Jumping Slump

[sk8ryellow]

I feel as if I am in a jumping slump!!!! I lost my double toe and am afraid to do it due to smacking my palm on the ice really hard, I am afraid to even try my double flip for fear of hurting my back again. I feel as if I am not improving due to these blocks. Does anyone have any advice for me as to how I can overcome this and begin working on my double toe and flip again???:frus:

[flying~camel]

I feel your pain!

I had (actually, still have) an illness that affected my muscles that lasted about a year and a half during which time I lost ALL of my jumps (even the waltz jump!). While I've gotten most of them back, I am struggling with a mental block on my lutz. I land it about 25-30% of the time but I just can't seem to get past the mental block the other 70-75% of the time! :giveup:

So, if anyone has any suggestions on how to overcome a mental block, I'm certainly all ears!

[Isk8NYC]

Try mental imagery. Imagine yourself doing the jump over and over, perfectly. Do it when you're awake and feel the muscles twitch a bit as you go through the motions in your mind, step by step.

The Lutz requires a lot of strength and coordination, so don't get discouraged. You probably lost some muscle strength due to the illness. When you get stronger, it'll be easier to do that jump.

I remember using ankle and leg weights off-ice to build up strength for that jump. It feels so abnormal - you pick in and then have to turn your regular way, but because of the outside edge takeoff, the jump feels totally wrong. When it was right, I felt like I was taking off straight up in the air, THEN turning the jump, almost as if I was interrupting the wrong-way rotation.

[doubletoe]

No specific advice, but be reassured that if you keep practicing your single toe jumps and all of the exercises you used while learning your doubles, you probably won't lose your double toe or double flip. I threw my back out doing salchows 9 months ago, and was afraid to even try my double sal after that. Two weeks ago, I finally decided I was going to go for it, and after making sure my single salchow and salchow-loop felt right, I went for it. I landed the double cleanly on the very first try . . . after 9 months! :)

[sk8ryellow]

Thank You double toe! The same thing happened to me except my pelvis got out of alignment on one of my jumps. I need to know how to just go for jumps without being scared.