Advice on the loop jump?

[icesk8er]

So my group lessons just ended. And I have learned how to do a salchow and a toe loop. Now, I'm trying to do a loop jump on my own. I can do it off-ice, though a bit under rotated. On ice, I don't have enough courage to jump. I just get into the position (skating on the right back outside edge, left foot over the right foot, left arm in front) and then chicken out. I just feel like I'm going to fall if I jump.

Is there an intermediate step that can help me ease into it? For example, when I was learning the salchow, I did a pivot+waltz jump. I then transitioned into a full jump later. Is there something similar for the loop jump? I saw a video of people doing a "loop jump" without jumping, i.e., do a spin on the right foot. (See https://youtu.be/ujU4HhgG8VU?t=25s starting at 0:25). But I find it's hard to do.

I'm also thinking of taking a private lesson just for the loop jump. Is it weird to tell a coach that? My budget is tight, so I can't keep taking the lessons...

 

[karne]

Please do not attempt to self-teach. It is dangerous and your chances of learning poor technique and bad habits are high.

If you wish to continue learning, please engage a coach. I understand your budget is tight, but you don't have to be having ten lessons a week; one every two weeks, or even one a month, is completely doable. Just never self-teach!

 

[jf12]

I do think if you are on a budget, it's a good idea to have really good focus on what lessons that you do have, so working on just one thing in one lesson makes sense. See if your coach can fit you in for even a 15 minute lesson sometime between other lessons.

A good exercise for the loop jump, is to do right back outside 3-turns with the left arm checked and the right arm open to the right side, just like loop arms. I would say that a decent back outside 3 is a prerequisite for the loop jump.

 

[sandraskates]

Never feel weird to let a coach know what you want to work on! As long as your request is at your skill level they should be happy to hear a request come from the student so they can impart their expertise to assist you.

There is an exercise at the wall for loop jumps. There is no way I could adequately describe it to you but perhaps the coaches at your rink may be able to work through it with you if they use this technique.

There are some great videos with explanations of the loop jump on youtube. This one from Michael Weiss gives some great points about body positions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh4EIzmvmYk

I am not fervent with the "don't teach yourself" declaration that others maintain. But a loop jump is one jump where you really could get into a bad habit that is hard to correct. And it is a component for many of the next harder jumps.

 

[gkelly]

I would say that a decent back outside 3 is a prerequisite for the loop jump.

I wouldn't say it's a prerequisite, because I was taught the loop jump as a kid without having been taught any back threes. (In fact, at the point that I quit I was starting to work on double salchow and still hadn't learned any back threes. Those were one of the first completely new skills I learned when I came back as an adult. They'd probably be so much easier if I'd learned them young.)

Anyway, I'd say that backspin is another good skill that could be useful before learning the loop jump, although it's probably more common for kids to learn the jump sooner.

 

[jf12]

I wouldn't say it's a prerequisite, because I was taught the loop jump as a kid without having been taught any back threes. (In fact, at the point that I quit I was starting to work on double salchow and still hadn't learned any back threes. Those were one of the first completely new skills I learned when I came back as an adult. They'd probably be so much easier if I'd learned them young.)

Anyway, I'd say that backspin is another good skill that could be useful before learning the loop jump, although it's probably more common for kids to learn the jump sooner.

Well, I didn't mean it was impossible, just that it is a building block skill, especially for people who are afraid of the edge. I mentioned it because the OP was looking for non-jumping drills to get used to the feeling, and the loop is nothing but a right back outside double 3 with the turns in the air. You may have found it easier to get that double sal if you'd gotten a strong back inside 3 before you started working on it!!

 

[gkelly]

You may have found it easier to get that double sal if you'd gotten a strong back inside 3 before you started working on it!!

Undoubtedly. I'm still bitter that figures training at the time, at least for my coach, focused on perfecting the skills for the current figure test and not working ahead to learn new skills in a freestyle context that might be useful there before moving on to the next figure test.

 

[jf12]

Figures sounds serious, I haven't done them! Maybe one benefit of the MIF system is people get through them a bit faster which exposes the skater to more earlier.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Figures sounds serious, I haven't done them! Maybe one benefit of the MIF system is people get through them a bit faster which exposes the skater to more earlier.

Figures were serious and I miss them, I feel a bunch of the issues many of todays skaters have in their SS column would be possibly better had Figures not been done away with, anyway I personally was able to develop both at the same time without one lacking behind the other (freestyle and figures). Perhaps that's just me though : it wasn't a set in stone usual thing for many.

 

[Vanshilar]

Undoubtedly. I'm still bitter that figures training at the time, at least for my coach, focused on perfecting the skills for the current figure test and not working ahead to learn new skills in a freestyle context that might be useful there before moving on to the next figure test.

That might just be coach philosophy. My coach has already taught me some of the skills for up to the fifth figures test even though I haven't taken any figures tests yet. When we had my first lesson on jumps, she taught me from waltz jump through the flip jump (though I could already do the waltz jump). I'm still working on my Adult Silver MIF test, but she's already taught me some of the Intermediate MIF patterns (in fact, the slide chasse is now part of my warmup routine). She prefers to have a student work on multiple skills all the time.

 

[vlaurend]

Two more exercises to help you with the loop jump:
(1) LBI pivot - Stick your right toe in the ice, keep your right arm back and left arm and foot in front, then draw a circle on the ice with your left foot (left back inside edge) while keeping your right toe in the ice. This will teach you to stay backward and keep the left arm and leg in front and the right shoulder pulled back.
(2) Backspin - Once you can do the LBI pivot, try lifting the left leg at the end of it and doing a little upright spin on the right foot. To stay over the right side, you will need to keep the left thigh closed, the left shoulder in front and the right shoulder back even once you are in the spin. That is also true of the loop jump air position.