I love figure skating and enjoy watching it during the Olympics.  But it’s pretty clear to everyone that the judging system is very messed up.  As an article in the New York Times points out, even the authorities commenting on the performances in the Ladies Figure Skating finals couldn’t figure out why Adelina Sotnikova beat Kim Yu-na.

Joe Allison and I  are finishing up creating the Judges Academy from the Marching Roundtable.  I have spent countless hours over the last 4 months listening to our discussions and Joe’s lectures about how judging works in our marching activities, the concepts judges use to make decisions and give scores, and how changes in scoring occur.  This is great information and after all these years I’m learning to appreciate even more what judges do and how much there is to know.  And how knowing all of this can help directors, instructors, and designers very much.

Back to ladies’ figure skating.  The judging system they use is now mostly about accumulating points, and is so regimented that every skater’s program now is exactly the same.  Not “a lot” the same….EXACTLY the same.  I can even lay it out for you clearly:

Start with your three best jumps, some in combination, then do a spin sequence, then skate around until the 2:00 mark appears, at which time you’re now “in the bonus” so you immediately do the rest of your jumps one after another, then more spins and then your fancy footwork sequence.  The end!

Every skater follows this exact same sequence, and it’s boring as hell to watch.  There were a few skaters who obviously took GREAT amounts of time programming their music so that it would fit this model and they actually jumped at times that made sense in the music.  The great majority did not, they just skated around with music playing and went through the sequence. 

Apparently it does not matter.  The commentators kept saying it’s just “doing math.”  How un-artistic!!!  Surely some skaters had great artistry and did skate elegantly to the music.  This did not seem to matter much to the judges.  If Stonikova can even be near the same planet as Yuna Kim in this artistic category it would be a surprise, but Stonikova's superior jumping and performance of these “components” seemed to add up to a win.

So we scratch our heads and grouse.  The real kicker?  The competitors are kept completely in the dark as to who gave what score.  This is kept hidden, even as judges involved in past scandals sit on the panel and give scores.  This is messed up.

I’m happy that in our activity we have much more transparency.  We at least know what judge gave what score, and to whom.  Judges tapes are not released officially, and a discussion about this goes on.  (Several podcasts on this already, and more to come.)  There are many reasons for not doing this, but I hope we continue to work toward ever more understanding and transparency in the judging of OUR activity.  And we hope that the information we are trying to share with everyone in the new Judges Academy plays a part in helping this.  I think it could have a great impact.

So let’s keep talking about judging, and learning about how it works, and discussing how to make it all work better.  I dread the day that every group looks and performs a show exactly like the others….like in figure skating.  There have been times in our history when we have moved in this direction strongly, and currently we are moving toward variety.  More of this, please, and more knowledge about judges and judging.  Check out www.JudgesAcademy.com to see what we’re doing there.  I think it will help!