Let's nitpick from figure skaters

[Conga]

I hate big, grandiose entrances. K/G-S are the worst offenders when it comes to this. I adore them but I swear it seems like it takes them 10 minutes to get into their starting pose.

I don't mind that at all because those kind of entrances are usually choreographed to set the character, but I was a wreck watching Jason Brown get in his starting position for US Nationals. He skated around aimlessly and I wanted to scream out for him to hurry up or he was going to be penalized for going over the one minute limit. I noticed he did look up at the clock, but really! Does anyone know whether this is his standard pattern of preparation?

[Sparks]

Spread eagles with butts sticking out.
Love a beautiful Russian split, ala Sasha, love a beautiful split falling leaf ,ala Michelle,..hate those whatever they are called leaps that look as if they are from a National Geographic special.

Choreographic moves that add nothing to the program..or what my friend Cindy and I would call.."What was that?"

Flapping and flailing arm movements.

Yes, I call those, "BUTT Eagles".

[arakwafan2006]

Ready for Random?

I hate Risport and Edea boots. The Risport lace-up pattern is so narrow it looks like the shaters foot is going to loose circulation and the boots are generally ugly to me. The Edea boots on women just look terrible to me.

[danceronice]

Yes, yes, YES, mine too! And the same at the beginning of programs. Ice dancers and pairs seem to be better at this. IMO, way too many singles skaters take forever to get into position, some even doing a double salchow or something beforehand. I've always felt the performance starts the minute the skater takes the ice (and was certainly coached that way). Can you imagine Yo-Yo Ma getting on stage and playing a scale in front of the audience before his performance?

Except if you get a concert while the orchestra is still coming on stage, you WILL hear the musicians warming up, and when they're ready to start they tune to the concert master...I don't think most judges want to see a skater come out, not skate around a little to get the feel of the ice (especially if they have a long wait since their warm-up group), or mind a warm-up jump. They're not dancing Swan Lake or playing King Lear trying to maintain some sort of acting illusion.

Now, skaters who are announced, and stand there at the boards for forty-five seconds talking to their coach and acting as if they haven't heard that they're on drives me nuts....

[Robeye]

My personal nominee for Most Unsightly Move was a kind of deep squat that Agnes Zawadski did in the middle of one of her programs last year (to slinky cool jazz accompaniment IIRC, which made it even more bizarre). And, no, I don't know the official term for it.

I was thinking to myself: "My God, woman, a rink is not a Third-World privy".

[DORISPULASKI]

1. LB spins where the foot hangs loosely down toward the ice like a kielbasa hanging off the ankle
2. Star lifts where it looks like the lady just can't get her leg into a nice position (Pang & Tong)
3. Star lifts where the lady points her heel instead of her toe, so her upward pointing leg looks like an "L"
4. Spirals with the heel pointed rather than the toe (Yu Na used to do this) I couldn't watch it
5. Like many other, I hate it when the skater has to stick their butt up in the air to grab hold of their foot to do a donut spin
5. I hate the Flatt camel (as a spiral or spin position), which a skater uses when he/she can't do a good catch foot position. They reach back and grab their foot so that it is over their head, but their back is roughly parallel to the ice. Flatt did it because her back was injured, permanently, and she still wanted to get COP levels. Other skaters are doing versions of this now :bang:
6. Air running or air foot pawing by the lady in ice dance, ala Bestemianova & Bukin. It just looks pointless to me.
7. Which reminds me, almot all Besti squats.

[Aussie Willy]

Now, skaters who are announced, and stand there at the boards for forty-five seconds talking to their coach and acting as if they haven't heard that they're on drives me nuts....

I want to see a skater get disqualified one day because they take too long to get to the starting position after their name is called. They only have a minute.

[shine]

This may be weird, but I really don't like seeing too many loops in step sequences. To me that slows the whole sequence down and makes the skater look laboured.

[PDilemma]

This:

LB spins where the foot hangs loosely down toward the ice like a kielbasa hanging off the ankle
.

Also:

*"Grabbing" at the face or hair.
*Anything in pairs or dance where the man appears to be pulling the woman around by the foot or leg.
*Butt spins.
*OTB tights.
*Shiny velvety pants on men.
*Slouching/bad back position in sit spins.
*Spirals where the girls are practically scrapping their chins on the ice to get leg extension coughemilyhughescough

[ehdtkqorl123]

I want to see a skater get disqualified one day because they take too long to get to the starting position after their name is called. They only have a minute.

Doesn't countdown start as soon as their name is called?

[Aussie Willy]

Doesn't countdown start as soon as their name is called?

Yep and if they don't get to their starting position within one minute after that they are considered to have withdrawn from the event.

[Ares]

"Go Alexander!" - Jeremy Abbott's father (step father?)

hate it.

[arakwafan2006]

"Go Alexander!" - Jeremy Abbott's father (step father?)

hate it.

LMAO!!!! Why doesnt he wait until "Alexander" shows up and competes vs this discombobulated Jeremy we've seen as of late.

[misskarne]

I don't mind that at all because those kind of entrances are usually choreographed to set the character, but I was a wreck watching Jason Brown get in his starting position for US Nationals. He skated around aimlessly and I wanted to scream out for him to hurry up or he was going to be penalized for going over the one minute limit. I noticed he did look up at the clock, but really! Does anyone know whether this is his standard pattern of preparation?

It's not. If you watch the videos from JW last year, he snaps into position really fast (after adjusting whatever he feels like adjusting on his costume/ponytail - THAT happens every time!).

But this year, and I don't know whether it's nerves over the 3A or something else, he's taking much longer. And he's fidgeting a lot as he gets into position too. That's all new stuff, wasn't happening last year, so I wonder if it's him trying to settle nerves.

Actually waiting for him to get into his start position in the SP at Courchevel was the worst - not only did he take forever getting there, but he must have shifted about four or five times before standing still.

[arakwafan2006]

I almost forgot. THE ORGASM FACE! i hate that. I know that a lot of skaters think that it expresses passion which i suppose it does but it's quite vulgar and over the top.

In ice dance especially but in any discipline where the skaters skate through the music or are not really skating or spinning to the music it bothers me.

scarecrow/stiff/rigid arms going into jumps. Elena Liashenko comes to mind as an extreme case

Tanith Belbins dresses- As pretty as she is and as tall and feminine as she is, her dresses were gauche and ugly flat out. Whats worse is that i believe her mother made them? in my Sweet Brown's voice " Oh Lord Jesus it's a fire" is all i thought about. Adding to the ugly were the gloves she wore up to her elbows or the sleeves in general...yikes.

3 strokes then turn- Brian Joubert and Elene Ged... come to mind. Sasha Cohen had beautiful stroking around the barrier setting jumps up. Mao Asada does as well. Yu Na is gorgeous but some of the skaters...ugh.

Weak axel take offs: I hate when skaters dont have a clean swing through of the free leg. Javier Fernandez and Florent Amodio have weak takeoffs however they are consistent in landing them. Julia Lipnitskaia is the WORST!!!

Lipstick on teeth!!!

Skaters who deliberately ignore weaknesses in their skating. Especially if they have been competing for a long time. Fabian Borzat's expression for instance. Nathalie often jokes about him being grumpy in general but it's really not funny because her expression is marvelous and his is just...there. Brian Joubert's awful artistry has been awful for a long time. Now that his jumps fail him it actually costs him. Tanith and Ben tried to address issues with body line, precision in their technique and speed and power way too late even though people had been complaining about those glaring issues with them forever. They simply masked it with choreography.

Dingy skates! Ladies, if your skates look like they got caught in the car door by the strings and drug 100 miles, either paint them or have them repaired. Gnarled up looking boots are just atrocious. AND NO YOU CANT JUST WEAR OVER THE BOOT TIGHTS TO COVER IT... unless they are those ugly Edea or Risport boots i hate LOL
thats it for now

[TheIronLady]

I hate pancake positions and that they are done at all...

[UGG]

When skaters make the "surprised" face. Like...their music starts and their mouth opens, eyebrows go up and they look totally surprised. I understand this is some kind of emoting but it makes me laugh.

[TheIronLady]

When skaters make the "surprised" face. Like...their music starts and their mouth opens, eyebrows go up and they look totally surprised. I understand this is some kind of emoting but it makes me laugh.

I dislike all the facial expressions and pantomime faces ladies singles skaters do. They should go back and look at Katarina Witt, Oksana Baiul, and other dramatic ladies for tips on how to improve and not resemble clowns. That "surprise face" is a great example. They go from zero to 200 kph/mph in facial expression in one second. It looks humorous even though they intend to convey a serious character. If the skaters have the bodily expression to go with it, like Kwan and Cohen, I can live with such silliness, but most ladies do not pull it off that well.

I like Kiira Korpi's facial expressions because I think they are subtle rather than like a bad Latin American telenovela. I don't see the need to go beyond the subtle unless the expression looks natural or appears genuinely felt. Some skaters perhaps have natural expressions that look contrived or comical, in which case I think they should try to tone them down-- not just run with them. Some audiences like it, but I think on television, every singles lady who gives over the top face risks looking ridiculous. It works much better in ice dance.

[Spun Silver]

Skating with hands balled up ... Caroline Zhang seems to do this more than most.

Meryl's hairdo in the Giselle SD ... it is old-fashioned as in dated (we are not looking for a history lesson on hairdos here), always messy, and most important, makes her head look too big. (Other than that I love D/W and the program. )

Too much choreographed play with/for the audience, especially from skaters known to be inconsistent... e.g. Jeremy with the suspenders last season, Adam's winks and smiles this year. I loved both their programs but I just want them to focus on the damn skating. I don't mind a little of this stuff done spontaneously once it's clear that a program is going really well, but when it is built into the program, the unnecessary complexity makes ME anxious for them. Save the winks for shows!

[Ares]

I love me anything Kwan EXCEPT the multi direction camel spin sequence. It seemed like she would just lift her leg, hurl herself in the opposite direction, and hope for the best.

To me it always looked like the equivalent of someone whipping a hula hoop around their waist where it goes around a couple times and falls to the floor then the person is like "see, I can hula hoop"