Figure Skating: Jumps
If you are looking for my original compilation post, “Ariana’s Figure Skating Masterpost,” you can find it here
If you are interested in learning about Quadruple Jumps, check out my new post “The Quad Revolution,” which can be found here.
Jumps are one of, if not the, most recognizable elements in figure skating. In which an athlete of incredible skill hurls their body into the air and lands on some tiny knives. As a friend of mine once said via text after watching a video of Yuzuru Hanyu, “Homeboy makes me nervous. How can you be that skinny. And land without breaking an ankle.”
There are two basic kinds of jumps, Edge Jumps and Toe Jumps. These names come from the jump takeoffs that are used.
An edge jump is categorized by how the skater jumps straight off the edge of their blade with no assistance.
A toe jump is categorized by how the skater uses their toepick to assist their takeoff, vaulting them off of the ice.
Waltz Jump Family
Waltz Jump: An edge jump with a forward facing takeoff on an outside edge and is landed on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. With only a half rotation, the waltz jump is the first real jump that skaters learn, and is the first step of learning the axel.
Axel: An edge jump that takes off from the forward outside edge and is landed on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. A single Axel consists of 1.5 revolutions, a double is 2.5 revolutions, and a triple is 3.5 revolutions. Example: Midori Ito
Salchow: An edge jump taken off from the back inside edge of one foot and landed on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. I used to think of the entrance as; turn, check, through. The skater usually begins the salchow from an FO3 (forward outside three-turn), holds that edge, checking to make sure they don’t loose control of their arms or legs, then swings their leg through to leave the ice and begin rotation. Example: Kim Yuna
Toe Loop: A toe-pick-assisted jump that starts from a forward inside three-turn to a back outside edge, the skater picks with the free foot, then takes off and lands on that same back outside edge. Below, Cierra does a RFI three turn, picks with her left toe, and pulls her right foot across the ice and in to help begin rotation.
Loop Jump Family
Loop Jump: An edge jump, taken off from a back outside edge and landed on the same back outside edge. The skater has to have a deep knee bend to get off the ice, because no matter how it looks, the skater is only jumping off of one foot... and in the case of the example, the right foot. Example: Yuzuru Hanyu
Flip Jump: A toe-pick-assisted jump taken off from the back inside edge of one foot and landed on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. The skater toes the ice with their free foot, preforms a forward outside 3-turn to a very shallow back outside edge, before picking the ice behind them, drawing in to the picked foot, and vaulting into the air. Example: Kim Yuna
Lutz Jump: A counter rotated, toe-pick-assisted jump that takes off from a back outside edge and landed on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. Skaters have to be careful not to change to an inside edge before takeoff, which would turn the jump into a flip. The difficult part of preforming a lutz, is that you are (if right handed) on a left outside edge, and have your right shoulder checked behind you, and your left checked across your chest. After picking, if the skater has properly maintained that outside edge, they then need to rotate all their check across their body, and rotate to the left.
Jump Combinations
A jump combination is when the landing foot of a jump is the take-off foot of the next jump. Example: Karen Chen
This particular instance is a great example for pointing out how a jump combination is constructed. Karen enters and exits her triple lutz as one would normally, but instead of holding her landing position as she checks her shoulders, she turns her landing into the entry edge for a triple toe.
In competitions, the limit is 3 jumps to a combination. But as long as you have the power and flow, you can do as many as you like. Back when I did freestyle, instead of practicing after our lessons, my friends and I would see how many loops we could do in a row before we either; came to a dead stop, got too dizzy, or faceplanted.
Other Jumps
There are also jumps outside of the standard required elements:
Stag Jump: The skater begins the jump using either a loop or flip jump takeoff. The skater’s back leg is extended behind them while their front leg is bent in front of them, like a leaping deer, or maybe a stag, get it? Example: Michelle Kwan
Split Jump: The skater uses a flip takeoff and extends their legs in front and behind them to achieve a split position. Example: Joannie Rochette
Split Falling Leaf: A split falling leaf is basically just a split jump preformed with a loop takeoff. Example: Michelle Kwan
Russian Split Jump: A russian split jump is just a split jump with a changed air position. Instead of facing forward with their legs extended in front and back, a russian split jump has the skater’s body facing sideways, with them extending their legs out to their sides in a more straddle-esque position. Example: Rory Flack Burghart
You can think of a jump in three parts, the takeoff, air position, and landing.
Jump Take Off
There are two purposes for the take off. The skater must get into the air, and they must prepare for air rotation. And in order to properly preform a take off, the skater must do quite a few things.
The toe pick (sometimes called toe rake) is the small section of jagged teeth at the front of the blade. Toe picks are used to either launch the skater into the air in a sort of vaulting motion, or to jump right off of. If a skater doesn’t use their toepick correctly, they risk not getting high enough to complete their required rotations, loosing all their speed on the take off, or losing control of the jump before it even begins.
Toe picks are designed specifically for each type of blade they are on. For example, a freestyle blade has larger, thicker, and sharper picks than say, dance blades, and ice dancers don’t jump at all.
The above blade is a MK Phantom. Its a freestyle blade. It costs $500-$600
The above blade is a MK Dance. Its a dance blade. It costs $400-$450
Air Position
The air position is crucial to having a successful jump. When skaters are doing jumps, they are supposed to be stiff as a board, with all muscles tensed.
If you are right handed you wrap left over right and vice versa.
The skater’s arms must be pulled in tight anywhere from their navel (bellybutton) to their chest, with their elbows tucked in tight.
The goal is to get as many revolutions as possible while in the air.
Skaters typically spend between 0.65 and 0.70 seconds in the air for jumps.
It may help you to think about air position the way we learn it, as a backspin. When skaters first start working on their axel, we practice a waltz jump, and land doing a backspin. The basic backspin position is the same as a skater’s air position.
When attempting high level jumps, skaters have to train perfect air positions in order to complete their jump without falling out of the jump, opening up in the air mid-jump, or under/over-rotating their jump.
Here is American skater Mirai Nagasu training her triple axel.
Landing
The landing, first and foremost, is always on one foot.
The landing force is equal to 8 – 14 times the body weight of the skater.
All jumps are always landed on back outside edge of dominant foot. Skaters land on the front half of the blade, but not on the toe pick, and all jumps are landed backward on a blade that is 1/8 inch wide.
Checking in Figure Skating is when you stop the rotation of something. On the landing the skater’s non-dominant shoulder is extended in front with the other extended to the side to stop rotation while on the ice.
I made this to be a part of a visual aid for my public speaking class last year, I’m glad it gets some use lol
*REMINDER* Figure Skating is a tough and demanding sport, both physically and mentally. Please, do not attempt any difficult elements or skating that is beyond your skill level. You may hurt, or cause serious injury to yourself and other skaters. Skate at your own risk.
Just as a reminder to you all, if you are looking for my original compilation post, “Ariana’s Figure Skating Masterpost,” you can find it here
Happy Skating!!