Hi to all people who know more about skating than I do... Means I'm no skater, just a fan and try at the moment to get better in recognizing the jumps on tv - tv is better than any live event for my learning, cause I can rewind as often as I want ;-)

Anyhow, I have a question concerning the edge jumps. Mainly the salchow but sometimes also the loop. Today I've watched several programs (ladies at worlds 2002) and many times I had the impression that skaters didn't jump off one edge (as I thought it should be) but it looked like they jumped off both feet at the same time.

Perhaps
- it's just a matter of speed and they take off one foot, but it's hard to see....

Or
- yes, eventually it's quite normal to take off both feet at the same time.

Or
- they clearly should take off one foot but some don't manage to do it properly. If this is the case would that mean a deduction for the jump?

Thanks for any input.

They take off from one foot, but the other foot is so close to the ice that it can be hard to see from a distance.

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skater often have both feet on the ice until the last second (easier to balance and get their weight where they want it) but the take-off is actually on one foot (it would be much harder to get the rotation if you were taking off on both feet)

Go and watch a competition at your local rink with lots of beginner events, so you see single jumps being done; that way you will see the technique (or potential lack of it) more clearly than you can in double and triple jumps.

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Mrs Redboots
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Annabel - I do agree with you though.

You will find with the loop particularly that basically the entrance will be on two feet, but the jump is definately done on one foot. I take off on the right foot with my loop, but I hold my left foot in front until I take off. Then I try (and I do try) to use the knee of my left leg to help assist in pulling the jump up into the air.

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Thanks for all the input. It's not that easy with a home rink, but I'll try to watch what I can find in the future...

Just to be sure about the judging (if anyone can be sure at all): Does it make a difference if a skater is lifting his second foot very late or if he/she mainly skates the entrance on one foot?

I'm not sure about that... but it's is very hard to jump off both feet and still have your weight in the right place in the air... at least its hard for me

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This is what Skate Canada cites as a good loop

Sandhu's Loop

If you ever have a chance to look at the edge marks on ice from a high level skater, the loop entrance will be two lines, but one is very light and the other very heavily defined, ending in a toe pick mark on the curve of the leap into the jump from the jumping leg. The skater is supposed to get more marks for having the entire entrance on one foot, it is a more "beautiful" jump.

I don't think that it makes much of a difference when the second foot leaves the ice (as long as it happens at some point before take-off). The exception might be if it were held up for a reason such as running 3turns into a loop or a back spiral into a sochow (in which case they would probably get extra credit).

Some of us skaters don't do our loops by going into it with two feet. Some of us do our loop jumps Irina Slutskia(sp)'s style; RFI to RBO edge while our freeleg (CCW left leg) crosses infront of our right leg which is bent deeply to the right and as we straighten our right leg quickly are left leg pops up still to the right of our right leg until we land and then we check our Right arm back and bring our left leg around and to the back.

I haven't tried the Crosscut method that most skaters do yet.

Brigitte.

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"It's not age that determines but the heart." "Skating is not just a sport for the young but it's a passion for the soul of the young at heart." Brigitte Laskowski

I am a nomadic adult skater who is a member of Windsor FSC (Skate Windsor) WOS SC again since Sept. 1st, 2008.

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Watch people on TV in slow motion----for loop watch Sasha Cohen--her timing and technique is perfect--as well as Ann Patrice McDonough and for salchow--I'd say either Michelle or Sasha--men do weird entrances on their quads.