More Than One Right Way
As skaters, we’re often taught one way to do things. For example, I was taught early on that a loop jump had to take off from backward crossovers and that a toe loop had to be done from an inside 3-turn.
As I’ve started to progress, I’ve learned that there’s more than one way to do elements. As long as you can get into the position correctly, it doesn’t matter how you get there. That loop jump can be done from inside 3-turns, and the toe loop can be done from outside 3-turns. Those are just two examples.
I have found with my double salchow journey that this jump is proving to be more difficult for my body to get into the correct rotation position. We’ve tried it from a 3-turn entry, and back 3-turn mohawk entry. Both yield similar results. I get the height but lack the snap into the backspin during rotation. As a result, I’m landing 1/4 turn short.
Leave it to my jump coach for suggesting a different technique. He has worked with some of the country’s top technical coaches, and they’ve all come to the same realization that the world’s elite skaters who are successfully landing quadruple salchows are using similar techniques. And none of them are going from the traditional 3-turn entries.
Rather, they are setting up the jump from a backwards hockey glide (on two feet). The skater vaults off the back/straightened leg, and the jump resembles a toe loop except without the toe-in. Here is an example.
I’ll try to video a few attempts from this approach and share with you soon. I am getting better rotation using this entry, but my landing is still 1/4 turn short. I have a feeling this will be a more successful technique for me though.
Stay tuned…
