Okay, let’s talk about figuring out skating jumps. It wasn’t like I woke up one day and knew them all. It was messy.
I’d been spending a fair bit of time just messing around on the ice, you know, basic stuff. Then you see other people doing these cool jumps, spinning in the air. At first, honestly? It all looked the same. Someone jumps, they spin, they land (or sometimes they don’t, haha). I couldn’t tell one from another if my life depended on it.
Getting Curious
So I started paying more attention. I’d just stand by the boards and watch. I noticed some skaters seemed to kick the ice with the front pick of their skate right before takeoff. Others seemed to just… glide into the jump off the edge of their blade. That was my first clue, like, okay, there are different ways they start the jump.
Then I started hearing names thrown around. “Nice Salchow!” or “Almost landed the Lutz!” Sounded like a foreign language. I tried looking things up online, but it was all diagrams and talk about edges – inside edge, outside edge, forward, backward. My head was spinning more than the skaters.
Trying to Make Sense of It
I figured the best way was to just keep watching and maybe try the really basic stuff myself. The first one people usually mention is the Waltz jump. It’s only half a rotation. Seemed easy enough, right? Well, coordinating the takeoff and landing on the right foot took practice. But doing it helped me feel what a jump takeoff was like, even a simple one.
Then I started trying to spot the difference between jumps that use the toe pick and those that don’t.
- Toe jumps: Like the Toe Loop, Flip, and Lutz. You see that distinct POKE into the ice with the free foot’s toe pick to launch.
- Edge jumps: Like the Salchow, Loop, and Axel. These looked smoother going in, taking off directly from an edge without that stabby motion.
Trying to tell the difference between the toe jumps, or the difference between the edge jumps? That was the next level of confusion. Flip vs. Lutz especially. They looked so similar! Someone told me it’s about the edge you take off from (inside vs. outside), but honestly, watching it happen so fast? Tough to catch.
Just Keep Watching (and Trying)
For me, it wasn’t about reading a book. It was about hours at the rink. Watching skaters warm up, watching lessons from afar. Seeing someone practice a Salchow over and over, you start to recognise the entry pattern, the way they swing their leg. Same for the Toe Loop – you see that little poke just before they go up.
I tried doing a few little hops myself, trying to feel the difference between pushing off an edge versus using the toe pick. Didn’t get much air, obviously, but it helped connect the visual with a feeling. The Salchow felt like a scooping motion off one foot, while a baby Toe Loop felt more like a vault using the pick.
I’m still no expert judge. I can probably identify a Waltz jump, a Salchow, and a Toe Loop most times now. Maybe a Flip if I’m paying close attention. The Axel, with its extra half rotation because it takes off forward? That one looks distinct because of the forward entry. But telling apart the harder jumps, especially when they do doubles or triples? Forget about it, it’s just a blur of skill!
So yeah, that’s my journey so far with figuring out these skating jumps. It’s just been a slow process of watching, noticing little details, and trying to feel the basic movements. No magic trick, just time on the ice and keeping my eyes open.
