What Are Jump Combinations & How To Do Them | Figure Skating

Hey skaters, it's Stace here from Next Edge Tutorials and in this lesson today I'm going to be introducing you to jump combinations. So if you're new to figure skating and you've started jumping on the ice but you've noticed other skaters doing multiple jumps in a row, well these are jump combinations. Now I know that there's been some recent rule changes with ISU and now you can get super fancy with those jump combinations, but in our lesson we're going to be focusing on their traditional toe loop and loop jumps. So what are we waiting for? Let's move to the barrier and get started. So before we break down our jump combinations, I want you to click on the link below in the description for your free PDF guide on the four turns that we have in figure skating. We have a three turn. We have brackets, we have counters, rockers, inside, outside, forwards, and backwards. It breaks down our turns, gives you diagrams, and explains the edges that you want to be on while doing all of our turns. So when you're ready, give it a click. So the first combination jump that we're going to be looking at is a toe loop. Let's refresh our memory of what a toe loop looks like. So I'm going to start here and I'm going to do a forward inside three turn. So I go right forward inside three turn, tap, jump, and hold. That you can do a c-step push back toe loop, but as long as you're taking off of that back outside edge. So I go inside three turn, I tap, I'm on that back outside edge, lift, and hold. Or you can do this entry. C-step, push back outside edge, and up. It's the same jump because we are taking off of that back outside edge, we are tapping into the ice, we're getting that right leg through, transfer the weight, and landing out. So that is our toe loop. Now we're going to combine it with another toe loop. We're going to go toe loop, toe loop, and put them together. So I'm going to start here at the barrier. I'm going to do an inside three turn first. Inside three turn, here's my tap, around, jump, I land inside my circle, the left leg comes around, I tap, push off the outside edge, and repeat again. So this is what we're going to be doing. A toe loop, toe loop as our combination. Now I want to show you what that looks like with a little bit more speed, and then we're going to come back to the barrier and I'm going to give you some pointers on how to do it. So I'm lifting up, I push, here's my right inside three turn, tap, jump, leg moves around the body, and again, tap, jump, and hold. Now let's come to the barrier. So we're going to do our first toe loop. The leg moves around, tap, arms move through, lift, again, around, and lift and hold. This is a great way to feel comfortable at the barrier. It's because you can hold on, you can really feel that outside edge, that right outside edge. That lift, push off, jump to the other leg, leg moves around the body, and then tap again. Now with our arms, after we land that first toe loop, they're going to work through, then open, and then we're going use that right arm to launch us into the air again. So let's focus on the free leg and the arms moving through, and then picking it up again. So we go right inside three turn, tap, lift, arms move through, open, tap, and through. Now that you have it and you feel really confident and comfortable, let's take it off the barrier and then add a little bit more speed. All right, here we go. So we have a little bit of speed. I set up, inside three turn, tap, leg moves around, tap and lift. Now I want to make sure that that free leg is moving around my body. I don't want to land with it already back behind because I'm not going to be able to build speed and keep that momentum going. And it can look like this. It's not comfortable. I don't get that nice pulling of that free leg, keeping my speed moving through. I want to keep my speed and my arms are moving as I tap and jump. I don't want to tap and then decide to jump. They're already moving. It has a nice flow about it. So let's do it again. So I set up, inside three turn, move it through, around, move it through again. And that is your toe loop, toe loop combination. Now we are ready for our loop jump. So before we break down our loop jump combination, let's remind ourselves of what a loop jump looks like. So I'm going to start backwards here, right back outside edge, lift and up. And this one is really unique because we take off and land on the exact same leg. And this is why this loop jump and a combination is considered a lot harder than the toe loop. Because with the toe loop, we have our tap. We can use that speed from that first jump. Whereas that loop jump, you're in that position and you just have to press that edge and get up into the air. So let's go to the barrier and break it down a bit more. So we're going to do a loop jump, loop jump combination. So I'm going to start with balancing on my right leg. My leg is already in position. As you can see, it's inside. I'm not over here because if my free leg is over, it's going to pull me outside my circle. I want to be inside my circle on this loop jump. So we're going to go press the right back outside edge, loop jump, press, loop jump. Do you see how that free leg works like this? It goes press, lift, out, press, lift, out. This left leg is just really working on that lifting, driving down, lifting and driving down. That right leg, you have to focus on that right back outside edge. If you get too straight, it's really hard to do. So you want to make sure that you feel that pressure and lift. Let's do it again. Press, lift, press, lift, and then out. Now that we feel really comfortable here, let's come off the barrier and try loop jump, loop jump. All right, here we go. So we're going to do loop jump, loop jump. I set up, I'm inside my circle, press the outside edge, press the outside edge. Now, some mistakes that happen a lot while doing loop jump, loop jump is that when you land the first one, that free leg moves behind and then you try to move it in front and then it's too late. You have to make sure that when you land, that leg is inside your circle, ready to go. Now, another mistake that can happen with a loop jump, loop jump is that it becomes too spinny and it looks like this. Here's the first one and the second one. There's no checking. There's no right of that right back outside edge. You have to make sure that when you land that first one, you are inside your circle. You have a strong position. That shoulder is back and you're ready to go. That's why some skaters, if you see them, they'll do loop jump and then their shoulders keep going and they wind up doing a three turn and then picking the jump up and it looks like this. They just needed that extra bit more time to get their shoulder back but they don't need to as if they got it back the first go, they'd be able to do loop jump, loop jump right away. Some things to remember, make sure your shoulders are inside your circle when you land, a strong position and make sure your free leg is in front of your body. Don't allow it to land with it behind because then that means you have to take more time to get it back in front and then you've already lost the jump. There's not enough time to fix it and correct it. So now that we know a toe loop and a loop jump, this is where the fun begins because we can start merging them together with other jumps. Now we're going to do a flip jump, a toe loop, a loop jump and a toe loop. This is considered one combination. You can't do this at competition but you can definitely do it for practice. So let's go. Now I'm going to build some speed because we are doing four jumps here. So I'm going to get a little bit of speed and we're going to do flip jump, toe loop, loop jump, toe loop. And that is a combination jump. How cool is that? And it's so much fun to go down the ice doing multiple jumps because I know it is one way to warm up my body really fast is that whole entire jumping. So when you feel confident, I want you to start combining all your jumps together. All right, that is the end of our lesson on jump combinations. And what you need to remember is you went from one jump to two jumps and you should be so proud of yourselves. And if you don't have it down right away, that's okay too because it's a process. And the one thing that's always helped me, it's a rhythm. You want to make sure you have a rhythm when you do toe loop, toe loop, or loop jump, loop jump combination. Thanks for watching Nexa Tutorials and happy skating.