Waltz Jump Tips – Part 2 (Joan Orvis)

Joan Orvis continues her description of the waltz jump.  You can see the first part of this presentationhere.  As Joan covered in the first video, she approaches the waltz jump from the perspective of proper edges and the pattern the jump creates on the ice.  She continues that theme in this video by explaining the free foot and free leg position on the waltz jump take-off edge and relating the jump to a school figures circle.

Joan wants the free foot behind the skating foot in a “collected” position.  In other words, the free leg is not straight and pulled back strongly.  It is bent and collected with the free toe floating directly over the trace made by the skating skate.  It should be helping the skater balance on the outside edge.

Joan also wants the free foot to pass very close to the skating foot as it moves from behind to in front.  Joans says it “sneaks through” to help her skaters understand just how close she wants it.  “It never goes wide.  It never falls into the circle.  It is toe to heel.”

Joan makes another very important point.  The free leg should be bent as the foot passes from behind to in front.  She does not dwell on this point in the video, but this is very important.  The skater should not rise up out of the skating knee until after the free foot passes so the only way the free foot can pass closely (sneak through) is if the free leg is also bent.

Joan also talks about the landing and relates it again to proper alignment on a simple back outside edge.  Joan takes advantage of the traces left after her patch classes to jump on the circles.  By developing the jump from classic edges learned from figures, Joan takes advantage of the skater already being familiar with proper alignment of hips and shoulders and body on the entrance and exit edges.
 

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