Audrey Weisiger talks about jump landings.  Right at the beginning Audrey notes that coaches often focus on every other aspect of a jump and expect the skater to simply land it.  Obviously this assumption is often (usually) incorrect, which means skaters need to learn to land by trial and error.  By understanding exactly what happens in a jump landing, coaches can provide skaters with better tools to minimize the time needed to land any new jump.  Audrey notes that the common landing error of landing on a back inside edge is cause by an air position issue of the hips.

Audrey says, “The first thing I want to stress is you land facing into the circle” when contact is initially made with the ice.  Many skaters (and coaches too) think of jump landings as having the shoulders square at landing so the skater is simply backing out of the jump.  But this doesn’t allow any time for deceleration of the rotation and is not physically possible without the shoulders continuing to open.  Thus, the shoulders should be turned into the circle at the moment of impact, especially on multiple rotation jumps.

[Editor’s note:  Because a jump is technically clean with the blade a quarter turn short of the flight path, and the shoulders can twist down the line of the landing foot, it is possible to land cleanly with the skater’s shoulders facing the landing direction!  In other words, at the moment of impact, the skater can have their chest facing directly at the eventual landing direction.  This initially counterintuitive idea can be observed fairly commonly on triple and quadruple jumps.]

Audrey also notes the landing leg should be fully extended at the moment of impact so the knees have the maximum amount of time to absorb the landing impact forces.  Squatty air positions that never fully extend prior to landing result in more landing difficultly than is necessary.

Audrey shares one of her tremendously effective drills for keeping proper hip alignment at landing.  She has the skater do a back spin in the “two toes position” which she demonstrates.  As she describes, “The free hip is turned into the axis hip… Shoulders are over the axis.”  Audrey recommends that ALL skaters learn this landing drill.  She also suggests exiting the drill with a push by the free foot  which she demonstrates.  The details of this push out are extremely important so watch the video carefully.  Notice that the free hip does not open until after the free foot has passed the skating foot.  (And notice the reference to school figures.)  Audrey’s tip is, “So keep it on the ice as long as they can and then take it back.”

Audrey also addresses the wildly swinging free leg.  The exercise above solves this problem if the air position is correct.  Audrey finishes the video by drawing on the ice to clarify the concepts of the paths of both the landing (skating) foot and the free foot.  This is priceless and provides a clear visual reminder for what’s going on.  She clearly addresses the myth of the leg “going straight back” and explains why some skaters have to do it rather than the preferred landing she describes.  Audrey also explains that she likes the final landing position with the free foot directly behind the skating foot rather than out to the side.

The information in this video is some of the most valuable information on jumping ever published.  These are foundational principles taught by Audrey and the staff of her seminar company, Grassroots to Champions.  Nearly every G2C seminar covers this material in detail because it is so important and can have such a powerful effect when applied properly.  Audrey is very generous in sharing this information with us here at iCoachSkating.com.  Please leave her a comment below.  (And use these drills, even for singles!)

Audrey is an Olympic coach and we are very lucky to have her contributions to iCoachSkating.com.  Please rate this content and leave a comment for Audrey or other members below.

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