Play-By-Play Figure Skating (Play-By-Play)

Rating:
Summary: A good study guide to hekp prepare for the Winter Olympics
Review: The only problem with this 2004 "Play-By-Play Figure Skating" book by Joan Freese is that it came out two years too early for my purpose, because this is exactly the sort of book that I need to read before the Winter Olympics. As we all know, unless the United States is going to win a dramatic gold medal in some unexpected event (i.e., the "Miracle on Ice") the biggest television audiences are going to be for Women's Figure Skating. You can watch all the explanations from the expert commentators and former medalists explaining the difference between a lutz jump and a salchow jump, but I have been watching then dutifully every four years (except for the time there was a two year gap so the Winter and Summer Olympic Games are not in the same year anymore) and I still cannot tell what I am watching.

However, with this book Freese has given me a fighting chance. Using photographs and illustrations (it takes 5-7 steps to illustrate the five basic types of jumps) Freese details each step and explains which figures in the sequence are the key ones that really define each jump. Just the idea that a jump can be divided into three parts (approach, airtime, and landing) is helpful to an ignorant and hardheaded viewer like myself. I really think I might understand these jumps and the only question is whether I will remember to check out this book again in 2006 for a quick refresher course.

Freese begins the book with a historical look at how the sport of figure skating got started (including a sidebar on Vita Lydwina, the patron saint of skaters), and hen covers the equipment and training that skaters go through. The third chapter covers the basics, from sculling, the forward stroke, and edges to forward crossovers, backward crossovers, stopping and turns. All the spins and jumps are detailed in the chapter on advanced technique, with the final chapter devoted to the "razzle dazzle" of competition. Throughout the book there are color photographs of skating greats, such as Dorothy Hamill and Michelle Kwan (Sonja Henie, Dick Button, and Peggy Fleming only get black & white photographs), but the demonstration photographs are all of kids just like the ones who will be reading this informative introduction to the art and sport of figure skating.

Rating:
Summary: A good study guide to hekp prepare for the Winter Olympics
Review: The only problem with this 2004 "Play-By-Play Figure Skating" book by Joan Freese is that it came out two years too early for my purpose, because this is exactly the sort of book that I need to read before the Winter Olympics. As we all know, unless the United States is going to win a dramatic gold medal in some unexpected event (i.e., the "Miracle on Ice") the biggest television audiences are going to be for Women's Figure Skating. You can watch all the explanations from the expert commentators and former medalists explaining the difference between a lutz jump and a salchow jump, but I have been watching then dutifully every four years (except for the time there was a two year gap so the Winter and Summer Olympic Games are not in the same year anymore) and I still cannot tell what I am watching.

However, with this book Freese has given me a fighting chance. Using photographs and illustrations (it takes 5-7 steps to illustrate the five basic types of jumps) Freese details each step and explains which figures in the sequence are the key ones that really define each jump. Just the idea that a jump can be divided into three parts (approach, airtime, and landing) is helpful to an ignorant and hardheaded viewer like myself. I really think I might understand these jumps and the only question is whether I will remember to check out this book again in 2006 for a quick refresher course.

Freese begins the book with a historical look at how the sport of figure skating got started (including a sidebar on Vita Lydwina, the patron saint of skaters), and hen covers the equipment and training that skaters go through. The third chapter covers the basics, from sculling, the forward stroke, and edges to forward crossovers, backward crossovers, stopping and turns. All the spins and jumps are detailed in the chapter on advanced technique, with the final chapter devoted to the "razzle dazzle" of competition. Throughout the book there are color photographs of skating greats, such as Dorothy Hamill and Michelle Kwan (Sonja Henie, Dick Button, and Peggy Fleming only get black & white photographs), but the demonstration photographs are all of kids just like the ones who will be reading this informative introduction to the art and sport of figure skating.