Do you practice jumps off the ice first?

[Luenatic]

Just curious. When you first trying to do a jump on ice, do you try it on the floor first?

I found out that I'm a big chicken. I've been dying to try a flip on the ice, but don't have the gut to try it. So last week at the gym, I tried it on the floor and it worked. So, I've been doing that (flip) for a week on the floor now.... Maybe I'll have enough courage to try it on the ice tonight? 8-)

Also, for more advanced skaters, do you do double/triple jumps on the floor? How can you gain speed on the floor? Or do you just rotate really really fast in the air? Just wondering.

[nutty-ducky]

hi Luenatic!
i always do the 3-jump on the floor! i am just very addicted to doing it on the floor! also before i could actually do the salchow on the ice, i would try to do it on the floor, and i could almost do it, but now i can do it, i guess practicing on the floor helped me! :D i also practice the toe-loop on the floor but havent been able to land it on ice yet! :(

[melanieuk]

Definitely do your jumps off-ice first.
Remember to warm up first as you would do before you skate.
As a child I was forever doing all the single jumps in the playground, in the street etc.
Now I have to do it in the house - incase neighbours have me locked up!
I think doing off ice jumps helps you get the feel for the jump, gets your balance and weight over skate sorted out.

My skating buds practice their doubles and triples off-ice by doing kind of bouncy side steps/skips first before jumping.

[JDC1]

I don't do mine off ice but I have practiced just basically jumping from a standstill position but you need lots of space for this and my apartment is too small.

[Elsy2]

I haven't tried off ice jumping since I landed and fell really hard.....I'm a wuss....The kids at the rink do off ice jump rotations, but they are all entered forward like an axel. ( The smaller kids will do waltz jumps. )They never simulate a toe in entry like a flip.

[flo]

I don't try mine off ice much at all, and if I do, only when I know how they should feel (like an axel). Aside from the waltz jump perhaps, the entries are so different on ice than the floor, and the entry really makes or breaks the jump. If you want to practice something off ice, I would just do the jump in place from 2 feet and rotate, and come down and check. On ice practice the entry again and again and again.

[kayskate]

I learned the flip and lutz by doing them on the floor first then walking through the steps on the ice. It was small and slow at first, but at least I had a starting point. My flip eventually became very good. My lutz has been good at times.

Kay

[AnnM]

My off ice loop jumps have been consistent for three years. On ice? Has been seen only once. Regardless of the lack of impact on my on-ice capabilities, I do find that practicing certain jumps off ice gives you a better sense of proper positioning. Especially when you are trying to create a habit such as pulling in your arms in a certain way.

[tidesong]

Off ice jumping has helped me... it gives me confidence... usually when I can do my off ice jumps, I can do the on ice one. I got my off ice axel first and then I landed it on ice sometime after. Same for my singles, and even spins and three turns... the weight placing is very similar.

I am working on doing a double loop off ice. I have seen skaters doing double axel off ice so it is possible to do that.
Most people I saw doing double axels do a few running steps to get the momentum.
But double loop is mostly just straight off the floor, when you get the height, the rotation is ok.

However, off ice jumps, if not done properly can hurt you the same way as on ice... My friends have some bad experience in off ice jumping, so be careful, just as if you were trying on the ice...

[Designdiva]

Not only should you be careful in off-ice jumps, you have to be sure that you are using proper technique.

I started trying axels off ice about a year ago. Along the way, I picked up the bad habit of rotating over my left side. And I kept practicing that way, for months. So my body created muscle memory of incorrect technique and that took months to fix and made getting the jump *that* much harder.

Coach has her students practice rotation off ice by just jumping straight into the air and first doing a half-rev. Then full rev. Then 1.5 revs. Then 2 revs. And so on.

This helps keep your shoulders square and your weight over your right (assuming CCW) side.

Good luck.

[KJD]

Let me second the person who said be careful. I actually tore my calf off-ice jumping and was off the ice for a month or more. I have found that some of the movements don't translate as well, it only marginally helps my axel for instance. The best is working on loops and double loops off-ice to get the feel of balanced rotation

[love2sk8]

Off-ice jumping is good, because we dont get a very long warm-up in competition, so it's good to work on them before skating, to leave more time for the harder jumps. For the toe jumps, its pretty much just a simulation, and going thru the right technique...not too much speed involved, if any, and same with the edge jumps, except a cpl of little hops to get momentum help a lot. For dbl axel, speed is definitly needed..i hop on my left left foot from forwards to backwards, step on my right foot, then hop forward, stepping again on my left foot to take off. Try not to step too large!;)

[nutty-ducky]

i only just noticed today that learning the jumps off ice is good, beacuse i was doing the toe-loop off ice and i landed lots of them today!

[sk8ing is lyfe]

I can actually do more off-ice than on. I have landed quad toe off-ice b4.

When you jump off-ice, it's more for air position and quickness into the air position. It is also good to practice quickness of a combination.

the only jumps you can technically do accurately off-ice are axel and toe. With a little bit of work, flip and lutz CAN be done, however it is very difficult.

Still do the jumps to make the take-off legs stronger, and used to the actually process.

Keep up the off-ice jumping... i know i will... ( i still cant master a triple axel off-ice yet!?!?!?)

[dbny]

Originally posted by melanieuk
As a child I was forever doing all the single jumps in the playground, in the street etc.
Now I have to do it in the house - incase neighbours have me locked up! [/B]

My teenaged daughter was doing "Boitano" axels (one arm raised) in the front yard, when a van drove by and the young guys in it cheered her. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[singerskates]

Yes, I have practiced in the passed off-ice on the floor and sometimes with my spinner my jumps from waltz jump to axel. I even do combination jumps off-ice. Now if I just could get the salchow, loop, flip and lutz to work on-ice. I've got plenty of time to try the axel on ice since I can't pass my prelim test until I get a consistant salchow, loop and flip on ice yet.

As far as using my spinner, I haven't used it for jumps in a year. Haven't brought it to the rink since we don't have spinner class at my club and there's not enough room at home to use it. I got my spinner when I took spring skating school with Champions Training Center the first year I was skating. I learned all my jumps up to a flip on the spinner except the waltz jump being it didn't need it.

Back then I remember doing all sorts of combinations. I also remember doing 5 or so toe loops in a row in combination with each other until I ran out of space to do them. Other combos off ice I can do are walz/toe, waltz/loop, salchow/toe, salchow/loop, loop/toe, loop/loop, flip/toe, flip/loop, lutz/toe and lutz/loop. Just wish I could do all of these on ice. Someday........ ;)

[skaternum]

The only off ice jumps I do are some timers for the axel. I avoid jumping off ice because it's really hard on the knees, and I don't want to have surgery AGAIN.