Axel jump and pole harness question | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Axel jump and pole harness question

Annelegato

Rinkside
Joined
Jun 30, 2017
Give yourself time too - it can take over 6 months to feel good about axel and another 6 to land it in a competition cleanly. For the harness, my kid's coaches don't use it until they have worked on a jump a long while and when it is on, they get 2-4 tries and it comes off and they work on it unassisted for the rest of the lesson. By limiting tries on the harness, they don't rely on it mentally - it is just to work on one part/error of the jump. Some coaches use the harness for over half the jump lesson. Everyone is different. :) Good luck!!!!

My coach made me do it myself at the beginning of the lesson . If I can't he'll put me in a harness. Then take it out and let me do it without. That's usually how it goes.
 

Annelegato

Rinkside
Joined
Jun 30, 2017
Also, how do you tell yourself (your body ) to jump up instead of out (covering too much ice + no height ). I seem to be doing both so when I jump out too much I can't finish the rotation.
 

Annelegato

Rinkside
Joined
Jun 30, 2017
Hey! Thanks so much for all your advices so far! I think I am now at the point where it's all mental :( (And I hate it)
Just like I mentioned earlier I usually do off ice jumping with harness for rotation and off ice axels (both with and without my coach)
I seem to have problem jumping without a harness. As I mentioned earlier my coach did not help pull me up at all. The harness is just there, he said that I did it all by myself.
But when I took it off, I couldn't do it. I only got to 1 rev and then unwind. But he said today I didn't unwind but still didn't complete the jump before I land.
He also said I look at the ice so I fall when I jump without a harness.
But the issue of where I look , I don't think it's a big deal because when I detect I will try to fix it. ( so I will try to be cautious of where I look in the air now but it's so fast I don't even know if I my eyes were open lol).
Also, what I did today differently was, I counted "1 one thousand ,2 two thousand " ( to actually counted 2 seconds lol) when stepping on LFO preparing to jump so I have time to bend my knee.
I also had more talk with my coach about the mental thing. Because I did pop a few of them even when on a harness.
I remember I used to be more , I guess "hyped" about it. I think it's fun , an axel lesson with my coach. Now, I still think it's fun but I can't help to feel I little bit upset when I couldn't get it. But I don't think I show that to my coach, maybe I should talk to him about it?
I know that they are many factors and it takes a lot of time and practice but I don't get why I couldn't do it if I practically did it (yes with a harness on me, my coach even tricked me a few times by taking it off before I jump , landed it ) ... so ... I guess I just need to hear more past experiences from you guys.. or if you'd like to help me get through this kind of mental block ( yes , I still refuse to completely accept it :p) I'd be very appreciated
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
It seems to be a mental thing for you. Talk to your coach about this or he can't help you help yourself. Good luck!
 

sandraskates

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Country
United-States
Hey! Thanks so much for all your advices so far! I think I am now at the point where it's all mental :( (And I hate it)
Just like I mentioned earlier I usually do off ice jumping with harness for rotation and off ice axels (both with and without my coach)
I seem to have problem jumping without a harness. As I mentioned earlier my coach did not help pull me up at all. The harness is just there, he said that I did it all by myself.
But when I took it off, I couldn't do it. I only got to 1 rev and then unwind. But he said today I didn't unwind but still didn't complete the jump before I land.
He also said I look at the ice so I fall when I jump without a harness.
But the issue of where I look , I don't think it's a big deal because when I detect I will try to fix it. ( so I will try to be cautious of where I look in the air now but it's so fast I don't even know if I my eyes were open lol).


"If you look down, you go down."

Think "up" on as take off. Some skaters even move their eyes to look up towards the ceiling. If nothing else, keep them level.
 

vlaurend

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 14, 2008
Yes, what Sandraskates just said. "UP" has always been one of my axel cue words, too. Also, it helps a lot to actually spot where you're going to be in the air as you're about to take off. Look up about 1 foot in front of you and 2 feet above your head, then aim to occupy that spot when you jump up. I've always needed a cue word for every phase of the axel in order to avoid mental paralysis. Mine are: Arch, straight, UP, Tall, and LAND. If you need more specific cues for the rotation itself, you can think "UP, hip, arms, LAND (turn the hip first, then pull the arms in, then land).
 

Annelegato

Rinkside
Joined
Jun 30, 2017
Guys, what about trying a side-by-side axel with my friend? Does that help with the mental thing a bit?
 

Ender

Match Penalty
Joined
May 17, 2017
"If you look down, you go down."

Think "up" on as take off. Some skaters even move their eyes to look up towards the ceiling. If nothing else, keep them level.
Like Boyang Jin... he often looks up when he's on air. It might look scary but it helps.
 

jf12

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 8, 2016
My coach has me do that too (waltz-backspin) but I think it's different coz I need to create momentum going into the axel so I'm not a big fan of that i feel like it's more of a walk through. But thanks tho!

Your response to Seren's tip makes me feel like you need to do MORE axels from standstill, not less! Standstill is a great tool to make sure you can reliably, from no speed, generate the rotation you need to get around. If at this stage of learning that axel, if you feel that you need to be skating into it, you're going to be relying on that momentum and flinging your body, rather than getting the feeling of the axel solid in your body. It's normal not to like standstills, but I think waltz-backspin and standstill axels are key for development.
 

Annelegato

Rinkside
Joined
Jun 30, 2017
Your response to Seren's tip makes me feel like you need to do MORE axels from standstill, not less! Standstill is a great tool to make sure you can reliably, from no speed, generate the rotation you need to get around. If at this stage of learning that axel, if you feel that you need to be skating into it, you're going to be relying on that momentum and flinging your body, rather than getting the feeling of the axel solid in your body. It's normal not to like standstills, but I think waltz-backspin and standstill axels are key for development.

Thanks, I tend to do axel and waltz backspin from standstill by myself. When I'm with my coach he makes me do both. He said I can jump but I just need To be more confident
 

jf12

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 8, 2016
Thanks, I tend to do axel and waltz backspin from standstill by myself. When I'm with my coach he makes me do both. He said I can jump but I just need To be more confident

It'll help with confidence too, if you're able to do it from standstill!
 

vlaurend

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 14, 2008
Guys, what about trying a side-by-side axel with my friend? Does that help with the mental thing a bit?
I'm going to say NO on that one, LOL! You're going to be too focused on what's going on with your friend and not looking where you should be looking. Your timing may also be off if you're trying to match it to someone else's.
 

sandraskates

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Country
United-States
I'm going to say NO on that one, LOL! You're going to be too focused on what's going on with your friend and not looking where you should be looking. Your timing may also be off if you're trying to match it to someone else's.

Totally agree. Practice with your friend and have fun, but not side-by-side axels. Now maybe when you both land them. . .:laugh:
 
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