In this very short video, Nick Perna is working with a skater on his air position. One of the most common similarities among elite skaters in terms of air position is a locked axis leg and a flexed axis foot in the air. Not all elite skaters do this, but a large percentage do, even though their coaches may teach them to point their toes.
Based on the success of elite skaters using this technique, it makes sense to teach this air position to developing skaters. That is what Nick is doing in this video. The term “flox” represents “flex” (flex the axis foot) and “lock” (lock the axis leg). The drill Nick uses to help this skater feel the position is skating and balancing on his heel with the foot flexed and the leg locked. Single loop jumps are probably the best jump to use to train this feeling.
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2 responses to “Learn to “Flox” (Nick Perna)”
Is there a reason why this works better?
Also, what do you do on landing?
Do you point your toe just before impact, so that your toe pick hits first?
OrionSmedley it works better for two reasons. First it usually helps a skater lock out the axis or landing leg so it’s completely straight, and second it tends to lock the feet together so they don’t fly apart even at extremely high rotation speeds. And yes, just before landing a skater points the toe just slightly so the bottom toe pick touches the ice before the rest of the blade. It does not need to be a strong toe point, and in fact, it’s better if it’s not (more air time means more rotation in the air).