Figure Skating: The basics (part 4, pairs)

 Ok, we've done jumps, spins and you know-ice dance. Let's look at the freaks who do pairs skating (this is a compliment by the way, these people are to be feared and respected at all times, they could literally die at any time doing these tricks). Also as an aside, I'm going to try and be more gender neutral in my terminology going forward-thanks all!

Ok let's get into the required elements for pairs skating!

Side by side jumps and Side by side spins

The side by side elements, are as you would imagine-just 2 skaters doing the same element individually (but synchronized, to make it harder). That's about as complicated as it gets and levels for jumps are pretty self explanatory. Spins are a little more creative in pairs skating than they used to be...to the detriment in my opinion. I get skaters are going for the harder positions/transitions but it generally makes for poor unison in the new judging system. One thing that sometimes gets interesting is when individuals within a pairs team spin and/or jump in opposite directions. So if one partner spins clockwise and the other spins counterclockwise-that can be pretty interesting to watch-and it's known as a "mirror pair" which sounds wonderfully poetic to me. I don't know if any team like this has gone on to achieve great success in the sport-certainly it's quite unusual to see a team do this and they have to get creating with their choreography. 

In spins particularly, one skater will call out words (like "Now" or something else agreed upon) to let the other skater know it's time to change position. So the next time you watch pairs and see a side-by-side spin, keep your ears sharp and see if you can hear one of them call out to the other (I've seen a couple teams that do not use verbal queues and it seems so counterintuitive)

Pairs spin

Not to be confused with a side by side spin, a pairs spin is really almost the exact same thing as a dance spin (which we covered in the Ice dance Basics)

This is an example of one from Shen/Zhao. I will say-and it's been said by others that generally speaking ice dancers tend to be better at this particular element (you can see above they travel a decent amount during this spin). This is not surprising though-pairs skaters are too busy trying not to die in the other elements that this specific element can often be shall we say-a bit overlooked. Dance spins tend to (not always) be a bit faster and more playful with positions.

Pairs throw (or throw jump)

One of the most iconic moves in pairs skating (because it's so insane)-it is quite self descriptive. One partner throws the other. It's essentially an assisted jump. This is why you will occasionally see pairs teams execute (or at least attempt) quadruple throws-the assisted partner gets such a boost in height and rotation, they can occasionally land such a jump. There has also been 1 attempted (and successful) throw triple axel and it's super cool:

Step sequences

You know the drill-rockers, 3-turns, mohawks, choctaws (have we ever talked about how weird it is that figure skating uses the terms mohawks and choctaws?) etc. Except here-as in ice dance, there is the added element of weaving around another person-occasionally in holds, occasionally on your own. The pairs discipline also used to be pretty known for skaters performing step sequences mirroring each other-rather than doing the same thing side by side. It really fell out of style after the 80s and early 90s-someone bring that back!

Lifts

We sort of talked about lifts in the Ice Dance post-mainly to look at the differences in pairs and dance lifts. And similar to dance lifts, its hard to talk about specific kinds of lifts, since in the new judging system points are awarded for creativity-so skaters have really branched out in entries, positions, exits, etc. 

Generally speaking however, lifts are categorized by the holds performed. So for example, hand-to-hand lifts are, well-one partner holding the other up by their hands. 

I haven't yet talked much about level of difficulty or GOE yet, partially because so far I've only talked about elements covered previously (so spins and jumps have a similar difficulty/GOE as they would in singles with a little bonus for synchronization where possible). But for lifts it's a little different. So to determine high level of difficulty in a lift, judges will look at difficult entry or exit (maybe one partner places the other down using only one hand or twisting out as show below), difficult positions from the aloft partner and changes of position (maybe showing a good deal of flexibility), and what the supporting partner is doing. This will include how many rotations on the ice the support partner does, if they choose any particularly tricky positions (maybe an Ina Bauer? Never been done that I know of but it'd be hella hard)

For GOE, judges will be looking to reward for ease of entry and exit, speed throughout, ice coverage, flexibility, the aesthetic quality of the positions. 

Twists

Ah the twist. This is the one where one partner tosses the other overhead (casual), this airborn partner will twist a number of times and then their partner catches them and sets them back on the ice. There are a couple variations here-sometimes the airborne partner will execute a split before twisting-appropriately called a split twist. As a personal aside, I don't myself like split twists that much. Skaters use it to generate the rotation in the airborn part of the element, but the split isn't...generally performed very well. And by that I mean, I've never seen a nice position in the split, 1 leg is bent, there's no attempt at getting a 180 degrees (as a matter of fact the technical panel handbook for pairs specifies basically that 90 degrees is all that's required...!!!!!!!!!!!). All of which I understand and is ultimately fine, but then why are we calling it a split twist, eh?

Some more skilled teams will have the airborn partner twisting almost parallel to the ice-makes it MUCH more daring and exciting to see (also more dangerous). As far back as the 80s some teams were performing quadruple twists. Katia Gordeeva (Olympic champion in pairs in '88 and '94) saying that they stopped performing the quad twist because it was risky and commentators, and even judges, often couldn't accurately count the number of twists being performed. 

This is an example of a more upright twist

And here is a twist that is much more horizontal (where she is almost parallel to the ice)

One thing I am fascinated with is that as part of the requirements, the man has to PUT HIS HANDS DOWN while she's in the air! Like! As if it's not dangerous enough! (That being said, yes I get it, it makes the element more difficult and impressive)

As to GOE-you probably already know what to expect, so instead I'll mention that I notice even in teams who are quite successful that they often crash into each other a bit when the man catches the woman. It's one of my biggest pet peeves in pairs skating-how poorly controlled the catches for the twists often are, and there's a fine line between catching and gently setting down on the ice and kinda scrimping on the catch part and letting her just land on the ice (example below is a not-so great catch). Keep your eyes peeled for it when the Olympics start (this Thursday!!!)

Death spiral

OOOOH the death spiral, very edgy. Very emo. It has the word death in it! That being said its ironically one of the elements probably least likely to cause death amongst either partner. It is quite fascinating to watch in that both partners are anchored on the man's toe point the entire time (though of course the sad fact is that in both pairs and dance, the audience is really only looking at the woman). Anywho-there's been some innovation in the last, shall we say 20 years, in that skaters have started going for different positions and entries, not to mention the combination of edge and direction in death spirals. There are 2 classic positions for death spiral, one where the woman's free leg is parallel to the ice (though don't get me started on how it's never exactly parallel) and the other where her legs are crossed. 

Here's an example of 2 classic death spirals

Here with a pretty good parallel free leg.

And here where legs are together.

And here's a (and this is my own terminology) a newer style one

You can see, the top gif (Gordeeva/Grinkov) with a very lovely, nothing too crazy forward inside edge spiral. Shen/Zhao on the bottom opted to go for a backward inside edge and you can see it's maybe a little more awkward and tricky than the other-but in the context of this program really made sense. They also became kind of known for this particular spiral. 

I saw someone online write "Death to the catch foot death spiral" and listen-couldn't agree more. They are ugly as heck and it's all for the points! 

Barf.

Anyway! That's pretty much it for required elements in pairs skating! We are so smart now guys-we are gonna know ALL THE STUFF come Thursday!!