Skating Fridays

Like a Champion

I’ve been following Alysa Liu’s career since she was an intermediate lady. My daughter and I watched her compete at Nationals that year and fell in love with her and her skating at that event. Not surprisingly, Alysa won the intermediate title that year. This past winter, Alysa won the senior ladies’ national title and was the youngest skater to do so since Tara Lipinski.

My jump coach asked me to try an axel setup similar to Alysa’s. She does a forward inside to outside bracket and launches into an axel. First, I tried a bracket into a waltz jump. Thankfully, it wasn’t too bad. Next, I tried the transition into an axel. I definitely struggled with it but it has improved slightly.

So if you’re a skater and have a consistent axel, try it from this entry. It’s what our current national champion does, and it’s difficult (but fun!).

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