Jump for my Love

There are six jumps that you see in figure skating: the triple axel, the triple salchow, the triple loop, the triple lutz, the triple flip, and the triple toe.

Jumps are really hard to see, for the uninitiated. For me, triples always look like doubles, and doubles look like singles. So, if you think it's a double, it's probably a triple.

Jumps fall into two categories: edge jumps and toe-pick jumps. Toe-pick jumps use the free leg to kick on the ice, and assist the jump. The edge jumps are: the axel, the loop, and the salchow. The axel is the easiest to spot. It's the only one that starts off forward.

Assume you are right handed. The triple axel starts off with the left foot skating forward, and lands on the right foot, skating backwards. There's a foot switch here. The loop starts and ends on the same foot, thus start and ends on your right foot. The salchow starts on the left foot and lands on the right foot. The loop, to me, is the third easiest jump to spot, usually one foot is in front of the other, in a line, and the jump is made there.

The lutz starts off with the left foot, kick with the right, and lands on the right. This is the second easiest to spot, because it usually has a long straight line set-up before you see the kick. The flip goes from left foot, and lands on the right foot. The difference between the flip and lutz is that the flip is done on a back inside edge on the left foot, which is the edge that the spin occurs most easily, while the lutz is on the outside edge, which forces the spin to go opposite. Some skaters have been known to flutz, i.e., start off like a lutz, but at the last moment, leaning to an inside edge, and making the jump easier.

The triple toe loop uses the left foot to kick, thus, skates on the right foot, and lands on the right foot. Apparently, this is the easiest jump, even though, compared to either the flip or lutz, it kicks off with the left foot, instead of the right.

The key to watching jumps then is to determine which foot the jump started on and whether it was a toe-pick or not. If you start and land on the same foot, then it's either a loop, or a toe loop. If it's opposite feet, then it's one of the other four. The axel is the easiest to spot. If there's no toe pick, then it must be a triple loop. If the feet switched, it's the salchow.

If there is a toe-pick, and the foot switched, it's either a lutz or flip. The lutz is usually easier to spot because there's a long straight set-up. It's easier to see than whether the skater skates on an inside or outside edge.

As essential as this is to figure skating, most announcers don't like to describe it, because it forces the viewer to remember six different things, and even as it's really only 5, because the axel is easy to spot, people still can't remember. Fortunately, I can help make it one step easier. Only the loop starts and ends on the same foot. Thus, the triple loop (no toe-pick) and the triple toe-loop (toe-pick). Keep an eye on which is the takeoff foot, and you can begin to see which jump is which.

Let me help you with the triple loop. Stand with your feet side by side. Now, imagine a straight line drawn forward, and it is coming from your right foot. Move your left foot in front of your right foot. Now imagine you are skating backwards this way. You jump off your right foot, and land on your right foot. That's a triple loop.

Next time you watch figure skating, pay attention to which foot the skater lifts off from, and you'll be on your way to identifying these jumps.