Height on Toe Loop? Salchow?

[sunshinepointe]

My friend and I were shooting the breeze talking about peoples height on jumps - she said the following about my jumps

Waltz - better than most, not as good as some
Flip - Very high when I put effort into it
Salchow - better than most, not as good as some
Loop - when I do it well it's great, but she knows I've been struggling to get it back
Toe loop - I cover a lot of ground distance wise but I don't get UP as high as some of my other jumps.

Okay...I know my technique on the salchow and toe loop is pretty solid, so how do I increase the height on either of these jumps? They seem like very hard jumps to get "up" but I've seen some people do it. Anyone have any ideas or tips?

[MQSeries]

You really have to delay the rotation of the jump until you're at the apex of jump, and you need good timing and spring to kick you off into the air with some force. This should be easy to do on the sal. I do sort of a delay 2sal, because I don't attempt to pull in and rotate until my body is hanging at the maximum point in the lift. The 2toe is a little bit more troublesome for me, because I can't get as relax on its entrance as I do on the sal.

[sunshinepointe]

That makes a lot of sense - my coach showed me how to get more pop in the salchow, but I'll try the same technique with the toe loop as you described. Thank you! :bow:

[doubletoe]

On the salchow, remember to roll up onto the toe and spring straight up off the toe, not the edge. To simulate the takeoff for a double, spring up off the toe and lift straight up with your right knee.

A good toeloop takeoff is mostly about staying backward until your toe is in the ice, then transferring your weight onto the picking toe and jumping up off of it, taking off to your left rather than rotating 1/2 turn on the toe and taking off forward. Picking slightly to the left (7:00 instead of 6:00) helps you get a stronger, more stable pick as well. Finally, the lower you are when you take off (i.e, the deeper your knees are bent when you pull back and transfer your weight onto the picking toe), the higher your jump will be. This is true of all jumps.

Good luck! :)

[sunshinepointe]

The take off with the salchow is what my coach had me working on last night - it definitely got me higher, and my coach was pleased. Now I just need to get a deeper knee bend.

My toe loop technique is solid as you described, but I'm still not getting up. I suppose trying to delay rotation and getting a deeper knee bend on the take off will help - I'm going to work on it tomorrow and I'll let you know how it goes :)

[MQSeries]

On the 2toe, if I try to bend too much on the skating knee then I also tend to pitch my upper body forward too much also. You have to find the right balance of bending the knee but still keep the upper body more or less upright.

I agree on the sal with thinking about the toe-pick as the last thing that should leave the ice. Also try to think about straighten out the skating leg (and the entire body with it) as your entire body is momentarily perched on the toe-pick before leaving the ice. I do that also on my 2loop. It prevents my body from scruching up in an unattractive position in the air.