Off the ice

Each page here names something the body has to be able to do, says which elements ask for it, and leaves the programme to a coach or a physiotherapist.

That is deliberate. A website cannot see how you move, and a squat or a stretch is better taught by someone who can. What the guide can do is connect the work to the ice: why a skater needs a held single-leg bend, and which jumps fall apart without one. Every element named below links back here from its own page.

Warm up before anything off the ice, and before jumping above all. Jump on a forgiving surface, land on a bent knee, and stop if something hurts. A skater with an injury or a health condition should ask a doctor or physiotherapist first.

What the elements ask for

• Balance on one legStanding on one leg with the ankle correcting all the time, as every edge asks. 6 elements named.
• A deep, soft kneeThe bend skating lives on: strength to hold it, and an ankle that uses all the boot allows. 5 elements named.
• Hips and turnoutHow far the legs rotate outward from the hip, for the free leg, mohawks and the spread eagle. 5 elements named.
• Core and carriageA trunk that holds its shape while the shoulders and hips move separately. 5 elements named.
• Holding the landingThe one position the jumps land in, held for longer than a landing lasts. 7 elements named.
• Jumping and turning off the floorFloor jumps: going up before going round, pulling in, and opening out to land. 5 elements named.
• Spotting and rotationTurning quickly without dizziness, and seeing straight again when the turning stops. 5 elements named.
• Holding spin positionsThe sit, camel and layback shapes, held still for longer than a spin lasts. 4 elements named.
• StaminaEnough endurance that the last third of a programme is skated as well as the first. 4 elements named.