Olympic coach Michelle Leigh has a skater demonstrate her exercises for head control in jumping.  Head pre-rotation is probably the most common major jumping error at the lower levels and it actually prevents many skaters from ever reaching higher levels in the sport.

These exercises are done with the skater setting up the jump near the barrier and jumping directly away from the plexi-glass.  This allows the skater to see their own reflection and focus on it during the initial jumping movements.

Check out these related videos:

Olympic Figure Skating Coach Teaches Head Position On Take Off (Michelle Leigh)

Ice Skating Jumping Tips: Head Control On Jump Take-Offs (Joan Orvis)

How to Figure Skate – Head Position on Jumps (Michelle Leigh)

Figure Skating Balance: Improve Your Jumps (Sheila Thelen)

In this video, the demonstator isn’t jumping directly away from the plexi-glass but the skater is keeping his head still as Michelle wants.  Notice the other details of these drills.  All the jumps are done in front of the plexi-glass except lutz (and obviously not axel).

The end of the video includes slow motion so you can clearly and easily see the head position and movement.  The jumps themselves are also pretty good for modeling.

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