#jump technique

[doomduck]

Nathan Chen's 3A.

Between this and Kami's full blade assisted lutz i can seen why y'all are so full of rage at the scoring....

[threecupsfull]

Brian Orser transcript 5/20

For Ravi Walia’s students, posted on IG on May 20, 2020

Brian: The main thing is that we’re going to try to create.. some acceleration that’s going to take you into this jump, and you’re going to try to imagine there’s a target which is going to be where the axel is. So you need to get nice and narrow and have a funnel your way to that jump. So the first one we’re going to do, is - If you jump my way, ok, so I jump this way, ok-  so I’m going to put- I’m going to go sideways towards the takeoff, then do a little giddyup, and then I’m going to do the axel. Ok, but the arms, make sure that the arms go behind you, in front of you - I’m still sideways - and then I’m going to do a big step into the axel, all right, so one more time it looks like this, it’s going to go- I’m looking over here

Brian: Lutz exercise is gonna help us really feel like we’re gonna be on that outside edge, all right? So I’m just going to show you what it looks like first. For those who jump my way, you’re going to be on your left foot for the left foot takeoff on the lutz.  And then those who jump Kaetlyn Osmond way, you’re gonna be on your right foot, ok? So but I’m gonna put my arms.. like this, but I’m not going to be square, I’m gonna rotate just my shoulders, not my hips, just my shoulders. I’m gonna go on one foot with my knee up a little bit, so it’s going to be in front of the other foot. So I’m just gonna go-  one hop back, one hop back, one hop to the left, one hop to the right, release the arms, and then do a lutz. So it goes pretty quick. It goes - bah bah bah bah. Ok? It’s Moving back toward the target Shoulders 1 and 2 and 3 and go. All right? Lemme see.

Brian: A lot of you like all of us have been off the ice for a long time, but just by watching this class, everybody’s doing some really great things. And doing all this off ice jumping stuff, together with some of the other exercise, whether there’s general fitness or stretching classes or Pilates or ballet, you guys are all doing the right things, so when you do get on the ice, eventually, maybe some of you already are on the ice, but I can tell you if we’re..if we’re staying fit, and doing all this stuff, it’s going to be much easier when we get on the ice. So don’t panic because we’ve been off the ice for 8 or 9 weeks. it’s, everything’s going to be there- just it’s not like coming back from an injury where we’re not doing anything for 2 months. So this is completely different. And if you do have any programs, you can work on your programs off the ice as well, so you can remember any choreography you need to remember  And work on some expression, and you can incorporate some of these jumps into your programs. So there’s lots and lots we can do.

[figureskatingask]

Hi! I'm new in the skating fandom and I'm curious about the jumps. Can you tell me what makes each jumps difficult or unique to each other?

Thanks for asking!

Jumps are unique to each other because of their takeoffs - the edges and methods used to jump into the air. Each jump has a unique takeoff which differentiates itself from the others and varies in difficulty. All of my explanations are for a counter-clockwise skater, the most common kind.

The toe loop takes off from a right back outside edge, with the left toe pick tapping in. This is not a very difficult jump type (opinions may vary).

The Salchow takes off from a left back inside edge. The skater brings the right leg through in a sort of kicking motion (dependent on technique) and springs up into the air from their left foot.

The loop takes off from a right back outside edge, but the left leg generally stays in front and there is no toe assist. The skater springs up into the air from their right foot - this is the only jump that is truly taken off and landed on the same foot, which is why it has a lot of hip problems attributed to it.

The flip takes off from a left back inside edge, with the right toe pick tapping in to assist. These are usually entered from a Mohawk or a three-turn, but other entries can vary.

The Lutz takes off from a left back outside edge, with the right toe pick tapping in to assist. This jump is the hardest of the backwards-takeoff jumps because it involves counter-rotation of the upper body. You are jumping against the direction the edge is taking you.

The Axel takes off from a left forward outside edge with the right leg kicking through and no toe pick assist. The Axel is considered the most difficult jump predominantly because of the forward takeoff, which involves rolling up and jumping off your left toepick while skating forward, a dangerous maneuver! Learning to overcome the fear of hitting the toepick while skating forward is a big part of learning this jump.

[figureskatingask]

Is there any way to "cheat" jumps?

Thanks for asking!

When you see people referring to “cheated” jumps, they’re generally referring to part of the rotation occurring on the ice (also sometimes called “hooked” landings). These are bad, and depending on the severity, ought to be marked < or <<. I have seen some skaters land completely forward and “hook” very quickly around to backwards to try and fool people into thinking they rotated the whole way.

Now generally speaking, the skater doesn’t actually mean to do this. They just have poor jump technique and they’re trying to stay upright the best way they’ve been taught.

[figureskatingask]

hello! I'm curious to know what you mean when you say yuzuru "collapses inwards over his core and doesn’t engage it well on the landing"? thank you :)

Thanks for asking!

This is a bit tricky to explain, as it’s quite subtle. What I mean is that he is almost “floppy” on his landings. His upper body does not seem strong when he lands, it tends to…hunch is not quite the right word, but it’s close. His shoulders go forwards and down and he bends over his waist. The impact generally means that skaters’ bodies will react in this way, but Hanyu’s to me seems more pronounced.

I mean, obviously it works for him and he has an otherwise excellent jump technique, it’s just a small detail about his skating generally that I’d like to see him clean up. Otherwise known as, me being nitpicky and wanting to see a skater of Hanyu’s talent reach the full potential of that talent.

[figureskatingask]

I've noticed - or correct me if I'm wrong? - that Hanyu has a jumping technique that almost completely eliminates a chance of prerotation? On slow motion playbacks, I think that he tends to go into jumps by standard backwards crossovers, and then actually open up his body and do a rotation on the ice before launching himself into the air. But from what I could tell, he doesn't count the rotation on the ice and actually launches into four full rotations fully in the air. Is this right?

Thanks for asking!

First, I will say this - there is always a degree of pre-rotation in certain jumps, and that is allowable. However, for skaters with good basic technique - like Hanyu - this is minimal.

Until the moment of takeoff, nothing else on the ice counts. The only time anything on the ice counts is during the takeoff. As an example, Satoko Miyahara has one of my least favourite pre-rotation techniques - and if you look at her Lutz carefully, when she puts her toe in to spring, she almost completes a full rotation on her toe and only two in the air. To her credit, she has worked very hard on trying to minimise this.

Hanyu, like a lot of skaters with good technique, springs up very quickly, meaning he does not rotate very far on the ice and therefore completes more rotation in the air. Most quad jumpers with good technique will get their four rotations in the air - there are far fewer pre-rotators than there are rotators, if you follow my drift.

[figureskatingask]

Does evgenia 'muscle' through her jumps? Bc thats what everyone says but since im an amateur I don't see it

Thanks for asking!

“muscled” jumps is generally a term used to describe when a skater makes the arm movements in the jump really obvious. It’s not actually a huge deal since it doesn’t affect the important bits of the jump (take off, landing, rotations). It doesn’t always look pretty, but if it works, it works.

I think when she is tired, or when she is fighting, Evgenia’s arm movements in her later jumps become very obvious. But it doesn’t bother me particularly as it’s not a true technique flaw.

[figureskatingask]

Critical comments on Zhenya's technique? I've been seeing all sorts of comments, but I'm not an experienced fan so all i know is that she is consistent, she has rippons and tanos, and she is expressive. Also, thoughts on zagitova and the quad/3a girls in juniors?

Thanks for asking!

A first aside: You should know that Zhenya is a unisex dimunitive, for both Evgenia and Evgeni - so until you said “she”, I was not sure if you were talking about Medvedeva, or Plushenko! :)

I think Evgenia’s technique is generally pretty good - it’s certainly solid and reliable. She does use her arms quite noticeably, but this is not necessarily a technique flaw, it just doesn’t necessarily look as pretty. Her flip and Lutz edges can be iffy, though I have more problems with her flip than her Lutz; her flip should very often be “e”. But I have noticed the tech panels seem a little allergic to calling those in the last couple of years, not just for her, but everyone.

Her rotations are generally very good; even on a bad day, she generally completes full rotation on her jumps, with clean landings (no cheated landings).

The tanos and rippons suggest a comfort and a confidence in her jump technique that bodes well for future years. What is even more impressive is that she can switch effortlessly if she has a problem. She will put the tanos away if she is “struggling”.

There are ladies with purer technique out there, but reliability and consistency speak just as well sometimes. And in my opinion, she has one of the prettiest triple loops in the world - the entry and exit included.

For Zagitova, I was very impressed by her 0-8 layout this season, which for me, was not only an epic technical accomplishment, but an accomplishment of choreography, because they made it look very nice and part of the program, instead of it being super-glaringly obvious.

As to the quad/3A question, that one is coming tomorrow in answer to another question :)