came across the term when reading about blades earlier this week, it was talking about these blades facilitating that "all important axel skid"

What the heck is that? You mean you have to skid into the jump?

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am

I remember this when I was learning the axel with my former coach. (Current coach hasn't done any axel work with me yet). Just at the point of take-off there is a little skid on the ice and apparently it's normal and a good thing. I don't remember any more about it but I do remember that it exists!

Nicki

Went to a PSA workshop where a very high caliber coach taught this technique. No one contradicted her, so I guess it's here to stay. (I was taught (militantly) that you takeoff from a clean edge/toe.) The takeoff for the axel includes a slight skid with the outside edge. The coach said it lets the skater control the takeoff better and more safely, while providing lift. She teaches it from the single axel to support the doubles and triples.

Ah, to have students at THAT level!

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Yeah, coaches are divided on the axel skid. Mine teaches it the traditional way, off a clean edge, but it seems to be in fashion to teach it with a bit of a skid these days.

Mine used to teach it the traditional way, but then he went to a workshop given by Mishin, and since then, I believe, he's taught it with the skid.

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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!

I can do a double axel with or without a skid. If you watch any skating at olympics or worlds, you'll notice that everybody's triple has a skid. It's just a way of getting a little more rotation. It's also hard to do a double without a skid at high speed.

well, on my single axel i can do it with or without a skid...I was taught without a skid. I seem to land it more often with a skid, but my coach says its bad technique so I just do it the good old fashioned way without one. I have yet to even attempt a double axel, so I wouldn't know if it makes a huge difference then.

So how DO you do the skid?? Two of my most common mistakes on my axel takeoff edge are letting my left foot turn out too much as I step out onto the LFO edge, and not getting my weight forward enough. It seems like *trying* to do a skid would just make these problems worse. . . wouldn't it?

I actually do my axel without a skid, off of a clean edge. However, one of my coaches tells me that he skids and that it happens automatically and he's not exactly sure how to really teach it. He also tells me I'll never have a double axel without a skid so I guess I'll try to learn the skid. That's not to say that I'm claiming that I'll eventually have a double axel, but it's nice to think that it might be possible some day.

I almost died trying to learn the Axel Skid. However, there was a really good explaination about it at one of the Ice House Summer Camps. This fellow broke it down and explained (like an engineer) how the skid adds the the momentum, height, and rotation. It was very interesting. I remember that he also said it was essential when it came to double and triple axels.

This article was in Skating magazine some time ago. It doesn't quite explain how to achieve the skid, but it discusses the physics and measurement implications of the technique.

The PSA seminar coach mentioned that her student, a 2006 olympic team member, had to learn this after mastering the single and double axel. It was a difficult adjustment. She brought a small group of her students with her and had them demonstrate.

The skater steps onto a fast forward outside edge then does a gentle "skid" with that outside edge, without changing the body direction. (Think of slowing down before you do a one-foot stop.) This halts the foot's forward momentum, although the body is still moving forward. The skater has to quickly straighten and take off from the edge-toe combination so the jump's not cheated. The skid helps the skater bolt into the air.

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I skid on my axel takeoff, and one day fellow club member Ye Bin Mok asked me to demonstrate it for her because she needed to learn it. I was like, your axel (and double axel) is *gorgeous*, why on earth would you want to skid it? (And why would you want *me* to demonstrate it?) She said she was told the skid makes the jump more secure. I had no idea!

As I said in my original post, I read about axel skid while researching blades. On Sunday I was working on getting more height into my waltz jump, and on one attempt, I did a little skid, right at the end of the entry edge just before take off. I wondered whether I had inadvertently done an axel skid, from explanations here, it sounds like I might have. Cool.

Mind you, it has never happened before, and may not again. Besides, if I need an axel skid on my waltz jump, that is truly tragic!

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am

OK, Daisies, you can show me, too!