World and Olympic coach Audrey Weisiger continues with a double axel lesson. In the previous video, Audrey focused on the single axel, the pivot on take-off, and stand-still double axel attempts. In this lesson, the focus shifts to moving double axel attempts. On some of the early attempts, the skater isn’t lifting fully through the end of the take-off so Audrey has the skater do “Tom Z’s pogo jump” which is a one foot exercise where the skater swings the arms and free leg forward and jumps but then lands forward on the take-off foot to repeat the exercise. Audrey is also concerned about this skater not aggressively taking the arms through during the take-off (“T-Rex arms”), so she has her focus on that which results in better timing and more jump height.
As a continued focus on the arms, Audrey has the skater think of punching up the right arm (left arm for most skaters, as this skater jumps CW). Some of Audrey’s other comments related to the earlier part of the lesson, where the focus was on trying to create more rotational energy and force on the take-off edge. She talks about the need to “accelerate the rotation.” She also talks about the benefits of training with better skaters, not only for motivation but also for the subconscious learning environment it can create. She mentions the idea of the 4-minute-mile seeming impossible, then Roger Bannister did it, and many other runners soon followed. Seeing other skaters complete difficult skills builds an automatic understanding that it’s possible.
On one double attempt the skater takes a hard fall. Audrey notes that how a skater responds to this kind of fall is a great indicator of their potential in terms of grit and mental toughness. She also explains that taking hard falls teaches skaters to learn how to fall, which is critical as a skater continues to try more and more difficult jumps.
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