LUTZ SHMUTZ!

[figurebabe]

I JUST CANT DO IT! arghh :evil: ITS EVIL!
I have so far learnt to pick..and hmm rotate about 90 degrees CCW??!!
what's wrong with me!! When I pick, i feel very VERY uncomfortable..it feels so twisted up and wrong!
I think its because its a counter-rotated jump...But somethings telling me I am doing something wrong.. ok well, I have my let arm in front, right back.. bend my picking foot, pick it (behind the skating foot), lift up a bit, bring the arms in (feet JUST DONT WANT TO CROSS OVER!), and end up doing a hopeless 1/4 of a turn rotation! ARGGRB :cry: (OH AND ALSO, LAND ON BOTH FEET!)

Im so frustrated!! :? :( :cry: ! Hope you can help!

-figurebabe-

[singerskates]

What you need to do is just pratice going into the left back outside edge and have your right leg hang crossed behind you. Then once you are comfortable with doing that go for picking in and not turning.To get this right, you need to be gliding backwards on your outside back left edge with your right leg hanging crossed behind you while you bend your left knee, your right leg stretches out behind you and then you spring your left knee up straight while the right leg comes to meet the left leg and the ice. It is then that you pick in.
For the full rotation, you need to be careful what you are doing with your arms. As the right leg comes to meet the left leg and the ice to pick in, your right arm comes from behind you to first swing down and then up to meet your left arm infront of you. This makes your left hip lead in the jump and give you that extra 1/4 turn. To check this jump swing your right arm down and back to press your right shoulder back but keep your left and right shoulders square.

[Anita18]

I recommend trying this jump when you're really mad at someone, LOL. I just started it last Thursday, after I got to my group lesson extremely late thanks to my lil sis who [i:440b0312b9]had [/i:440b0312b9]to be driven to the movie theatres at the last minute. :roll: Anyways, I even shocked myself when I landed two lutzes (one fully rotated) in that 15 minute increment, LOL! And I had never even tried them before! I mean, they were probably badly flutzed but for right now, I'll take them as they are. :wink:

Anyways, I think singerskates has some good things to ponder on, especially that exercise - just picking in, jumping backwards, and landing on one foot. I did that a couple of times before I attempted the lutz, and I think it really helped me get some time in the air. What helped me get that rotation was using the arms/shoulders in it too. Your hips and shoulders have to enter the rotation together, so your body doesn't feel all twisted up midair. I mean, don't swing your arms around but use the force in your shoulders too. That probably doesn't make any sense, but it's kind of like using your arms to start a two-foot spin from a standstill. Hmmm...I don't know if that will help, since I just started it, too, LOL...Good luck!

[jazzpants]

[quote:4832ad33a6="Anita18"]I recommend trying this jump when you're really mad at someone, LOL. I just started it last Thursday, after I got to my group lesson extremely late thanks to my lil sis who [i:4832ad33a6]had [/i:4832ad33a6]to be driven to the movie theatres at the last minute. :roll: [/quote:4832ad33a6]

Boy you must've been mad your lit' sis, eh??? :wink: :lol: I'll bet you thanked her afterwards for those two lutzes though... :lol:

Cheers,
jazzpants

[singerskates]

[quote:a39927c4f2="singerskates"]What you need to do is just pratice going into the left back outside edge and have your right leg hang crossed behind you. Then once you are comfortable with doing that go for picking in and not turning.To get this right, you need to be gliding backwards on your outside back left edge with your right leg hanging crossed behind you while you bend your left knee, your right leg stretches out behind you and then you spring your left knee up straight while the right leg comes to meet the left leg and the ice. It is then that you pick in.
For the full rotation, you need to be careful what you are doing with your arms. As the right leg comes to meet the left leg and the ice to pick in, your right arm comes from behind you to first swing down and then up to meet your left arm infront of you. This makes your left hip lead in the jump and give you that extra 1/4 turn. To check this jump swing your right arm down and back to press your right shoulder back but keep your left and right shoulders square.[/quote:a39927c4f2]

Ok, when I said to swing your arm, I didn't mean from back to front horizontally. That will get you no where and doesn't get your left hip to lead in the jump. What I meant by swinging your arm is to take your arm from behind your right shoulder and swish your right arm down past your right hip/thigh and then up infront of you to meet up with your left arm. This works and gets your left hip to start a quarter turn for you.

Sorry if it was vague before about swinging the right arm.

Gees, what was I on before. I had the left arm swing past the right hip. LOL Probably not enough sleep. ROTFLOL

[TashaKat]

[quote:8b1e35491e="figurebabe"]I JUST CANT DO IT! arghh :evil: ITS EVIL!
I have so far learnt to pick..and hmm rotate about 90 degrees CCW??!!
what's wrong with me!! When I pick, i feel very VERY uncomfortable..it feels so twisted up and wrong!
I think its because its a counter-rotated jump...But somethings telling me I am doing something wrong.. ok well, I have my let arm in front, right back.. bend my picking foot, pick it (behind the skating foot), lift up a bit, bring the arms in (feet JUST DONT WANT TO CROSS OVER!), and end up doing a hopeless 1/4 of a turn rotation! ARGGRB :cry: (OH AND ALSO, LAND ON BOTH FEET!)

Im so frustrated!! :? :( :cry: ! Hope you can help!

-figurebabe-[/quote:8b1e35491e]

Figurebabe - check out the thread (http://www.acforums.homeip.net/viewtopic.php?t=996&highlight=lutz) on the lutz that was around in June. Be careful in your haste to learn a lutz NOT to try and use your shoulders to make the turn! This IS a strange feeling jump and it's better to take time to learn it than THINK that you're dong a lutz when, in fact you're taking off from an inside edge because you've dropped your shoulder, spotted too wide or whatever :)

L x

[lsk8tr]

I can only sympathize with you on this jump.

I've told my coach "This Lutz guy is an idiot and how in the world did he ever invent this jump?!!!" Of course that was in the heat of frusteration because I have felt like you..the whole jump feels wrong and impossible. Even now, the jump is just plain....well...icky.

I am NOT a toe jumper, so if you're the same, then your spins are probably stronger?

The first lutz I ever landed I didn't want to make too much of a big deal about because it felt so awful, I knew that it looked horrible to anyone watching and I didn't want anyone to watch me do it (it was hard enough to practice with other people). The people who can do the jump just float right over the ice with no effort...it drives me absolutely crazy!

However, know that there are those of us who are in your shoes, you may never be a strong lutz jumper, but you'll have other strengths that people will covet.

I was able to do a flying camel within 2 weeks of practicing it, so I try to think of that when I'm still working on getting my lutz consistent.

Good luck. I have no excersizes for you or any other pieces of good advice on how to handle this jump.

Obviously, Mr. Lutz had nice open hips that allowed him to jump like this without twisting himself into a little ball! :wink:

[figurebabe]

yes, I am more of a spinner, I must say. And my edge jumps are fine all the time; I dont really like toe jumps! I am going to use all advice given to me, and I must admit, I HAVE learnt some essential things; I never knew that the skating foot has to reach the picking foot before you jump. I am sure that if I got the actual technique perfect, the jump would come along soon..

thanks for all the advice people! :lol:

-figurebabe-

[Chico]

I hate this jump also, I call it the jump from h***l. I have to admit that I don't work on it consistently and when my coach asks for it I panic. Noooooooooo =-0 I have a sorta kinda axel and 2 sal, and enjoy working on these, but that lutz gives me shivers of horror. Nasty thing! I have heard the same input from peers. Doubles, axel, but not that lutz. Your not alone. Just tell yourself that it's a necessary evil and do the dang thing. Move on to "better" and for sure fun things! My old coach told me to think of it as a weird flip, head thing, and this does work some days. I'm not fooled really at that weird takeoff though. Nasty!

Chico

[melanieuk]

Sorry if this has been said before, but my coach got me to do this exercise for 2-3 weeks as I was having trouble with the entry:

* CW backcrosses X 3
* hold the LBO edge, with R foot just beside and slightly behind the skating foot
* Don't wait too long, reach back with picking foot and at the same time change the arms so that the left shoulder is in front and the R is behind.
* pick, jump up, and pull in
* land without rotating (at all) on your landing foot and check the arms.

She made me do this until I could pick, then bring my forward leg to back to meet the picking foot during the preparation to jump upwards.

[b:4bc9284f0e] ***I had to ensure my weight was over my picking foot before trying to rotate ***[/b:4bc9284f0e]

I now do a "nice light lutz", :roll: (my coach's words, not mine!) using additional step as this helps me steady the entry and ensures it takes off from an outside edge.
I do mine [b:4bc9284f0e]CW.[/b:4bc9284f0e]

3 CCW backcrosses
(on the straight) cross right foot over left, onto a RBO edge
extend L leg to pick, right arm forward, left holding firmly back

It helps ME to [i:4bc9284f0e]think[/i:4bc9284f0e] about that left arm (your right arm) coming [b:4bc9284f0e]around/ or ROLLING[/b:4bc9284f0e] in to your chest, not [i:4bc9284f0e]dropping.[/i:4bc9284f0e]
It only pulls in for a split second before you have to bring it out and check it for the landing.

I am so rubbish at explaining things in writing. :?