Axel
LFO takeoff, off the edge, 1.5 rotations to RBO.
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.
The only jump here with a forward takeoff, which is why it carries an extra half rotation: you leave facing forwards and land facing backwards, so one and a half turns is the least a single can be.
It is a waltz jump with a full rotation added, and that is the useful way to hold it in mind. The entry edge, the swing, the check on the landing and the run-out are all things a waltz jump already teaches. Most of the work is getting the waltz jump properly right before the rotation goes on.
Underneath both is the forward outside edge, held and checked, and the back outside edge to land on. Those are elements here in their own right, and an Axel that will not close is usually one of them going wrong a second earlier.
Derived
LFO is three letters (foot, direction, edge): left foot, forwards, outside edge. Every edge in the guide is written that way, so RBI is a right foot travelling backwards on an inside edge.
Takes off LFO and lands RBO, the same edge every jump in this guide but the Euler lands on, so the takeoff is what tells them apart. The spring comes from the edge, with no pick.
Shares its takeoff edge with the waltz jump: the pair that get mistaken for each other.
The double Axel is this jump with one more turn in the air: the same takeoff and the same landing.
Lands on RBO, where the toe loop and the loop take off, so it can start a combination: Axel + toe loop or Axel + loop.
A skater who rotates clockwise takes off RFO and lands LBO: the same jump, mirrored.
Off the ice
- Core and carriageA trunk that holds its shape while the shoulders and hips move separately.
- Holding the landingThe one position the jumps land in, held for longer than a landing lasts.
- Jumping and turning off the floorFloor jumps: going up before going round, pulling in, and opening out to land.
Leads to
5 elements in the guide are built on this one.
- Double AxelLFO takeoff, off the edge, 2.5 rotations to RBO.
- Axel + Euler + flipAxel (LFO, off the edge) through an Euler into a flip (LBI, off the pick), 3.5 rotations in all.
- Axel + Euler + SalchowAxel (LFO, off the edge) through an Euler into a Salchow (LBI, off the edge), 3.5 rotations in all.
- Axel + loopAxel (LFO, off the edge) straight into a loop (RBO, off the edge), 2.5 rotations in all.
- Axel + toe loopAxel (LFO, off the edge) straight into a toe loop (RBO, off the pick), 2.5 rotations in all.
Appears in
In the USA's grades