Some Basics of Jumping – Waltz Jump Example (Frank Carroll)

Olympic Coach Frank Carroll discusses the basics of jumping, including the way he approaches jumps as a way to progress to higher level jumping. In this presentation, he uses the waltz jump as a way to explain some of his ideas on jumping. He breaks jumps down into 4 parts: setup (or being “on balance”), take-off position, air position and what happens in the air, and the landing or check out.

When describing the setup or being on balance for the waltz jump, Frank notes the importance of being right over the skating hip. Next he shows the basic starting position of take-off position for a waltz jump. Notice that he would make the skater practice this until the skater could hold the position before going on to the actual jump. He notes the position of the weight on the blade and he repeats the importance of being over the hip. He describes this as, “Your skating hip has to be pressed in to the center of your body and you have to be on balance over that hip because that hip has to be pressed in when you leave the ice.” Next Frank discusses the jump movement itself including arms and legs.

When discussing the air position of a waltz jump, Frank wants a classic extended position with a straight free leg, but he notes this is not directly related to axel. He says, “A waltz jump is not a warm up exercise for an axel per se. There’s another jump we call a bell jump which is for axels.” Frank wants the jump to soar or float in a beautiful extended position, with very little rotation. With respect to the landing, he explains that “check means stop” as in stopping the rotation. He explains further that the goal of a jump landing is to stop the free side from rotating. On landing, Frank wants arms that are “balletic” and generally evenly to the sides rather than strongly twisted one way or the other. He recommends practicing the landing position in a straight line or very gentle curve.

These general concepts are the foundation of good jumping.