Axel Jump Tips: How To Fix A Swingy Axel

Axel Jump Tips: How To Fix A Swingy Axel – Part 2 (Nick Perna)

Nick Perna continues his lesson with Annalise to improve her axel, particularly the jump’s distance. Part 1 focused on control of the step position and the hip and leg movement, all on a straight line.

In this video, Nick proceeds to the waltz jump. Again, he’s trying to keep the entire jump on a straight line and he wants the skater to land on two feet. The curve of the take-off and the pronounced shoulder rotation help Nick see what’s going to happen on the axel. He says, “Now you see how much shoulder rotation you had there? That’s a sign of what’s going to happen on the axel. Your body’s going to get ahead of your feet and you’re going to create a twirly jump.”

Nick next uses a modified waltz jump walk through to help Annalise understand and feel what he wants. Notice the focus on proper alignment, particularly on the “landing.” The hip popped out on landing is extremely common at this level but Nick is persistent in asking for the correction. When hopping the modified waltz jump, Annalise is unable to keep her right shoulder back where Nick wants it.

Nick adds a further half rotation after the modified two-foot waltz jump landing by just hopping up and rotating a half turn. He provides important execution details in multiple attempts by the skater. Next Nick and Annalise proceed to a “straight-line” take-off right to a forward landing. You can see examples of both good and bad versions of each drill.