Ice Skating Terms

A popular winter sport, ice skating is mostly played in the cold northern regions of the world. Several nations from all over the world field figure skating teams during world sporting events like the Winter Olympics. If you are new to the field and are looking to learn the sport, you first need to learn the terms and moves.

Ice Skating Moves

As a novice to ice skating or in figure skating, there are a few moves - jumps and spins; which, you need to know, which are mentioned below. But before that let me explain to you a few points which will help you understand the following paragraphs better:

In ice skating, the skater performs a variety of jumps and spins wearing skating boots which come attached with blades or wheels at the bottom. It's the blades or wheels that propel a player to move around the ice surface. The points of the wheel or skate which touches the surface of the ice, is called 'edge'. Each skate blade has two edges - the 'inside edge' and the 'outside edge'. For example, if you are wearing a skating boot on your right foot, then the inside edge would be on the left side and the outer edge would be on the right side.

Ice Skating Jumps
Lutz Jump
This is a kind of toe jump wherein the skater starts from the outer edge of the right skating foot and leaps in the air with the help of the toe of the left foot. He or she makes a rotation in the air and while landing, lands on the heel of the left foot. The variations of this jump include triple lutz and double lutz.

Flip Jump
The flip jump is another kind of toe jump wherein the skater starts from the inside edge of the right skating foot and jumps with the help of the toe of the right foot. During the process of this jump, the skater makes one rotation in the air and while landing he or she lands on the heel the left foot. Some of the variations of this jump include triple flip and double flip.

Loop Jump
In the loop jump, the skater starts from the outside edge the right skating foot and makes one rotation in the air. While landing he or she lands on the outside edge of the right skating foot. Some of the variation of this jump include ½ loop, triple loop and double loop.

Toe Loop Jump
In this jump, the skater starts from the outside edge of the right foot and is supported by the toe of the left foot. While landing, he or she lands on the outside edge of the right foot. Before landing, the skater makes one rotation in the air. Some of the variations of this jump include quadruple toe jump, triple toe loop and double toe loop.

Salchow Jump
In this jump the skater makes a single revolution in the air. He starts from the inside edge of the right skating foot and lands on the left foot. This jump is named after its founder Ulrich Salchow. Some of the variations of this jump include one foot Salchow, quadruple Salchow, triple Salchow and double Salchow.

Waltz Jump
This is the first jump that is learned by the novice skaters. In this jump, the skater starts from the outside edge of the right foot, makes ½ rotation in the air and then lands on the outside edge of the left foot.

Axel Jump
One of the most important figure skating terms is the Axel jump. It is one of the most difficult moves as it sets off from the outside edge of the right foot and while landing, lands on the outside edge of the left foot. After taking off and before landing the skater makes 1½ revolutions.

Ice Skating Spins
There are three major categories of ice skating spins: 1) Upright spin; 2) Camel spin; and 3) Sit spin. Moreover, there are various variations in each of these categories; each of which are mentioned below.

Upright Spin
In this type of spin, the body of the skater more or less remains vertical to the ice. Layback spin, cross foot spins, backspins and one-foot spins are some of the categories which are included in this type of spin. This type of spin is mostly performed by female ice skaters, wherein the skater has to move around the surface of the ice with only one leg and at the same time bend the back. The two most common variations of the upright spin include the Bielman position and sideways leaning spin.

Camel Spin
A camel spin is a position wherein the skater moves around with one leg and maintaining the other leg horizontal to the surface at the same time. The most common variations of camel spin include flying camel spin and death-drop camel spin. These couple of variations of camel spin increases the difficulty level of this sport and are a delight for the spectators.

Sit Spin
As suggested by its name, sit spin is a position wherein the skater comes close to the ice surface without touching the surface with any of the body parts. The position is performed in such a way that, it seems as if the skater is sitting. Some of the variations of sit spin includes sit change, sit spin, flying change sit, flying sit, etc.

These were some of the most common and basic ice skating terms and moves which every novice should know to become an ice skater. I hope this article has given you a basic idea of the sport so that you would be able to perform your moves better under expert guidance.