Coach and former French competitive skater Vincent Restencourt gives a quad salchow lesson to 2015 US National Champion Jason Brown. (The previous part of this lesson focused on the quad toe here.) It is uncommon for skaters and coaches at this level to share such an intimate look at a typical quad lesson, so this video is extraordinary. Notice there isn’t a lot of detailed discussion or in-depth analysis, but very simple concepts and just a few words or gestures to make a change. At this point, Jason had not yet landed a clean quad salchow, but we get to see some very good attempts in this video.
Jason has a huge and effortless triple salchow, but when he goes for the quad he tends to change his movements slightly. It is common for skaters to try harder for jumps they cannot yet do, and therefore become less efficient. As Vincent observes, Jason has a tendency to drop the right shoulder and scoop under excessively on quad attempts. He recommends that Jason not even attempt the jump if he feels a loss of alignment over the left skate.
One of the biggest challenges for most skaters learning triples and quads is getting enough spring and explosion on take-off, but still get into a tight rotational position as quickly as possible after leaving the ice. A take-off that is too open will simply take too long to collect, and Jason and Vincent are experimenting with the jump to try to optimize it. Vincent wants Jason to “feel” the quad toe take-off while he’s attempting the salchow.
Near the end of the lesson, Vincent clearly stalls by talking with Jason as a way to let Jason rest. “Resting” like this is important both physically and mentally, especially since they have not spent much time working on this skill up until this time.
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