Nick Perna and Audrey Weisiger continue their on-ice axel class at the 2010 G2C Extreme Supercamp. In the first part of the class, they covered the proper setup and in the second part they covered the step forward. In Part 3 they discussed the climb up into the axel. In this video, the class gets to attempt some axels and Nick offers some feedback.
Editor’s note: While editing this clip, we elected to keep both Audrey’s and Nick’s voices on the video, even though most of the visual video is focused on Nick. The reason is that Audrey is also making important points about air position which she also addresses briefly to the class at the end. Try just listening to Audrey’s voice with your eyes closed to understand what she is saying. Sorry if this is hard to understand.
Nick addresses a common setup issue associated with stretching the free leg as part of the setup. Many many coaches teach a stretch and it is not wrong, but it generally causes a number of problems. As Nick points out, the skater must still collect the feet together after stretching without destroying their entry alignment, and most skaters can’t do it properly. It seems that most coaches that use this setup don’t teach their skaters how to collect the stretched leg properly before the step. Another major problem typically created by the stretch entry is less advanced skaters almost always lean away from the jump to stretch the leg. This completely destroys the alignment and axel becomes very challenging.
As Nick notes, the recommended setup eliminates these problems by allowing the skater to set up on two feet to easily and quickly align themselves and be ready in a collected position for the step forward.
Audrey notes that in the air, most good jumpers don’t point both toes down. If you watch a lot of video, most of the top athletes do not point their landing toe in the air, except just before touching down. Instead they tend to automatically flex the foot upward as they attempt to straighten or lock out the landing leg. The G2C term for this is “floxing.” It’s a combination of “flexing” the landing toe rather than pointing it, and “locking” the landing knee in the air. [You can see similar explanations of air position from other top coaches here at iCoachSkating.com.]
Nick also observes one of the most common issues for axel which is skaters either releasing the free shoulder on the take-off edge, or simply being unable to control it. Most good coaches teach the free shoulder pulled back strongly throughout the take-off edge.
Finally, Nick explains why the skating knee should be locked on the setup. As you’ll see and hear, the locked leg is deliberate, steady, dependable, consistent, and sturdy. These attributes help the skater achieve a more consistent entry and therefore, a more consistent jump. Also as Audrey notes, the skater needs to straighten the landing leg in the air shortly after taking off, and the locked leg on the entrance edge serves as a guide to the proper air position feeling.
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4 responses to “Figure Skating Jumps: Axel Class – Part 4 (Audrey Weisiger & Nick Perna)”
This is great! I’m coming back to these videos to review since I’ve lost my axel this month. 😛 Back to the beginning!
This series of videos are great to build up consistancy within my skaters. It works well.
The transition is missing in this part. Could you please provide details on the footwork? My daughter is being told by her coach to do a 3-turn prior to stepping forward!
Michelle, there isn’t really any information to add to the details of the transition. I do not know of any top coaches who teach a 3-turn prior to stepping forward. Watch the video again and notice the skaters simply step from the back edge to the forward edge. Some coaches explain this push or step forward in different ways. Some explain it as something similar to an Ina Bauer and some may liken it to the first part of a 3-turn. But the vast majority keep it as simple as possible and simply acknowledge it as a step or push. Most skaters figure this out without problem.