Part of the fun of watching figure skating competitions is to recognize jumps, see what jumps are the skaters' favorites, what jumps they struggle with, etc. I can recognize all the jumps in slow motion. However, I have a hard time telling them apart in real time. I went of the US Figure Skating Championships last week and found that, while it's a bit easier to recognize jumps in real life than on TV, it's still hard for me. It might also be because I sat too far away from the rink.
For the type of jumps, the Axel is the easiest one to recognize, because it takes off forward. The loop is also easy for me because of its unique setup. The Lutz is easy-ish to recognize because of its unique edge. The flip and the toe loop are a bit hard to tell apart if I look at it from far away because it's hard to tell which leg is left or right. The Salchow also happens so quickly sometimes that I'm not sure if it's a loop or a salchow. And I will never be able to tell if the second jump is a combination is a loop or a toe loop, because it happens so fast.
For the number of rotations, it's just too fast for me to count. So I just remember how fast it looks. If it looks fast, but not fast enough, it's probably a triple. If it looks really fast, it's probably a quad. But for some skaters, their quads look so similar to their triples that it's hard to tell them apart.
Does anyone else have this problem? What are your tips for recognizing jumps in real time, without watching the slo-mo video?
For the type of jumps, the Axel is the easiest one to recognize, because it takes off forward. The loop is also easy for me because of its unique setup. The Lutz is easy-ish to recognize because of its unique edge. The flip and the toe loop are a bit hard to tell apart if I look at it from far away because it's hard to tell which leg is left or right. The Salchow also happens so quickly sometimes that I'm not sure if it's a loop or a salchow. And I will never be able to tell if the second jump is a combination is a loop or a toe loop, because it happens so fast.
For the number of rotations, it's just too fast for me to count. So I just remember how fast it looks. If it looks fast, but not fast enough, it's probably a triple. If it looks really fast, it's probably a quad. But for some skaters, their quads look so similar to their triples that it's hard to tell them apart.
Does anyone else have this problem? What are your tips for recognizing jumps in real time, without watching the slo-mo video?