World and Olympic coach Audrey Weisiger continues to work with a class of high level skaters on improving their step into double axel (see the first part of the class here). The drills shared here can help skaters improve single axel (and triple!) as well. The purpose of this exercise is to help skaters learn to control their hips and overall alignment when stepping from the back outside preparation edge to the forward outside take-off edge. Perfecting this step helps skaters maintain flow and ensure proper alignment for maximum power generation and edge pressure.
For the first exercise in this video Audrey has the class do double axel (with full landing) followed by a back outside three turn, then a forward inside bracket (followed by what she calls her “that set position”) before stepping into the second double axel. She starts the class with single axel turn turn double axel. Once the class has had a chance to try it, she has them do it with two double axels. As Audrey explains, the goal is to maintain flow throughout the entire sequence.
The second exercise is a double axel with a full landing followed by a hop on the back outside landing edge before “pulling the edge” into the “set position” and then the step forward into another double axel. The hop forces the skater to fix any landing alignment issues, and you can see in the successful attempt how it can be challenging to maintain flow and direction.
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