Trevor Laak provides clarification using video examples for a recent video by Audrey Weisiger on toe loop myths. In this video, Trevor addresses these myths and shows they are not true. Myth 1: On a toe… Continue reading
Olympic coach Audrey Weisiger continues her discussion of toe-loop combination jumps with some basic clarifications of proper toe loop technique. This is a short video but the two main ideas that Audrey shares are incredibly… Continue reading
Spin specialist Charyl Brusch continues her explanation of how she teaches a flying camel. In the previous video in this series, she worked directly with a skater on the basics of learning the spin.… Continue reading
Spin specialist Charyl Brusch continues her explanation of how she teaches a flying camel by working with a skater and discussing common problems and their solutions. There’s actually a huge amount of information in this… Continue reading
Audrey Weisiger continues her discussion of toe-loop combination jumps with ideas for drills to build consistency and mental toughness. One of the primary issues with combination jumps is the reduction in flow or speed across the… Continue reading
Chris Conte discusses figure skating choreography. This video picks up where he left off in his discussion of the tools of a traveling choreographer. In this video, Chris delves into the various types of programs that… Continue reading
Karen Heng Olson teaches forward inside loops. See Karen’s presentation on forward outside loopsbefore watching this video. As with the forward outside loops, the shoulders start twisted into the circle. Karen emphasized the need to… Continue reading
Karen Heng Olson teaches forward outside loops. As Karen notes in her introductory comments in this video, “as freestyle coaches, without taking as much time as they did for figures, it’s still a process to teach loops. … Continue reading
Audrey Weisiger begins a series of videos on combination jumps. This series will discuss both toe loop combinations and loop combinations. To begin this series, Audrey explains that successful jump combinations require certain landing qualities of the first… Continue reading
Kori Ade demonstrates how she initially teaches a death drop. Kori starts with a flying camel and wants the skater to keep her chin up as a pre-requisite for starting death drop. Kori says, “So I describe… Continue reading
Nick Perna shares his thoughts and insights on crossovers (also called crosscuts). This is an in-depth video covering details which are generally glossed over by many coaches. As Nick says, “To me, forward crossovers and back crossovers,… Continue reading
Spin specialist Charyl Brusch explains how to change feet in a spin, from a backspin to a regular “front” spin. Charyl shows how to do this without changing centers or traveling. The basic concept is to… Continue reading
Chris Conte discusses how to properly tie figure skates. In particular, Chris discusses how to properly tie very stiff skates such as the Edea carbon fiber boot. But this information also applies to almost any stiff skating… Continue reading
Kori Ade works with a skater on double loop. To see the preparation drills Kori used before this point, click here. Notice the difference between the first two jump attempts, due mainly to simply pulling the… Continue reading
Kori Ade shares some great drills for developing the double loop. Kori starts by observing a single loop and then a series of single loops in combination. This combination of multiple single loops is a great tool… Continue reading
Strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson continues her discussion and demonstration of kettlebell training for figure skaters. In this video, Kristina shares a couple more advanced kettlebell exercises. Before beginning this level of kettlebell training, Kristina… Continue reading
Strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson continues her discussion and demonstration of kettlebell training for figure skaters. In this video, Kristina explains the deadlift with a set of core twists at the top. She covers the… Continue reading
Karen Heng Olson teaches backward outside loops. When beginning loops with a skater, Karen like to focus initially on the upper body movement. She shows the skater what she wants and holds the skaters arms. (Coaches,… Continue reading
Chris Conte discusses figure skating choreography. In particular, he shares some of the tools of the trade for a traveling choreographer. Chris offers many valuable insights about choreography in this video. Notice that Chris places an emphasis… Continue reading
Matthew Blair Davis shares some valuable off-ice workouts for figure skaters. These videos are publicly available on YouTube, but we’re publishing them here at iCoachSkating.com because they are important and very few skaters or coaches have seen them.… Continue reading
Audrey Weisiger offers some additional drills and explanations as she continues her discussion of jump landings. She offers these valuable drills: 1. After a skater has landed and stretched into the final landing position, have them return… Continue reading
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)… Continue reading
Strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson continues her discussion and demonstration of kettlebell training for figure skaters. In this video, Kristina covers the kettlebell combination of a half-burpee with a deadlift which offers a complete body workout.… Continue reading
Strength and conditioning coach Kristina Anderson continues her discussion and demonstration of kettlebell training for figure skaters. In this video, Kristina covers kettlebell rows for building upper body strength, particularly for the back. Strong back muscles… Continue reading
Kristina Anderson continues her discussion and demonstration of kettlebell training for figure skaters. In this video, Kristina builds a short combination of swings. She has the demonstrator show the standard swing, multiple one-handed swings, and then alternating… Continue reading
Nick Perna discusses the theoretical and practical aspects of passive edges and active edges. He initially defines what each is and offers a demonstration of each type. As Nick notes, a passive edge “is just coasting on… Continue reading
Karen Heng Olson teaches backward inside loops. At the beginning of the video, Karen references the back outside loops, but she generally teaches the back inside loops first because they are easier to learn for most skaters. … Continue reading
Olympic coach Michelle Leigh finishes her 6-part on-ice jumps class for some young skaters. (On-ice jumps Part 1, On-ice jumps Part 2, On-ice jumps Part 3, On-ice jumps Part 4, On-ice jumps Part… Continue reading
Olympic coach Michelle Leigh continues with the fifth part of her multi-video on-ice jumps class to some young skaters. (On-ice jumps Part 1, On-ice jumps Part 2, On-ice jumps Part 3, On-ice jumps Part… Continue reading
Spin specialist Charyl Brusch offers some troubleshooting tips for layback spin problems. This is the third video in the layback series from Charyl. In the first part, Charyl simply had the skater do various attitude… Continue reading
Spin specialist Charyl Brusch continues her discussion of the layback spin. See how she initially introduces the layback in the first part of this series. In the first part, Charyl simply had the skater… Continue reading
Spin specialist Charyl Brusch shows how she initially introduces the layback spin. Charyl starts with an attitude spin where they go in like a scratch spin, put their skating hand on their skating hip, and the free… Continue reading
Trevor Laak analyzes a double axel as a way to identify key aspects for single axel instruction. You can see a full video of the jump being analyzed below in real time and slow motion on Trevor’s… Continue reading
Trevor Laak offers a checklist of insights for axel. This page shows an axel attempt in real time, once as the original video and once zoomed in. The video is then shown again in slow motion for… Continue reading
Kristina Anderson explains why kettlebell training can be so effective for figure skaters. Historically, figure skating has been slow to adopt non-skating training methods to improve on-ice performance, especially those methods often used by bulky weightlifters and football… Continue reading
Kristina Anderson provides an introduction to kettlebell training for figure skaters. Kristina notes that safety is the first priority when working with kettlebells and then she takes a moment to describe and show a kettlebell. Then Kristina has… Continue reading
Nick Perna gets back to first principles and provides more detail about what he calls the “blurb.” Nick uses the term “blurb” in many of his videos here at iCoachSkating.com. (He also calls it the “dip.”) … Continue reading
Kori Ade offers some thoughts about teaching double flip in this lesson video. At the beginning of the lesson she shares some insights about what physical characteristics give a skater an advantage with rotation in the air. … Continue reading
Karen Heng Olson explains the Backward Circle Eights pattern for the U.S. Figure Skating Pre-Juvenile Moves in the Field test. Karen demonstrates the moves and talks about it as she demonstrates it. Notice the technique used and strength… Continue reading
Audrey Weisiger continues her multiple part series on important foundational concepts she has developed during her coaching career. In Part 1, Audrey introduced the “h and d system” and covered the neutral alignment she wants as a… Continue reading
Audrey Weisiger continues her multiple part series on important foundational concepts she has developed during her coaching career. In Part 1, Audrey introduced the “h and d system” and covered the neutral alignment she wants as a… Continue reading
Olympic coach Michelle Leigh continues with the fourth part of her multi-video on-ice jumps class to some young skaters. (On-ice jumps Part 1, On-ice jumps Part 2, On-ice jumps Part 3) In this video, Michelle… Continue reading
This is the third video in a multi-video series from Olympic coach Michelle Leigh as she teaches an on-ice jumps class to some young skaters. (On-ice jumps Part 1, On-ice jumps Part 2) In this video,… Continue reading
Spin specialist Charyl Brusch gives an excellent presentation on the death drop. When introducing the death drop, Charyl starts with a drill she calls the “kick turn.” Notice the drawing on the ice to encourage the… Continue reading
Trevor Laak responds to an email sent by a coach with questions about the recent survey of iCoachSkating.com subscribers on the details at the moment of take-off for the axel, salchow, and toe loop jumps. Here… Continue reading
Nick Perna continues a series of videos covering drills and exercises he uses to help his skaters develop power, agility, coordination, and edge control and awareness. In the first three videos in this series, Nick taught the … Continue reading
Kori Ade gives a double salchow lesson. Kori’s skater in this video is having a difficult time kicking the foot through properly on the double. Kori begins the lesson with some work on the single salchow, particularly… Continue reading
Karen Heng Olson discusses the Figure Eight pattern for the U.S. Figure Skating Preliminary Moves in the Field test. When starting this move, Karen reviews the Pre-Pre moves edges patterns. She also draws the circles for the… Continue reading
Audrey Weisiger continues her multiple part series on important foundational concepts she has developed during her coaching career. In Part 1, Audrey introduced the “h and d system” and covered the neutral alignment she wants as a… Continue reading
Audrey Weisiger begins a multiple part series on important foundational concepts she has developed during her coaching career. In this presentation, Audrey discusses her “h and d system” or the “alignment system.” The system is a series… Continue reading
Spin specialist Charyl Brusch explains how she teaches a flying camel. She always has the skater start on the wall in a T-position. The wall drill she shows is a pretty common way of introducing the… Continue reading
This is the second video in a multi-video series from Olympic coach Michelle Leigh as she teaches an on-ice jumps class to some young skaters. (On-ice jumps Part 1) At the beginning of this video, Michelle works… Continue reading
This is the first video in a multi-video series from Olympic coach Michelle Leigh as she teaches an on-ice jumps class to some young skaters. It’s pretty rare to see just how an Olympic coach teaches low… Continue reading
Trevor Laak shares the results of the second part of a survey of iCoachSkating.com subscribers on the details at the moment of take-off for the axel, salchow, and toe loop jumps. Here are the survey questions covered in… Continue reading
Trevor Laak shares the results of the first part of a survey of iCoachSkating.com subscribers on the details at the moment of take-off for the axel, salchow, and toe loop jumps. Here is a copy of the quiz… Continue reading
Nick Perna continues a series of videos covering drills and exercises he uses to help his skaters develop power, agility, coordination, and edge control and awareness. In the first three videos in this series, Nick taught the Bread Drill, the… Continue reading
Kori Ade gives an axel lesson. Even though Kori’s skater has an axel and is working on double jumps, Kori wants the skater to have a good axel kick through, as she believes this feeling translates to the double salchow… Continue reading
Karen Heng Olson discusses the full Backward Twizzle pattern from the US Figure Skating Novice Moves in the Field Test. Karen initially teaches it on the line, even though the pattern is skated on the long axis. Karen… Continue reading
Karen Heng Olson explains how she introduces and refines back inside twizzles. Karen teaches it much like a flip jump take-off. She uses same arm in front (same arm as skating foot). Karen notes that she uses twizzles… Continue reading
Competitive figure skaters are subjected to high acceleration impacts on a regular basis, making it likely that they will be more prone to concussive injuries than the broader population. Most ice rinks do not have medical personnel on staff,… Continue reading
US National Champion Ryan Bradley offers two great tips to minimize the pain of breaking in new skates and the pain associated with falling. This is a fun video, and the tips really do work!!! Check it out. Thanks Ryan!!
Spin specialist Charyl Brusch explains how she introduces the butterfly spin entrance. Many coaches don’t teach this spin entrance at all as it is challenging to get the correct positions and timing. Charyl and her demonstrators do a… Continue reading
There’s a great deal of interest at this time in concussive injuries to young athletes. Particularly with recent lawsuits by former professional football players, concussion type injuries and their long term effects are getting a lot of attention. As… Continue reading
Page Lipe explains how she introduces and teaches a flying sit spin. At the beginning, Page just tells her skaters that it’s just a sit spin, but “you’re going to jump that three-turn from forward to backward.” She… Continue reading
Joan Orvis continues her explanation of how she introduces the axel jump. Joan uses a common drill that is known by many names such as half-axel, once-around, and bell-jump. Notice the details of how Joan teaches this pre-axel… Continue reading
Joan Orvis explains how she introduces the axel jump. First Joan notes that the basic axel is similar to the basic waltz jump. Then she teaches an exercise on the line “where everything goes left to right” for… Continue reading
Bobbe Shire discusses some of the issues surrounding maximizing IJS points for spins. She addresses this by discussing a few Level 4 spin examples by her skaters. Bobbe notes at the beginning how everyone is focused on having Level… Continue reading
Trevor Laak provides some video examples to demonstrate what actually happens with the free leg on a jump landing. This video is a follow-up to a jump landings video by Michelle Leigh and is intended to clarify the important… Continue reading
Nick Perna continues a series of videos covering drills and exercises he uses to help his skaters develop power, agility, coordination, and edge control and awareness. In the first three videos in this series, Nick taught the Bread Drill,… Continue reading
Nick Perna continues a series of videos covering drills and exercises he uses to help his skaters develop power, agility, coordination, and edge control and awareness. In the first two videos in this series, Nick taught the Bread Drill… Continue reading
Spin specialist Charyl Brusch continues her discussion of the camel spin. For skaters having trouble with the basic position, Charyl likes to use back spirals to work on the position. She wants them to do the back spiral… Continue reading
Spin specialist Charyl Brusch explains how she teaches the camel spin. She starts by talking about the desired spinning position. One of the keys to a good camel spin is having the free hip on top of the… Continue reading
Sheila Thelen offers some insights into the flying sit spin. Sheila offers a great tip regarding the knees to help develop the feeling of the tuck. She also notes that many skaters don’t take off with enough rotational… Continue reading
Olympic coach Michelle Leigh explains the details of a good landing. At initial impact with the ice, Michelle wants the skater’s shoulders in line with the skating foot and landing edge. This requires the skater to twist the… Continue reading
Audrey Weisiger continues her discussion of important keys to the development of all skaters (see also Development Process Reminders). In this video, Audrey notes the need for off-ice training and she suggests that skaters learn to play a musical… Continue reading
Spin specialist Charyl Brusch works with several skaters on the back sit spin. At the beginning of the video, Charyl discusses the issues associated with the common problem of spinning the back sit on the wrong edge (forward inside).… Continue reading
Karen Heng Olson builds on her discussion of backward outside twizzles by offering a valuable exercise to work on properly building rotational energy and timing. In this short video, Karen explains how to apply the circular power three turn… Continue reading
Karen Heng Olson explains how she teaches backward outside twizzles from the beginning. In fact, in this video Karen works with a skater that has never done these twizzles before. Karen starts with back pushes with the free foot… Continue reading
Audrey Weisiger discusses basic but important concepts for the development of all skaters. Audrey’s main point in this video is that skaters need to develop proficiency with important basic skills before working on more advanced “tricks.” Although this… Continue reading
Nick Perna continues a series of videos covering drills and exercises he uses to help his skaters develop power, agility, coordination, and edge control and awareness. In the first video in this series, Nick taught the Bread Drill. … Continue reading
Nick Perna begins a series of videos covering drills and exercises he uses to help his skaters develop power, agility, coordination, and edge control and awareness. In this video, Nick explains and demonstrates the Bread Drill. The Bread… Continue reading
Kori Ade uses triple loop as a preparation for triple axel work. NOTE: This concept applies to single loop for single axel, or double loop for double axel. In this video, Kori covers important details of improving… Continue reading
Kori Ade explains how she warms up her skaters for jumping practice. In this case, she’s going through a series of exercises with Jason Brown to get him ready to work on his triple axel. Many of these… Continue reading
Chris Conte finishes his edges and turns class in Korea. This is the fifth and final part of a multi-part series. You can see the previous parts of this series here (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and… Continue reading
skating.com/site.php/spgs/read/chris_conte/”>Chris Conte continues with an edges and turns class in Korea. This is the fourth of a multi-part series. You can see the previous parts of this series here (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3).We did not… Continue reading
Chris Conte continues with an edges and turns class in Korea. This is the third of a multi-part series. You can see the previous parts of this series here (Part 1, Part 2).We did not have wireless microphones… Continue reading
Spin specialist Charyl Brusch continues her discussion of the sit spin. In the previous sit spin video, Charyl explained her philosophy on sit spin and how she teaches it. In this video, Charyl shares some drills for developing… Continue reading
Spin specialist Charyl Brusch explains how she teaches a sit spin. Right from the beginning, Charyl focuses on the position and she uses a 4 step process: press down on the hands, stick out the butt, press on… Continue reading
Chris Conte continues with Part 2 of an edges and turns class in Korea. This is the second of a multi-part series. You can see the first part of this series here (Part 1). We did not… Continue reading
Chris Conte teaches an edges and turns class in Korea. This is the first of a multi-part series. We did not have wireless microphones for this class so at times the audio may be hard to hear. … Continue reading
This YouTube video shows Nick Perna skating on figure skates with the skate blades modified. This video proves that we primarily use the center part of the blade for the vast majority of skating on the ice. To… Continue reading
Sheila Thelen suggests an alternate axel entrance for skaters that tend to hook their axel take-off edges. This method can be very effective at straightening out the take-off edge for some skaters. It is also an effective tool… Continue reading
Page Lipe discusses how she moves from the single jump to the double jump. This is a very important video as most coaches and skaters do this wrong or at least in a way that is not beneficial. The… Continue reading
Bobbe Shire discusses the flying camel spin and comments on some demonstrations. As Bobbe notes at the beginning of the video, please review Audrey Weisiger’s Flying Camel video. This video is relatively short as Bobbe did not want… Continue reading
Joan Orvis discusses the extremely important aspect of head control on jump take-offs. This video was a result of our off-camera discussions regarding my observation about the head control of her skaters during their jump take-offs. Head control… Continue reading
Trevor Laak discusses the camel spin, particularly as it relates to adult skaters. Trevor covers three important issues for camel spin. The first is the lack of a long and controlled entrance edge. Trevor discusses the two… Continue reading
Karen Heng Olson covers the Forward Inside Twizzles from the USFS Intermediate Moves in the Field Test. (The forward outside twizzle video that Karen references is no longer published on the website.) Karen starts with the Preliminary inside three… Continue reading
Spin specialist Charyl Brusch finishes her discussion of the back spin. Previous videos in this series were Backspin Part 1, Backspin Part 2, and Backspin Part 3). This short video has a couple demonstrations and Charyl’s comments regarding… Continue reading
Olympic coach Michelle Leigh has a skater demonstrate her exercises for head control in jumping. Head pre-rotation is probably the most common major jumping error at the lower levels and it actually prevents many skaters from ever reaching higher… Continue reading