I have been working on the axel for a long time now, but I don`t seems to progress. Now I`m beginning to be very frustrated, and my coach too.. My problem is that I don`t manage to cross the legs in the air, so I land on two foots. I have no problems With the axel off ice, so I don`t understand why it should be so hard on the ice! Anyone here have any good tips?

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FunSkate

when you jump think of doing a backspin.

I really don't have good tips, but I struggled with this problem for about a year and one half. Backspins do help, as do repeated walk throughs, making sure you are shifting your weight to the right side. It's really scary, but think of pushing yourself to get over the right side when you do the jump on the ice. I had some horrific falls - you have to accept that this will happen, but now my axel is to the point that even if I have a really wonky take off, I can save it. The jump is a lot easier when you are over your right side.

Good luck - keep trying - and trust yourself that you can do it.

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"The only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary." -- Vidal Sasson

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I've seen some skaters work on waltz-loop combo, with the loop being very fast and tight, to improve or work on their axels and get the tight in-air position needed. You might want to see what your coach thinks of that.

I also think (not sure) that I've seen people do waltz jump into a fast backspin.

(Disclaimer--I'm very far off from learning an axel, so I can only report what I've observed)

Since you can do an axel easily off the ice it sounds like your problems are mostly psychological. A few things that might help are thinking about you landing foot as you do the jump - often just thinking about it helps you come down on it. Try thinking about doing an axel-loop combination. Even if you don't end up doing the loop, thinking about doing it may help you to come down on one foot.

Good luck, if it's any consolation you go through it all over again with the double

John

I'm jumping double axel and the jump is pretty simple! Is just to think of doing a walts jump but with a back spin! I spretty easy and don't get frustretaed just try to be confident and realxed and think that you will make it!

Don't giv up!

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Ah, the evil axel. I fought with this jump for about two and a half years, and I too had the problem of not converting and two-footing it forever. It sounds like you are also having trouble getting into the "rotating position" and are doing the jump with your feet parallel. I had to make a lot of adjustments before I could finally get the feeling of rotating over my right side. I don't really know what precise technique worked, but this is a collection of advice, from a variety of coaches, that I think helped...

Entry and takeoff-- as you set up for the jump, look over your left shoulder, and pick a spot on the wall/bleachers/whatever to jump towards. Step onto the left forward outside edge and keep your chest up. Jump, bringing your arms and right leg through, towards that spot that you picked.

Make sure you are not swinging your right leg around in an arc, as that will make it more difficult for the rest of your body to "catch up" to it in order to convert into the rotating position. In other words, don't think about rotating before you're in the air--it's actually counter-productive, because you will be off your axis of rotation.

Make sure that you are not letting your left shoulder drop on the takeoff, as that will pull you inside the circle (and away from your axis of rotation).

Do not let your free leg turn out on the takeoff. (This may have been a problem that is particular to me, as I have very naturally open hips and I was turning my right foot out as I kicked through. I had to think about pigeon-toeing in order to straighten that out)

If you are skidding a lot on the takeoff, or if you are having trouble with pre-rotation, and you don't think it's your shoulder or your free leg, then think about pressing your left big toe into the ice as you jump into the air. I didn't think I was pre-rotating the jump at the time, but now I know that I definitely was, and that I was jumping inside the circle (because I was more worried about the rotation).

The "axis of rotation": You must think about rotating over the RIGHT side of your body. That's the "backspin" that everyone talks about...for some reason, saying "backspin" never clicked with me (and yes, I could do waltz-backspin, waltz-loop, etc). When you bring your arms in, bring them in over your RIGHT side. This was tremendously helpful--for the longest time, I was bringing my arms in over my left side (because that's the direction of rotation), and I could not get into that nice "backspin" position in the air. Only when I started thinking about getting my whole body over my right leg did I begin to feel that "backspin." (Actually, this probably helped me out more than any other piece of advice)

When you're in the air, push down with your right leg and point your toe so that you're ready to land on it (this is crazy, but for about two weeks, I was getting everything right about the axel, in position, etc, but I wasn't thinking about actually landing it on one foot, and so I never did).

Otherwise, there's practice, perseverance, and prayer...and padding.

Oh, and take all this with a grain of salt...I *just* started landing my axel consistently about two months ago, so I am not an expert (but I've been told that it looks good, and after struggling with this jump for so long, I am more than happy to share anything that worked for me)

Have you learned flying camels yet? This really helped me to get the sensation of kicking my free leg through. If you can't do flying camels, you can even do flying back scratch - simply a jump over into a backspin. I do flying camels before I do axels and it always seems to help.

All I can say is, just keep working and do exactly what your coach says. It WILL happen! Don't get discouraged. If it was easy, it wouldn't be such a hot topic.
You never have an Axel....It has YOU!!!
Keep on truckin'
Becca

I had the same problem when I was getting close to landing my axel. I could do it perfectly on the floor but kept 2-footing it on the ice because I didn't stay over my right hip enough and I also couldn't seem to check out. Doing it on the harness helped a lot, but it also helped me to start holding my free leg slightly higher.

Do a reverse spin and notice where your free leg is. It does not cross your spinning leg at the ankle, but rather, it crosses so that your left calf presses against your right knee. In other words, your free leg is a little higher, and that keeps you over your right hip (if you do your reverse spin on the right foot). When you practice the axel on the floor, check and make sure that is how your legs are positioned in the air. It keeps you over your right hip and also makes it easier to check out once you start landing it on one foot.

Good luck and don't lose hope!

I know exactly what you mean. I've just started my axel recently, but I have the identical problem. I can't get my feet crossed in the air, I land two footed and often can't get the rotation. I have had the complete rotation once or twice, and this is because of my stupid leg not wanting to cross over the other bajillion times.
The only advice I can give you is to keep trying and don't give up. Also making sure you have the correct take off and taking your time getting into the jump helps alot!
Kaitlyn

Think of doing a double axel, that way a single will seem like nothing!

Axel.....I am working on that right now. I've been on it for a week, and am only getting 1/2 less of rotation than I want. My coach says to try and practic off-ice, but, it doesn't really help me. Try getting one of those off-ice spinner things, watlz jump onto it, then do a backspin (as everyone else here is saying ) or even just do backwards slaloms, but cross your legs and spin your self around.

I don't know what I am talking about, so if you don't get it...DON'T WORRY!!

Work Hard, Pratice Harder

Sarah

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