Hardest jump to learn: it has changed a lot for me over the years, but I think it depends on how you are taught the single jump initially.

My understanding is that if the single is good, the double, triple will be good. If you have a crap single, of course the double will be terrible, inconsistent and littered with problems. It is like trying to built a 2 story house with an uneven foundation; it simply will not hold up. If your singles are consistently big, have hang time and flow in + out at top speed, then you have a better chance and a much easier time to get a consistent double.

In my book, the axel is not a single jump, because it doesn't have the same dynamics as the others. The dynamics are closer to double sal, double toe.

I believe the only reason the axel is a pain for most people is because they are "psyched" out of it or pressured into being afraid of it by other people. You get the right technique and you don't have people picking on it when you're working on it, you will A) get a good technique for this jump as well as any other multirev jump B) not be afraid of it, because technique done right is not scary at all.

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Keep Evolving. "From this moment forward, every voice that told you - You Can't - , has been silenced." - Freedom Writers

My daughter is learning single jumps (just started Lutz) but was told at ice-skating today she is over-rotating and doing 1 1/2 .... Trying to rotate less and suddenly loop, and flip seem to be a problem. She did one for me this evening off ice and sure enough - she is going round 1 1/2 times. So - guess they are all difficult at the moment.

That has not been the case with dd - she had a great single toe loop but cannot seem to do a double and she has a friend who had a fantastic double toe loop and could tack and double toe at the end of any jump but now she has all her other triples, including the lutz and cannot do a triple toe. But now that her triple toe is in the sack, her double toe has disappeared as well.

I know the triple toe is supposedly the easiest triple...

j

Well, jumps come and go. they don't stay the same all the time. It could be that she's just needs time to work it out. it can be hard for enough for skater and the coach. for an outside observer it can be even harder to get a feel of what's going on.

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Keep Evolving. "From this moment forward, every voice that told you - You Can't - , has been silenced." - Freedom Writers

I havn't even attempted a jump other than bunnys yet I read the title and thought.. THE FIRST ONE!

I've been reading up on a waltz jump

I want to do one as it seems to be the first one taught (apparently) but I think I shall wait for a while

I thought the bunny hop was hard, but my coach got it out of me on the lesson I was taught it on.

Axel took months and double salchow came quite a while after that, months again, might have been about a year. Both might be about as "hard"

Double toe and double loop I don't even know if I've "learnt" them because of rotational issues and horrible inconsistency, but those two are the longest so far.

I don't know if/when I landed my first proper lutz, but I've flutzed for the longest time. So maybe thats the hardest to learn for me. Its kind of difficult to say hehe.

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Tidesong

to be honest, i have absolutely no memory of learning my singles. i didn't have too hard a time with my axel, at least not at first. however, i still have mental issues with that jump. i've been doing well with it lately, but some of you may remember how i kept popping it a while ago.

double toe was hard because i learned it as a toe-axel. that was a really really hard habit to fix. so, for that reason i guess i would say double-toe. it is a super easy jump when you do it properly (it really is just like an axel). but, it is really hard for most people TO do properly.

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Youtube Videos

Jumping is not really my thing:

- didn't have too much trouble learning the waltz, sal, toe and loop.

BUT:

- flip took me ages to 'understand' and then pretty soon after I learnt it I injured my back and couldn't jump for 6 months. After that it took me a very long time to actually flip again. I spent a long time doing the three turn and picking but was too scared to jump.

- lutz took me forever!! After thinking that I could land it for about 2 years, I switched rinks and teachers and learnt that I had been doing it incorrectly. I went back to only doing half a turn again before getting it back. Now I am afraid to say that flutzing sometimes happens.

- still working on the axel, have landed a couple in the past but it seems to be a very long process! That has been the hardest in the sense that it is the most emotionally draining. Double sals, loops and flips are sometimes better.

Ok, I conclude....most jumps are hard for me to learn!

DDs been working on double toe for 2 years. Guess I don't really consider myself an outside observer when it comes to my daughter -- or the mother of the other girl who was telling me about her toe loop woes.

I'm just saying that getting a single or a double right does not necesarily translate that adding a revolution is going mean jump will work.

j

For me it was the Axel. Just taking off forwards made it really hard. I learnt a single a day untill I got to that jump, which took me almost 2 years. now I can do it, im landing a double a day.

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If in Doubt, Flat Out

Double toe! it just doesn't make sense to me haha i just can't get it. Double loop took me a while too. Suprisingly, axel wasn't that hard for me. I got it in like a month i was really lucky

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For me, the hardest jump has been the salchow. The salchow and toe-loop are the only full revolution jumps I've learned so far. I have problems executing a full revolution without using the toe-pick. I often end up spinning on my toe-pick before jumping or only doing a 1/2 salchow and end the jump facing forward.

I think it was the loop. It seemed harder as there isn't a turn or a wind up into it and the same with the lutz

two years is not that long of a time to be working on a jump, imho... Do people know that it took Emily Hughes more than 4 years to land a clean double axel? And look how far she got nationally....It took Michelle Kwan more than 2 years to get her double axel, but she landed her triple lutz on the first try, so you never know.

I've also seen a girl work on her single axel for about 4-5 years, then switch coaches and then get all her doubles within 1-2 years. Her double axel took her less than a year, and at the time her single axel was huge. So perhaps it is persistence and the right coaching that pays off

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Keep Evolving. "From this moment forward, every voice that told you - You Can't - , has been silenced." - Freedom Writers

Ugh! Tell me about it!

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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

Loop for me too, in fact its probably what made me decide to concentrate on dance! I can struggle through a salchow and toe-loop but the loop to me is just suicidal, wouldn't mind learning a half loop though.

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Loving it, Loving it, Loving it!!!!!

It's true that a change of coach or at least getting a different perspective from a second coach can make alot of difference. I always think that no one coach has all the answers to a persons skating progression

I don't recall having too many problems with all singles up to and including flip although it took me ages to be able to do a loop of back crossovers rather than from an inside 3!

Lutz took me quite a long time. I remember trying it for weeks and weeks and only ever making half a turn and then when I finally landed it I couldn't do it again for a week or so and then after that it would only work once or twice a session (and I used to try loads).

Axels took an age and are still not there. I started learning them in 2004. The first attempts I had were good and teacher said I would have it by the end of the summer that year (this was about Easter time 2004). Never happened. But it got better and 2005 it was ok ish although as I didn't need it for competition I didn't work on it obsessively. Could consistently get to forwards but couldn't get the rest of the rotation. In 2005/2006 something bad happened. I obsessed so much about rotation that I lost all technique and my axel developed into a weird twisty thing. And I had to totally relearn it. I couldn't get out of the bad habits and bad muscle memory until Summer 2007 and now finally it is correct. It doesn't work all the time - not even most of the time - its often underrotated - but I have now done it properly.

In summary, axels took me ages.

Double salchows are now proving to be a problem.

I guess all jumps are hard - well at least for me

The axel is taking me forever.

The lutz has also been a constant challenge because it is such an unforgiving jump. Aside from my wiggling on entry and that whole outside edge takeoff thing, if I don't have hips and arms correct the darn thing goes nowhere.
The single toeloop is difficult to do correctly, because it's so forgiving. There are a million ways to do it wrong and it will still rotate and land. Although I had several years of issues with my loop (prerotating), it has become a dependable friend. I am enjoying the flip more now too (initially it was hard to get the full rotation). And I have always loved the salchow. I may get the double salchow before the axel.

So far it has been the salchow, just because it took me forever to break the habit of touching my free foot down before jumping.

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Jessica

http://ilove2skate.livejournal.com/

http://www.myspace.com/sk8fabulous

NOOOOO!!! Learning the 1/2 loop first really messed ME up! I keep trying to loop correctly but that other foot wants to land it......I have been trying to overcome...altho I will have to do it at a higher level eventually (sigh).

I know it's not a "jump" but I am dyslexic with bunny hops; can't teach the kids how to do them...and I hate them anywho.

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

None of that really speaks to my original point which is that just because you get one revolution jump right, adding a revolution is going to be that easy.

I think everyone here who is sharing what jump is difficult for them agrees that persistence and good coaching is a good thing But like you point out with your examples, everyone has a jump that gives them a hard time, even with persistence and good coaching.

j

Lutz for me. It's the whole counter-rotation thing plus the long leading edge. And then getting onto an outside edge (or at least a flat!) is a whole other story.

Although I'm sure axel will replace this at some point in the near future