What percentage of skaters do triple jumps?

My long-term personal goal is to make up to double axel, but no further since I've read stuff saying double axel and triple jumps are very, very rare in the general skating community, especially for people who didn't start as young children.

So how tough is it? How many skaters make it? I know most don't make it because they simply lose interest in skating and quit.
Is this a good example below?
Probably 90% of skaters make it thru beginner classes to Freestyle level 1.
Probably 60% of skaters land the single axel.
Probably 20-30% of skaters land all of the double jumps except double axel
Probably 2%-5% land double axels and a few easier triple jumps, like triple salchow and triple toe-loop.
Less than 1% land triple axels or quad jumps or go to the Olympics.


I know this varies a little bit between "started as children" vs adults, male vs female skaters.

Is it normal or expected if you start as a child you will do a double axel and triples one day or is that still pretty rare? Seems like all of the kids/teens at my local rink are regularly doing doubles, but I never hear about triples.


I mean if I make it up to double axel and its "woohooo! let's do triples!" I will haha! But I'm just wondering what is typical.

P.S. I personally have all of my single jumps, except axel at this time.


EDIT:
Love all the great responses to this question!! Yes, I realize most people don't even make it past Learn-to-Skate because they quit. I was thinking more about the group that doesn't quit, but hits a roadblock due to athletic ability or old age or whatever. Because even if an adult skater practices 5-6 times a week and is very talented, no one expects or thinks they will land triples one day.

My rink might have someone who can do 2A or triples since I haven't asked around. But everything I see on practice ice is doubles. We've probably got about 50-100 freestyle skaters (level 3 and up.) Probably about 15-20 skaters who regularly do single axels and doubles. And then yeah probably 200-300 in Learn-to-Skate, but they don't come all at once, since kids are constantly quitting and new kids constantly starting.

Double axels are kind of like the breaking point of top level female skaters. It took me almost 3 years to land mine at 14, and I had started skating at five. To be honest, a lot of it has to to with technique and strength, I was finally able to get mine cleanly once I worked with a personal trainer who helped me build my jump height, and by doing double axels off ice every single day. I've seen girls of all different body types land double axels, but it always came down to body strength and technique. BUT, even sometimes that isn't enough and girls typically just can't get the jump. You will know once you start working on it. Now, regarding triples, these were difficult for me.. especially since I began to struggle with keeping my body in shape and strong, and only ever really landed triple salchow well and it was hard to sustain it. All in all, I won't say it's rare.. just a lot of girls just can't make it due to a variety of reasons.. My coach told me once at regionals after I bombed my long program at Intermediate level, and said "Look at all the girls at your level, and then look at the amount of girls at Senior. You got to keep at it!"

How are you defining "skaters"?

Haha, @Lex I totally agree with your coach! I start to tell people, once you hit Junior/Senior it almost doesn't matter if you compete adult, test track, or standard. There are so few skaters. No one wants to do that damn long program!!! Haha. I see intermediates throwing double axels and a few triples like "Tada! It's so eaaassy!" and I smile. Try repeating those in a 4 min. program while presenting intricate choreography, leveled step sequence and quality skating. Oh and don't look tired at all.

How rare is it for skaters to learn and consistently execute triples? I'll say this. The skaters who can and do all know each other. That is how small a community that is.

Somewhere I read that only 2% of all skaters ever get a double axel. I have no idea of how that number was ever determined or by who.

The first triples (but probably not fully rotated) come about the same time as the double axel.

A big dropping off point for kid skaters is also the single axel. a lot of kids get frustrated and quit if they can't get it quickly, and at that age, they might be doing a ton of other activities too. Maybe you're right that 60% of kids that continue on with skating get it. In reality maybe 10% of kids stick with it long enough to get a good single axel.

As far as adults go, I think 1% of adults who never did an axel as kids are able to do decent ones. It doesn't mean it's so hard necessarily - adults who skate won't usually quit because they can't get it like kids do, so more non axel adults continue skating, and adults also usually don't have enough time to dedicate to get it.

Arwen17 said:

So how tough is it? How many skaters make it? I know most don't make it because they simply lose interest in skating and quit.
Is this a good example below?
Probably 90% of skaters make it thru beginner classes to Freestyle level 1.
Probably 60% of skaters land the single axel.
Probably 20-30% of skaters land all of the double jumps except double axel
Probably 2%-5% land double axels and a few easier triple jumps, like triple salchow and triple toe-loop.
Less than 1% land triple axels or quad jumps or go to the Olympics.

Click to expand...

I bet USFS actually has these numbers. I wonder if we can get them? I'll try digging later.

In my experience, it's more like this:

Probably 5% of skaters make it thru beginner classes to Freestyle level 1. The vast majority of kids who start out in learn to skate don't continue. Their parents either just have them there to learn the basics, so they can have fun on public skate, or have them there to learn the basics before they move into hockey. So there's significant fall off after even Basic 1. A small group of the kids who start skating even reach Freestyle 1. Making an estimate, out of the 1,000 kids who go through one of my local rink's learn to skate programs each year, there are 50 kids in Freestyle classes, and the classes only go up to about FS level 3. After that, there's not enough kids for classes, so the kids who continue do private lessons. So 950 of those kids don't get up to FS 3.

Of those kids, probably 10% get to the point where they land the single axel. Most skaters actually quit younger than this, when they/their parents decide that other activities are where they want their focus to be. It also doesn't help that, after a certain point, the kids stop winning awards, if they're competing and not on the ice several days per week. For example, out of all the kids that my daughter started out skating with, there are only two left - her, and one friend. The rest all quit either before middle school, or early in middle school, for the reasons I mentioned.

So now, the kids who are still in skating are pretty serious about it. There are still some, like my daughter, who skate only twice per week or so, so they aren't looking to go to nationals, but most skaters her age are now skating a good 5-6 days per week.


So from here, this is probably about right:

Maybe .001% of the kids who start skating ever end up landing even one triple jump.

I tried a brief research dig, and found out that USFS has approximately 181,703 members. What I can't find out is what percentage or number of those are Basic Skills members (that would give us an idea for how many people who start continue on after basic skills), or what the different percentages of members are at different levels of skating, etc. We could also do some estimates if we knew the number of skaters who compete at the novice level, v. the total USFS population, and etc. So if someone wants to have some fun with numbers, go at it!

You can find a good estimate of skaters at novice level by looking at the results lists for all 9 regionals, including the withdrawals.

You could also check the protocols to see how many attempted any triples and how many landed any clean ones (0 or maybe -1 GOE or higher), but that would be more time consuming.

There might be other novices who didn't register for regionals that year. In most cases those would not be skaters with triples.

You could also do the same for intermediate.

For junior and especially senior, be aware that you won't get the total numbers just from looking at regionals because some of the skaters have byes (and those skaters almost surely have triples). You could look at the ladies SP protocols to see which skaters aren't even attempting triples even though they're required, or which skaters get downgrades on all their attempts. The ones who actually rotate even if they fall, or maybe the ones who stand up with just < underrotations, you could consider to "have" triples even if inconsistent and/or poor quality.

Add those numbers to the number of skaters with byes to sectionals or Nationals, and you'd have a good estimate of how many currently competing senior ladies in the US there are and how many of those can actually make reasonable attempts at triple jumps.

I think we're looking at a few dozen seniors in any given year. Maybe a couple hundred US skaters trying triples, male and female, from intermediate through senior. I haven't done an official count though.

This is a fascinating discussion!

I think it's also a good reminder how much of a feat getting TRIPLES are, let alone the 3A and the quads in the men.

You can pass the USFS Senior freeskate test without a double axel or any triples.

posha said:

How rare is it for skaters to learn and consistently execute triples? I'll say this. The skaters who can and do all know each other. That is how small a community that is.

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Agree with the concept of this statement but the numbers are not quite so small. "Many" competative skaters can do a single triple, its when you get to 3 or more that the numbers really go down. I think my rink has at least 5 that can do at least one triple - one rising intermediate, one rising novice, and 1 rising senior (I think), and 2 returning seniors. I think I got them all but I may have missed one.

USFS is offering a jumping camp for those juv through novice skaters (Junior and Senior skaters were not invited) who earned +1 bonus points at Regionals and/or made it to Sectionals. My guess is all the skaters going will have at least a consistent double axel and are working on triples. That camp was limited to 100 skaters and is full with a wait list. For those going to that camp, you have to specify your most constitent tricky jump and up to 3 other jumps you are currently working on.

There are probably 400+ kids in our learn to skate program. At the other end there is one senior skater, two junior, one novice, and three intermediate. Of those all but one, has a double axel. Three have a triple. It is pretty rare.

concorde said:

You can pass the USFS Senior freeskate test without a double axel or any triples.



Agree with the concept of this statement but the numbers are not quite so small. "Many" competative skaters can do a single triple, its when you get to 3 or more that the numbers really go down. I think my rink has at least 5 that can do at least one triple - one rising intermediate, one rising novice, and 1 rising senior (I think), and 2 returning seniors. I think I got them all but I may have missed one..

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Thank you, I was hoping someone would respond to my statement!

First, you are lucky to be in an arena that sees triple jumps performed in real time. Like not just on TV
Most kids will never see a triple or even double axel done on their practice ice. So what you are experiencing is uncommon.
FEW skaters will attempt a triple in their lifetime.

My rink has about 10 girls currently that can/have landed 2 axel, about 4 can do them consistently. Intermediate-Senior level. There was a boy too but he had an injury....and there are a few elite skaters who have triples and quad.

So I know what you mean, there is a difference between the ones starting triples/ have at least one consistent triple vs. those who can do a few of them regularly.

To clarify-- the community of skaters who consistently land triple jumps---not try/are learning/working on consistency is in fact, quite small. For U.S., I would say under 50 total.

Why/how do they know each other?

To get to that place of consistency, two things had to have happened for them:
1. Early exposure to serious training (started young with access to quality or elite coaching/basic foundational technique)
2. Access to top quality facilities (ice time, conditioning, recovery, injury prevention)

Kids who get multiple triples in competition usually have years of experience training and competing at high level. TRUST ME they know who is on their level regionally and Nationally. They run into each other at least once or twice a year. They see each other at the same camps, rinks, events, and sometimes share coaches. A lot of them become close friends. At U.S
Nationals many skaters compare it to a family reunion, because LITERALLY everyone knows or has a connection to everyone else. The coaches, the judges, the officials, the competitors all know/are familiar with each other. This trickles down through Sectional and Regional level. Very small club.

How small a community is the quads group??? Haha, not only know each other, but probably somewhere along the line have taken from the same coach or tech expert!!!

Sorry to keep blabbing, but before I go, wanted to point out that we are missing an important element of this conversation-- HOW MANY COACHES (and this can be international) are qualified to/ or have had success teaching someone a set of triples, triple axel, quad. I think THERE is part of your answer, OP.

Often at a high level (able to do triples/quad) skaters end up going to train with the same group of a handful of qualified coaches. Coaches "known" to teach technique and handle talent. It's rare to find a coach who has success teaching multiple triples and/or quads).

I know it can be a touchy subject. I've seen coaches who have a student "working on triples" but....the small percentage of skaters who consistently execute them tend to take from the even smaller percentage of coaches who teach them...

posha said:

Sorry to keep blabbing, but before I go, wanted to point out that we are missing an important element of this conversation-- HOW MANY COACHES (and this can be international) are qualified to/ or have had success teaching someone a set of triples, triple axel, quad. I think THERE is part of your answer, OP.

Often at a high level (able to do triples/quad) skaters end up going to train with the same group of a handful of qualified coaches. Coaches "known" to teach technique and handle talent. It's rare to find a coach who has success teaching multiple triples and/or quads).

I know it can be a touchy subject. I've seen coaches who have a student "working on triples" but....the small percentage of skaters who consistently execute them tend to take from the even smaller percentage of coaches who teach them...

Click to expand...

Very good point. Most of the skaters at my rink who have the big jumps are either past or current students of one particular coach.

Another team of coaches have one of the other students that can consistently land multiple triples. The verdict is still out on whether those coaches can produce the same result in another student.

concorde said:

Very good point. Most of the skaters at my rink who have the big jumps are either past or current students of one particular coach.

Another team of coaches have one of the other students that can consistently land multiple triples. The verdict is still out on whether those coaches can produce the same result in another student.

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That is awesome, lucky lucky! I hope your club/rink management treat those pros like gold!-- Recognize the gem that they have

Love all the great responses to this question!! Yes, I realize most people don't even make it past Learn-to-Skate because they quit. I was thinking more about the group that doesn't quit, but hits a roadblock due to athletic ability or old age or whatever. Because even if an adult skater practices 5-6 times a week and is very talented, no one expects or thinks they will land triples one day.

My rink might have someone who can do 2A or triples since I haven't asked around. But everything I see on practice ice is doubles. We've probably got about 50-100 freestyle skaters (level 3 and up.) Probably about 15-20 skaters who regularly do single axels and doubles. And then yeah probably 200-300 in Learn-to-Skate, but they don't come all at once, since kids are constantly quitting and new kids constantly starting.

I forgot 2 more with triples at my rink.

This has been my daughter's primary rink since she was 3 so I am used to seeing skaters doing triples on a daily basis. I assumed most rinks have a couple of skaters doing triples.