Hi, I know you're probably busy since it's high GP season, but I've stumbled upon a conversation about salchow takeoffs in which "two footed" takeoff is discussed. I'm not entirely sure, but I think what they mean is when a salchow is taken off while the free leg is on the ice and somehow assists the takeoff. It's being claimed that the "two foot" takeoff is somehow inferior and that Yuzu does it and shouldn't be getting high GOE on his sals because of it. Can you maybe shed some light on this?
There are a couple of different things to unpack here, so let me tackle it point by point.
First, there are two types of Salchow techniques, one is done with a scooping motion and results in the skater’s legs forming a ハ shape before takeoff, the other is done without a scooping motion and results in the skater’s legs forming a ク shape. For ease of discussion, I’ll follow the convention in my previous Salchow post and refer to them as type A and type B, respectively.
Type B is the one that can create the impression of a “two-footed takeoff”, since in this technique, the skater would usually allow their free foot to stay on the ice as they bring it around for the takeoff. However, I’d say the term “two-footed” is rather misleading, as it implies that the force for the takeoff is gained equally from both feet. This is simply not true. In any Salchow of either takeoff types, after the setup turn, the skater’s weight has to be placed firmly on the skating foot. Without this check position and its transfer of weight to the skating foot, it is impossible to perform a Salchow. When the skater leaves the ice for the Salchow takeoff, the majority of the lift is initiated by the skating foot, and it is the case for both type A:
Now, yes, you can say that in a type B Salchow, the free foot does, to some degree, “assist” the takeoff, but whether or not that assistance makes the technique inferior is altogether a different question. I don’t know if it is just my personal philosophy, but when I point out any feature of any technique as an error, I do so not out of any pathological desire to be contentious, but only because of one of three reasons:
It lowers the quality of the jump. Excessive pre-rotation, for example, means fewer in-air revolutions and usually is associated with a reduction in ice coverage.
It alters the nature of the jump. Wrong takeoff edge in a Lutz, for example, makes it no longer a Lutz; full-blade takeoff in toe jumps, for example, make them no longer “toe” jumps.
It makes the jump less visually attractive. Toe hammer and muscling, for example, make the jump appear labored and inelegant.
Figure skating has a long history and its techniques have been developed by many different schools all around the globe, so variations are only to be expected. A technique can be unusual but does not constitute an error, as long as it doesn’t result in any of the three issues above. Yuzu’s peculiar outward toe pick for his flip and Lutz, Boyang’s quirky head and neck placement during his rotations, Nathan’s choice of keeping his arms tight around his midriff, to name just a few examples.
So if you ask me if the type B Salchow with the free foot resting on the ice is an error, I’d say no, because it doesn’t result in any of the three.
It does not reduce the quality of the jump. In fact, type B Salchow is usually the one with less pre-rotation and more height (I discussed this in my previous post).
It does not change the nature of the jump. Type B Salchow can still be taken off, clearly, from a back inside edge. Here, unmistakably, an edge jump:
It does not make the jump awkward to look at. Of course it can be that my point of view is biased, so raise your hand if you think this looks ugly - I’ll do a count:
And that is before I mention (again) the fact that both types of Salchow techniques are (1) ratified by the ISU, as proven by them choosing examples of both types to use in their official instruction video, and (2) equally popular. Type A more so with the ladies, type B more so with the men. Now I am not saying that popularity equals quality - if it’s an error then no matter how many people commit it, it’s still an error. However, and I cannot stress this enough, type B Salchow is, as I have tried to prove above, not an error. If anybody thinks it is one, they’d need to bring more logic to the discussion than just saying “it’s inferior”, and they’d need to be prepared to apply that argument to demand lower GOE on roughly 50% of the Salchows out there, not just Yuzuru Hanyu’s. Sure, the kid is one-of-a-kind, but on this one occasion, his technique really isn’t all that special, you know.
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