pulling out of axels

[*JennaD*]

Hey everyone! It's been quite a while since I've logged on here 8O Anyway, lately I have been having a lot of trouble pulling out of my jumps. I have been working on my axel, double salchow and double loop and I have them all nice and clean most of the time, but I cannot seem to pull out of them at all, and so I land them clean with my legs in backspin position, and then fall. Any tips about this? :) Thanks!

[flo]

It's not unusual to be landing jumps in that position while they're new. I did this for most of mine to be sure I had the rotation and know I was on the ground before I checked out. It does require and will actually give you more control - if not you will fall over. For now, the moment you feel the foot touch th eice, think check. The more comfortable and controlled you are with the landing, the better your pull out timing will become.

[kander]

It doesn't sound like you are doing anything fundamentally wrong. Just keep practicing and eventually you'll get the feel for it. Train the Brain :)

[doubletoe]

Try adding a toeloop at the end of each jump every time you practice it. Also, focus on lifting the knee of the free leg as you land, rather than just uncrossing the leg. That should help keep you over the landing side.

[patatty]

Try to really bend your knee (of your landing leg) as you land. This will cause your foot to roll down from the toe and put the whole blade on the ice for a glide. If you land on the toe and stay there, you will keep spinning around. I have trouble checking out of my axels too, and my coach and I have been working on this. The knee bend thing really saves the jump, even if my upper body hasn't straightened itself out yet.

[RachelSk8er]

I have the exact opposite issue. I don't cross my feet (because I don't like falling) and therefore two-foot my axel. Every. Single. Time. And then my coach bangs his head on the boards because if I'd just not worry about the landing I'd land the stupid thing.

My coach is having me try a slightly new approach, which I haven't tried on ice yet b/c it's a little awkward and I'm not comfortable with it off the ice. Rather than thinking of crossing the L foot over, he wants me to think of tucking the R foot behind the left once I'm in the air (and once it's there thinking of checking the L foot up and out, the check up happens before you land).

[SkatEn]

I have the exact opposite issue. I don't cross my feet (because I don't like falling) and therefore two-foot my axel. Every. Single. Time. And then my coach bangs his head on the boards because if I'd just not worry about the landing I'd land the stupid thing.


Exactly. The. Same. Thing.
Except that I'm also pulling out early by opening my arms (you know, I don't wanna fall too badly...). I'm getting 1 or 1 1/4. My coach think it's possible to get axel if I fix my legs and/or arms. Whenever I try to cross, I fall too! Badly, I might add. Only when I'm not trying, then do I not fall.

JennaD, you should try the toe loop because it makes you open your legs. Are your arms and legs synchronised too? Not sure how to get rid of it, but I will say it's more of an annoying habit and mental barrier! Good luck!

[RachelSk8er]

Exactly. The. Same. Thing.
Except that I'm also pulling out early by opening my arms (you know, I don't wanna fall too badly...). I'm getting 1 or 1 1/4. My coach think it's possible to get axel if I fix my legs and/or arms. Whenever I try to cross, I fall too! Badly, I might add. Only when I'm not trying, then do I not fall.

JennaD, you should try the toe loop because it makes you open your legs. Are your arms and legs synchronised too? Not sure how to get rid of it, but I will say it's more of an annoying habit and mental barrier! Good luck!

You can also just throw a loop on the end if you're able to land on 1 foot with it crossed. This was another of my coach's ways of "tricking" me into landing my axel. But the toe loop will be a better fix for your particular crossed landing issue.

[CoachPA]

My coach is having me try a slightly new approach, which I haven't tried on ice yet b/c it's a little awkward and I'm not comfortable with it off the ice. Rather than thinking of crossing the L foot over, he wants me to think of tucking the R foot behind the left once I'm in the air (and once it's there thinking of checking the L foot up and out, the check up happens before you land).

I have used this approach with several students, and I really believes that it helps some. Some skaters can't envision the feeling of shifting their weight in the air (from the take-off position to the in-air backspin position) and, for some reason, this reversal works.

Try adding a toeloop at the end of each jump every time you practice it. Also, focus on lifting the knee of the free leg as you land, rather than just uncrossing the leg. That should help keep you over the landing side.

Excellent tip! I have my students tack the toe on when I find them two-footing or sitting down on the landing.

[RachelSk8er]

I have used this approach with several students, and I really believes that it helps some. Some skaters can't envision the feeling of shifting their weight in the air (from the take-off position to the in-air backspin position) and, for some reason, this reversal works.


I think because you're already focusing on your R leg when driving it through and up into the jump, so keeping the focus on what the R leg is doing gives you less to think about, and that tuck under kind of helps the snap.

Most of us (adults) who have issues with this jump are just overthinking of it or have too much going on to think about that it gets in the way of just doing it. (Hence why I had an axel at age 11 when I just did stuff and didn't think about it! Now I'm wishing I hadn't quit freestyle, although my parents made me choose synchro or freestyle and I don't have any regrets about the choice I made at that time.)