SynchroNice / Fourth Edition / 2019

Kaisa Arrateig SynchroNice loves to hear the opinions of leading women and men within the Synchro Community. This year's opinion is written by none other than Kaisa Arrataig, head coach at the Helsinki Rockettes. I have been following the developments in synchronized skating as a skater and a coach for 28 years now. I can still remember my designs for different elements in the margins of my student notebooks of the early 1990's. The formations depicting the theme of the program were made to move around in circles or from one end of the rink to the other. In the elements the skaters were linked with each other using different holds. We could define the discipline as skating because of the skates, but moves, edges and speed were of secondary importance in those days. Through various phases the team has become smaller: from the 32 skaters of the early days first to 24, then 20, and now 16 skaters – and 6.0 can only be seen in the Snoopy cartoons. Skating skills demonstrating speed and gliding now play a central role in the programs, where lifts and tricks are also allowed. At one point, footwork was focused on, whereas today's trend is towards uniformity of elements and holds. At the same time it is also possible to highlight individuals and even pairs in accordance with their skill and will. Many things have changed, but what remains in a central position is unison, the defining feature of our discipline. From the perspective of a coach, many of the changes have been welcome. On the other hand, it sometimes feels exhausting to always keep testing new winds. Could we, the coaches, find new and more creative solutions, if we did not have to spend all our energy on carrying out ideas created by someone else? I often wonder, if the technical levels actually prevent us from creating more spectacular and original elements. How to determine what is difficult in synchronized skating, if the features have not been set for us in advance? This is a million dollar question for which I have not been able to find a good answer. I would always like to distinguish between difficult and complicated things. For example, a twizzel element represents a difficult element that a skater either can or cannot execute, and to learn it, I must teach and train a skill. By contrast, a whip intersection is an element where it takes controlling rather than coaching to reach the desired technical level. The most fabulous whips Opinion that I have seen would not evaluated as being on the highest level today, but they have stirred up the crowd. What I particularly love in synchronized skating is the audience. Cheering gives the teammore boost to perform, and a strong performance gives the audience more energy to cheer. For example, when Helsinki Rockettes were competing at the Leon Lurje Trophy to their music played with a strong volume, and the wonderful audience was applauding, we shared great emotions. A special feature of this experience was that the team had no fans of their own in the stalls but the magical atmosphere was created by a whole family of synchronized skating around the rink. After the performance, the audience shares the excitement of the team waiting for their scores. They are either hoping that the scores will be as high as possible or that their own favourite team will keep their current position. The team and the coach are also nervous; you never know what to expect. I personally have stopped making any predictions, as anything can be missing from the technical levels, or the shape or timing of an element may not be perfect. Only the protocol and the video will tell you where faults were found. This is very difficult to explain to the spectators and to the fans. Perhaps it would help, if the screen or the list of elements would show the maximum technical scores, which would also help the fans to see where the teammade a mistake. I suppose we can all take it for granted that a good and clean performance is rewarded, while mistakes and falls result in a lower rank in the results list. Creativity and evaluation are a challenging combination; there is always room for personal opinions and interpretations. This season, the judges have been challenged even further, when they have been SYNCHRO NICE 171