Advice needed on landings

Hey all,

I've only been skating for four months and I have already up to axel under my belt but i've been having problems on the landings instead of hitting the toe most of the time i'm landing flat footed and therefore having major falls, my coaches tell me to get more speed on the takeoffs is this true? So any advice on those who have been jumping for a while?

landing on the toe pick has nothing to do with the speed into the jump, but you are more likely to save a messy jusmp if you have good flow out, which means good flow in. To land on your toe pick, think about pointing your toes in the air. getting a good press off the ice on the edge jumps can help.

ah i c i'll have to remember to point my toes in the air and i'll practice it off the ice over and over again and hoepfully that'll work, I can do up to triple toe off the ice so I think that my training of those jumps has helped me to land it so soon.

Yeah, maybe you shoudl think about jumping up not out. I never had any problem with this... so i can't be of much help... actually somtimes i am too far over the toe. An axel in four months is really fast!!!!!!!!!

icesk8erdude4e said:

ah i c i'll have to remember to point my toes in the air and i'll practice it off the ice over and over again and hoepfully that'll work, I can do up to triple toe off the ice so I think that my training of those jumps has helped me to land it so soon.

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Just be careful with the pointed toes off ice. On the ice you have the luxury of the blade and the boot so you can land with toes pointed and roll back onto the edge. If you jump hard and high off ice landing with toes pointed on your landing foot, it would be an easy way to break your toes/ strain a muscle.

I good thing to practice off ice is going up on your landing toe and get into the back spin position and practice snapping out into the back spin position, checking hard and sinking into a bent knee. Also doing a couple of hops in the same spot in the backspin position and doing a little hop out into a strong landing position.

Ant

Thanks antmanb,:agree: The top of my foot has a tendency to hurt really bad, must be from the type of practice you have pointed out. I wonder if it is a good idea only to practice off ice in a extremely stiff soled boot - maybe a solid sole, or "unbladed" boot????

SeaniBu said:

Thanks antmanb,:agree: The top of my foot has a tendency to hurt really bad, must be from the type of practice you have pointed out. I wonder if it is a good idea only to practice off ice in a extremely stiff soled boot - maybe a solid sole, or "unbladed" boot????

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That could end in tears given how shiny the underside of an unbladed boot would be! Also the cost of buyig a pair of boots purely for off ice jumping might be a bit steep!!

Off ice jumping is best done on a matt so that at least some of the strain is absorbed. Also you should not try to "stick" the landings off ice as you can really hurt yourself - your foot, really twist your knee and ankle. It's better to hit the landing position and do a few hops as soon as you land. You should jump off ice to get used to the feel of the rotations in the air rather than to simulate the jump since the take off and landing s don't feel the same off ice.

Ant

Good points.

antmanb said:

That could end in tears given how shiny the underside of an unbladed boot would be! Also the cost of buyig a pair of boots purely for off ice jumping might be a bit steep!!

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Not if they were cheep boots, what about the last old pair?

About the slick surface, that wouldn't be a good thing in simulation? I would think it would be. ????

Do you know about the "anti slip" adhesive pads they put on dress shoes? I had them on a couple but I used the same stuff for anti slip on professional Kitchen floors - which turns out is the same as the stuff they stick on skateboards, you can buy it in sheets.

antmanb said:

Off ice jumping is best done on a matt so that at least some of the strain is absorbed. Also you should not try to "stick" the landings off ice as you can really hurt yourself - your foot, really twist your knee and ankle. It's better to hit the landing position and do a few hops as soon as you land.

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ITA and do, the only ones I feel you can "really" practice are the edge jumps though. I can "kinda roll back and push" on something like a Sal. but not setting the toepick in the ice as momentum assists make those much more difficult. especially if I squat down. Any suggestion on toe pick jumps practice off Ice?

SeaniBu said:

Good points.
Not if they were cheep boots, what about the last old pair?

About the slick surface, that wouldn't be a good thing in simulation? I would think it would be. ????

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Perhaps for things like turns. twizzles and maybe some kind of simulated stroking but not for take off and landing of jumps - both of which involve the security of the toe pick. Having a slcik boot meet a slick floor on the landing of a jump i think would spell disaster - even worse than landing a jump flat footed and landing straight on an edge mostly ends in a fall.

SeaniBu said:

ITA and do, the only ones I feel you can "really" practice are the edge jumps though. I can "kinda roll back and push" on something like a Sal. but not setting the toepick in the ice as momentum assists make those much more difficult. especially if I squat down. Any suggestion on toe pick jumps practice off Ice?

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Now i find that only really the loop and axel translate well to the floor - i can never feel the ssalchow on the floor becuase its the timing on the three turn and the prerotation into the lift that you can't really get on the floor.

For the toe pick jumps i use a kind of step onto the ball of the "picking" foot to try and get the feel of the jump...but if i do too much off ice jumping without going ont he ice in between then i start to make mistake on the ice like putting the blade down to jump off on a toe loop instead of the toe.

Also practising the flip off ice has given me a terribly two footed take off on the flip where the tracing of the skating leg come past and around the toe pick mark on the ice....i'm having real trouble cleaning that up now...damned muscle memory from dry land jumping!

Ant

Only four months and you've landed your axel that is really good. My coach told me that if you want to point your toe you have to get good lift on your take off and point it in the air

Thanks for joining us, Jen, and welcome!

Basic Backward Landing In All Jumps

This is a quote from a technical book I have on my shelf from my former days as a figure skater:

Practice a basic Waltz jump:

"You take off from a forward outside edge, and jump a half rotation to a back outside edge. Land with an erect back. In all jumps landing backwards, you land "toe-foot-knee" as though your leg were a free spring. The result is a smooth gliding land. Extending the free leg following through on the landing, is a very important part of any back landing jump."

Three Jump:

"This is one of the most basic and elementary jumps you will learn in skating. It is a half-turn in the air, from the left outside forward edge to a right outside back edge and many of the essentials in jumping can be learned practicing this jump. Always try to JUMP UP - NOT OUT. Jump from a well bent knee and land on one again smoothly. Get ready and be well balanced, but don't delay your jump for even a fraction of a second. Have your balanced toe turned out and pointed throughout."

Axel:

"The start of the take-off is very similar to the three-jump, but with the shoulders possibly more tense in preparation for the rotation, a turn and a half in the air. The arms are forcealby pulled in in a position like a one-foot spin. The skater then relaxes his body and prepares for the landing, which takes place on the left or opposite foot from the take-off. As he is coming down onto the ice on the left foot, the free leg is hanging out, forward, which, as he hits the ice, would be held back in a three-jump rotation


Practice both the Waltz jump and the three jump and I am sure you will master the axel.

I hope this helps.