The Bunny Hop: Why, Oh Why?

[montanarose]

Tinkerbell's recent post about injuring her back on a bunny hop reminded me of something I've always wondered about: exactly what IS the purpose of the bunny hop? What essential skating skill(s) is it intended to teach? Is it just to get used to leaving the surface of the ice for a nanosecond? After all, it's not as if you actually use the bunny hop in more advanced skating moves (AFAIK). I have also had a couple of nasty falls on this unassuming little jumplet, so I'm curious what you more experienced skaters see as its value.

Ellen

[jp1andOnly]

actually, it helps with the waltz jump and the axel. When you do the axel you have to work on getting your knee up, like a highjumper. Hence the bunny hop

Tinkerbell's recent post about injuring her back on a bunny hop reminded me of something I've always wondered about: exactly what IS the purpose of the bunny hop? What essential skating skill(s) is it intended to teach? Is it just to get used to leaving the surface of the ice for a nanosecond? After all, it's not as if you actually use the bunny hop in more advanced skating moves (AFAIK). I have also had a couple of nasty falls on this unassuming little jumplet, so I'm curious what you more experienced skaters see as its value.

Ellen

[lovepairs]

Actually, I've seen it used by the elites (not often, but every so often) as a part of the "footwork" sequence in their program. You are exactly right--it is designed to teach the beginner to leave the ice for as you say "a nano-second." Having said this, it also gets one ready for the waltz jump. It is cute and when done with some height and power--it actually is a very interesting joiner in between two elements within footwork. Cute little bunny hop--I'm sorry that it hurt you.

[froggy]

I hated learning the bunny hop, but the concept of its take off you'll see in the waltz jump and like a pyramid.. many jumps incorporate that waltz into it, with a variation in thier take off and landings such as the the salchow and toe loop. bunny hops may also be used in footwork as well, I have even seen high level skaters (senior level) throwing in bunny hops here and there. the lift off from the take off leg on the bunny hop is the same in every single jump even the edge jumps, they all take off from a bent knee, spring into the air with the last thing coming off the ice is the toe pick. Good luck!

[xofivebyfive]

That is an interesting question that I have been wondering about lately. I found it easier to do the waltz jump than the freaking bunny hop. I was able to do the waltz jump far easier, and in less time than the bunny hop.. So I am frustrated that I can do the waltz and not the bunny.. haha

[Tinkerbell]

That is an interesting question that I have been wondering about lately. I found it easier to do the waltz jump than the freaking bunny hop. I was able to do the waltz jump far easier, and in less time than the bunny hop.. So I am frustrated that I can do the waltz and not the bunny.. haha

Off topic but, does it make you feel better that I still can't seem to figure out how to do the FREAKING snow plow stop!!

[Hannah]

Off topic but, does it make you feel better that I still can't seem to figure out how to do the FREAKING snow plow stop!!

Push with your heels. That's how I got it.

Actually, I had a very hard time with it, and then at a public session a little weensy hockey player zoomed out in front of me, and THAT'S when I figured out how to do a snowplow stop. 8O Thinking about my heels works better for me though.

[Skittl1321]

Off topic but, does it make you feel better that I still can't seem to figure out how to do the FREAKING snow plow stop!!

I can do backwards snowplow stops but I cannot do a regular snowplow stop on my right side. That's even stranger that just not being able to do them.

[Skate@Delaware]

That is an interesting question that I have been wondering about lately. I found it easier to do the waltz jump than the freaking bunny hop. I was able to do the waltz jump far easier, and in less time than the bunny hop.. So I am frustrated that I can do the waltz and not the bunny.. haha
I'm with you on this one....bunny hops are EVIL!!!:twisted:

I took a nasty tumble during synchro because of them....spent the rest of the season "faking it" when it came to that part of the routine. Adults like me just have a hard time getting it....

I can do them now, but I still hate them and won't do them unless required.

[plinko]

I recently took my preliminary freeskate test (elements) and the bunny hop is a required element. To my dismay, I couldn't do one, the coach assumed that everyone could do them so I had bunny hop boot camp in the warm up before the test. I don't like landing forwards, I think that's it.

[Isk8NYC]

what IS the purpose of the bunny hop? What essential skating skill(s) is it intended to teach? If it's any consolation, I've always hated the bunny hop, and I have to teach it every week! The takeoff, as others said, is a prep for the waltz jump. The skating foot has to move from edge to toe for takeoff, and the free leg has to "kick through." It also teaches you to use your arms - the "toy soldier" motion of the arms is pretty simple, but most beginners have never had to use them before. It's a simple intro.

The landing's pretty important, too, since it's also the ballet and mazurka landing. (Later on the half-flip and half-lutz use the opposite foot to land) The toe landing can stop your heart along with your feet! You really have to use that right toe to PUSH onto the LFI edge and check the landing with your right arm in front.

I went to some coach's clinic where they discussed footwork and yes, it is included in many skaters' "fancy stepping." I (re)learned the "Double Bunny Hop" which sent me sprawling onto the ice. It's the same takeoff and kick through, but you come down on your takeoff toe - sort of like a skip on the ice. I don't like it any more than the original.

Hang in there - it has a purpose. BTW, this is one of the few jumps I like to teach near the wall. I've found that skaters can get over the fear of jumping if they have a balance bar nearby.

[icedancer2]

I went to some coach's clinic where they discussed footwork and yes, it is included in many skaters' "fancy stepping." I learned the "Double Bunny Hop" which sent me sprawling onto the ice. It's the same takeoff and kick through, but you come down on your takeoff toe - sort of like a skip on the ice. I don't like it any more than the original.



You are so right -- the bunny hop is not easy, even for kids, but it definitely gets you to think "I'm jumping!!"

I remember these double bunny-hops -- I always thought they were easier than the regular ones!:lol:

[AshBugg44]

I don't like teaching bunny hops to kids. It's often hard for them to understand it at first. Same with half jumps.

[Chico]

Those double bunny hops sound interesting, I'm going to try tomorrow.

Chico

[singerskates]

Hang in there - it has a purpose. BTW, this is one of the few jumps I like to teach near the wall. I've found that skaters can get over the fear of jumping if they have a balance bar nearby.

So I'm not the only one who teaches the bunny hop next to the wall. It makes it easier for the kids to see what they need to be doing, when they can slow down each part of an element. During our CanSkate today, I took one girl a side to teach her the bunny hop. She got it right away, not that great, after I taught it to her by the wall. Before that, she was clueless.

singerskates

[Mercedeslove]

The bunny hop is fun, but I have really long legs. So when I do it the move looks so ugly to me.

[crayonskater]

I think the main point of the bunny hop is to get you used to the motion of taking off by going through the ball of the foot and off the toe pick, and to learn to land by rolling off the pick.

If you don't have that weight transfer down correctly, the other jumps -- even just a waltz jump -- are a lot more dangerous. Jumping on the ground doesn't involve a toe-point, but jumping on ice without a toe-point can make you fly off the back edge.

[BatikatII]

I always wondered much the same thing about the point of bunny hops and also hated them and was scared of them.

Some of our coaches regularly use them as part of a footwork sequence for their skaters (usually two together)

I actually quite like them now and what got me over the fear of them was going to a skate camp where during a footwork/edges class we were all in lines and had to follow the instructor down the ice doing the same moves he did.

He set off doing bunny hop, drag (lunge),bunny hop, drag, repeatedly down the ice. I love drags so somehow being able to go straight into a drag made the bunny hop less scary. I was a little tentative the first time but found that (like with most jumps) actually 'going for it' with as much 'ooomph' as I could, made it easier.

I'm still not sure why they make beginners learn them - I know very few people (adults) who like them but crayon skaters answer makes sense that they do teach the take off and kick through, motion and they do make a forward landing possible. Also being able to land safely forward is useful for some jumps and linking moves and also when learning multi-rotation jumps and under-rotating them - not that I am at that stage!:lol:

[SkatingOnClouds]

Well I also posted under Tinkerbell's original posting, but just wanted to add my voice to the others who found bunny hops harder than the jumps that came after. I still hate them.

Sometimes I force myself to do them on each foot, but I can still feel the fear when I do them.

I can see the point, about the springing off the ice, and especially about getting the feel of taking off from and landing on a toe pick. But I think it is the taking off and landing forward that I don't like. Never had this trouble with waltzes.

[CFP]

wow,,, it's funny how many have issues with this!:lol:
the only 'value' i can think of is that you can take off quickly from a dead start,,,, do two in a row and you're cruising. it's also fun to do a bunny hop and drop right into a lunge..:)
have you tried to do these across a room,, just to get a 'memory' of it?

[Isk8NYC]

I teach the Bunny Hop in stages for fearful or reluctant beginners. I draw a "puddle" on the ice and have the skater step over the puddle. (There's a story I tell about the "Old Days" when ladies wore crummy slippers and had to jump over the puddles when there were no men around to lay down their jackets. The little princesses love it.) This starts the left-to-right shift. The Fearless Wonders that aren't afraid of jumping or falling usually jump over the puddle at this point, which makes my life much simpler. Then I teach the landing with a drill. This usually involves education: the fearful ones feel that the toe pick is just there to kill them. ("No, it can be your friend and we DO use them for jumping!") Next, I teach the toy soldier arms. I usually reteach them once we start the real jump. Then, I teach the jump using the wall as a barre on the left side. The left hand just glides from front to back along the wall as they walk through the jump.

[Isk8NYC]

have you tried to do these across a room,, just to get a 'memory' of it? Off-ice practice is a great idea, since this is the first "memory" jump. You can do a waltz jump without the arms, but the bunny hop really needs it to check the jump safely. Once you start doing toe loop, flip, loop, you have to get used to using the arms to check the takeoffs and landings.

I agree the forward landing is scary, but you do use it for blown jumps and I even use it for spin endings now in my students' programs.

[flo]

They're good to get footwork going, as are other various leaps or skips from a stop.
I was in a group lesson (all women) way back and the woman teaching the hops has been at our rink forever and is such a sweetie. She demonstrated one, and her well endowed chest took up a motion of it's own with the hop. We all decided bunny hops were not for adults. This is what I always think of with bunny hops.

[jenlyon60]

A lot of dancers use bunny hops or something similar as part of the intro for Killian and Quickstep. I told my coach that bunny hops were absolutely positively verboten for my Killian intro. Luckily so far he has decided to let me have my way. (I also came up with an alternative approach...)

[Skate@Delaware]

I think it might have helped if we had learned the bunny hop BEFORE we worked on other jumps....she threw it out there as a filler....:giveup:


no matter, still hate them

[jazzpants]

OOOOOOh, I hate that scrwewry wabbit!!! Well, at least I'm starting to make peace with it. The bunny hop I can do on one side fine, but the other foot takes some adjustments.

And yes, wouldn't you know it? My secondary coach makes her power class do alternating bunny hops straight down the line and it HAS TO BE FAST!!! Banged up my knees badly once doing just that!!! SOOOOO EVIL!!! :evil:

[Skittl1321]

I think people should post nice things about the Bunny Hop now. I have to start these once lessons start up next month and now I'm SCARED!

[Isk8NYC]

Start practicing off-ice now and you'll be the star student!

[crayonskater]

I think people should post nice things about the Bunny Hop now. I have to start these once lessons start up next month and now I'm SCARED!

They're not scary. And they can be done without a lot of speed. And it's fun to do them down the length of the ice (though it's probably silly-looking for anyone over age, say, 5.)

[twokidsskatemom]

We see alot of senior level skater use them in programs as a tranistion.watch them on tv someday, you will see a ton of them !!
they also do help alot with waltz jumps.

[Mrs Redboots]

I actually quite like them and usually put at least one in somewhere!

I am reminded of the skater who taught her (then) 7-year-old son how to do them by explaining "First you kick the rabbit in the tummy, and when he doubles over, you stomp on the back of his neck." Actually, it probably wasn't his tummy she was thinking of, but you have to censor these things for little kids....

Anyway, the image stayed with me and I've never minded bunny hops since!

[doubletoe]

Yes, the bunny hop takeoff is a preparation for the waltz jump takeoff, and the bunny hop landing is a preparation for half jump landings where you have to land forward with a toe assist (although it's normally on the opposite foot/toe). I suppose landing forward on the right toe would also train you to point your right toe for your waltz jump landing, even though you'll be landing backwards on that one.

[Isk8NYC]

I am reminded of the skater who taught her (then) 7-year-old son how to do them by explaining "First you kick the rabbit in the tummy, and when he doubles over, you stomp on the back of his neck." Actually, it probably wasn't his tummy she was thinking of, but you have to censor these things for little kids....This sounds like a Monty Python skit with cute little bunnies and a sweet-cheeked little skater boy. LOL

[tidesong]

My first really bad fall was on the bunny hop, didnt jump enough, fell right on my knee :( took practically a year before I could kneel without pain.

I have the double bunny hop in the freestyle 6 dance step for ISI, its really scary for me... I hold my breath whenever I get to that part of it (which is probably a bad idea) but it scares me, especially with any amount of speed.

[Zoomana]

I live with two real bunnies (a dwarf/New Zealand mix and a California/both white with pink eyes). They can out-jump most skaters! Not only do my two bunnies get a lot of height, they get rotation. So far they are landing doubles and working on triples. I'm not kidding. Mr. Bunny and Hannah are workin' it! Their hind legs are incredible!

Bunny hops (for people) are terrifying if you think about them and the whole toe pick thing. For years, I couldn't do one, yet I could do up through single lutz and even lutz/loop/sorta toe (I hate toe). I had a mental phobia about bunny hops because of the forward toe pick thing.

One day, I heard a perky, funny song at the rink and I did a bunch of weird jumps to fit the music. They were bunny hops. All of a sudden, I realized, this is no biggie.

Jump progression has no rules. I know a lot of people who get waltz/loop way before loop on its own. I also have attempted double flips, yet double top/salchow/or even loop would be a joke.

My bunnies have gotten me to hop. Now only if there was a pet called Axel....

[Thin-Ice]

I live with 4 house rabbits (they live in the house, just like cats.. and yes they are litter box trained) and the jumps they do look NOTHING like a "bunny hop". Two of my bunnies are VERY into jumping up and doing a 360-degree turn.. and I think my mini-rex is working on an axel. She rotated nearly 1-1/2 times while jumping up on the bed a couple of days ago. The other two rabbits look at the "athletic" ones.. and have looks on their faces that I can only translate as "that sure looks like an awful lot of work for no good reason".:lol:

[kayskate]

I teach it as a step-by-step walk-through at the boards. It is very easy to catch your toe before you kick your leg forward. I actually did that today, but I was just fooling around slowly, so I did not take a dive. They can be scary to do fast,a nd you build up speed doing them in a series.

Want to scare yourself? Do them down the length of the rink on alternating legs.

Kay

[SkatingOnClouds]

I am reminded of the skater who taught her (then) 7-year-old son how to do them by explaining "First you kick the rabbit in the tummy, and when he doubles over, you stomp on the back of his neck." Actually, it probably wasn't his tummy she was thinking of, but you have to censor these things for little kids....

Anyway, the image stayed with me and I've never minded bunny hops since!

Off subject, but my aunt taught me to knit like this. My mother tried the "bunny hop through, bunny hop over" approach to knitting, it never gelled for me, but with my aunt it was; "stab him, strangle him, hang him and throw him away". Never forgot that!

[Miss_Kate]

I am reminded of the skater who taught her (then) 7-year-old son how to do them by explaining "First you kick the rabbit in the tummy, and when he doubles over, you stomp on the back of his neck."

but with my aunt it was; "stab him, strangle him, hang him and throw him away". Never forgot that!

Is there something you gys here have against wabbits? :halo:
Seriously though, I give much credit to those of you who can make your body leave the ice. (On purpose) I am still making forward glides look like, as my dear instructor put it, "a waddling duck". :D

[SpiralSweetie09]

O good golly gracious, so many falls on such a teeny lil jump. :?? Yea, I think Ive fallen more on that than on my waltz jump which is pretty sad. I know. :P But anyways, it does help prepare you. Like in the waltz jump you must get your knee up, same as bunny hops.

[Thin-Ice]

Is there something you gys here have against wabbits? :halo:
Seriously though, I give much credit to those of you who can make your body leave the ice. (On purpose) I am still making forward glides look like, as my dear instructor put it, "a waddling duck". :D

Not everyone is anti-rabbit... some of us have house rabbits (yes, just like indoor cats!) Please say only nice things about our fur-kid friends. We don't say mean things about your dogs/cats/horses/etc... Thank you!

[Miss_Kate]

I'm sure it was all tongue in cheek about the wascally wabbits. A friend of mine had a Lop when we were kids. Goofy critter could jump while still in his cage and make it move several inches. The Lop had issues. :)

[Thin-Ice]

I'm sure it was all tongue in cheek about the wascally wabbits. A friend of mine had a Lop when we were kids. Goofy critter could jump while still in his cage and make it move several inches. The Lop had issues. :)

I'm sure I'm just being overly sensitive since I do rabbit rescue work.. and this is the really bad season (when people who thought it would be SO CUTE to get a rabbit for Easter.. are now deciding "they're like having a real pet" and "rabbits are too much work" so they're dumping them or releasing them to fend for themselves.. which of course, they cannot. And if you read the above posts and substitute the word "dog" or "cat" or "kid" for "bunny" or "rabbit" you might see why I feel this way when people speak harshly about these relatively helpless domesticated creatures. Thanks for your understanding!