Bunny hop

A forward leap from one foot onto the toe pick of the other, straight back into a glide on the take-off foot.

Also called bunny jump or forward bunny hop. Other names.

Not checked yet. The mechanics on this page are a first draft by a non-expert, and no coach has seen them yet. Read them as a starting point and check them with a coach. Corrections are very welcome.

Gliding forwards on one foot, you spring forwards off it, come down on the toe pick of the other foot, and step straight back onto the foot you took off from, gliding forwards again. Nothing turns in the air. That is Ice Skating Australia’s description, and it asks for the hop from each foot. Learn to Skate USA has it at its sixth level, and New Zealand’s KiwiSkate puts it first on its Free skating 1 badge, beside the waltz jump and the toe loop.

The pick takes the landing only for an instant: Australia asks for the return to the glide on the take-off foot to follow at once. It is the one basic in this guide that leaves the ice.

Build on

• One-foot glideThe bunny hop springs off a glide on one foot and returns to it, so the glide has to hold first.
• Two-foot hopIce Skating Australia and KiwiSkate both teach the hop on two feet several levels before the bunny hop, and US Figure Skating's adaptive Pre-Bronze test accepts either.

Leads to

2 elements in the guide are built on this one.

• Half flipLanding on a toe pick and stepping straight on is the bunny hop, and it is how the half flip lands; the half flip adds a backward take-off and half a turn.
• Waltz jumpBoth leave the ice from a forward glide. New Zealand's KiwiSkate teaches them together, on its Free skating 1 badge.

Appears in