DanceSport
Skating System Academy
From adjudicator marks to the final result. A visual, beginner-friendly guide to the traditional Skating System used in DanceSport. It explains the roles, the majority principle, individual-dance calculation, Rule 9, Rule 10 and the ultimate Rule 11 count-back.
What is the Skating System?
It is a comparative ranking and scrutineering system. Adjudicators place the couples in order of preference; the scrutineer applies the official rules to turn those preferences into the result.
- Judges place every finalist: 1st, 2nd, 3rd …
- Adjudicators cannot give two couples the same place.
- All couples are compared on the floor at the same time.
- The scrutineer applies the rules; the judge does not calculate the final result.
The people behind the result
Adjudicators
Compare the couples and create an order of preference. They do not calculate the final placing.
Scrutineer
Applies the Skating System rules and converts the adjudicators’ marks into official results.
The complete scoring journey
1st → last
The sequence above reflects the way current WDSF published results expose the calculation: Rule 9, then Rule 10 if required, then Rule 11 if the tie remains.
Majority — the first key
With 9 adjudicators, a majority is 5: more than half of 9.
If a couple has the required majority at the relevant place level, that evidence can resolve the placing. If not, the applicable Skating rules continue the calculation.
Individual dance — simplified example
Illustrative teaching example: 5 couples, 9 adjudicators.
| Couple | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| B | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| E | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
Teaching point: 6 firsts is a majority of 9, so Couple A has clear first-place support in this simplified example.
Rule 9 — Final Summary for a multi-dance event
Once each dance has a placing, the dance results are combined into a Final Summary. In the traditional Skating calculation, the lower total of places is better.
| Couple | Waltz | Tango | Foxtrot | Quickstep | Viennese | Total | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 2 |
| C | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 3 |
| D | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 4 |
| E | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 25 | 5 |
Rule 10 — breaking a Final Summary tie
If two couples remain tied after Rule 9, Rule 10 is used to resolve the tied placing. Current WDSF result pages show Rule 10 separately and display only the couples affected by that tie.
| Couple | Dance places | Rule 9 total |
|---|---|---|
| A | 1, 2, 1, 2 | 6 |
| B | 2, 1, 2, 1 | 6 |
Important: this table is an illustrative teaching example. The actual Rule 10 calculation follows the official Skating System formula and may use the relevant dance-place distribution to separate the tied couples.
Rule 11 — the ultimate count-back
If the tie remains after the preceding calculation, Rule 11 goes back to the underlying adjudicators’ marks across the dances involved.
Rule 11 progressively examines the relevant place counts until the tied couples can be separated.
Common mistake
“Couple A got four 1st places and Couple B got three, so Couple A wins.”
Not necessarily. With 9 adjudicators, four 1st places is not a majority. The applicable Skating calculation must continue.
What the system does
- Provides a structured way to process judges’ comparative preferences.
- Uses majority and tie-breaking mechanisms.
- Rewards consistent high placings across dances.
- Creates a reproducible scrutineering process.
What it does NOT do
- It does not eliminate human judgement.
- It does not assign a 0–10 or 0–100 quality score.
- It does not make every adjudicator agree.
- It does not guarantee that the couple with the most raw 1st places automatically wins.
Skating System vs. other judging systems
Rank → Scrutinise → Place
Different assessment model
Current WDSF resources list The Skating System and an Overview of WDSF Judging Systems, alongside materials for other judging approaches. Always check the regulations for the specific competition and category.
Can you be the scrutineer?
Question: You have 9 adjudicators. A couple receives 4 first-place marks. Is that automatically enough to win?
Coach & Parent Quick Guide
Who is ahead?
Rules 1–8
Final Summary
Tie?
Still tied?
