In this short video, International coach Chris Conte has a class do a simple but effective on-ice jump warm up. Most coaches call these swizzle jumps and they consist of a backward basic swizzle preparation followed by a press up into the air off the inside edges and toes (full blade) of both feet. The exercise is has no rotation, with the skater landing on both feet, slightly separated, where it can then be repeated.
Chris does not want the feet to come together in the air for two reasons. First, when pressing through the full blade properly the legs will be naturally set slightly apart and parallel and not toughing. There’s simply no need to pull them together. If they come together naturally, it means the skater did not press all the way through the full blade on take-off. Additionally, he explains that clapping the feet together usually means occasional blade contact which can unnecessarily cause large nicks and gouges in expensive blades.
Notice during Chris’ demonstration how he makes little circles with his arms during the swizzles and a slightly bigger circle for the jump. Also notice the flexed foot and locked leg in the air. As the skaters do the exercise, Chris offers additional insights about the exercise including how valuable it is for learning to create edge pressure and learning to press all the way through the toes.
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