Figure skating jumps

Norwegian figure skater Axel Paulsen, creator of the Axel jump, circa 1895

According to figure skating historian James R. Hines, jumping in figure skating is "relatively recent".[2] Jumps were viewed as "acrobatic tricks, not as a part of a skater’s art"[6] and "had no place"[7] in the skating practices in England during the 19th century, although skaters experimented with jumps from the ice during the last 25 years of the 1800s. Hops, or jumps without rotations, were done for safety reasons, to avoid obstacles, such as hats, barrels, and tree logs, on natural ice.[8][9] In 1881, Spuren Auf Dem Eise ("Tracing on the Ice"), "a monumental publication describing the state of skating in Vienna",[10] briefly mentioned jumps, describing three jumps in two pages.[11] Jumping on skates was a part of the athletic side of free skating, and was considered inappropriate for female skaters.[12]

Hines states that free skating movements such as spirals, spread eagles, spins, and jumps were originally individual compulsory figures, and sometimes special figures. For example, Norwegian skater Axel Paulsen, whom Hines calls "progressive",[13] performed the first jump in competition, the Axel, which was named after him, at the first international competition in 1882, as a special figure.[14] Jumps were also related to their corresponding figure; for example, the loop jump. Other jumps, such as the Axel and the Salchow, were named after the skaters who invented them.[6] It was not until the early part of the 20th century, well after the establishment of organized skating competitions, when jumps with the potential of being completed with multiple revolutions were invented and when jumps were formally categorized. These jumps became elements in athletic free skating programs, but they were not worth more points than no-revolution jumps and half jumps. In the 1920s, Austrian skaters began to perform the first double jumps in practice and refine rotations in the Axel.[9] Skaters experimented with jumps, and by the end of the period, the modern repertoire of jumps had been developed.[15]

Jumps did not have a major role in free skating programs during international competitions until the 1930s.[2][9] Athleticism in the sport increased between the world wars, especially by women like Norwegian world and Olympic champion Sonia Henie, who popularized short skirts that allowed female skaters to maneuver and perform jumps. When international competitions were interrupted by World War II, double jumps by both men and women had become commonplace, and all jumps, except for the Axel, were being doubled.[16][17] According to writer Ellyn Kestnbaum, "the development of rotational technique required for Axels and double jumps continued",[18] especially in the United States and Czechoslovakia. Post-war skaters, according to Hines, "pushed the envelope of jumping to extremes that skaters of the 1930s would not have thought possible".[19] For example, world champion Felix Kasper from Austria was well known for his athletic jumps, which were the longest and highest in the history of figure skating. Hines reported that his Axel measured four feet high and 25 feet from takeoff to landing. Both men and women, including women skaters from Great Britain, were doubling Salchows and loops in their competition programs.[20]

During the post-war period, American skater Dick Button, who "intentionally tried to bring a greater athleticism to men’s skating",[18] performed the first double Axel in competition in 1948 and the first triple jump, a triple loop, in 1952.[18] Triple jumps, especially triple Salchows, became more common for male skaters during the 1950s and early 1960s, and female skaters, especially in North America, included a full repertoire of two-revolution jumps. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, men commonly performed triple Salchows and women regularly performed double Axels in competitions. Men would also include more difficult multi-revolution jumps like triple flips, Lutzes, and loops; women included triple Salchows and toe loops. In the 1980s, men were expected to complete four or five difficult triple jumps, and women had to perform the easier triples such as the loop jump.[21] By the 1990s, after compulsory figures were removed from competitions, multi-revolution jumps became more important in figure skating.[22] According to Kestnbaum, jumps like the triple Lutz became more important during women's skating competitions.[23] The last time a woman won a gold medal at the Olympics without a triple jump was Dorothy Hamill at the 1976 Olympics.[24] According to sports reporter Dvora Meyers, the "quad revolution in women’s figure skating"[24] of the early 21st century began in 2018, when Russian skater Alexandra Trusova began performing a quadruple Salchow when she was still competing as a junior.

Figure skating edges

• Anomalies in the take-off and landing highlighted in bold and italic
• All basic figure skating jumps are landed backwards.

The six most common jumps can be divided into two groups: toe jumps (the toe loop, the flip, and the Lutz) and edge jumps (the Salchow, the loop, and the Axel).[25] The Euler jump, which was known as a half loop before 2018, is an edge jump.[26] Toe jumps tend to be higher than edge jumps because skaters press the toe pick of their skate into the ice on takeoff.[13] Both feet are on the ice at the time of take-off, and the toe-pick in the ice at take-off acts as a pole vault. It is impossible to add a half-revolution to toe jumps.[27]

Skaters accomplish edge jumps by leaving the ice from any of their skates' four possible edges; lift is "achieved from the spring gained by straightening of a bent knee in combination with a swing of the free leg".[13] They require precise rotational control of the skater's upper body, arms, and free leg, and of how well he or she leans into the take-off edge. The preparation going into the jump and its take-off, as well as controlling the rotation of the preparation and take-off, must be precisely timed.[28] When a skater executes an edge jump, they must extend their leg and use their arms more than when they execute toe jumps.[29]

Jumps are also classified by the number of revolutions. For example, all single jumps, except for the Axel, include one revolution, double jumps include two revolution, and so on. More revolutions earn skaters earn more points.[13] Double and triple versions have increased in importance "as a measure of technical and athletic ability, with attention paid to clean takeoffs and landings".[30] Pair skaters perform two types of jumps: side-by-side jumps, in which jumps are accomplished side by side and in unison, and throw jumps, in which the woman performs the jump when assisted and propelled by her partner.[13]

Axel jump

Japanese figure skater Midori Ito, first female skater to land a triple Axel, in 1989

The Axel jump, also called the Axel Paulsen jump for its creator, Norwegian figure skater Axel Paulsen, is an edge jump.[46] It is figure skating's oldest and most difficult jump.[17][44] The Axel jump is the most studied jump in figure skating.[47] It is the only jump that begins with a forward takeoff, which makes it the easiest jump to identify.[25] A double or triple Axel is required in both the short programs and free skating programs for junior and senior single skaters in all ISU competitions.[48]

The Axel has an extra half rotation, which, as figure skating expert Hannah Robbins states, makes a triple Axel "more a quadruple jump than a triple".[49] Sports reporter Nora Princiotti states, about the triple Axel, "It takes incredible strength and body control for a skater to get enough height and to get into the jump fast enough to complete all the rotations before landing with a strong enough base to absorb the force generated".[50] According to American skater Mirai Nagasu, "falling on the triple Axel is really brutal".[51]

In competitions, the base value of a single Axel is 1.10; the base value of a double Axel is 3.30; the base value of a triple Axel is 8.00; and the base value of a quadruple Axel is 12.50.[32] According to The New York Times, the triple Axel has become more common for male skaters to perform;[52] however, the quadruple Axel has only been landed at an international competition by Ilia Malinin as of 2022.

According to Kestbaum, jumps are divided into eight parts: the set-up, load, transition, pivot, takeoff, flight, landing, and exit. All jumps, except for the Axel, are taken off while skating backward; Axels are entered into by skating forward.[73] Skaters travel in three directions simultaneously while executing a jump: vertically (up off the ice and back down); horizontally (continuing along the direction of travel before leaving the ice); and around.[30][74] They travel in an up and across, arc-like path while executing a jump, much like the projectile motion of a pole-vaulter. A jump's height is determined by vertical velocity and its length is determined by vertical and horizontal velocity.[75] The trajectory of the jump is established during takeoff, so the shape of the arc cannot be changed once a skater is in the air.[76] Their body absorbs up to 13—14 g-forces each time they land from a jump,[77] which sports researchers Lee Cabell and Erica Bateman state contributes to overuse injuries and stress fractures.[78]

Skaters add variations or unusual entries and exits to jumps to increase difficulty. For example, they will perform a jump with one or both arms overhead or extended at the hips, which demonstrates that they are able to generate rotation from the takeoff edge and from their entire body instead of relying on their arms. It also demonstrates their back strength and technical ability to complete the rotation without relying on their arms. Unusual entries into jumps demonstrate that skaters are able to control both the jump and with little preparation, the transition from the previous move to the jump.[73] Skaters rotate more quickly when their arms are pulled in tightly to their bodies, which requires strength to keep their arms being pulled away from their bodies as they rotate.[79]

Japanese figure skater Miki Ando, first female skater to land a quadruple jump, in 2009

According to scientist Deborah King from Ithaca College, there are basic physics common to all jumps, regardless of the skating techniques required to execute them.[29] Factors such as angular momentum, the moment of inertia, angular acceleration, and the skater's center of mass determines if a jump is successfully completed.[80][81] Unlike jumping from dry land, which is fundamentally a linear movement, jumping on the ice is more complicated because of angular momentum. For example, most jumps involve rotation.[82] Scientist James Richards from the University of Delaware stated that successful jumps depend upon "how much angular momentum do you leave the ice with, how small can you make your moment of inertia in the air, and how much time you can spend in the air".[80] Richards found that a skater tends to spend the same amount of time in the air when performing triple and quadruple jumps, but their angular momentum at the start of triples and quadruples is slightly higher than it is for double jumps. The key to completing higher-rotation jumps is how they control the moment of inertia. Richards also found that many skaters, although they were able to gain the necessary angular momentum for takeoff, had difficulty gaining enough rotational speed to complete the jump.[80] King agrees, stating that skaters must be in the air long enough, have enough jump height to complete the required revolutions, and the amount of vertical velocity they are able to gain as they jump off the ice, although different jumps require different patterns of movement. Skaters performing quadruple jumps tend to be in the air longer and have more rotational speed. King also found that most skaters "actually tended to skate slower into their quads as compared to their triples",[83] although the differences in the speed in which they approached triples and quadruples were small. King conjectured that slowing their approach into the jumps were due to skaters' "confidence and a feeling of control and timing for the jump",[83] rather than any difference in how they executed them. Vertical take-off velocity, however, was higher for both quadruple and triple toe loops, resulting in "higher jumps and more time in the air to complete the extra revolution for the quadruple toe-loop".[83] As Tanya Lewis of Scientific American puts it, executing quadruple jumps, which as of 2022, has become more common in both male and female single skating competitions, requires "exquisite strength, speed and grace".[29]

For example, a skater could successfully complete a jump by making small changes to their arm position partway through the rotation, and a small bend in the hips and knees allows a skater "to land with a lower center of mass than they started with, perhaps seeking out a few precious degrees of rotation and a better body position for landing".[80] When they execute a toe jump, they must use their skate's toe pick to complete a pole-vaulting-type motion off the ice, which along with extra horizontal speed, helps them store more energy in their leg. As they rotate over their leg, their horizontal motion converts into tangential velocity.[29] King, who believes that quintuple jumps are mathematically possible, states that in order to execute more rotations, they could improve their rotational momentum as they execute their footwork or approach into their takeoff, creating torque about the rotating axis as they come off the ice. She also states that if skaters can increase their rotational momentum while "still exploding upward",[29] they can rotate faster and increase the number of revolutions they perform. Sports writer Dvora Meyers, reporting on Russian coaching techniques, states that the female skaters executing more quadruple jumps in competition use what experts call pre-rotation, or the practice of twisting their upper bodies before they take off from the ice, which allows them to complete four revolutions before landing. Meyers also states that the technique depends on the skater being small, light, and young, and that it puts more strain on the back because they do not use as much leg strength. As a skater ages and goes through puberty, however, they tend to not be able to execute quadruple jumps because "the technique wasn’t sound to start with".[24] They also tend to retire before the age of 18 due to the increase of back injuries.[24]

Since the tendency of an edge is toward the center of the circle created by that edge, a skater's upper body, arms, and free leg also have a tendency to be pulled along by the force of the edge. If the upper body, arms, and free leg are allowed to follow passively, they will eventually overtake the edge's rotational edge and will rotate faster, a principle that is also used to create faster spins. The inherent force of the edge and the force generated by a skater's upper body, arms, and free leg tend to increase rotation, so successful jumping requires precise control of these forces. Leaning into the curvature of the edge is how skaters regulate the edge's inherent angular momentum. Their upper body, arms, and free leg are controlled by what happens at the time of preparation for the jump and its take-off, which are designed to produce the correct amount of rotation on the take-off. If they do not have enough rotation, they will not be at the correct position at the take-off; if they rotate too much, their upper body will not be high enough in the air. Skaters must keep track of the many different movements and body positions, as well as the timing of those movements relative to each other and to the jump itself, which requires hours of practice but once mastered, becomes natural.[84]

The number of possible combinations jumps are limitless; if a turn or change of feet is permitted between combination jumps, any number of sequences is possible, although if the landing of one jump is the take-off of the next, as is the case in loop combinations, how the skater lands will dictate the possibilities going into subsequent jumps. Rotational momentum tends to increase during combination jumps, so skaters should control rotation at the landing of each jump; if a skater does not control rotation, they will overrotate on subsequent jumps and probably fall. The way that skaters control rotation differs depending upon the nature of the landing and take-off edges, and the way they use their arms, which regulate their shoulders and upper body position, and free leg, which dictates the positioning of their hips. If the landing on one jump leads directly into the take-off of the jump that follows it, the bend on the landing leg of the first jump serves as preparation for the spring of the take-off of the subsequent jump. If some time elapses between the completion of the first jump and the take-off of the subsequent one, or if a series of movements serve as preparation for the subsequent jump, the leg bend for the spring can be separated from the bend of the landing leg.[85]

The following table lists first recorded jumps in competition for which there is secure information.

Jump	Abbr.	Men	Year	Ladies	Year	Ref.
Single toe loop	1T	Bruce Mapes	1920s	n/a		[34]
Single Salchow	1S	Ulrich Salchow	1909	Theresa Weld	1920	[34][16]
Single loop	1Lo	Werner Rittberger		n/a		[34]
Single Lutz	1Lz	Alois Lutz	1913	n/a		[34]
Single Axel	1A	Axel Paulsen★	1882	Sonja Henie	1920s	[34][46]
Double Salchow	2S	n/a	1920s	Cecilia Colledge	1930s	[86]
Double Lutz	2Lz	n/a		Alena Vrzáňová	1949	[87]
Double Axel	2A	Dick Button	1948	Carol Heiss	1953	[34][88]
Triple toe loop	3T	Thomas Litz	1964	n/a		[89]
Triple Salchow	3S	Ronnie Robertson	1955	Petra Burka	1962	[89]
Triple loop	3Lo	Dick Button	1952	Gabriele Seyfert	1968	[90][89]
Triple flip	3F	n/a		Katarina Witt Manuela Ruben	1981	[34]
Triple Lutz	3Lz	Donald Jackson	1962	Denise Biellmann	1978	[34]
Triple Axel	3A	Vern Taylor	1978	Midori Ito	1988	[34]
Quadruple toe loop	4T	Kurt Browning	1988	Alexandra Trusova	2018	[91][89]
Quadruple Salchow	4S	Timothy Goebel	1998	Miki Ando	2002	[89]
Quadruple loop	4Lo	Yuzuru Hanyu	2016	Adeliia Petrosian★★	2022	[89][92]
Quadruple flip	4F	Shoma Uno	2016	Alexandra Trusova	2019	[93][94]
Quadruple Lutz	4Lz	Brandon Mroz	2011	Alexandra Trusova	2018	[35][95]
Quadruple Axel	4A	Ilia Malinin	2022	none ratified		[96]

• ★ Outside of competition.
• ★ ★ Domestic competition.

• Cabell, Lee; Bateman, Erica (2018). "Biomechanics in Figure Skating". In Vescovi, Jason D.; VanHeest, Jaci L. (eds.). The Science of Figure Skating. New York: Routledge. pp. 13–34. ISBN 978-1-138-22986-0.

• "Communication No. 2168: Single & Pair Skating". (ISU No. 2168) Lausanne, Switzerland: International Skating Union. 23 May 2018. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
• Hines, James R. (2006). Figure Skating: A History. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07286-4.
• Hines, James R. (2011). Historical Dictionary of Figure Skating. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-81087-0857.

• "Identifying Jumps" (PDF). (USFS) U.S. Figure Skating. Archived from the original on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
• "ISU Figure Skating Media Guide 2022/23". International Skating Union. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.

• Kestnbaum, Ellyn (2003). Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 0819566411.

• King, Deborah; Smith, Sarah; Higginson, Brian; Muncasy, Barry; Scheirman, Gary (2004). "Characteristics of Triple and Quadruple Toe-Loops Performed during The Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics" (PDF). Sports Biomechanics. 3 (1). Retrieved 20 July 2022.

• Mazurkiewicz, Anna, Dagmara Twańsak, and Czesław Urbanik (July 2018). "Biomechanics of the Axel Paulsen Figure Skating Jump". Polish Journal of Sport and Tourism 25 (2):3-9. DOI: 10.2478/pjst-2018-0007. Retrieved 20 July 2022.

• Petkevich, John Misha (1988). Sports Illustrated Figure Skating: Championship Techniques (1st ed.). New York: Sports Illustrated. ISBN 978-1-4616-6440-6. OCLC 815289537.

• "Special Regulations & Technical Rules Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance 2021". International Skating Union. June 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2022 (S&P/ID 2021).

• "ISU Judging System: Technical Panel Handbook: Pair Skating 2021/2022" (PDF). International Skating Union. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2022 (Tech Panel).

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