International coach and jump specialist Chris Conte teaches a preferred loop jump setup. After watching the class do single loop jumps and a few double loops, he explains and demonstrates an effective and efficient loop jump setup that is appropriate for single through quad loop. Chris says, “The technique you use to do your single and double should either enable you to do a triple or hinder you from doing it later.”
Chris teaches a loop setup on crossed feet with the blades on two outside edges. He has the class stand in this position and scissor the feet forward and back. He then has them put their hands on their hips and turn their hips against the natural rotation of the jump. This takes the skating hip back slightly. He then has the skaters turn the rib cage further against the natural rotation of the jump and place the non-axis arm into the circle. This setup ensures upper body is aligned properly and slightly inside the back outside take-off edge.
Chris notes that nearly all great triple loops have this kind of setup. He says, “Almost everybody sets up with their feet crossed, has their rib cage in line with their free foot (non-axis foot), not the take-off foot. So that your center of mass is actually a little inside that foot (axis foot) to begin with.” He says this allows “your foot to slide back and move behind you and now my breastbone and chin are still in line with the jump.” This helps avoid the most common loop jump error of allowing the shoulders to move outside the circle.
To work on this, Chris creates a setup exercise consisting of a (axis side) forward inside mohawk followed by a relaxed glide backward on two side by side feet. The skater then pulls back on the axis hip and crosses the feet, ensuring the upper twists into the take-off circle. The goal is then to hold this desired setup position. Chris also demonstrates a slight forward body lean in this setup position, making the upper body position similar to the other backward entry jumps (salchow, toe, flip, lutz).
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