Hi,

I am a dad of a figure skater and my daughters coach has told us there are 2 styles of teaching jumps. One is the English style which does not pre rotate and the other is the European style in which they do pre-rotate. He also said that more points are awarded when you do not pre rotate (English style)

Is this accurate? I can't find any info on the different teaching styles.

Never heard of it. Was he talking about a specific jump or all jumps in general? There isn't really one technique that applies to all jump takeoffs, since each one is different, but you definitely don't want to pre-rotate a toeloop takeoff because it will get downgraded.

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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

Having coaches of both English and Russian heritage, I can tell you that there are any number of techniques, and it's impossible to pin down skating to only two schools of thought ... especially here in the US, where we are a skating melting pot. (Which I adore, by the way.)

Under the new IJS rules, a cheated jump is a cheated jump, whether it is underrotated on the takeoff OR the landing. I have been docked points for a cheated toe loop in the past, because my body was turned too far forward on the takeoff.

Some coaches may teach a pre-rotation, or a cheated landing, in order to get students to grasp the concept of a jump. I think that can be quite helpful, but only if the technique is cleaned up once the student stops falling. Otherwise it becomes a bad habit.

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"Gravity is a harsh mistress." -- The Tick

i would agree in saying that there really ARE not specific teaching styles. Just watch the world championships and you will see as many different techniques as you do skaters.

As for docking points for pre-rotating--that's becoming a pretty sticky situation. Because of the natural curve of the edge and all of the mechanics that go into a jump, no jump truly takes off backwards. You can check skatingjumpsecrets for confirmation. It only shows one or two jumps (a double loop), but they are high quality jumps.

I feel like there isn't even a set definition for pre-rotating. I would guess points get docked when the pre-rotation isn't part of the continuous motion of the jump. What I mean is, when you do a double loop, the edge turns you, you start to jump, and by the time you completely leave the ice, you are forwards. But this all happens AS you are jumping. I suppose if I had to define pre-rotation it would be a jump where the motion that turns the skate forwards doesn't happen in the continuous motion of the jump.

Sorry. I have a feeling that won't make very much sense.

As for European vs English (do you mean English as in England/Great Britain and European as is Russian? Or European as in all the countries in Europe and English as in American), well, I don't know honestly.

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