Compulsory figures

Compulsory figures were a former aspect of the sport of figure skating, from which its name (in English) derives. The original focus of the sport was the carving of specific figures into the ice, and for many years after free skating was added to competitions, the marks for the compulsory figures still contributed 60% of the total score.

Compulsory Figure Terminology

Figures are composed of either two or three circular lobes. The simplest figure, the circle eight, consists of a circle skated on an edge on one foot tangent to another circle skated on the corresponding edge on the other foot. The place where the circles meet is called the center, and a line through the center of the circles is called the axis or long axis.

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More complex two-lobed figures include a three turn or bracket turn at the halfway point on each circle, or a double three -- two three turns placed symmetrically to divide the lobe into thirds.

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The most basic three-lobed figure is the serpentine, skated by doing half a circle on the middle lobe and a change of edge on the same foot to complete the full circle at the end; and then repeating on the other foot to complete the figure. Variations on the three-lobed figures include placing a rocker or counter turn at the centers instead of a simple change of edge, or combining a change of edge with the turns in the ordinary two-lobed figures.

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A paragraph figure is an advanced two-lobed figure skated entirely on one foot, with a change of edge at the center. The entire figure is then repeated on the other foot over the original tracing.

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Most figures are skated on circles about three times the skater's height. However, a special class of figures, the loops, are done on much smaller circles, four or five feet in diameter. Here the skater curves sharply into the circle to make a teardrop-shaped loop tracing about a blade-length wide at the top of the circle. The basic loop is a two-lobed figure, but like the other two-lobed figures it also has more difficult serpentine and paragraph variants.

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Practice of compulsory figures is commonly called patch because each skater is assigned their own patch of ice to practice on, instead of sharing the entire ice surface.

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