In this video from a few years ago, World and Olympic figure skating coach Audrey Weisiger teaches an on-ice class at one of her acclaimed Grassroots to Champions seminars. The topic in the class is the lutz jump, and as you’ll see, Audrey covers a lot of ground including theory, print/tracing on the ice, exercises, and demonstrations. Audrey notes that, “The lutz is the most valuable jump in skating right now… So make sure you learn how to do a REAL lutz.”
Audrey begins by discussing the print for the flip jump. To appreciate the details of the lutz jump, it’s helpful to understand the differences between flip and lutz. The flip comes off a back inside edge with the feet a blade width (or up to a shoulder or hip width) apart. The lutz comes off a back outside edge with the feet just inches from each other. Look at the tracing that Audrey draws on the ice to clearly understand the difference. In both the flip and the lutz there is typically some pivot or rotation on the toe pick, which creates what Audrey calls the”Eiffel Tower” or “Star Trek.” Also notice the “toe flick” on the lutz. This sometimes appears on flip jumps but is much less common on the flips (which tend to come off the heel or middle of the blade).
To help the class feel their outside edges, notice that Audrey does not spend time on long shallow outside edges. Instead, she chooses exercises that emphasize short and very deep outside edges. The inverse rocking horse is a great exercise where skaters have to dramatically supinate their ankles to create the “hourglass” on two outside edges. Audrey shows two variations of this exercise, one with the feet moving forward and backward in unison (to feel the outside edges) and one with the feet scissoring back and forth (which more closely simulates the movement during the lutz jump itself). Another great drill is the back outside pivot (in the skater’s non-natural direction) to simulate the active edge take-off of the lutz.
There is a very nice demonstration of a single and double lutz based on the technique that Audrey is teaching here.
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