Coach Trevor Laak begins a series of videos discussing jump landing mechanics, covering theoretical aspects of jump landings and practical exercises and movements. He begins with a concept he calls “landing accuracy” which is the idea that the precision of landing movements has to improve when moving from singles to doubles to triples, and eventually quads. He notes, “Once we get to triples and quads, a skater has a really solid understanding of the movements needed to be able to convert that rotation in the air into that flow across the ice.” He then explains why a focus on triples and quads is so valuable even for single jump development, to build skills that will apply in the future. He says, “When I think about teaching a landing for a single jump, it’s rooted in this idea of what do I want my skaters to do on triples and potentially quads.”
Next, Trevor talks about three parts of a landing which are (1) absorbing the vertical forces, (2) slowing the rotation, and (3) moving from the slow rotation position to the gliding stretch landing position (i.e. no rotation). He believes the most misunderstood aspect of jump landings is the idea that a jump goes from spinning really fast to having zero rotational speed immediately. Instead, he argues that the focus needs to shift to first slowing the rotation before truly stopping it.
Elite skaters often rotate at roughly 6 rotations per second, and good skaters with double jumps typically rotate at 5 rotations per second. Skaters initially learning doubles often have rotation rates in the 4 rotations per second range. In terms of triples and quads he says, “We’re trying to convert a massive amount of rotational speed into a controlled landing.” The next video will focus on how to slow the rotation, but Trevor acknowledges there’s additional considerations for being able to land on one foot.
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