World and Olympic coach Kori Ade gives a double axel lesson to one of her skaters. Kori begins by noting that for skaters who have roughly the same technical skills in their programs, details are what separate the competitors in the judges minds. Kori says, “Can you give it star quality? Can you land the jump like it’s the best double axel that the judges are going to see all day long?” But she also notes that you have to stay focused and actually land the jump first.
Next, Kori discusses the concept of “game face” which conveys an attitude to the judges and spectators. To see examples of the kind of attitude that Kori is talking about, she recommends watching some Sasha Cohen videos. She says, “It was a ‘nobody is better than me’ kind of face. That’s the face you need.”
Kori also talks about a few technical details of the double axel in this video. She discusses the need for a “second up” (getting to a strong air position) as well as the important tip of checking out of the jump first with the free leg rather than the arms. The final part of the video is a great discussion of entrance patterns, and how a setup using a straight line is different than one using a curve. Kori notes that some athletes need to focus on just one kind of entrance, while others can easily handle the various options. If a skater does not feel comfortable with a specific entrance, it often makes sense to change the pattern, even if that means making changes to the choreography.
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