World and Olympic coach Michelle Leigh shares some important insights regarding how to properly create edge pressure for a loop jump. As Michelle notes, elite skaters typically do not bend their axis (take-off) leg very much when performing a triple loop. Yet coaches around the world and especially in the USA continue to teach basic loop jumps with a strongly bent skating knee. The reason is they lack the teaching methods necessary to get skaters to create edge pressure on a loop jump properly. And that’s the point of this video.
Michelle says, “Ideally we want our skaters to stand on 2 outside edges when they’re first learning to do a loop from backwards.” The idea that the legs cross way up at the thighs is a critical concept, and Michelle explains how she approaches this with her skaters. The theoretical concept that a loop jump entry is a controlled but “unbalanced” position is very important. Michelle notes that you simply cannot do a loop and create any edge pressure while standing directly over the skate. The trick of extending the skating foot and leaning on the boards to feel the edge pressure is very helpful for many skaters.
As Michelle notes, a very common mistake on the loop jump is allowing the free foot to “move around” to a position that is “too open” rather than simply folding and lifting it on the axis side. Getting skaters to cross the legs above the knee for a loop is very important. Michelle shares an S-pattern entrance to help skaters get the proper feeling for creating the necessary unbalanced position and separation of the feet (legs crossing above the knee).
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