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. See Part 3 here. In this video, Debbie teaches a drill she calls “bubble jumps.”
For the bubble jump, the skater skates backward down the ice on two feet doing swizzles or “bubbles” and then jumps up into the air on one of the bubbles. Debbie has the skaters do this initially without rotation. The exercise is useful for making sure skaters push all the way up through the ankles and hit a straight and aligned air position. Some coaches use the non-rotating version of this jump to work on flexing the feet in the air, but Debbie does not mention that here.
Next, Debbie has the skaters do bubble jumps with a full rotation. The skaters do this initially in their preferred direction of rotation, but Debbie asks for rotation in both directions. She explains, “When we’re doing them both directions, I want to see you go all the way through the jump and keep letting yourself wind out, and then we’re going to go all the way the other way and wind out.”
To build comfort with the rotation, Debbie has the skaters stand on two feet without gliding while looking in the glass (head anchoring) and practicing the rotation of the core and shoulders and arms in both directions. The goal is to get a significant core twist and have “freedom of movement.” Debbie says to “go past your zipper on each side” as a way to encourage this freedom of movement.
Once moving, both skaters struggle with allowing the arms and shoulders and core to keep going and fully wind out. They instead stop the rotation rigidly, and then have to reset for the next attempt. Debbie explains that for skaters who struggle with this, she has them do the exercise without jumping at all, just to get the rhythm and freedom of movement without worrying so much about jumping or landing.
Note that some coaches refer to this exercise with a variety of names. Two foot “air turns” or alternating two foot air turns is one common reference.
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