Jumping higher? | Golden Skate

Jumping higher?

Myblade

Rinkside
Joined
Sep 1, 2014
When I do jumps, I don't jump really high. Is the secret to jumping high about building up leg muscules or jump technique? Thanks!
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Country
Australia
Both. The spring needs to come from both legs, and both ankles have to be sturdy and strong.
 

uhh

Medalist
Joined
Nov 19, 2013
Do you do any off ice jump technique work? Part of it for me was also mental, and practicing off ice & getting used to using more height & power on solid ground before transferring it to the ice is really helpful.
 

vlaurend

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 14, 2008
Some strength, but more technique. What jumps do you do? The one thing that is true of all jumps is that the deeper you bend your jumping knee and ankle before jumping, the more height you will get. You will also get a lot more height on edge jumps (waltz jump, salchow, loop, axel) if you make sure your weight is on the ball of the foot on the takeoff edge, then roll up to the bottom toepick as you take off POINTING the toes of your takeoff foot really hard as you take off. A lot of skaters try to jump flat-footed and don't even realize that's what they're doing.
 

mnm464

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 15, 2014
Try practicing jumps off ice with tennis shoes. This helps build strength and muscle needed to jump, as well as building confidence, and learning rotation. You can also workout doing squats, etc. I suggest the account @skatedancelive on Instagram. She has a lot of good stuff for skating on there.
 

usethis2

Medalist
Joined
Feb 11, 2014
I do not skate so cannot speak from experience, but as a theoretical matter you probably want a correct technique since jumping (and rotating) is basically converting speed to centripetal force. Strong muscles - both upper and lower body - are obviously required, especially when the jump was not executed correctly; Strong leg muscles might save an otherwise shaky landing, for example.

Often times a jump with speed and sound techniques looks more pleasing than a laborious jump. It is a somewhat different topic but nonetheless it helps getting the point across, in my opinion.
 
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nieves

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 2, 2014
piggybacking off, vlaurend, I find the most important thing is to bend more deeply in the knees/ankles, and jump off the point/pick of your skate. A good exercise off-ice is to stand in place and roll from your heels to ball of foot, then roll to the tip of your foot, then roll to the tip and add a small jump, then do a larger more spring-y jump. When I started I had a bad habit of landing my jumps flat (which sounded awful) but if you learn to point your toe on the takeoff and landing you should be able to add more height.
 
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