Back to
Duffers guides

Duffers Guide to the Skating System

So what the heck is the skating system? Well the simple answer is the system used to work out the placings for dance comps.

The entire rules are darned complex, and luckily for us, the Chairman of Adjudicators and the Scrutineer have to have passed exams on this stuff. This is going to be a rough and ready guide to help you understand how the placings are calculated. It includes a rough guide to the famous Rule 10 and Rule 11 but more of that later.

Be prepared to go cross eyed as you try to understand all this! (Don't mention 10 dance - that opens up a whole new can-o-worms and we don't go into that here!)

If you want a really brief description - its this:

The judges mark a final 1 to 6, then the couple with the most 1s wins, then the couple with the most 1& 2 s comes next, then 1 2 & 3 and so on.

If two couples tie with the same number of , say , 1s, 2s & 3s ( for example), these are added up and the couple with the lowest score gets the next slot, if that doesn't divide them, they take into account the next score down (4s in this case) and so on down the score sheet, if nothing divides, they tie that dance.

That's the brief bit - this now goes on in far too much detail to say that all again only in a much more long winded way - or you can skip through to how they calculate the final summary

Lets start the long winded bit with the early rounds.
This is reasonably simple, the judges are told by the Chairman how many they need to recall and how many heats there will be to chose them from, so when you hear the compere say things like "12 from two" they are asking the judges to mark 12 couples to come back, from two heats (they try to bring back over half). They don't need to bring back an equal number from each heat, but the DO have to bring back EXACTLY the number the chairman asks for. ( How they do that is an art in itself.)

Obviously, those with the most recalls are the ones that get through to the next round. Ever wondered why instead of twelve, thirteen couples scoot on to the floor? This is because a number of couples have the same number of recalls. Lets say that 9 couples romp through, and then 4 couples all have the same number. The chairman then has the choice to include them all which would make for 13 in the semi, or exclude them all which would make a 9 couple semi, its at his discretion.

So lets move on to the next bit - make yourself a coffee first..

Placing in each dance
In the final, the judges have to place each couple, and can't tie two couples for the same place. At the end of the dance, the scrutineer will gather up the judges' scorecards to work out the placings.

So, how do they work it out then?
Well if all is nice and simple, the winners are the couple with the majority of 1st places then next comes couple with the most 1st and 2nd, then 3rd & above, 4th & above and so on.

Here's an example (I've just shown three couples because Couples D, E and F were not very good that day. In all cases shown here, assume there are results for 6 couples and that the ones not shown don't affect the outcome of the higher places)

So, here we see couple A has 4 firsts that no one can better so A wins
B has a total of five 1st + 2nds has only four so couple B gets second place, and C has seven 3rd place and above, so comes third. .

But life isn't always that simple. Sometimes no one couple gets the majority of firsts firsts like this:

Here, both A and B have three 1st places, so then you move to the most number of 1st and 2nd, in this example, A has FIVE 1st & 2nd, B has Four, and C has two, so A wins! .

OK lets complicate things a bit more... Sometimes the number of firsts and seconds (or whatever position your battling over) is also tied like this.

In this example, A has four 1sts no one can beat that so A wins! (again)
B has four 1st and 2nds, but then again so does C, so what to do?
Well next add up the scores of 2nd and higher, so
B gets 2+2+1+1 = 6
C gets 2+2+2+1 = 7
so B gets second place , and C gets third.

Now here's something to remember...in this example, 2nd and 3rd place from the couples with the most 2nds and above, so the NEXT position will be from the couple with the most 3rd and above, even though your looking for the fourth placed couple.

So Lets look at a scorecard (just using 5 judges)

Right then...
A has more 1sts than anyone so is top Banana in this dance
Both B banc C have three 1st + 2nd, but if you add up the scores you get the numbers in the brackets, so B comes second and C gets third
we have another tie between D and E for most thirds and above, and again the old calculator comes out to add up the points, the total is put in the brackets and D pips E to the fourth place slot. Poor old couple F should have stayed at home.

You see how fourth place is based on who has the most 3 and above.

Lets complicate things a bit more. Lets say the number of 2nd and above is tied, and after adding up, there is still a tie. What next?

Well I'm glad you asked!

Couple A is getting pretty smug and has won because they have the most 1sts. Now, both couples B and C have three 2nd and above, - more than anyone else, so one of these two will be second place. Adding their points, they both have the same total (2+2+1 = 5).

So now you have to go to the next level down to separate these two couples, So the 1sts, 2nds and 3rds. (couple D is not in the running for second or third even though they have a whole bunch of threes,) In this case couple B has one more than C, so B gets second place and C third. D gets 4th place.

This can be taken further:


Couple A have the most 1sts, so guess what, yup they win. B and C have the same scores all the way down. There is no way to separate these couples on this dance so they settle the issue with swords.

Nah! Only kidding - just making sure your still awake. In this case it would be a tie .

So next we move on to calculating the final summary

Calculating the Final summary

So far we have seen how the results of the individual dances are worked out, and that's all there is to it for single dance events. If there is more than the one dance, then there is another bit of calculation that has to be done.

So, the scrutineer takes the positions for each dance and awards points, 1 for first place, 2 for second 3 for third and so on. Then, to work out the over- all winner, you simply add up the points , the couple with the fewest points wins.

Simple! so here's an example:

As you can see, couple a won Waltz and Tango, came second in Foxtrot and Quickstep, so scored 1+1+2+2 =6 and that's the lowest score, so A wins! They really are quite irritating! Couple B's score comes to 8, so they get second and C come third with 10 points. Positions for 4th 5th & 6th are worked out the same way.

Now things get fun.
Lets see what happens if there is a tie for first place like this:

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Rule 10
In this example, both A and B have the same total of points. The winner is the one who has actually won the most dances. A has won 2, B just the 1 so A wins.

Moving swiftly on, but remaining in the wonderful realm of Rule 10; what happens if two tie for a lower place like 2nd for example? Well then this follows a similar process as was used in placing the individual dances. The couple with the most second and above gets the higher position, if that doesn't divide it, then they add the scores for second and above and decide that way. Obviously this applies to all placings not just to second.

OK, I'm going to stick with rule 10, but this will get the grey cells cooking. Imagine more than one have the same score. Feast your eyes on this:

Couple A wins because they have the lowest score - note they didn't actually win a dance, but there over all score is better than any one else's. Couple F are obviously 6th with that score, but the others oooh!

To start you look who has the most 2nd or higher - that's couple B with two first places, well done B your second. There's still a scrap for third, so you look at third and higher. C has three, as does E, so now they add these up. C has 3+ 3+1=7, and E has 3+2+3=8 so C gets third.

Now you may have thought that that would make E fourth, but no. (Believe me I've double checked this bit as it surprised me too!) To decide who is fourth, they count fourth and higher placings and couple D sneaks in there and poor old E gets 5th.

Now...
Life isn't always that simple and sometimes given all that the result is still tied.

Ladies and gentlemen - Rule 11
You still with me? OK we press on...
If you have two couples who are still tied, you go back to the score sheets for the individual dances and treat them as one humongous scorecard.

So, if there is a tie for first place, you count the number of individual 1st places they got for each dance, the one with the majority (more than half) wins. If that doesn't decide it you do the same as you would if it didn't decide a single dance - go back and read that bit again.

If the tie is for second, you look at the individual scorecards and count the seconds and above. Tie for third, count the thirds & above and so on. So you need to know what position your tied before you start the count.

And that folks, concludes this Duffers guide. The important point to note that this is not a complete break down of the rules and is intended to help you understand some of the process that goes into the scoring.

When you next fight your way to the front of the scrum to see the result on the wall , you can now nod wisely and say 'Hmmm Rule 10 eh? I thought so. - Oh its simple I read all about that on the EADA site" - then walk away fast!