I had a thread on here about 2 weeks ago about salchows and I got tremendous help and advice! Now I've gotten a little better at them and I want to tell all of you exactly where I am making my mistakes and see if anybody goes "Oh yeah, I did that and here's how you fix it". I have a group lesson next week so maybe we'll do salchows but in the meanwhile I am relying on y'all's expertise.

I get the 3LFO, my arms are in the right place, I actually get my leg around and almost in front of me and I lose my momentum and have to put my free leg down and then turn on my left foot and jump.

Any help is greatly appreciated. !! :-)

Sorry to be thick here ..... when are you having to put your free leg down? Immediately after the LFO3?

I found practising 3-turns and HOLDING the BI edge for longer than normal helped me to get the control that was needed. If your 3-turn isn't controlled then this is only going to be magnified throughout the rest of the jump (I know!). Once this bit is under control the rest follows slightly more easier than if you just try and whip the jump off the end of the 3-turn! Maybe try the sal from a RFI open mohawk, this will be (hopefully) more controlled because you don't spin yourself into next week going into the jump.

L x

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The best whisper is a click

When you say you lose your momentum, do you mean you slow down and/or stop? Is that because you haven't got enough speed (try it a bit faster) or because of your toe picks scratching? If the latter, concentrate on where you have your weight on the blade - don't lean forwards too much. Also, take your time - my salchow is not exactly fantastic but every time I have a problem with it, I s-l-o-w it down. By that, I dont mean less speed, I mean take your time to be more in control. Spend slightly longer on the FO edge, the BI edge, and the turn on the toe. This should also help you get more of a "jump" in it. Hope that helps! (I'm far from salchow-expert, but this is the advice I've been given )

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If you're losing momentum after the 3, my guess is that you're going up onto your toe pick.

Lynne's idea is good--work on ONLY the entrance, forget the jump for this exercise. Do the 3, set your arms, bring the foot in front & let the edge deepen....and hold it! You need to be in control of that position w/o grinding to a halt on your toepicks before the jump will work well.

Excellent that's what I'll do Wednesday night, just practice the entrance without jumping. Well, I don't know if I am on my toe pick but I definitely loose control of the edge and I was blaming my free leg but I guess my edge isn't controlled enough.

Swinging is another common mistake. If it is really your free leg that is causing you problems, is it swinging around versus helping you jump? That coupled with timing could cause you to lose your balance.

Hope it helps!!

Danielle

Hi,
It sounds like the problem is more of checking and balance than momentum. Doing the jump at slow speed is tricky, but if you have good balance and control, you could do it from a standstill. Try it on the floor. You'll see that the spring comes from the knee bend right before the jump off the back inside edge. In order to push off and get the most out of the spring, you have to be on a controlled platform (a stable floor, or on the ice a stable edge). Imagine the same take off on an unstable platform - like a board with a ball under it, or a really squishy matress - or on the ice a weak edge. Then you don't have a controlled platform to push against or spring off of. On the ice, without the solid edge to push off of you would really have to depend on your forward momentum. But because it's not stable, you end up putting your foot down or having a wacky jump.
I agree with Lynne, that practicing the three turn entrance will be the way to go. Hold your free leg back as long as you can, then bend your skating knee and move your free leg through - instep first and spring up and over. Keep practicing and you'll have a very stable and controlled back inside edge from which to take off.
Have fun - you'll get it!

To echo the importance of checking, examine your tracing. Hopefully you will be able to test your jump on fairly clean ice. After the 3-turn, your path should straighten a bit before you deeply curve on the back inside edge and lift off. This straightening is perfectly natural and desirable, since it indicates stopping the rotation of the 3-turn (the check), and allows you to unleash momentum that will get you up and around. Remember also to scoop up into the jump and not whip it around into a "sourcow".

Also make sure you don't "hip" your three turn. I do this when I am going fast sometimes...I snap the turn around and don't feel that nice down-up-down action of a soft knee into the jump (hipping the three also puts me on my toepicks and makes me scratch). Also keep your free hip low, as that will avoid swinging the free leg too severely.

Good luck!

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I also agree to practice edge control. Make sure you check hard after the 3 turn. HARD. I think down in the knee and press up from skating foot, for the jump. At this point think out, like the waltz jump. Good luck.

Chico

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