Hi everyone!
I have been having problems with my axel. I just started to learn them and then my coach decideds to go on vacation!!! Anyway, I don't want to go fast when I enter the jump, but if I don't go fast I don't get any length or height. When ever I am in the air i forget to cross my legs, too! Did anyone else have the same problem? Can anyone remind me how to do this jump again?

This is a jump that is unlike any jump you have learned up to now, and it is going to take awhile. It is a rather complicated takeoff, so it might be best not to practice it too much while your coach is gone and get into bad habits. Instead, do lots of waltz-loop-loops and waltz-backspins. If you can do those, then you are taking off straight up and shifting your weight correctly over to your landing side.

But if you are going to practice them no matter what, here's what you need to pay attention to:
1. Go very slowly and don't worry about distance, just height.
2. Push onto the takeoff edge so that you are pushing out of the circle you created with your back outside edge. Even better, try it from a T-stop at a standstill and push out over your takeoff knee. Bend the knee deeply and push your chest out over your knee on the takeoff edge, keeping your chin up and your eyes on the spot in the air where the jump will be (just a couple of feet ahead of you and a foot or two higher than your head).
3. Keep your shoulders level and the landing side shoulder back a little. Do not let your takeoff edge curl like a spin entrance or you'll never get the rotation in the air.
4. Point your toes as you take off so that you spring straight up, not out. Bend the knee of your free leg so your thigh helps lift you up into the air.
5. Once you have left the ice, quickly turn your landing side hip in and get into a backspin position, then pull in. Make sure to pull up straight in the air and straighten your landing leg while slightly lifting the knee of your takeoff leg.

One of my friends who is also learning her axel told me that you can also practice the jump off the ice. Is this true? Every time I try to land I usually land foward instead of landing backwards. How can I get some more hight, and that last half revolution?

Well, you don't really need that much height for the axel. It's mostly a matter of timing and getting used to rotating backward over your landing hip without opening up in the air.

I landed my axel on the floor a year before landing it on the ice, and I don't think I could have ever landed it on the ice without first learning it on the floor. So yes, you should definitely work on your technique on the floor. Here are the exercises my coach taught me that enabled me to land it on the floor, and later on the ice (I will assume you take off on your left foot and land on your right):

1) Do lots of axels on the floor so that your body knows what to do once you're in the air. I recommend doing these on a carpeted or rubber mat surface in boys' basketball shoes with good ankle and anti-pronation support. Do not jump on a surface that "grabs" your foot. You need one that will let your foot turn freely (or else you could twist you ankle or knee). Also, always hop backwards when you land a jump on the floor

2) If you don't have an axel on the floor yet, or if you aren't getting enough height, here's a great exercise to get you there:

- Stand about 1-2 feet in front of a bench that is mounted firmly to a wall or floor (or any other firmly mounted surface that is 1-2 feet high).
- Facing the bench, take off like a waltz jump, but with your right knee bent so that you are jumping up instead of out.
- Do 1/2 turn in the air, landing on the bench backwards on your right foot,with your left foot in front. By the time you land on the bench, you should be done with your half turn so that you aren't doing any rotation on the bench. You'll be facing the direction you came from and your left foot will be in front of your right calf, just like a loop air position (the left leg is open, with the knee bent, not touching the right leg). Your arms will be open and rounded, like a nice waltz jump or open backspin position.
- Once you get that exercise down, try doing the same thing on the open floor, but after you've done that first 1/2 turn and you're in the open loop position in the air, just pull in. That will give you 1 more rotation in the air. The proper order is (1) Up, (2) snap the hip in, (3) pull arms and free leg in. I think of jumping up onto an imaginary 2nd floor and doin a reverse spin there.
- When doing axels on the floor, make sure you don't cross your legs at the ankle. That will make it hard to check out when you start doing them on the ice. Instead, keep your left knee a little lifted, just like your reverse spin.

I also have an axel question, if you rip the take off edge, is that good or bad?

What do you mean by rip?

well- the only other takeoff that was useful in learning axel for me was the kind where from standstill you kinda hop on your toepicks and then straight into the jump. it helped dme a lot with height.

Yoy could also try practicing an axel in the pool. I was at the pool the other day and you can actually work on jumps in the pool I've realized. Its slow, controlled and helps with position, and no risk of injury. I had no clue until last weekend that you can do jumps in the pool.

I hate doing jumps on the floor- I keep thinking I'll twist my ankle and I can do up to double flip and I can't even do an axel on the floor. Its much scarier than the ice and I never even practiced any jumps on the floor as I was learning them.

Thank you SOOOOO much for your help! I can't wait untill I do get my axel!

That is exactly how I sprained my ankle last year and I haven't done off-ice jumps since.

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Yes, that's why it's so important to wear supportive high-top basketball shoes and make sure you are jumping on a surface that will let your foot continue to rotate when you land, instead of "grabbing" the bottom of your shoe and holding your foot in place. Shallow carpet is good, and I find the mats at my rink are pretty good, too (although some of the mats/floors at the newer rinks are non-slip, which is bad for jumping, since your foot can't keep moving on the landing). Also, always, always hop on the landing, don't try to "stick it". I've been jumping on the floor for 4-5 years and have never hurt myself or twisted anything, but I also find the floor much less scary than the ice for learning new jumps. You have to do what feels safe for you.

My sprain occurred during an off-ice jumps class on the rink's non-slip mats.

I had pretty much been doing off-ice jumps since I started skating and this was the 1st time I injured myself doing it.

ITA that the floor is much less scary for learning new jumps! Before the sprain, I was landing axels and double toes off-ice

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I think ferelu means that if the takeoff edge is so deep that it makes a ripping sounde, the way that a really deep FO entrance on a spin can, or an edge during a power pull done the right way.

I don't have an answer about whether a rip is okay, since I'm not yet working on these. However, when I have a rip on an FO edge for a spin entrance, it is because I'm making a fairly tight circle and leading with my opposite shoulder into the edge, both of which are NOT desired for an axel takeoff from the sound of it.

However, sometimes edge rip can come because of how deep of a hollow you have on your skate blade, so it's not always a function of how tight the circle or how deep the edge....

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I am convinced I'll wrench my knee. I used to practise axels on a fairly slippery wooden floor, had a couple of nasty crashes into walls (it wasn't a very big appartment).

Can't say that I felt it helped me on the ice though.

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