USA Roller Sports has published the requirements for figures and dance in regional and national championships, all the rules for the year, and plenty of technical guidance on its website.
Figures for ISI 2023 national competitions announced
The ISI has announced the figures for national competitions held in 2023. They’re listed on the ISI site and pasted below. They’re the same as the 2022 figures.
These are the figures that will be skated at the conferences the ISI designates as “national”—including the Winter Classic, ISI Worlds and ISI Adult Nationals. Local competitions often use these figures too, but are not required to. Check with the local organizing committee when entering non-national events.
Details on competing with the ISI are here.
| Figure 1 | Forward Outside Eight |
| Figure 2 | Backward Outside Eight |
| Figure 3 | Backward Inside Eight |
| Figure 4 | Forward Outside Loop |
| Figure 5 | Backward Inside Loop |
| Figure 6 | LFO Bracket |
| Figure 7 | LFO Paragraph Three |
| Figure 8 | RFI Rocker |
| Figure 9 | LFO Paragraph Loop |
| Figure 10 | The Flower |
USFS figure tests statistics
Every year, US Figure Skating releases statistics on the tests passed in the previous year as part of the Report of the Technical and Officials Group. Here are the statistics on figures tests for the last 6 years. The first table gives the total of each test attempted (pass and retry); the second table gives the number of tests passed. The three metal levels at the end are the Adult tests. Preliminary and Adult Bronze have 100% pass rates!
| Test | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| Preliminary | 28 | 7 | 16 | 18 | 13 | 13 |
| 1 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Bronze | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Silver | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Gold | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Test | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| Preliminary | 28 | 7 | 16 | 18 | 13 | 13 |
| 1 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bronze | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Silver | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gold | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
See Testing & competing with US Figure Skating (USFSA) for more information on these tests.
USARS 2021/22 figure requirements and rules
USA Roller Sports has published the requirements for figures and dance in regional and national championships, all the rules for the year, and plenty of technical guidance on its website.
Some resources for ice figures
These resources will help you learn how to skate figures. One day, I hope to create a more exhaustive database. This is a start.
Online groups and websites
- The Compulsory Figures Project on Facebook
- Memories of Patch on Facebook
- Bring Back Compulsary [sic] Figure Skating to Europe
- Skatingforums.com occasionally has a thread on figures
- The World Figure Sport Society, the World Figure & Fancy Skating Championship & Festival, and the related YouTube channel
Books
This is not an exhaustive list of books. There are many, many older skating books that cover figures. This is a selection of some of the most current and relevant works and a few that have stood the test of time; a couple address English-style skating, which is related to figures but not quite the same thing. Bookfinder is a good place to find out-of-print books.
- Berman, Alice. 1995. Skater’s Edge Sourcebook: Ice Skating Resource Guide. 1st ed. Kensington, MD: Skater’s Edge.
- Bodek, Louis, John B. Shoemaker, and Yvonne S. McGowan. 1976. The Evaluation of Errors in Figures. 8th ed. Boston: United States Figure Skating Association.
- Broadbent, Sidney. 1997. Skateology: A Technical Manual for Skaters Regarding Skates, Skating Fundamentals, Skate Sharpening. Revised ed. Littleton, CO: Iceskate Conditioning Eqpt.
- Dawe, Louise Vacca. 2016. Patterns on Black Ice: The Art and Sport of Figure Skating. n.p.: Bebranded.ca.
- Dědič, Josef. 1982. Single Figure Skating for Beginners and Champions. Prague: International Skating Union.
- Diamantidi, Demeter, Carl von Korper, and Max Wirth. 1892. Spuren auf dem Eise. 2nd ed. Vienna: A. Hölder.
- Fowler, G. Herbert. 1897. On the Outside Edge: Being Diversions in the History of Skating. London: Horace Cox. Reprinted with introduction and notes by B. A. Thurber. Evanston, IL: Skating History Press, 2018.
- Hickey, Deborah. 2016. World Figure Championship. Lake Placid: World Figure Sport Society.
- Hines, James R. 2014. The English Style: Figure Skating’s Oldest Tradition. Westwood, MA: Neponset River Press.
- Ice Sports Industry. 2012. The ISI Handbook. Plano, TX: Ice Sports Industry. A new edition is published every other year.
- Johnson, Susan A. 1991. “And Then There Were None: A Fond Remembrance of Compulsory Figures at the World Championships. Part I.” Skating 68 (3): 8–13.
- Johnson, Susan A. “And Then There Were None: A Fond Remembrance of Compulsory Figures at the World Championships. Part II.” Skating 68 (4): 11–17.
- Jones, Ernest. 1952. The Elements of Figure Skating. 2nd ed. London: Allen and Unwin.
- Ogilvie, Robert S. 1985. Competitive Figure Skating: A Parent’s Guide. New York: Harper and Row.
- “Special Regulations for Figures.” n.d. [1991?]. Colorado Springs: US Figure Skating.
- Stark-Slapnik, Nina. 1986. Figure It Out! Think Your Way to Great Figures. Cleveland: StarSports.
- Vandervell, H. E. and T. Maxwell Witham. 1869. A System of Figure-Skating: Being the Theory and Practice of the Art as Developed in England, with a Glance at Its Origin and History. London: MacMillan and Co.
Videos and DVDs
- Gloudeman, Emma. 2019. Video Figure Guide. Roseville, CA: self-published. Demonstrations of all the figures done on roller skates—including some that are not on the ISU schedule of compulsory figures for ice.
- Kelly, Karen Courtland. 2009. Figure Eights: The Life Force of Figure Skating. Lake Placid: Peak Edge Performance, Inc. Also available for iPad: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. Demonstrations of all the compulsory figures on the ISU schedule.
- Miller, Diane and David Santee. 2016. Fundamentals of Figures. Cold Spring, MN: Professional Skaters Association.
Figures for ISI 2022 national competitions announced
The ISI has announced the figures for national competitions held in 2022. They’re listed on the ISI site and pasted below.
These are the figures that will be skated at the conferences the ISI designates as “national”—including ISI Worlds and ISI Adult Nationals (2022 information not yet available). Local competitions often use these figures too, but are not required to. Check with the local organizing committee when entering non-national events.
Details on competing with the ISI are here.
FIGURE SELECTIONS FOR 2022 NATIONAL EVENTS
| Figure 1 | Forward Outside Eight |
| Figure 2 | Backward Outside Eight |
| Figure 3 | Backward Inside Eight |
| Figure 4 | Forward Outside Loop |
| Figure 5 | Backward Inside Loop |
| Figure 6 | LFO Bracket |
| Figure 7 | LFO Paragraph Three |
| Figure 8 | RFI Rocker |
| Figure 9 | LFO Paragraph Loop |
| Figure 10 | The Flower |
Skates for roller figures
This post is about equipment for figures on roller skates. It focuses on skates for circle figures (the big ones), not loops (the small ones)—many roller skaters have separate skates for figures and loops. Roller skates have five components that you can select. I’ll organize this post from the top down.
Skate sets
Skaters Oasis offers a Giotto Figure Package and a Hudor Figure Package.
Boots
Roller skaters like stiff boots for figures. Boot stiffness is often rated by a number, with higher numbers representing stiffer boots.
Skaters Oasis bases both of its figure packages (above) around the Risport RF3 Pro boot, which has a stiffness of 60.
Edea designed the Suono boot specifically for figures. Its stiffness is 70.
The difference between roller boots and ice boots is that roller boots have flat soles, while ice boots have curved soles. Roller boots match the flat plate they’re attached to, and ice boots follow walking boots in curving up at the toe. This doesn’t mean you can’t use them for roller skating, though. The toe may bend down when you screw the plate on, or you can stick a wedge in to fill the gap.
Plates
The plate is the bit that screws to the bottom of the boot to hold the wheels. The most obvious feature of a plate designed for figures is the complete absence of a toe stop. There’s not even a place to put one if you want to! For loops, skaters often use a figure plate that is one to two sizes smaller.
Roll-line makes three plates for figures:
Hudor makes two plates for figures:
Cushions
Every plate comes with a default set of cushions. There are lots of different options and opinions. Cushions probably deserve their own post.
Wheels
Figures wheels feel very slick! Someday I’ll add a post about durometer readings; for now it suffices to say that unlike inline and recreational quad wheels, which are measured by “A” values (e.g., 98A), figures wheels are graded on the “D” durometer scale. On both scales, a higher number means a harder wheel.
The wheels below come in different colors, but that’s not just for style. The different colors represent different amounts of grip. If you skate on a slick floor, you’ll want a wheel with more grip. But if your floor is “tight” (i.e., skates grip it well), you’ll want slicker wheels. Some people use softer wheels in the front inside position to avoid slipping on their takeoffs. These are called “push wheels.”
Bearings
Bearings go in the middle of the wheels. They’re what controls the spin. You can roll better on good ones than on bad ones. ABEC is the standard classification scheme. Higher numbers (e.g., ABEC-9) are better than lower ones (e.g., ABEC-1). But that system is really designed for machine shops, not roller skates. There are many other factors. Skates US has a page of bearing information.
Resources
The following posts from www.SkateDebate.com discuss equipment for figures. There may be more by the time you read this.
Roll line plate sizing for figures
“Sliders”? 103A, “stones”, and “elite” or “competition” uber-hard wheels.
What is a scribe, and where do I get one?
A scribe is a giant compass that draws circles on the ice. You can use one to draw your circles before skating your figures or to check your work after you’ve done them. They’re no longer common in stores, but they are still available.
Scott Irvine makes and sells custom scribes.
Figure 8 Boutique has some. Search for “scribe.”
You can also try eBay.
Once you’ve got a scribe, check out this post to calculate what setting you should use. It is also possible to live without one.
For general information on equipment, see the base post.
Figure 8s Camp at Pickwick Ice Center
Pickwick Ice Center in Burbank, CA, is offering a “Figure 8s Camp” on Friday mornings from 11 to 11:45. The cost is $20. Details are here (scroll down).
New figure tests from the RSA
Roller Skating Association International (RSA) has revised its figure tests. The old program is available until 12/31/2021, and the new one starts immediately. The new and old programs are the same at the lower levels. The revised tests include the new junior and senior figures from World Skate.