Figure skating words · Beginner

The words you will hear in your first match, grouped the way you meet them.

B · Beginner · 45 words · Step 1 of 2

General terms

Rink

The skating area must be rectangular and, if possible, 60 m by 30 m, and not larger or smaller than 56 m by 26 m. ISU Events and the Olympic Winter Games need two covered, heated rinks.

Program

What a skater, pair or couple performs in a segment, to music of their choice, alone on the ice. A program must have the allowed duration plus or minus 10 seconds, or time deductions apply.

Short program

The first segment in Single and Pair Skating, 2 minutes 40 seconds, made up of seven required elements, which differ by discipline and, for juniors, by season. Elements can be performed in any order, and an element that does not meet the requirements has no value.

Free skate

The second segment, called Free Skating in Single and Pair Skating: 4 minutes for seniors and 3 1/2 for juniors. A well-balanced program is built from a limited number of jump, spin, step and choreographic elements, linked by skating movements, and any extra element is not counted.

Also called: long program
See also: Program, Segment, Well-balanced program, Jump, Spin

Disciplines

Single Skating (Women and Men), Pair Skating (one woman and one man) and Ice Dance (one woman and one man). Single and Pair Skating segments are the Short Program and Free Skating; Ice Dance has Pattern Dances, a Rhythm Dance and a Free Dance.

Segment

One part of a competition. Single and Pair Skating segments are the Short Program and Free Skating; Ice Dance segments are the Rhythm Dance and Free Dance (and Pattern Dances at some competitions). The short program or rhythm dance is skated before the free skating or free dance.

Program duration

Short Program 2:40; Free Skating 4:00 for seniors and 3:30 for juniors; Rhythm Dance 2:50; Free Dance 4:00 seniors and 3:30 juniors. A skater may finish 10 seconds either side, with a 1.0 deduction for up to every 5 seconds outside; elements started after the time plus 10 seconds have no value, and a program 30 seconds or more short is not marked.

Competition and officials

Referee

The official who manages the panel of Judges, conducts the draws, times the program and interruptions, applies the deductions for time, interruptions, costume falling on the ice and similar, and decides protests and the ice condition. The Referee also judges the event.

See also: Program, Panel of Judges, Judges

Scoring terms

Technical elements score

The sum of the panel's scores for each element: its Base Value from the Scale of Values plus the trimmed-mean Grade of Execution. Elements beyond the allowed number are not counted.

Also called: Total Elements Score
See also: Grade of execution, Base value, Scale of Values

The ruleHow are jumps and spins scored in figure skating?

Program components score

From three Program Components: Composition, Presentation and Skating Skills. Each Judge marks each from 0.25 to 10 in steps of 0.25, the panel's trimmed mean is multiplied by a factor published by the ISU, and the factored results are added.

Also called: Program Component Score
See also: Program, Trimmed mean, Program Components, Composition, Presentation

Grade of execution

How well an element was done, marked by each Judge on an eleven-point scale from +5 through the Base Value to -5. The panel's GOE is the trimmed mean, rounded to two places and added to the Base Value.

Also called: GOE
See also: Deduction

The ruleHow are jumps and spins scored in figure skating?

Base value

The starting points of an element, from the Scale of Values chart published in an ISU Communication each season. Base values rise with difficulty: for jumps with the jump type and the number of revolutions, for other elements with the Level of Difficulty.

Judges

Officials who mark the Grade of Execution of each element and the Program Components. They do not identify the elements or levels: the Technical Panel does that.

Deduction

Points subtracted from the segment score. Examples: 1.0 up to every 5 seconds for program time lacking or in excess, 2.0 per illegal element, 1.0 for costume or prop violations, 1.0 for a late start, and falls and interruptions as set in Rule 353.

Segment score

The Total Elements Score plus the Program Component Score minus any deductions. The skater with the highest total is first. Ties are broken by Total Elements Score in the short program or rhythm dance and by the Program Component Score in the free skating or free dance.

Final score

The sum of the Total Segment Scores of the two segments. A tie is broken by the higher score in the last segment skated, and then by placement in the earlier segment.

Scale of Values

The chart, published each season in an ISU Communication, of the Base Value of every element and the numeric value of each GOE from +5 to -5.

Also called: SOV
See also: Base value

Fall

Loss of control with most of the body weight on the ice through any part other than the blades. In senior single skating the deduction is 1.0 for the first and second fall, 2.0 for the third and fourth and 3.0 for the fifth onwards; juniors lose 1.0 per fall, and pairs and couples 1.0 for a fall by one partner and 2.0 by both.

Program Components

Three: Composition, Presentation and Skating Skills, each marked 0.25 to 10 in quarter steps. In Pair Skating and Ice Dance both partners must show the criteria equally.

The ruleWhat are the program components in figure skating?

Jumps

Jump

A jump element is an individual jump, a jump combination or a jump sequence. The listed jumps are Toeloop, Salchow, Loop, Flip, Lutz and Axel, in order of difficulty, with a number of revolutions; quint jumps are not allowed.

Rotation

The number of revolutions a jump has in the air: single, double, triple or quadruple. Base values rise with the number of revolutions. Quint jumps are not allowed in any discipline.

Also called: revolution
See also: Jump

Axel

The last of the six listed jumps in order of difficulty. The rules call it the Axel Paulsen in the short program, where a double or triple Axel is required, and an Axel type jump is required in a senior free skate. The forward take-off is not stated in the rules.

Also called: Axel Paulsen
See also: Jump

Listed jumps

The rules list six jumps in order of difficulty: Toeloop, Salchow, Loop, Flip, Lutz and Axel. They are told apart by the take-off, which the Technical Panel checks; a wrong take-off edge on a Flip or Lutz is marked with 'e' or '!'.

Combination jump

A jump combination is two or more jumps in which the landing foot of one jump is the take-off foot of the next. One full revolution on the ice between the jumps, with no weight transfer, is still a combination. In free skating one combination may have up to three jumps.

Under-rotated

A jump with more than a quarter but less than half a revolution missing, marked '<'. It scores 80 per cent of its base value and the Judges reduce the GOE. A jump with half a revolution or more missing is downgraded ('<<').

Also called: downgraded
See also: Jump, Rotation

Toeloop

A toe-assisted jump taken off from a backward outside edge and landed on the same foot. The first of the six listed jumps in order of difficulty.

Salchow

An edge jump taken off from a backward inside edge of one foot and landed on the backward outside edge of the other foot. The second listed jump.

Loop

An edge jump taken off from a backward outside edge and landed on the same foot's backward outside edge. The third listed jump.

Flip

A toe-assisted jump taken off from a backward inside edge. A wrong or unclear take-off edge on a Flip or Lutz is marked 'e' or '!'. The fourth listed jump.

Lutz

A toe-assisted jump taken off from a backward outside edge, turning against the curve of the edge. The fifth listed jump, one step below the Axel.

Jump and spin detail terms

Spin positions

Camel: the free leg behind with the knee higher than the hip. Sit: the upper part of the skating leg at least parallel to the ice. Upright: any other position with the skating leg extended or slightly bent. Two revolutions without interruption are needed for a position to count.

Spins and footwork

Spin

A rotation on one foot in place. The basic positions are camel, sit and upright. A spin with fewer than three rotations is a skating movement, and the number of revolutions in each position is needed for the element to count.

Sit spin

A spin in the sit position, with the upper part of the skating leg at least parallel to the ice. The three basic positions are camel, sit and upright.

Also called: camel spin, layback spin
See also: Spin

The ruleWhat are the rules for spins in figure skating?

Footwork sequence

A required element of steps and turns that must fully use the ice surface, done to the character of the music. Its Level of Difficulty comes from features such as variety of difficult turns, body movements and two combinations of three difficult turns.

Also called: step sequence
See also: Level of difficulty, Required element

Edge

The inside or outside curve of the blade used on a step or jump. In ice dance an edge is the visible tracing of one foot on one curve; a change of edge changes from one curve and edge to another.

See also: Jump, Change of edge, Ice Dance

Pairs and ice Dance-Specific terms

Lift

In Pair Skating an overhead lift is classified by the hold into five groups, determined at the moment the woman passes the top of the man's head. In Ice Dance a dance lift is a movement in which one partner is elevated, held at least 3 seconds and set down; see Dance lift.

See also: Pair Skating, Ice Dance, Dance lift

Throw jump

A partner-assisted jump in which the woman is thrown into the air by the man at take-off and lands without assistance on a backward outside edge.

Death spiral

A pair element in which the man pivots with the knee bent and toe anchored and the woman circles around him on one edge, leaning to the ice with her head near it. The four types are backward outside, forward inside, backward inside and forward outside. It scores a Level only if both partners hold the position for at least one revolution.

Twizzle

A travelling turn on one foot with one or more rotations, quickly rotated in one continuous action. If travelling stops it becomes a solo spin. A series of checked three turns is not a twizzle, and a twizzle must have two revolutions to count in a step sequence level.

Pair skating elements

Pair Skating

The skating of two persons in unison, performing movements in such harmony as to give the impression of genuine pair skating, not independent single skating. Partners may separate from time to time, but must keep unison.

Twist lift

A lift in which the woman is thrown into the air, rotates freely and must be caught at the waist by the man before a smooth landing on one foot. The short program allows a Lutz or Flip take-off and two or three revolutions.

See also: Program, Short program, Flip, Lutz, Lift

The ruleWhat are the rules for lifts in pair skating?

Unison

Both partners moving together in harmony, in mirror skating (symmetrical) or shadow skating (parallel). It is considered in Skating Skills.

Ice dance

Ice Dance

A discipline of one woman and one man, with Pattern Dances, a Rhythm Dance and a Free Dance. At ISU Events and the Olympic Winter Games it consists of the Rhythm Dance and the Free Dance.

Pattern Dance

The skating of prescribed patterns, steps and turns to music with a defined rhythm and constant tempo, selected from a list of 35 dances, such as the Foxtrot, Tango and Waltzes. Each dance is skated by the couple alone and the number of sequences depends on the dance.

The ruleHow is ice dance different from pair skating?

Free Dance

A creative dance program, 4 minutes for seniors and 3 1/2 for juniors, with required elements announced each year. The music must have a rhythmic beat and/or melody and at least one change of tempo, and the program must not have the concept of a pair or show program.