Jump specialist and video analyst Trevor Laak shares 2 drills for improving the timing and flow of the flip jump. This is a follow-up to the analysis video Trevor recorded on a single flip with excessive shoulder rotation (see here). The goal is to improve the single flip so this skater can do a double flip. This is the first of 2 videos offering suggestions for improving the flip.
Trevor begins by discussing the “guard arm” drill. For “guard arm” the skater typically puts a plastic or rubber skate guard in their axis-side elbow joint and squeezes it so as not to drop it when doing the jump. Trevor likes “guard arm” for forcing the correct axis-side arm timing on flips and lutzes. As he explains the hands should be somewhere in front of the plane of the body at the moment the toe pick goes into the ice. For this skater who has correct timing, “guard arm” is used primarily to reduce the tendency to swing the axis arm so far around as discussed in the analysis video.
[Editor’s note: Guard arm is also a useful tool for improving air positions and landing movements (by pulling back on the axis elbow at landing). It is also very helpful as a general tool for helping skaters who have arms that are disorganized or out of control.]
The second drill Trevor talks about is called “big circle arm” and it consists of the skater holding a skate guard in the non-axis hand and trying to make a full arc with it in the plane towards the jump direction. This drill helps with jump flow if performed correctly. Trevor talks about making a “full circle” but he really just wants a full arc that goes through about 190 to 200 degrees. Trevor talks about it as a “full” circle since skaters will tend to pull the arm in or bend it or pull it around rather than letting it finish the arc.
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