I hope someone can help me here. I'm trying to learn the toe loop, and I seem to be cheating myself by rotating a bit on the toe pick at the take off and I end up doing something like a toe waltz. I have a hard time securing it when I pick. This pick problem seems to be consistent as it also gives me some problems when doing a simple half flip. Any tips??

Slow it down a little and try this:

1. Make sure you are still completely backward when you feel your toepick go into the ice. Keep your left arm in front (or your right arm if you pick with your right toe and land on your left foot) and make sure it is still there after you pick.

2. Take enough time to get all your weight over your picking toe, STILL FACING BACKWARDS, before you jump up.

3. Onc your weight is over your left toe, jump up off the picking toe, leading with your free leg. Don't turn your shoulders or head until you are leaving the ice, and even then, just face to your left, not behind you.

I think going from a toe-waltz to actually "doing it" requires confidence (and padding). I have padding and I'm trying to gain confidence....although mine is sort of a half-toe-waltz....I think one just has to "go for it"

__________________
Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

The toe loop is my favorite jump. The important thing to remember is to get good knee bend on your skating leg and use those arms! The toe loop is tricky for a lot of people because of the inside three turn - get comfortable with doing a three turn and placing the pick in the ice and from there work on getting spring without rotating. Once you feel comfy with that, then go for rotation in the air.

This is what I did to get comfy with the flip and it worked...I'm thinking it would work for the toe loop too...

I love toe jumps...I miss skating so much

I feel your pain! We have no rink close by for a whole summer (ours closes mid-April to Mid-September)... 2 hours away for skating gets tedious (and then the beach traffic to fight). Hopefully your rink will open much earlier!

__________________
Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

I hated the toe for the longest time, but it was mainly because I was doing toe waltz (and didn't even know it). Then it took a long time to figure out how to not toe waltz. For me, the biggest thing that helped was remembering to pick toward the inside of the tracing/print/invisible circle created by the BO edge. (For me, picking to the outside of that invisible circle inevitably caused toe waltz.)

Now I have to work on extending the picking leg before picking so I can actually get some distance on the jump. If my picking leg is too bent, then the pick happens practically underneath me and I barely go anywhere....

__________________
Ask me about becoming a bone marrow donor.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.nmdp.org

Part of the "problem" has been the way it's taught at my rink--that waltzing is ok (since we are mainly a recreational rink) ! My private coach saw my toe-loop the first time and didn't really say much but has been sloooowly working to correct it. And it's harder to unlearn and relearn as an adult, but it can be done!

__________________
Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Thank you for this thread, Froggy. I share this same dilemma with you. Know that you don't have to be frustrated and suffer alone.

thanks sk8pdx! knowing im not alone in my frustration helps. thank you everyone for your tips, keep them coming, I tried working on them today and will try again tomorrow during practice.

happy skating!