I'm thinking this is a stupid question, but asking it anyway! I'd like to start including off-ice jump practice into my routine. I'm working on the loop and the flip right now, and I feel like getting them off-ice would contribute greatly to my on-ice performance. HOWEVER, what shoes should I be wearing? Should I wear sneakers that grip, and then hop around on the landing? Or is a ballet shoe better? Or socks that skid?
I told you this was a stupid question, but please answer

NO!

I pulled a stoopid and did one in grippy shoes and just about destroyed my knee! Wear something that slips so that you knee/ankle don't have to take the twist!

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

Rusty Blades is 1000% right. If the shoe grabs the floor and stays there while the rest of you keeps rotating, guess what happens to your ankle and knee?

I wear boys' basketball shoes for jumping off ice (I like Team Jordan because they have good heel and arch support in addition to the ankle support). I also make sure to hop backward on the landing so I don't twist anything. I find shallow carpet to be the best for jumping. I don't recommend wood and I don't recommend the grippy type of mat floor they have at a lot of the newer rinks. The less grippy black mat is fine, and that's what I jump on at my rink (unless I see a piece of it coming loose and think I may trip on it!).

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Just my two cents worth -- but all my skaters warm up off ice in their running shoes, usually cross trainers like Nike, New Balance, Adidas etc. and I have never had one injure themselves because they have to pay attention to good technique and proper landing positions. We try to find cushioned surfaces to warm up on, but have been known to use the zamboni space to avoid the crowds at major competitions. That goes for skaters doing singles to triples off ice. I think if you are not confident doing the jumps on the ice, it can be difficult to warm them up on the ice. The axel is a bit tricky as you have to hop hop hop jump, but the kids manage to do double axels that way.

Skaters such as Jeff Buttle, Brandon Mroz, Jessica Dube, Shawn Sawyer, Joannie Rochette - and others wear athletic shoes like cross trainers to warm up with before they compete. I've watched them warm up before major competitions and haven't seen anyone wear ballet type slippers --etc.

I would suggest using shoes. I broke my fifth metatarsal doing off ice jumps on carpet with no shoes. I don't think I would have broken my foot if I had shoes on.

I always do it in running shoes, but I try to do it on a soft surface, such as grass, to soften the impact. I always hop at least once on the landing to avoid twisting anything. Grass also cushions any falls I might take too!

running shoes are fine. Just remember to hop out of the landing. I do mine at school on hte gym floor (perks of being a teacher). Just avoid pavement...owie if you fall

Well hopping out of a landing is great, but once I can *land* a jump I find it improves the landing to land without hopping out, and then - to prevent strain on knees and stuff - you need something with a more sliding sole. I like my winter boots with leather sole for this: they have great foot support, offer some ankle support AND slide on the floor and strangely enough it gives some of that on-ice feel.
At least, it was this way for my ccw jumps, I'm only now approaching this stage for my CW-loop so I'll be digging up those boots again sometime soon I guess. At nationals I was helping out and EVERYBODY was using sportive shoes btw, such as nike or adidas or asics - mainly the latter.

BTW the loop, IMHO is the best jump to practice off-ice EVER. Once you can do one off-ice it translates flawlessly onto on-ice (actually, the loop is easier to do on-ice because of the extra lift the edge gives you, so once you can do one off-ice fully rotated well, on-ice is a piece of cake). The flip doesn't really work off-ice.

My fear was that I'd twist my already crappy landing knee by not hopping quickly enough, etc. I think based on everyone's feedback that I will start with ballet shoes which have a sueded bottom for light but not sticky grip. Thanks for everyone's input!

Well, when I got my knee it was on a bad takeoff, not on landing. Ever since I practice in sock feet on a freshly waxed linoleum floor - much more akin to actual ice.

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

I practice in running shoes on almost any surface. Of course, I'm usually doing 1/2 jumps, but I can land flips and toes off-ice. I haven't ever really had a problem with my shoes gripping, but I try very consciously to NOT rotate my with my foot on the floor since it could cause injury. Plus, my goal for off-ice jumping is to get the full rotation in the air. I don't practice salchows off ice as they're harder to do without pre-rotating on the floor.

I have a bad knee too (too many bad axel landings) and I have found that off-ice jumping in non-supportive footwear makes it much worse. I will only wear cushioned running shoes to do off-ice jumps now. See how you feel, but the jarring impact from landing on a hard surface in nothing but ballet shoes or might not feel so great.

Ouch, my sister did exactly that - she was on hard floor with no shoes. My parents rushed her to the ER, and had to wait 4 hours, since they considered her condition not life-threatening.

Anyway, back to the thread topic...

I use sneakers, on pretty much any hard surface. I try not to do it on grass, since any undulating surface increases the risk of twisting my ankle.

I also try to keep a soft, deep knee on landing, since that is what relieves a lot of the impact whether on or off ice.

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I wear good cushioned running shoes, but I have two favorite places to practice my axel. Both are outside with lots of room so I can fall and not hit anything. I really like this level sandy dirt path that I found in the woods - the ground is not too hard and the dirt slips when I land rotating. I also like jumping on a wood pier - the wood has a soft bounce and the painted surface also has some slip. I find that grass grabs my sneakers and can be uneven. And jumping in the house is dangerous with the furniture!

I'm not sure if "hopping out" means the same as "hopping backwards" but I can definitely feel the difference in strain on my joints when I don't hop backwards on a jump landing on the floor. Even though my axel is very solid on the floor, I make myself hop backward a few times on the landing to simulate the landing edge and lessen strain on my joints.

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

I do off-ice in my Nike shox (the only tennis shoes I'll wear due to knee problems), usually on the rubber floor of my rink. There is also an area at my gym that has wrestling-type mats but I wear my shoes on those, too.

Shoes stick too much on the carpet. My coach had me working on axel drills in a carpeted area in our rink a few weeks ago. I twisted my back, started having muscle spasms later that day, and ended up spending the next two days basically on a recliner with a heating pad. It hurt to stand, walk, or pretty much do anything.

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My coach tells her skaters if they must practice jumps off-ice, to land them on two-feet, then pick up the free-foot (nearly immediately). She says two-footed landings helps cushion the impact a bit better since you have two shock absorbers (your knees). She says the two-footed landing is mitigated by the lack of speed on-land, rather than on-ice. And she says once you have the jumps off-ice, to stop doing them there and just do them on-ice.

I get around all of this by not practicing jumps off-ice... but more because I don't have a place to do it where I won't run into a wall or a tree or trip over something... and because I'm lazy about practicing off-ice.

I am a physical therapist. Without question, wear good supportive athletic shoes. Never do any type of jumping off-ice in flats or bare feet or socks. especially if you are older, you need sufficient shock absorbtion through your feet. Prevent injury!

Knowing how *I* skate, your coach's methods are probably gonna encourage me to two foot my landings instead and then your coach would have to work on undoing that habit!!!

I have a good reason... it screws up my LOWER back!!! And I am on good cushy gym floor with good supportive sole shoes too!!! (I would only do it if I know I have a chiro appt. coming in the next day or so!!! )

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