The intersection is one of the five compulsory manouvers of Synchronized Skating. It consists of a part of a team passing through another part of the same team. Once, in the Short Program, half of the team had to intersect with the other half, but now, with the new rules, the whole team must intersect but not necessarily split in to equal parts.In the Free Skating, intersecting moves are completely free.The intersection is usually executed by two straight lines intersacting in the middle point between the two lines. One of the main things is the way skaters hold each other. They must use exactly the same type of hold to keep a constant distance among them. If the distance between skaters is constant every skater will have enough space to pass through during the intersection. It is dangerous when just one skater is using a different type of hold because it may compromise the whole manouver. Intersections may be executed skating forwards or backwards: obviously skating backwards makes the manouver more difficult because it increases the difficulty for the skaters to see the spot they have to pass through but in case of a beginners team a forwards intersection is acceptable. The execution of an intersection is made by four phases:
1. Lines disposition
2. Approaching of the lines
3. Intersection
4. Joining again of all the skaters after the manouver
The first three phases of the intersection are the most important, but you mustn't underestimate the fourth one, because in the Short Program there will be a deduction for every brake in the manouver. The intersection is sligthly different from other manouvers because step sequences, types of hold or changes of them are not requested. Moreover, a team is splitted in two parts facing each other doing the same steps but with opposite feet on the ice. There are not so many restrictions about intersections but the number of them and the way they have to be executed (consequentially), even in the Short Program. In my opinion this means that intersections are very difficult manouvers and the added difficulty of a compulsory step sequence or a change of hold would make it too dangerous. A team must practice very much this manouver because the only way to make it work is having a total confidence with it: it should happen automatically. Spirals, lounges, twizzles executed during an intersection add more difficulty and make it more interesting. Back spirals are not permitted. A coach must teach its team the way they have to look at the other part of the team before, during and after the intersection, to reduce the risk of collision between two or more skaters.
There are different kinds of intersections and I'll list the ones permitted in a Short Program.
