Figure Skating

Technical Figure Skating

Loop - A jump in which the skater takes off from a back outside edge, turns one revolution in the air and lands on the same back outside edge. As with most jumps, a double involves two turns, a triple three turns in the air.

Toe Loop - A jump taken off from and landed on the same back outside edge, just as in a loop. But the skater kicks the toe pick of the free leg into the ice upon takeoff, providing added power. Most skaters who attempt the four-revolution quad do a toe loop.

Toe Walley - Similar to a toe loop except the takeoff is from the inside edge.

Flip - A jump taken off from a back inside edge with the toe pick of the free leg dug into the ice, and landed on a back outside edge.

Lutz - A toe jump similar to the flip, taken off from a backward outside edge with the toe pick of the free leg dug into the ice. The skater enters the jump skating in one direction and concludes the jump skating in the opposite direction. Usually performed in the corners of the rink, the jump is named after Alois Lutz, who first completed it in Vienna in 1918.

Salchow - The skater takes off from the back inside edge of one foot and lands backward on the outside edge of the opposite foot from which the skater took off. Named for its originator, Sweden's Ulrich Salchow, the 1908 Olympic champion.

Axel - A combination of the waltz and loop jumps. A simple axel is one revolution. The most difficult jump because of the extra half-turn, it is the only jump begun from a forward outside edge. It is landed on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. The jump is named for its inventor, Norway's Axel Paulsen.

Simple Spin - The rotation of the body in one place on the ice. Various spins include the back, fast or scratch, sit and layback.

Camel Spin - A spin with the skater in an ``arabesque'' position, with the free leg at right angles to the leg on the ice.

Flying Camel Spin - A jump spin ending in the camel-spin position.

Flying Sit Spin - A jump spin in which the skater leaps off the ice, assumes a sitting position at the peak of the jump, lands and spins in a similar sitting position. Actually, the skater is squatting.

Layback Spin - A move in an upright spin position where the head and shoulders are dropped backward and the back arches.

Crossovers - A method of gaining speed and turning corners in which skaters cross one foot over the other. There are forward and backward crossovers.

Spread Eagle - The skater leans on the inside or outside edge as he glides in a circle, bending his body in the appropriate direction.

Death Spiral - In perhaps the most dramatic move in skating, the man, acting as the center of a circle, holds tightly to the hand of his partner and pulls her around him. The woman, gliding on one foot, achieves a position almost horizontal to the ice.

Lifts - Any maneuver in which the man lifts the woman off the ice. The man holds his partner above his head with one hand.

Hand-to-hand Loop Lift - The man raises his partner, who is in front of him and facing the same direction, above his head. She remains facing the same direction, in the sitting position with her hands behind her, while her partner supports her by the hands.

Hydrant Lift - The man throws his partner over his head while skating backward, rotates one turn and catches his partner facing him.

Platter Lift - The man raises his partner overhead with his hands resting on her hips. She is horizontal to the ice, facing the back of the man, in a platter position.

Star Lift - The man raises his partner by her hip, from his side into the air. She is in a scissors position, with either hand touching his shoulder, or in a hands-free position.

Toe Overhead Lift - The man swings his partner from one side of his body, around behind his head, and into a raised position. She is facing the same direction as the man, in a split position.

Throws - The man lifts the woman into the air and throws her away from him. She spins in the air and lands on one foot.

Twist - The man throws the woman in the air, she spins twice or three times and he catches her at the landing.

Lateral Twist - A move in which the man throws his partner overhead. She rotates once while in a lateral position to the ice and is caught.