What goes into figure skating isn’t something well known to the general public, but that doesn’t mean its difficulty has to go unrecognized. While gorgeous, figure skating takes intensive training to control one’s body so the technical skills involved in the sport can be implemented. This is especially relevant in professional competitive figure skating, where moves like the axle, tight spins, or smooth footwork are all necessary to ensure the correct placements are being done. The grading is tight and doesn’t leave room for slack in any area, as seen in the requirements of every jump individually. This is nothing to take lightly and shows.

Though the grading of figure skating is rough, it is rewarding in many ways as it carefully studies a skater’s performance. To review, figure skating has two main grading systems: the IJS (International Judging System) and the 6.0 system. Both systems involve the grading of a move technical base level and once a snamekater is completed they are awarded the amount of points the base level provides along with a (5) to (-5) point addition based on the judge’s evaluation of said move. These technical moves include spins, jumps, and footwork, but not components. Components include the quality of one’s skating program, like edge control, music interpretation, emotional intent, transition, and more steps that engage the watcher into the performance. A (10) to (0.25) addition to scores, these criteria make up the basics of figure skating for all ages.

The creation of such complicated programs isn’t actually as startling as the rules they take on. Given a satisfactory amount of time to prepare, the skaters pick the music for their program and begin making choreography for it. The jumps done in the performance will probably already be picked depending on what level the skater is on and will be integrated into the performance based on the theme the skater has chosen. What comes next is practice — and a lot of it. Skaters will spend as much time as possible getting the success rate of their jumps and footwork down, so when they step onto the ice rink they give their best performance.

Even though figure skating may not seem hard or like it takes a lot of work, it does, this sport requires focus,dedication,precision,and control. This sport gives no room for error and the people who partake in this learn from these experiences. Figure skating is a gorgeous sport, performed with elegance and passion.