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. In this video, Debbie focuses on classic jump axis drills.
The first drill is backspin in h-position. This drill emphasizes correct air position axis development, and when done correctly the skater learns to close the hips. Debbie starts at the wall so the skaters feel the correct position while stationary, with the skating foot parallel to the wall and the toe of the free foot in h-position pointed towards the wall. (Some coaches want the free knee across and touching the wall as well.) This ensures the hips are closed. In the spinning h-position, Debbie wants the elbows down and hands up and centered “eating a hamburger” which is sometimes called an inverted V.
The next drill is backspin in h-position to d-position (or “locked down” position) to focus on accelerating the rotation and maintaining the spin axis. Switching multiple times within a single spin between h- and d-positions builds control and axis stillness. Notice the desired hand and arm position with the arms in a slightly inverted V in the h-position and the elbows pulled against the body in d-position.
Next up, Debbie has the skaters do “h-position, lockdown, to brace” which is the previous drill which then ends in the brace position which is sometimes referred to as the Eagle. It’s the position skaters initially hit shortly after impact on multi-revolution jumps. This position must maintain proper alignment (axis) and typically has the shoulders twisted against the rotation and against the hips.
Adding a jump, the next drill is what most coaches call a backspin loop or backspin double loop. Debbie just describes it as a backspin in h-position with a loop jump with a lockdown (d-position) and land and rotate in brace position. She doesn’t want skaters to focus on single or double loop, and instead just think of getting the feet together to perform the lockdown while still in the the air.
To finish out this video, Debbie has the skaters do 5 back sit spins using a back pivot entry as a way to “activate the right (axis) leg” and ensure the axis leg muscles are firing. Over time this also builds strength, especially using the variation where the skater repeatedly goes from sit to upright and back to sit.
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