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INTERNATIONAL SOLO ICE DANCE COMPETITION GUIDELINES – TECHNICAL RULES AND LEVEL REQUIREMENTS 2026-2027
Switzerland · English · 28 pages
Live federation-linked copy checked 14 September 2026; 2026/27 international solo competition guidelines, not a Swiss test ladder. Original-language text is shown as extracted. An original-page image is provided for diagram-only pages and the British skills guides. Extracted table text can lose column alignment; check the original before interpreting a table.
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12. Appendix B – How to time Edge Elements and Pattern Dance Tempo (for Referees)
The Edge Elements are timed for however long the skater is “in position”, based on the definition of each Type
of Edge Element on page 9. In other words, how long is the skater meeting the definition of the type of Edge
Element?
For example:
Timing a Spread Eagle would start the moment the second foot hits the ice on the outside edge, creating a
Spread Eagle, and then it would stop the moment either foot leaves that position. The same method would be
used for an Ina Bauer as well, whether an inside or outside Ina Bauer, start timing the moment the position is
attained, and stop timing when the skater is no longer in position.
The Crouch and Spiral are the same, however it is important to remember the definitions of the “Type” of these
Edge Elements. For a Crouch, the skater only needs to have their thighs parallel to the ice to start timing and
once they are no longer parallel, the element is over and you would stop timing. The skater may also be trying
to attain the Hydroblade difficult variation which may take longer to attain, but that is not what the referee is
timing, only the technical panel needs to know how long they are in the difficult variation. The referee is looking
at only the thighs and if they are parallel (or closer) to the ice or not.
The same goes for the Spiral Edge Element. The Referee is only looking at when the skater meets the definition
of the Spiral Type which is “with one blade on the ice and the free leg (including knee and foot) are higher
than the hip level.” (see page 9 for definitions). The stopwatch should start when the skater meets this
definition, regardless if they are going for a difficult variation or not. It could take longer to attain the difficult
variation, for example a Split, the skater’s knee and foot are higher than the hip level before ever reaching the
full split. The referee again only times how long the skater is in a Spiral Type, not how long they are in the
difficult position. In this case of the Split, you would start timing when both the knee and foot are higher than the
hip and then stop timing when the knee and/or foot drops below the hip level. The technical panel will time the
difficult variations separately.
In the case of a Combination Edge Element, it should be timed from the start of the first Short Edge Element to
the end of the second Short Edge Element that make up the combination. The steps between, if any are
executed, are part of the overall time.
If a referee times an Edge Element where the skater does not meet the definition of the type of Edge Element
they are attempting for at least 3 seconds, and the element is still on the screen at the end of the review
process, please ask them to review the element again for total time. If it is under 3 seconds, in position, it should
be ignored and thus deleted from the screen.
Use the following steps to time the BPM for Novice Pattern Dances:
1) On the dance diagrams, find the pattern dance and look for the number of measures per sequence. This is
the easiest way to count.
2) You’ll see the allowable timing range for one sequence of the dance.
3) Using a stopwatch, start the watch on beat one of the first measure and count until you’ve reached the end of
the number of measures required per sequence. Stop the watch on beat one of the next measure.
• For example, if there are 4 measures of 4 beats per sequence you will count (1, 2, 3, 4), (2, 2, 3, 4), (3,
2, 3, 4), (4, 2, 3, 4) & “5”. You must stop the watch on “5” which is beat 1 of the 5th measure. If you
stop on beat 4 of the last measure, the time will be off as you are not including that full beat in your
timing. (Remember, you only include a beat in your count if you reach the next beat)
4) Look at the time and compare it to the allowable range on the diagram. For the Willow Waltz, as an example,
the watch would need to read between 0:23.4 and 0:24.6 seconds. Human error is about 0.03 seconds. I would
recommend timing the dance on the first sequence and if it is off a bit, you have more time to try it again to
double check. You can time the BPM at any point, it doesn’t have to coincide with the sequence being skated.
Note: Be careful not to use the skater’s timing as it could be off, count beats as you hear them, not see them.
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