How to practice my ice skating jumps off ice?

I am a skater and i need to be practicing my jumps a lot. I can do loops, lutzes, flips, and other jumps. Please help me.

How to practice my ice skating jumps off ice?
Practicing off ice jump exercises are not like how you do them on the ice. They are isolated exercises that help you to build muscles and muscle memory . . . for high-exlosive jumps, rotation speed, air position, check out, landing, etc etc.





I agree with icesk8er . . . you would benefit greatly from taking an off ice training class. Besides learning the various exercises, it will be crucial to do them correctly to get the most out of the training . . . it's sometimes hard to sense such things as body alignment on your own. Doing them repeatedly incorrectly could create a bad habit in your muscle memory - and you don't want that to transfer to the ice!!





Generally, they don't recommend plyometric exercises (which is what repetitive jump exercises are) unless you have certain upper and lower body strength.





You can go to USFSA's site and look under Training Info (PDF files) . . . http://www.usfigureskating.org/Athletes.... and click on "Off-Ice Conditioning - Jump and Plyometric Training for Novice, Junior and Senior". It doesn't show you the actual exercises, but it gives an idea of how what their jumping/plyometric training is about.





Here are a couple of off ice exercises for starters:


For jump height: Stand on 2 feet. Keep your arms out and apart. Jump up and bring your arms up and in as you would with ice jumping. The next jump, arms apart, really bend without breaking your upper body and jump high quickly, bringing your arms in. The next jump, do the quick jump again, but this time thing about hanging in the air at the highest point of your jump. Later you do this concentrating on pushing off the foot you jump with on ice. This high and hang feeling is what you want to feel on the ice.





For rotation and landing: Stand still "loops". Get into your loop entrance position, with freeleg in front of you, do a half loop, bringing your arms in like you do on ice, and check out FAST. You want to think high and hang on this exercise too. Keep doing it til you are balanced (without tilting in the air and having solid landings). Eventually do that with single loop, a single and a half loop, then double . . . plus. But move up only when you can control each one for the benefit of the exercise. This will help you to rotate, but mainly to be able control your rotation by checking out at the right time (so your body will know where it is in the air as opposed to getting lost).





If anything, make sure you warm up/cool down with stretches - just as you would do for skating. And wear good shoes! The surface shouldn't be concrete hard - grass is ideal.





You can also do weight training to help - but that's whole 'nother thing!





So jump jump away . . . and hope you reach your jumping goals!!
Reply:well i used to ice stake. you can try on a wood floor such as in a gym thats where most people do there off ice sessions. or on a marble floor. something hard no rugs. maybe even on the grass. or just for fun on a trampoline.. and if you even have the money you may even consider buying those things that hold you while you jump etc. when you jump.
Reply:Well you know who would know better than us, an off-ice training instructor. :P I take off-ice and most rinks have off-ice classes. They really help a lot. The instructor will be able to tell you exactly what to do based on your skating needs and sometimes (not always-there's not always a lot of options) what you do and don't like to do.





hope this helps ♥
Reply:The best thing for you to do would be to take an off ice training class where they teach you how to do the jumps off the ice- it's always easier to learn this way because there is a coach to make sure you are doing it right and there to teach you what to do. Most clubs offer this as a class.





If you are unable to go to a class to do this training here are some helpful links in telling you how to do it, but really I think it's hard to read something and then do it!


http://www.usfigureskating.org/content/o...


http://www.amazon.com/Conditioning-Skati...


For most jumps you can either jump forward for an entrance and then do the jump as you would on ice, and when you land you hop backwards to avoid twisting and injuring your knees. For salcows you hop in a circle (in the direction that your jumps turn) and then do the jump and land hoping backwards. Good luck!
Reply:you can do ballet. It is figure skating, except for the fact that it is on ground not ice. So you could do ballet.
Reply:practice your foot placement in your kitchen, a wooden floor, but with socks on. Also practice your hand placement or else you'll probably fall over.
Reply:i mostly practice my off ice jumps outside in the grass where jumping off of it wont hurt your feet. Do not do your jumps on pavement or a place where the ground it hard it will hurt your feet the grass is good cause its not to to hard normally
Reply:You should take a off ice class. Ask your coach or someone about it, off ice jumps helped improve my skating so much i cant even explain.





and its a lot of fun too. :]
Reply:well first make sure you are on an even ground, nothing bumpy or hilly, or inclined at all, because you dont want to hurt your ankles. also make sure you put on some sneakers, preferably the most athletic kind you have, like running sneakers or something of that sort. you can very well just practice your jumps as you would on the ice. if you notice, a lot of the jumps are similar, like the loop, lutz, and flip, its the entrance that is difference. they are all jumps coming from backwards. so if you stand in place, pull your free leg back, and rotate, you can practice the overall movement for all of your single jumps. also if you stand in place, and just jumps up and around, you can help your loop get better. i noticed that off ice jumping helped me a lot in that area of jumps. if youre still a little confused, or want to see more, you can go on youtube.com and type in something like figure skating off ice, off ice jumps, etc. hope that helped! =)
Reply:i think off ice classes will help you a lot. if you have the time and ability you should try skating every day if possible



performing arts