and a free dance are shown. Charts to clarify the type of scoring used in amateur competition conclude the presentation. When I receiced this video for review, I watched it several times before I decided that my point of view is much too technical for a "Spectator". I then asked various people who enjoy watching Figure Skating Broacasts, but are otherwise minimally or not at all involved in the sport to watch it and give me their opinions. My sample audience enjoyed it very much, and found it well organized "backstage"- this from a theater person-look at the performance techniques and training requirements of competitive skating.The viewers particularly appreciated the explanations of edges and their uses and of the different types of jump take-offs. One of them found that if she concentrated on the technical material she missed the beautiful jumps and spins, and felt that the tape definitly was worth repeated viewing. She now looks forward even more enthusiastically to the skating season on TV. They all tell there could be even more slow motion and found that the detailed explanation of the difference between pair skating and ice dance really helped in viewing these events. The slow motion also gave them a better understanding of how critical timing is to successful performance. There was a certain amount of curiosity about costumes. Of course the demonstrators are all in nice practice clothes, but this is not what one sees in an actual performance. The other question, which I believe is almost universal among spectators, is the control of dizziness in spins.
I was both amazed and gratified by the very positive response the tape received and very glad that I had looked for outside opinions.It might be somewhat intimidating both from the points of view of time and expense, if this were a two tape presentation, but there was a definite consensus in the response that even more detailed information would have been welcome, especially since it can (and should) be watched in segments. Figure skating is now the second most watched sport on television, and currently gets more press coverage than even five years ago. However, the Spectator's Video Guide to Figure Skating is a welcome and needed addition to the material available to the public. There is no other source of information that is as attractive and comprehensive as this 50 minute video tape.
Chris Bothner-By

American Skating World Magazine review by Chris Bothner-By
Although there are many professional competitions and skating shows being broadcasted, the National, World and Olympic events capture the imagination in a different way, and they are the only ones where requirements and scoring are critically important. In this video, Ann-Margreth Frei places emphasis on the amateur competitions and points out the differences in requirements and scoring between this and professional competition. It is divided into three sections: single skating including jumps spins and footwork. Pair skating and ice dancing, and a brief discussion on scoring.
Ann-Margreth presentation starts with an explanation of the edges on the blades and how they are used, and the basic turns, jumps and spins. The jump section is divided into jumps with edge take-offs, pointing out that the Axel is the only one with a forward take-off, and second the jumps with a toe take-off. All are shown as singles, doubles and triples. The latter two being shown at normal speed and slow motion. The use of charts showing the degree of difficulty of the jumps is very helpful for the spectator.In the spin section, all the basic forward and backward spins are shown as well as combinations and variations, flying spins and some more spectacular spins such as death drop and those multiple change foot and position are explained as well as mistakes like traveling. Footwork is included in the spin section with mention of specialized moves such as spirals and spread eagles. The pair section deals with the various lifts, spins and jumps, relating the latter two to single skating also showing the holds used and pointing out the importance of unison and the compatibility of size and temperament between partners. The difficulty of landing throw jumps and exits from advanced lifts is pointed out. In both of these segments, some of the recorded mistakes are retained in the tape with explanations of what went wrong, and how it affected the scoring. Ice dance, presented as ballroom dancing on the ice with a partner in almost constant contact, is compared with pairs, and the basic partner positions and some of the basic steps are shown. Compatibility of the partners is of course important here too. Compulsory dance, an original dance and a free dance are shown. Charts to clarify the type of scoring used in amateur competition conclude the presentation. When I receiced this video for review, I watched it several times before I decided that my point of view is much too technical for a "Spectator". I then asked various people who enjoy watching Figure Skating Broacasts, but are otherwise minimally or not at all involved in the sport to watch it and give me their opinions. My sample audience enjoyed it very much, and found it well organized "backstage"- this from a theater person-look at the performance techniques and training requirements of competitive skating.The viewers particularly appreciated the explanations of edges and their uses and of the different types of jump take-offs. One of them found that if she concentrated on the technical material she missed the beautiful jumps and spins, and felt that the tape definitly was worth repeated viewing. She now looks forward even more enthusiastically to the skating season on TV. They all tell there could be even more slow motion and found that the detailed explanation of the difference between pair skating and ice dance really helped in viewing these events. The slow motion also gave them a better understanding of how critical timing is to successful performance. There was a certain amount of curiosity about costumes. Of course the demonstrators are all in nice practice clothes, but this is not what one sees in an actual performance. The other question, which I believe is almost universal among spectators, is the control of dizziness in spins.
I was both amazed and gratified by the very positive response the tape received and very glad that I had looked for outside opinions.It might be somewhat intimidating both from the points of view of time and expense, if this were a two tape presentation, but there was a definite consensus in the response that even more detailed information would have been welcome, especially since it can (and should) be watched in segments. Figure skating is now the second most watched sport on television, and currently gets more press coverage than even five years ago. However, the Spectator's Video Guide to Figure Skating is a welcome and needed addition to the material available to the public. There is no other source of information that is as attractive and comprehensive as this 50 minute video tape.
Chris Bothner-By