Figure skating coach Amy Brolsma shares a process for teaching and learning the walley jump. A walley is a jump from a backward inside edge, with rotation in the non-natural direction, to a standard landing position on the outside edge of the same foot. In other words, the walley rotates in the air counter to the natural rotation of the take-off edge. Skaters can and should learn to walley in both rotational directions (both feet).
Amy begins the process of learning a walley by doing backward power pulls down the blue line. For these pulls, she has the skater keep the free leg behind and very straight, and the focus is on the rhythm of the movement including the natural rise and fall of the skating knee. Next, Amy has the skater do the same exercise, but now jump from the inside edge to the outside edge without any rotation either of the blade (which remains backward) or the body. Again, the free leg should be straight throughout.
After the skater is comfortable with that, Amy introduces the arm movement. She describes it as winding up and quickly clearing a table with a single swoosh. The arms should stay relatively flat in their movement and not come up and down. She ads these arms to the non-rotating drill of jumping from the inside edge. The explosive acceleration of a walley should be obvious during this drill, even though there is no rotation of the foot.
After the skater gains control of the arms and the explosive take-off, it’s time to add some rotation. Instead of landing with the skate blade going backward, Amy has the skater land forward on the middle of the blade and then 3-turn to backward. After mastering that, the skater is ready to try full walleys. One tip is for the skater to really focus on trying to land on the toe pick. Many skaters struggle at this point (including the demonstrator) because they don’t feel comfortable adding more rotation with the arms and shoulders and maintaining the tempo of the take-off.
Amy suggests toe walking, turning, and hopping exercises to help skaters get the final landing part of the walley. Also focusing on the core and overall balance can be helpful. Amy uses a cone or a skate guard to “lock” the arms together and get better core muscle activation. Another helpful development drill to build explosiveness is to jump back and forth across the line from inside to outside AND outside to inside, while increasing the tempo of the pulls/jumps. Amy also offers a landing position with the arms straight and the hands together and over the skating knee. Again this activates the skater’s core and helps with overall alignment.
Sorry, this content is for members only.Click here to get access.
Already a member? Login below… |
Add to "My Favorites" (Beta testing)
