...I landed something...But I don't know what...But I'm not very smart to begin with so I got all confused. Now for some intelligence:

Yesterday I landed a jump about ten times but I have no idea if it's a waltz jump or a half axel. I took off from a front outside edge of one foot and landed on a different foot. Half rotation, I think. I'm not sure actually, maybe it was full rotation. 0.0 But is it an half axel or a waltz jump?

What edge did you land on on your other foot? Backwards outside edge? If so, then it was probably a waltz jump.

Don't know what a half axel is though.

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Whatever!

Since an Axel has 1 and 1/2 revolutions - there isn't a "half" Axel. That jump would only have 3/4 of a revolution and wouldn't work.

Congratulations! You are landing a Waltz jump.

I can still remember the feeling when I first landed mine. Now, if I could ever land a actual Axel....

Rob

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"half axel" = take off from forward outside edge, one full rotation, land on toepick of the foot that kicked thru, push onto a forward outside edge. Works great in the middle of footwork.

If it's a half rotation, say LFO to RBO, it's a waltz jump. Congrats.
(Thanks for the correction, Bothcoasts.)

Wikipedia has this listing on their Axel page.

Quote:

"A half Axel is a jump with a regular Axel take-off but with only one rotation, landed forward (typically on the left toe pick and right forward inside edge, for a counterclockwise jump). This jump is sometimes also called a Bell jump or a Once Around."

Polar Ice Galleria has an ISI LTS program that includes the half axel in their "Axel Class" curriculum. Very interesting ...

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Just to clarify, I think Isk8NYC meant to say "LFO to RBO," which is what a waltz jump is for counter-clockwise direction skaters.

If you took off forwards and landed backwards on the other foot, you did a waltz jump.
If you took off forwards and landed forwards after turning in the air, you did a "half axel."

Yea, that's what I was going to say: "what the **** is a 1/2 axel???" Thanks, Rob!

That was my first reaction too, but a little bit of internet searching came up with the definitions I posted.

In teaching axels, we include the single-rotation/forward exit as a learning stage. (Polar Ice documented it nicely.) I never knew the jump had an official "name" or thought to include it in a footwork sequence.

You learn something new every day, right?

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A friend of mine from Israel said that there, a 'half axel' is the same as a waltz jump.

My coach actually had me start my straightline footwork with a half axel last year and I thought it was a really nice touch. It was hard to learn to do it "small" for the footwork, though, since I had learned it as a precursor to the axel and was so used to jumping it like a real jump! :p

isnt a half axel sort of like a waltz jump loop???

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