Hi!
I've just passed Elementary 1 and I need help on axles.Any ideas?
thanx

Er - talk to your teacher, is the best advice I can give you. He or she will know whether you're ready to start learning the axel. You'll know when you're being started, as they'll be making you do any or all of the following exercises:

Off-ice, practice jumping up on to a bench with one foot.

On-ice, do a 3-jump (waltz jump)/loop jump combination, or a 3-jump immediately followed by a backspin, or a loop jump immediately followed by a backspin.

I really wouldn't try to jump an axel unsupervised, though - it would be such a nuisance if you fell badly and injured yourself. Much better to wait and do it with help and step-by-step.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

You also don't want to do them unsupervised at first for fear of creating bad habits!

First thing, find out if you want to learn about axels (jump) vs. axles (cars) first! (Sorry! Couldn't resist...)

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Hey, I need some axel tips also! I've been working on it for about a month now but not during every practice. I usually try to have my coach there to tell me if I'm doing at least*something* right. Well, I've been working on the take off, shift weight, land and back spin. My coach says all I need is quicker rotation and I'll get it. So far, I land facing forwards at best. Are there any helpful tips about snapping into rotation faster. I get kinda lost in the air and it all happens so quickly.

And also, I've heard some people saying that a skid is helpful. Is it really? If so, how do I make myself skid?

I've been practicing waltz/loops, and I can do those, but the thing is, I still have time to "re-collect" myself before the loop. On the axel you don't get that time.

I've also been trying axels on the floor, but even then I still have trouble making it all the way around.

I'm sorry but I've just passed the test and I've started learning them on ice and they're not going to well and I'm only 11 so how am I sposed to know how to spell it?
I only wanted some tips!

Best tip ever: Ask your coach.

I'm sorry too! I was having fun. Long story: Has to do with when I was your age that since English was not my first language my English teachers has this crazy idea that they should drill proper spelling and grammar harder into my head. Hard to understand when I was 11, but they did me a favor in the end!

I'm gonna have to agree with fadedstardust and Mrs Redboots and say "Ask your coach!" Your coach is really the best person to know how you skate and what you need to do to learn how to do the axel. You also want your coach there to make sure that you are doing them right, because if you don't them right, they will at best take a lot longer to get and at worse, you'll end up in the hospital. Trust me on this one!

Good luck!

__________________
Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

A skid on the take off is not necessary. Basically, my coach teaches it without, but if you've got one. Some people swear by them, but many people who have the skid on the single axel take off hae serious issues with the double and triple.

As for quickening the rotation, basically if you can pull the knee up on the take off, it makes the step over easier and the rotation quicker because you are tighter in the air. If you are working on waltz jump-loops, try and shorten the recovery time between the jumps.

Thanks for the tips, techskater I will definetly try it next time, especially making my waltz/loop faster.

While the most important thing is obviously having a coach, I think it's good to get other people's input on the same moves. I think it took 6 different coaches to teach me the loop...and I did ask questions, its just that one of them was able to get through to me the most important point. The way someone words their explanation can make a huge difference. And by asking questions on a skating board I can basically get indirect tips from coaches ALL over.

Good LUCK! The Axel is one of my favorite elements

I agree, but the reason I said that is because I'm not sure the initial poster is really "learning" axels yet (I have no idea what Elementary 1 level means...it's not a U.S. level I don't think, so I have no idea what it means) but I don't like giving tips to people whose posts I hadn't seen before about similar level questions, so I think in those cases it's best to encourage the person to ask someone in real life who can really see what's going on with the skating and if they are ready for axels, some people don't realize how harmful it is to try it on their own. But I do agree that when you're stuck on something, one person's tiny word placement difference can mean everything. So, as a contribution for your axel issues Astar, I'm sure you've heard this before, but, try to really get over your left side as soon as you kick up with your leg and think of snapping fast like you do in a backspin. Practice snapping into the backspin and closing your leg right away and not leaving the leg to the side, and think of that snap when you rotate in the air. Also, try it on the ground, and from a stand-still position on the ice, it'll give you confidence. And remember it's OK to land forward at first, work on just not falling, lol. That'll give you confidence too that it's alright if you don't make it all the way around. Good luck.

You really shouldn't judge others. I thought this forum was for skaters to seek help from other skaters.

Ok First you are definitly going to want help from your coach on your axel. If your club has a harness it will really help.....Either way its going to take you quite a while to land the jump...Probably somewhere around a year. MOst people I see learning axels have the problem that they still attempt to jump across the ice instead of up and down in one spot. Hope that helps a bit ......

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Indeed it is, which is why further information was asked for. You can't help someone who says vaguely that "she needs help" and doesn't say what sort of help, exactly. "Elementary 1" is also rather vague - it doesn't say anything to skaters from other countries. I, as a UK skater, would be inclined to interpret it as being the most basic of tests, where the skater is only required to do perimeter stroking in both directions, two out of a 3-jump (waltz jump), cherry flip (toe loop) or salchow, a spin, a forwards spiral, a short step sequence! Nowhere near ready for an Axel! So you do see.....

Another time, it works better if you specify the kind of help you need: "I'm two-footing my axel; my coach says my weight is in the wrong place - have you any tips to help me get it right?" would be a question you could answer better.

__________________
Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Well Mrs Redboots communicated what I meant- I didn't judge, it's just.. "I need help on axles (axels...), any ideas?" makes it sound like she's never been taught anything about it at all. Had she said "I need to snap back faster" or "I'm two footing" or "I can't kick my leg up high enough" I never would have questioned it. Plus "Elementary" per defition, means "basic", so that further helped my conclusion, which I never said was the be all and end all. Even with people doing triple jumps, the best advice is always ask your coach, because you'd be surprised how many skaters try and figure stuff out on their own to impress or "not let down" their coaches, and won't actually just sit down and tell them that they don't understand an element.

PS: If you haven't landed a jump properly yet, then you are still learning it.

Try a very small waltz jump, land it and go right into a backspin for a few revolutions, then do a loop jump out of the backspin. Doing a backspin from a little waltz jump will teach you to rotate over your landing hip and will also get you used to staying in rotational position longer so that you don't pull out after one revolution when you do your axel. Also, practicing axels on the floor should help a lot, since you can work on getting the rhythm and technique down without falling on the ice.

Thanks so much for the tips!! I haven't been able to really practice for a few weeks because of the holidays, but *finally* this week will be back to normal so I can work on my axels again.