Quadruple jumps (in short: quads) are considered the hardest jumps in figure skating. Up until now, only male skaters are widely recognized to be able to land various types of quads cleanly in practices and competitions.
To land a clean quad, various factors are required: when the skater builds up speed for the jump; then the skater launches into the jump with correct take-off; then the skater rotates as quickly as possible; and the landing. Timing has to be perfect.
Sports scientists have estimated that top skaters can move at more than 32 km/h on the ice, most of them have to slow down before their jumps.
The speed into the quad jump depends on each skater. Yuzuru Hanyu is famous for his flow and speed in and out of the jumps. Some other skaters slow down quite noticeably.
Skaters launch themselves into the air by pushing against the ice to go upward, at about a 40-degree angle off the ice with a force that is four times their body weight. A skater needs to get around 50-53 cm off the ice to have time to get the rotations in. Yuzuru’s Quads are said to be 60 cm off the ice in general.
Skaters have to achieve their first tight position at the takeoff, within around 0.08 of a second. Below you can see Plushenko took 0.223 sec for a rotation in general, while Yuzuru took 0.215 sec for a rotation in average. You have to be VERY fast.
At the apex of the jump, skaters are already doing their third rotation. The key is snapping the arms and legs into position as tightly and quickly as possible.
Centrifugal forces require skaters to pull their limbs in at a force 1.5 times their body weight. That is why when skaters jump, their faces are never pretty.
Skaters do the rotations with a slight backward tilt, which is essential to landing in balance. Below is a quad Loop with an unbalanced landing.
If the rotations are too vertical, they will come down on the heel of their blade or fall.
When a skater prepares to land the jump and slow the rotation, the free leg, and the arms come out, and they land on a blade that is only 2.9 mm.
When the skaters land their quads well, it looks soft and natural. But if a skater’s weight has shifted ever so slightly, the foot will come down with a thud.
This quad Loop looks easy but it is very difficult to get the right rhythm for it.
When skaters land, they absorb a force around eight times their body weight. If we compare this to jogging, joggers land with 2.5 times their body weight on each foot. In volleyball or basketball, athletes land with a force not higher than 3-4 times their body weight.
The angle of the body in landing is important as well, too much is not good.
The current younger skaters jump more quads than the older skaters in the old days. Because the older skaters had to be the ones who pushed the boundaries first, then other coaches and skaters focus on replicating the movements of successful skaters through video analysis.
So it is wrong to say the younger skaters are much more talented than the older skaters just because they jump more quads. In fact, the younger skaters these days could have never jumped any quad if the previous generations did not innovate the technique in their days.
Main source: theglobeandmail
Other posts related to figure skating: http://chibura.tumblr.com/post/153553904110/simple-introductions-about-figure-skating-in
Gifs are from @hanyusan , @anniesgifs , @yuzuruhanyuedits
The screenshots are from a Japanese documentary I can not spell the name.
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