The Flip Jump – Part 2 (Nick Perna)

Nick Perna continues his discussion of the flip jump. This is the second part of a multi-part video series. In the first video, Nick introduced the flip jump and discussed the active edge as well as edge change issues. The flip is probably the most overlooked of the 6 primary jumps in figure skating, largely because low level skaters tend to do them correctly off a back inside edge. However, flip jump issues and problems tend to really show up when skaters are progressing to double flips and triple flips.

Nick begins by explaining how similar the three-turn entrance is to the three-turn entrance commonly used for the salchow. It even has a similar stretch. Here’s how he explains what happens next. Nick says, “They’ve done the three turn like a salchow. They’ve done the stretch like a salchow. And now the jump has to become essentially a loop jump. So they’re going to be transferring their weight from the back inside edge onto their right toe pick.”

A common mistake on flip take-offs is the tendency for skaters to pull their bodies back when they put their pick in the ice. Instead, Nick explains they need to keep the body angle the same during the pivot to forward. He also explains arm and head positions and he also wants the skaters to take-off in an ‘h’ position. Nick does a nice job of talking about what actually happens on the pivot. The “turn under” with the skating hip is particularly important for skaters pivoting forward at take-off into an ‘h’ position.

Nick also discusses the common error of dropping down off the toe pick onto the blade. He calls this “blading.” This error not only makes the jump technically a loop jump, it’s also quite unstable unless done extremely precisely. Nick recommends walking around on the toe picks on the ice to get comfortable with the balance. As he explains, skaters with this problem often need to slow down dramatically to feel it and then correct it. Nick also discusses in some detail what part of the toe pick is used. He also addresses the myth that skaters initially put the top toe pick into the ice. Video proves that they do not (and never did!).