Simply Skating: Explains the New ISU Scoring System - DVD

Simply Skating: A Lesson for the Spectator - - Expand your understanding of figure skating!

Introduction by World Athlete and Coach Ron Luddington:

Narrated by: Philip Dulebohn, U.S. National Pairs Skating Champion

and

Featuring: Kimmie Meissner, 2006 US National Ladies Silver Medalist

and Shaun Rogers, US National & International Team Member

The Simply Skating DVD opens with remarks by Ron Ludington, a world and Olympic athlete and coach and director of the UD Ice Skating Science Development Center, followed by Dulebohn’s introduction. Remaining sections cover such topics as jumps and jump sequences and combinations, spins, connecting steps and how competitors are judged under the new scoring system.

The segment on jumps, for example, explains the six types--axel, salchow, toe loop, loop, flip and lutz. Each jump is explained by Dulebohn, who describes such key elements as the number of revolutions the skater makes and whether he or she lands on the same or the opposite foot as the takeoff. The jumps are shown in regular time and again in slow motion.

"All jumps look similar in the air and on landing, so it takes practice watching the takeoff" to distinguish one type from another, Dulebohn says in the video. Each segment also includes a Did You Know?" section with some fun facts about the history of the various jumps, spins and other elements.

Short routines performed by Rogers and Meissner are included near the end of the video, with narration explaining the highlights.

"When you watch skating on TV, there’s always commentary, but those commentators just can’t go into the kind of detail that we do," said Stacy Weile of the Division of Special Programs, the videographer, producer and editor of the DVD. "And, of course, someone watching this video can back it up at any time if they want to watch any part of it again."

The DVD also includes a short feature on a new, hinged skating boot that was developed at the University and now is manufactured and sold by Jackson Ultima, a Canadian sporting goods company. Designed by a research team led by Jim Richards, Distinguished Professor of Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences and associate dean of the College of Health Sciences, the boot is intended to allow skaters to point their toes as they land, thereby reducing the joint injuries that often occur with flat-footed landings.