International coach Nick Perna offers important insights regarding jump walk-throughs. Nick begins by explaining the importance of doing walkthroughs, and cites examples of elite skaters repeatedly doing walkthroughs just before competing. But just doing walkthroughs is not enough. They need to be done correctly. Nick explains that he can often predict problems in a given jump before seeing it, based on errors in the walk-through.
Next, Nick talks about the 3 different types of walk-throughs he uses with his skaters. One is a “regular walkthrough,” the second he calls a “hop through,” and the third he calls a “real time walk through.” On the regular walkthrough, the skater does a slow-motion, piece-by-piece movement to simulate the jump. Nick talks us through an axel walk-through, and he emphasizes that skaters should do the correct number of total rotations as the jump they are simulating (not just a backspin with a large number of turns). He wants the walkthrough to correctly simulate the directional motion of the jump in the air.
Nick also notes that skaters will typically add stuff to the walkthrough that doesn’t really happen in the jump itself. The most common example is skaters that push off the ice with the other skate into the backspin, or use the arms to generate rotation for the backspin. In the air after a good jump take-off, the skater simply cannot do this, so allowing it in the walkthrough is a mistake.
For the hop through, Nick explains that it’s different than a “jump through.” For a hop through, the skaters “are really not thinking of jumping.” The hop allows the skater to focus more on control and precisely moving to the correct air position. Nick says, “It’s not a lot of jump, it’s more about the snap into the position.”
In the final type of walkthrough, the real time walkthrough, Nick wants the skater to do the movements at the same pace with which the real jump happens. He wants it to have the same rhythm and timing and quickness that it would have if it were a real jump. The real-time walkthrough can have a hop, but it doesn’t have to. Nick allows the skater to choose what is most comfortable.
A big focus for Nick on walkthroughs is correct check outs and landings. This is often overlooked, and skaters that are allowed to perform sloppy walkthrough landings typically also have sloppy jump landings.
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