Compulsory Figures – Drawing the Circles Without a Scribe (Page Lipe)

Page Lipe demonstrates how to draw figures circles without using a scribe. Although figures were dropped from international competition back in the early 1990’s, school figures are seeing a resurgence in popularity as coaches recognize the value of these exercises. Page has been a strong figures proponent and shares information about her Compulsory Figures Project on Facebook.

Part of the challenge in teaching figures today is the lack of scribes to draw circles on the ice. Simply put, scribes are no longer manufactured so skaters wishing to practice figures must find used scribes or made due without. Page has found a reasonable solution for skaters to create their own patch circles without a scribe.

In this video, Page lays out her patch with nothing but her skate blades and a marker. Notice how the size of the circles is roughly proportional to the height of the skater, due to the fact that the skater’s blade is also roughly proportional to their height. Page mentions that the diameter of the circle should be approximately 3 times the skater’s height. She uses 9 blade lengths as the radius for each circle. She also notes that measuring the circles in this manner helps skaters develop the internal and external hip rotation that is so valuable in figure skating. She has one of her skaters lay down on the ice to demonstrate the validity of this process. Also notice the positions and alignment she has when skating the circles.

Now there’s no more excuses for not having a scribe!