World and Olympic ice dance medalist Madison Hubbell gives a skater a lesson at a seminar/camp. This lesson focuses on skating skills, and in particular, how to generate power on the ice. Madison begins with a simple two-foot weight transfer… Continue reading
International coach Lorie Charbonneau continues her presentation on using a simple air-filled balloon as a jump training aid. In Part 1 she introduced the concept and had her skaters demonstrate single jumps as well as axel and double salchow with… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Audrey Weisiger teaches a jump class at a seminar. This is a continuation of this video. In this video, Audrey begins by discussing the idea of using difficult and challenging drills in skating. Most skaters thrive… Continue reading
Figure skating spin specialist Charyl Brusch continues a spin lesson, covering camel spin, introduction to layback, and combination spins with camel and layback (and sit spin). This is a continuation of this lesson. Starting with camel, Charyl focuses on keeping… Continue reading
Coach and former French competitive skater Vincent Restencourt gives a quad toe loop lesson to 2015 US National Champion Jason Brown. It is uncommon for skaters and coaches at this level to share such an intimate look at a typical… Continue reading
Skating skills and moves in the field specialist Karen Olson discusses the ‘alternating backward crossovers to backward outside edges’ pattern of the US Figure Skating Preliminary Moves in the Field test. When teaching this pattern, Karen often refers to it… Continue reading
Below is a revised and updated version (2022) of an article originally published in 2007 by Trevor Laak on his SkateCoach/wordpress.com blog which details jump height estimates based on jump air times. That article can be found at this link.… Continue reading
Fred Bartick, a Minnesota-based (Bloomington, MN) skate technician with over 35 years of experience, continues his discussion of boots and blades with tips for proper blade care. (See Part 1 of the series here and Part 2 of the series… Continue reading
National level coach Debbie Warne-Jacobsen shares exercises and insights for toe loop development, including toe loops in combination. She begins with a “toe drill from the wall” which is a drill to work the pivot of the take-off for the… Continue reading
Figure skating specialist coach and inventor Sheila Thelen continues her demonstration of off-ice jump training using an electric spinner and stationary off-ice harness system. This is a continuation of the previous videos here and here. In this video, the demonstrator… Continue reading
Coach Kate Charbonneau continues a general lesson with a beginner level skater, using program elements as a roadmap for the lesson. Part 1 focused on footwork and spins, and Part 2 focused on some jumps. Part 3 focused on spin… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Michelle Leigh works with a skater to improve the flip jump take-off with improved ankle flex in the air. (In previous videos, Michelle worked with this skater to get ankle flex on double loop jump and… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Nick Perna gives a jump lesson, beginning with waltz jump drills. The first drill is a waltz jump, “land forward” on one foot, then snap into twizzle rotation prior to a strong landing position. For… Continue reading
Coach and choreographer Rohene Ward works with a variety of advanced skaters who are doing program run-throughs without jumps. Rohene calls these performances “makettes” (SP) which he explains is a Russian ice dance word for “mark through” of an ice… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Chris Conte gives a lesson at a seminar, and this portion of the lesson focuses on the waltz jump and the axel. Chris begins by asking for three waltz jumps in a row with nice… Continue reading
Spin specialist Kim Ryan continues a group class on layback spins. In Part 1 the focus was on proper upright spin entrance and spin centering. This video starts there and discusses the place on the blade we need to balance… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Jeremy Allen shares insights related to initially teaching skaters a single lutz. It’s common for coaches to simply share a basic entry and get rotation and initially overlook the details of the edge itself, instead… Continue reading
In a presentation to skaters and coaches at a local seminar a number of years ago, World and Olympic coach Frank Carroll addresses the question, “How do you make a champion?” In the first part of this presentation, Frank focused… Continue reading
2011 US Men’s Champion Ryan Bradley gives a skater a lesson on double loop double loop combinations. After watching a double loop single loop combo, Ryan notes, “You really have to be aggressive on the way out on these loop… Continue reading
International coach Lorie Charbonneau shares an inexpensive and safe training aid on the ice for jump development. A simple air-filled balloon can help skaters improve jump technique and challenge their precision and consistency. Lorie says that balloons are helpful to… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Audrey Weisiger teaches a toe loop class of advanced skaters. All of these skaters have consistent double toe loops, and some can do triple toe. But Audrey challenges this class with a difficult entry for the… Continue reading
Figure skating spin specialist Charyl Brusch gives a sit spin lesson covering the pancake, bullet (or shotgun), basic sit, and back sit (from sit change sit). They begin with the pancake and Charyl wants the skater to maintain a… Continue reading
Skating skills and moves in the field specialist Karen Olson discusses and demonstrates important insights related to forward outside and inside consecutive spirals. As she notes, this pattern is part of the US Figure Skating Preliminary Moves in the Field… Continue reading
Coach Kate Charbonneau continues a general lesson with a beginner level skater, using program elements as a roadmap for the lesson. Part 1 focused on footwork and spins, and Part 2 focused on some jumps. In this video, Kate has… Continue reading
Fred Bartick, a Minnesota-based (Bloomington, MN) skate technician with over 35 years of experience, continues his discussion of boots and blades with tips for proper blade care. (See Part 1 of the series here and Part 2 of the series… Continue reading
Figure skating specialist coach and inventor Sheila Thelen continues her demonstration of off-ice jump training using an electric spinner and stationary off-ice harness system. This is a continuation of the previous video here. Sheila begins by noting that skaters can… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Michelle Leigh works with a skater to improve the toe loop take-off and get ankle flex in the air on the double toe loop. (In the previous video, Michelle worked with this skater to get ankle… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Nick Perna teaches a skater a basic axel development drill, referred to as the “axel pivot drill.” As you can see in the previous video, this skater is just starting the axel journey and the… Continue reading
National level coach Debbie Warne-Jacobsen shares an exercise that she calls The Waltz Jump Game. The purpose of this game is to help skaters who are working on axel or double axel to jump higher and create more jump distance… Continue reading
In this short video, International coach and jump specialist Chris Conte helps a young skater understand and perform proper head anchoring on single flip jump. He initially describes it as, “Everything comes under the chin before the head turns.” In… Continue reading
Coach and choreographer Rohene Ward finishes his warm-up edge class for advanced skaters. This class is performed to a variety of music and the emphasis is on warming up, mastering skating skills, and improving performance skills. Check out the entire… Continue reading
Spin specialist Kim Ryan begins a group class on layback spins. Not surprisingly, the focus in this video is entirely on proper entrance and spin centering, so Kim only teaches details of the forward upright spin here. She begins with… Continue reading
In a presentation to skaters and coaches as a local seminar a number of years ago, World and Olympic coach Frank Carroll addresses the question, “How do you make a champion?” Frank begins by noting that it’s important to first… Continue reading
2011 US Men’s Champion Ryan Bradley gives a skater a lesson on double loop. This skater already has a consistent double loop, but she needs to improve it for combination jumps as well as for preparing to triple. Ryan begins… Continue reading
International coach Lorie Charbonneau continues an exercise/game she uses for encouraging skaters to efficiently work through all of their combination jumps. In Part 1 the game focused on double toe loop combinations while Part 2 focused on double loop combinations.… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Denise Myers shares more jump exercises. She begins with a jump air position exercise intended to teach “the flex” or the locking of the axis leg and flexing the axis foot upward. She places her mitten… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Audrey Weisiger continues her lesson with 3 skaters on double axel drills and attempts. See Part 1 here. Audrey begins this video by letting the skaters attempt some double axels so she can assess what to… Continue reading
Figure skating spin specialist Charyl Brusch continues a lesson with a young skater. In the previous part of this lesson, the focus was on the forward upright scratch spin, while this video focuses on the forward sit spin. As discussed… Continue reading
Skating skills and moves in the field specialist Karen Olson demonstrates and discusses the details of the Waltz Eight pattern from the US Figure Skating Pre-Preliminary Moves in the Field test. Karen begins by drawing the figure eight pattern on… Continue reading
Fred Bartick, a Minnesota-based (Bloomington, MN) skate technician with over 35 years of experience, continues his discussion of boots and blades with details about blade chrome and rust issues. (See Part 1 of the series here and Part 2 of… Continue reading
Coach Kate Charbonneau continues a general lesson with a beginner level skater, using program elements as a roadmap for the lesson. Part 1 focused on footwork and spins, while this video focuses on jumps. After observing a waltz jump and… Continue reading
Figure skating specialist coach and inventor Sheila Thelen demonstrates off-ice jump training using an electric spinner and stationary off-ice harness system. She begins by spinning an experienced skater on the spinner, who then jumps into the air into an efficient… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Michelle Leigh shares some exercises to help develop ankle flex in jump air positions. Ankle flex in the axis or landing side is valuable since it usually helps skaters lock out the axis knee, connect and… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Nick Perna begins a lesson with a young skater and works through the single jumps. Every coach in the world who works with skaters at this level regularly sees these errors. Nick starts with a… Continue reading
National level coach Debbie Warne-Jacobsen continues a short series of videos where she shares ideas for a well-balanced warm-up intended to be skated to begin the first on-ice session of the day. See Part 1 here. See Part 2 here.… Continue reading
Coach and choreographer Rohene Ward continues his warm-up edge class for advanced skaters. This class is performed to a variety of music and the emphasis is on warming up, mastering skating skills, and improving performance skills. Check out the entire… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Chris Conte takes some time during a jump lesson to work on the forward pivot jump drill. He begins by simply having the skater do a forward pivot and then spin in a “forward” h-position.… Continue reading
Spin specialist Kim Ryan continues her detailed explanation of how she teaches camel spins. In Part 1, Kim discussed details of the setup and initial entry edge, with emphasis on hand positions intended to properly open the shoulders and generate… Continue reading
International coach Lorie Charbonneau continues an exercise/game she uses for encouraging skaters to efficiently work through all of their combination jumps. In Part 1 the game focused on double toe loop combinations while Part 2 focused on double loop combinations.… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Denise Myers shares a number of valuable jump exercises and other insights related to jumping. She begins with one-foot axels as a way to “snap the thighs together” on double axel. Similarly, the one-foot salchow can… Continue reading
Figure skating spin specialist Charyl Brusch works with a skater on improving a forward upright scratch spin. Charyl addresses several important points throughout the video, including entrance step direction, head position during the spin, free foot movement, and overall alignment… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Audrey Weisiger works with 3 skaters on double axel drills. She begins by asking the skaters for a single axel in frame with a landing in alignment. All of the skaters struggle with this exercise and… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Jeremy Allen finishes his series of videos discussing in detail all aspects of toe loop combination jumps. In Part 1 he discussed what happens on a good jump landing and how the reset works between… Continue reading
Choreographer Garrett Kling continues off-ice choreography with a higher level class for an on-ice group performance at a camp. The previous 3 videos of the series were the off-ice choreography for one of the lower level groups (see Part 1… Continue reading
Skating skills and moves in the field specialist Karen Olson continues her discussion of forward spirals, both as a solo skill and as part of the US Figure Skating Pre-Preliminary Moves in the Field test. In the previous part of… Continue reading
Fred Bartick, a Minnesota-based (Bloomington, MN) skate technician with over 35 years of experience, continues his discussion of boots and blades with details about how to properly mount blades on the boot. (See Part 1 of the series here and… Continue reading
Coach Kate Charbonneau begins a general lesson with a beginner level skater, using program elements as a roadmap for the lesson. Kate has the skater do some of the footwork and skating skills from her program, and not surprisingly Kate… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Nick Perna continues a lesson with a skater who is working to improve her single jumps. In Part 1 of the lesson, Nick worked on backspin, h-position, d-position, and landing position. In Part 2 the… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Michelle Leigh discusses how to increase jump air time, which is the same as jumping higher. Sufficient jump height is critical in order to have enough air time to finish the desired rotation prior to landing.… Continue reading
National level coach Debbie Warne-Jacobsen continues a short series of videos where she shares ideas for a well-balanced warm-up intended to be skated to begin the first on-ice session of the day. See Part 1 here. In this video, the… Continue reading
Coach and choreographer Rohene Ward continues his warm-up edge class for advanced skaters. This class is performed to a variety of music and the emphasis is on warming up, mastering skating skills, and improving performance skills. Check out the entire… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Chris Conte works with a skater to improve a single flip jump. (See previous part of this lesson focusing on loop jump here and Part 1 of the flip portion of the lesson here.) A… Continue reading
Spin specialist Kim Ryan continues her detailed explanation of how she teaches camel spins. In Part 1, Kim discussed details of the setup and initial entry edge, with emphasis on hand positions intended to properly open the shoulders and generate… Continue reading
International coach Lorie Charbonneau continues an exercise/game she uses for encouraging skaters to efficiently work through all of their combination jumps. In Part 1, the game focused on double toe loop combinations. In this video, the game remains the same… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Denise Myers continues her multi-part series sharing a variety of exercises and drills intended to improve overall skating skills. These exercises would be excellent as part of an on-ice warm-up or at the end of a… Continue reading
Figure skating spin specialist Charyl Brusch works with a young skater on the beginner backspin. This short video is a continuation of a beginner spin video focused on basic forward upright scratch spin, sit spin, and camel spin (see Part… Continue reading
International coach Lorie Charbonneau shares an exercise/game she uses for encouraging skaters to efficiently work through all of their double toe loop combinations. The game consists of performing a jump such as axel with a double toe loop in combination.… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Audrey Weisiger continues a jump lesson at a seminar. As noted in Part 1, the skater in this lesson had a double axel at one time in the past and lost it (after an injury), and… Continue reading
Skating skills and moves in the field specialist Karen Olson discusses and demonstrates important insights related to forward spirals. As she notes, a forward spiral pattern is part of the US Figure Skating Pre-Preliminary Moves in the Field test, although… Continue reading
Coach Kate Charbonneau continues a lesson for a skater working on her US Figure Skating Novice Moves in the Field test. The skater already knows the patterns, so this is an opportunity for Kate to help the skater improve them… Continue reading
Choreographer Garrett Kling continues the off-ice choreography class for an on-ice group performance to skaters at a camp. He begins this video with choreography that precedes the movements learned previously in Part 1 and Part 2. Garrett first organizes the… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Nick Perna continues a lesson with a skater who is working to improve her single jumps. In Part 1 of the lesson, Nick worked on backspin, h-position, d-position, and landing position. In this short video,… Continue reading
National level coach Debbie Warne-Jacobsen begins a short series of videos where she shares ideas for a well-balanced warm-up intended to be skated to begin the first on-ice session of the day. The purpose of this kind of warm-up is… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Michelle Leigh continues a video series discussing the tracings left on the ice by the 6 major jumps. By understanding what the tracings should look like, it helps get a clearer picture of proper technique and… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Chris Conte works with a skater to improve a single flip jump. (See previous part of this lesson focusing on loop jump here.) Chris begins by noting that a flip is basically a “loop jump… Continue reading
Spin specialist Kim Ryan shares her method of teaching camel spins. She begins by acknowledging there are many ways to do a camel spin entry, such as leading with the skating side arm or leading the non-skating side arm. Neither… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Denise Myers continues her multi-part series sharing a variety of exercises and drills intended to improve overall skating skills. These exercises would be excellent as part of an on-ice warm-up or at the end of a… Continue reading
Fred Bartick, a Minnesota-based (Bloomington, MN) skate technician with over 35 years of experience, continues his discussion of boots and blades with details about how to properly mount blades on the boot. (See Part 1 of the series here and… Continue reading
Figure skating spin specialist Charyl Brusch works with a young skater on basic spins, including the basic forward upright scratch spin, sit spin, and camel spin. Charyl notes that, “It took forever to get this one to spin, but… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Audrey Weisiger gives a jump lesson at a seminar. The skater had a double axel at one time in the past and lost it, and the goal of this lesson is to try to get it… Continue reading
Figure skating specialist coach and inventor Sheila Thelen demonstrates balance improvements in an adult subject (Trevor Laak from iCoachSkating) using vestibular training. Vestibular training is any training that stimulates the body’s vestibular system which is the sensory system within the… Continue reading
Skating skills and moves in the field specialist Karen Olson discusses and demonstrates important insights related to the Forward Perimeter Stroking pattern of the US Figure Skating Pre-Preliminary Moves in the Field test. This is the very first pattern of… Continue reading
Coach Kate Charbonneau continues a lesson for a skater working on her US Figure Skating Novice Moves in the Field test. The skater already knows the patterns, so this is an opportunity for Kate to help the skater improve them… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Nick Perna gives a lesson to a skater who is working to improve her single jumps. Nick begins the lesson by asking for a backspin, and based on the weakness of the spin he focuses… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Michelle Leigh continues a video series discussing the tracings left on the ice by the 6 major jumps. By understanding what the tracings should look like, it helps get a clearer picture of proper technique and… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Chris Conte works with a skater to improve a single loop jump. Once a skater learns the basics of the jump, it is necessary to reduce scratching, increase entry speed and jump flow, and improve… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Jeremy Allen continues his series of videos where he discusses in detail all aspects of toe loop combination jumps. In Part 1 he discussed what happens on a good jump landing and how the reset… Continue reading
Spin specialist Kim Ryan gives a class a lecture and demonstration on centering spins, focusing on the basics of performing an upright front scratch spin. Kim uses a step-by-step process to help skaters learn and center spins, and there are… Continue reading
Coach and choreographer Rohene Ward continues his warm-up edge class for advanced skaters. This class is performed to a variety of music and the emphasis is on warming up, mastering skating skills, and improving performance skills. Check out the entire… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Denise Myers continues her multi-part series sharing a variety of exercises and drills intended to improve overall skating skills. These exercises would be excellent as part of an on-ice warm-up or at the end of a… Continue reading
Figure skating spin specialist Charyl Brusch continues a spin lesson (see Part 1 here and Part 2 here) and Part 3 here) by introducing a back camel and back sit spin. In the previous parts of the lesson, this skater… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Audrey Weisiger teaches a class some challenging but valuable double loop drills. The skaters in this class can already do double loops, so the purpose of the drills is to develop complete mastery as well as… Continue reading
Coach Kate Charbonneau continues a lesson for a skater working on her US Figure Skating Novice Moves in the Field test. The skater already knows the patterns, so this is an opportunity for Kate to help the skater improve them… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Nick Perna continues a lesson with a skater who is starting to work on double axel. In Part 1 of this lesson, Nick focused on determining the readiness for this skater to try double axels… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Michelle Leigh begins a video series discussing the tracings left on the ice by the 6 major jumps. By understanding what the tracings should look like, it helps get a clearer picture of proper technique and… Continue reading
International coach Chris Conte continues his description of the physical processes of jumping, especially for toe jumps (although the concepts also apply to edge jumps). In the previous videos, Chris discussed the theory of how skaters create lift and how… Continue reading
International coach and jump specialist Jeremy Allen begins a series of videos where he discusses in detail all aspects of toe loop combination jumps. This series is an update to a good introductory video by Jeremy on combination jumps in… Continue reading
Coach and choreographer Rohene Ward continues his warm-up edge class for advanced skaters. This class is performed to very slow, bluesy music and the emphasis is on warming up, mastering skating skills, and improving performance skills. Check out the entire… Continue reading
World and Olympic coach Denise Myers continues her multi-part series sharing a variety of exercises and drills intended to improve overall skating skills. These exercises would be excellent as part of an on-ice warm-up or at the end of a… Continue reading