International coach and jump specialist Jeremy Allen discusses the loop jump. Jeremy cautions against “setting up too straight” where the upper body is very upright on the loop jump setup. Instead, the body should be leaning forward over the axis/skating knee, so the body has the correct power angle or axis angle at the moment of take-off. Jeremy notes that this angle on a good jump can be up to roughly 15 degrees as the skater drives the hips up and forward at the moment of take-off. Simply having some forward body lean with correct alignment over the axis side during the setup can help ensure this power angle.
For the remainder of this video, Jeremy discusses the take-off edge. When done correctly, a loop jump has an undercut or “push under” with the take-off foot. Some coaches describe this as a “crossing of the thighs” but it’s really a strong push. This undercut push happens with the weight on the middle of the blade, as opposed to the front (a common misconception). Jeremy shows a great exercise to work on this push under, where the skater starts in the proper checked loop jump setup position and does a series of undercuts or pushes while maintaining the check position of the body and shoulders (shoulders will want to move or turn during the push, but they should not, at least on the exercise). He says, “The more powerful that push under with the right [axis] foot, the more power we’re going to have going up and turning over to forward for the toe.”
Jeremy emphasizes the need to push with the middle of the blade and stay away from the toe pick for as long as possible for the loop jump. Bending the take-off knee too much can cause the skater to move forward on the blade, so this should be avoided. The skater should only rock forward to the front of the blade and then the toe pick after the three turn just before the moment of lift off. A very common error is being too far forward on the blade which often causes skaters to get stuck skating backwards without being able to have a strong edge and a pivot to the forward take-off that is needed.
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