Suberu

(I got tired of gifing spins so I’m making the spiral post first.) Spirals are elements where a skater glides on one foot while the free leg is raised above hip level. Spirals can be performed on either leg, going backwards or forwards, and on the inside or outside edge of the blade. Before the 2010-2011 season, spiral sequences (SpSq) - where the skater must perform three spirals in succession - were a required part of ladies’ programs (and pairs’, but I’m only covering singles skating for now). Men usually do not perform spirals because they do not receive points for doing them. Though spiral sequences are no longer required elements today, I thought it would still be useful to make a post about spirals since you still see them in skating programs - they just aren’t scored the same way. These days, ladies must include at least one spiral in the choreo sequence of their free skate.

There are more spiral variations than the ones shown in this post; I have only gifed some common positions.

Arabesque spiral: Basic spiral position, with the free leg extended above the hip at any angle greater than 90 degrees. The arabesque spiral can be performed forwards or backwards and on either edge. Mao is performing a back outside edge arabesque in the gif.

Biellmann spiral: A spiral performed in the Biellmann position, with the free foot held higher than and behind the skater’s head. The skater may hold their free foot with one or two hands. The spiral can be performed backwards or forwards. In a cross-grab Biellmann, the free leg is on the opposite side of the body than the arm used to hold it. For example, Mao is using her left hand to hold up her right foot in the first part of her spiral sequence above. She then switches hands so that her right hand is holding her right foot, resulting in a more standard Biellmann position. Notice that her spiral sequence is a change-of-edge spiral - she starts on the outside edge and changes to the inside edge.

Kerrigan spiral: An outside-edge spiral where the free leg is supported by one hand at the knee. It can be performed forwards or backwards.

Charlotte spiral: Usually performed backwards, though it can be done forwards. The skater bends forward and points their free leg into the air in a near-split position.

Fan spiral: Back outside-edge spiral where the free leg is held unsupported to the front or side of the body, creating a fan shape.

Skid spiral: A 180-degree turn performed in a spiral position. This element can sometimes be seen as part of a step sequence or in exhibitions. Notice how Mao starts on a back edge and turns onto a forward edge.

Catchfoot/cross-grab spiral: Any spiral in which the free leg is supported qualifies as a “catchfoot” spiral. A Biellmann spiral is a catchfoot spiral, but in a normal catchfoot spiral, the supporting arm is straight and reaches behind the skater to grasp the free foot. In a Biellmann, the arms go above and around the skater’s head and the free foot must be higher than their head. Biellmanns can be done with one or two hands and generic catchfoots are usually done with one hand. In a cross-grab catchfoot spiral, the free leg is held by the arm on the other side of the skater’s body (Yukari uses her right hand to hold her left foot in the gif above). The boundary between a generic catchfoot position and a Biellmann position can sometimes be murky.

Y-spiral: A spiral where the free leg is held at the side of the body and forms a straight line with the other leg. The legs and body form a “Y” shape. This spiral can be performed in either direction and on any edge. The free leg is usually supported by the ankle or blade, but skaters can vary their holds or leave their leg unsupported. Shizuka performs a variation on a forward change-of-edge Y-spiral in the gif.

Now that you are all experts on the basic types of jumps, here is a post about combinations, specifically, triple-triple combos!

In a jump combination, the landing edge of one jump is the takeoff edge of the next jump. A skater cannot have two feet on the ice in between the jumps of a combo. Assuming that the skater lands on their right foot, all jumps land on the outside edge of the right foot. Thus, the second jump in a combo is almost always a toeloop or loop because those two jumps take off on the outside edge of the right foot. The first jump in a combo can be any of the six types of jumps. The base value of a combo is the sum of the base values of the jumps in the combo. So a 3F-3Lo is worth more than a 3F-3T, and a 3Lz-3T is worth more than a 3S-3T, and so on.

In triple-triple combinations, the second jump is usually a toeloop because it is difficult to fully rotate a triple loop in the second half of the combo. However, I have included some loop combos in this post for variety’s sake. Triple-triple combos are kind of a big deal in ladies’ skating because they are some of the most difficult and valuable elements for them, which is why I decided to focus on ladies in this post. Obviously, men can do these combos too. Midori Ito is the only woman to have done a 3A-3T combo; usually only men do this combo.

3T-3T: First toeloop takes off on the outside edge of Kanako’s right foot, left toepick used to launch, lands on the outside edge of her right foot. Left leg swings back to launch for the second 3T.

3F-3T: Flip takes off on the inside edge of Zijun’s left foot, right toepick used to launch, lands on the outside edge of her right foot. Left leg swings back to launch for the 3T.

3Lz-3T: Lutz takes off on the outside edge of Yuna’s left foot, right toepick used to launch, lands on the outside edge of her right foot. Left leg swings back to launch for the 3T.

3S-3T: Salchow takes off on the inside edge of Haruka’s left foot, lands on the outside edge of her right foot. Left leg swings back to launch for the 3T.

3Lo-3T: Loop takes off on the outside edge of Elena’s right foot, lands on the outside edge of her right foot. Left leg swings back to launch for the 3T.

3A-3T: Axel takes off from the forward outside edge of Han’s left foot, lands on the back outside edge of his right foot. Left leg swings back to launch for the 3T.

3Lo-3Lo: First loop takes off from the outside edge of Caroline’s right foot, lands on the outside edge of her right foot. She immediately takes off again from her right outside edge for the second loop, no toepick assistance in between.

3F-3Lo: Flip takes off from the inside edge of Mao’s left foot, right toepick used to launch, lands on the outside edge of her right foot. Immediate takeoff from the right outside edge for the loop, no toepick assistance in between.

3Lz-3Lo: Lutz takes off from the outside edge of Adelina’s left foot, right toepick used to launch, lands on the outside edge of her right foot. Immediate takeoff from the right outside edge for the loop, no toepick assistance in between. Notice that her lutz is slightly flutzy.

Conclusion: If there’s a bit of a delay between the two jumps and you can see the skater swing a leg back to toepick into the ice, the second jump is a toeloop. If there’s no delay or toepicking between the two jumps, the second jump is a loop. The first jump can be anything, and you should observe its entry to identify it.

Yuna’s father wrote her this letter.

Grateful and proud of my Daughter.

My dear Yuna, my lovely daughter, Today when I was watching your programs on TV, I thought my heart was going to burst. I know that the music to your free skate program, “Adios Nonino”, is originally a tribute for a father and because of this people asked me how I felt as they felt like this program could’ve been a tribute to me during your last program ever.

But I did not hear anything. I could not feel anything. The only thing that came to my vision were the detailed moments of the rise and falls in your movements. My feelings when watching your competitions over the past seventeen years were the same as when I was watching your last competition; it was difficult to watch.

10 days before, when you left for Sochi I did not tell you “Bring home a gold medal”. Instead I only told you to do your very best. Because it was your last competition, I told you to show everything that you wished to do, to pour every fiber of your being into this endeavor, and to not let your supporters down. I told you that the Olympic Gold Medal is something that only the heavens gift you with and that if you did your very best wouldn’t the proper results follow?

Even as I said those words to you, in my heart I had a wish for a gold medal. That is because more than anyone in this world I know of your incredible skill and work ethic. A couple days before, I dreamt that I had won a game and collected all of the money from my friends. After I awoke, I thought to myself that the money in the dream could signify another gold medal and my wish for your 2nd gold medal grew bigger.

However, during the competition I saw an earlier competitor’s, Adelina Sotnikova’s, score and thought that it would be very difficult to overcome this mark. After Vancouver four years ago, because of the scoring system changes I knew that unless you received extra points it would be very difficult for you to get the winning score.

Our Yuna was last to skate in the competition and how nervous you must have been! What would happen if our Yuna makes mistakes? As I awaited for your turn my lips turned dry and my heart felt like it was going to rip apart.

At that moment, the 17 years and 7 months that I have spent with figure skating flashed before my very eyes. Do you remember? The times of countless tears and hardships…I then fervently prayed that in this very situation you would unfold and perform everything that you wanted to perform and leave this stage happy regardless of the result. I sincerely wished for my dear daughter , just as always, to humbly accept reality, to not make excuses, to not complain, to not argue, and to not blame others.

In your last competitive stage you didn’t falter even once. Even with that score, you accepted it, kept the tears back, and smiled. The moment I saw your smile was the happiest moment of our entire journey with figure skating from when you were only six years old to now. I thought that even in adverse conditions you did your best. You didn’t cling onto the results and gave a self satisfying performance. You confidently faced reality and moved forward. I am so thankful that you were able to smile for me like that.

Our loving Yuna, standing here now and looking back at these 17 years and 7 months the countless moments of triumphs and disappointments are coming to mind. The joys were but only fleeting moments while adversity was continuous. When we first started figure skating, our family could not even imagine that you would eventually win an Olympic gold medal. We could not forsee the incredible hardships of figure skating but sacrificed everything while slowly taking things one step at a time, ending here at this point in our lives.

When you competed at international events and received scores that did not reflect great judgment, as your father I was very sorry. I once told you, long ago, that I was sorry that I was not able to give birth to you in a more powerful country known for its figure skating might. Even here, in Korea, without a proper skating rink you trained hard while getting injured over and over again. And every time I sent you off to international competitions while knowing that you were so injured, my heart was deeply troubled.

Despite all of this, you never lost a medal even once in any of the events in your competitive career. Without adversity there are no results, injuries are the evidence of hard work. Once you set a goal, don’t even bat an eyelash and solely focus on the road ahead to run towards your goal. With all this, I am so proud of everything that you have done.

Dear Yuna, you can rest now to your heart’s content. You won an Olympic Gold Medal, you’ve received so much love from so many people, and you’ve even blazed a trail for future Korean skaters. Now, let us return back to being normal people from being celebrities. As your father, I wish that like normal people you will be able to enjoy common, everyday happiness while living a normal life.

Now since we have so much time, let’s ignore the public eye and go out to eat delicious things. Let’s go out to cafes and drink coffee while chatting endlessly. Let us allow for you new dreams to blossom. As your father, I will do everything in my power and will to help you in your new journey.

As soon as your program finished early this morning, I texted to you “Yuna~ You are the real champion” to which you replied “Thanks, I’m fine”.

No my sweet Yuna, thank YOU for boldly overcoming everything in the face of adversity. A job well done. For all these years you have gone through so much. I am incredibly proud of our great Yuna.

mao asada | program music

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