Sports Medicine: Just the Facts

CHAPTER 82 • FIGURE SKATING 487

and outcome. Addressing the psychologic impact of

an injury is very important to the recovery process.

• As a team sport, team dynamics and team building in
  synchronized skating are integral to success and must
  be included in training programs.

EQUIPMENT

BOOTS ANDBLADES

• The skating boot is made primarily from leather. A
  skater’s ankles are plantar flexed in the skate due to
  the height of the boot heel. Some manufacturers make
  a boot with heat-molded parts in order to customize
  the fit.


• The design of the skating boot has changed over the
  past two decades. The boots have become increas-
  ingly stiff in response to requests from skaters and
  coaches to enhance support, slow break down, and
  accommodate skaters with suboptimal ankle strength
  and proprioception to improve jump landing success
  rates.
  •Over-the-counter or stock boots and blades are less
  expensive, less rigid, and can be variable in construc-
  tion. They are sold as a single unit, with the blade
  screwed or riveted to the boot. Most elite athletes
  wear stiff custom-made boots bought separately from
  the blades.
  •New skates and blades can cost well over $1000 and
  are usually replaced every year. Skaters typically
  replace boots when the ankle support breaks down.
  Stock boots are available for half the price of custom-
  made boots but must be replaced more often.


• Optimal boot fit is necessary to prevent boot-related
  injuries. The boot should be lightweight (<5% of
  skater’s body weight). It should have a broad forefoot,
  a well-fitted heel, and a well-padded tongue. New
  boots should be introduced at the end of the competi-
  tive season and never be worn alternately with old
  boots. There is little room in boots to accommodate
  orthoses. Additionally, the plantar flexed position in
  which the boot holds the foot must be accounted for in
  its orthotic construction.

BIOMECHANICS

JUMPS
•To perform the increasingly difficult triple and
quadruple jumps, the athletes are rotating faster, not
jumping higher (King DL, Arnold AS, Smith, 1994).
Flight times for single, double, and triple jumps are
very similar due to nearly identical vertical velocity at
takeoffs (King DL, Arnold AS, Smith, 1994).

• An athlete’s upper body strength and consequent
  ability to pull arms against centrifugal forces when
  initiating jump rotation is correlated positively with
  the athlete’s ability to perform the more difficult
  jumps.


• Impact forces are greater on landing higher revolution
  jumps as a result of the decreased time available to
  dissipate force between the forefoot and rear foot con-
  tact with the ice (Lockwood and Gervais, 1997).
  •Athletes fail to land multiple revolution jumps or
  triple-triples because of their inability to attain tight
  air position efficiently.

SPINS

• Athletes report that spinning requires as much or
  more energy than jumping. The athlete rotates three to
  six revolutions per second, creating 200–300 lb of
  centrifugal force (Nash, 1988). Upper body, lower
  body, and core strength are all required to keep the
  arms and legs close to the axis of rotation to counter-
  act the centrifugal force.

TRAINING

GENERAL

• Figure skaters often begin rigorous training as early as
  5 years of age, and some are performing jumps requir-
  ing two or three revolutions by the age of 8. The more
  elite athletes can spend up to 45 h a week dedicated to
  their sport: roughly 15 to 30 h per week on the ice and
  5 to 15 h performing off-ice conditioning. Additional
  time is spent on choreography, music selection, and
  costume design and fitting.
  •Training schedules run virtually year-round with only
  a small break during the early spring, significantly
  increasing the risk of overuse injury.

ON-ICE

•A typical on-ice training regimen includes two to

three 45-min on-ice sessions throughout the day.

Training programs are usually most intense from late

spring through summer. During the competitive sea-

sons less time is spent conditioning, and more time is

spent perfecting choreography.

OFF-ICE

• Athletes who participate in off-ice programs are
  stronger, have better-developed aerobic and anaerobic
  energy systems, jump higher, have more consistent
  jump landings, have tighter and faster spins, and feel
  more confident on the ice. Additionally, these athletes
  may have decreased injury rates for level of participa-
  tion as well. The number of athletes participating in