World and Olympic coach Tom Zakrajsek discusses helpful and important concepts that rarely get discussed by coaches. He begins by discussing body awareness by thinking about the belly button and spine. This is a fantastic way for skaters to sense their core and understand more clearly how the hips and shoulders work together or in opposition. Having an awareness of where this part of the body is pointing can be very helpful with nearly every aspect of skating.
Tom talks about this in relation to the flip jump. He notes (based on the exercise in this video) that when entering the three turn the belly button is facing the line. He continues, “Now when you actually go to jump you’re going to want to turn your spine. Your spine will go inward. You’ll turn your right side into your left side.” Then Tom compares this to the lutz (based on the exercise in this video) where the belly button faces outside the line. Tom explains the importance of these exercise and the necessary focus on the correct edges for take-off.
Next Tom discusses some details of how the foot moves inside the skating boot. He says, “What if I told you quadruple jumpers really use their feet inside their boot. They don’t just use the edge and the blades and their speed and their body.” To build awareness of the feet inside their boots, Tom has the class do simple 3-turns to feel what the foot is feeling. Although it is unclear if the skaters are really offering useful observations, Tom takes a moment to compare the skate blade to a boat noting that the weight on the blade will typically be further back when the skate is gliding forward and more forward when the skate is gliding backward. So Tom tells the skaters to go do their forward 3-turns again where the body is balanced on the middle/back part of the blade to enter the turn.
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