Figure Skating: A basic tutorial

Figure skating is often difficult to understand because the technical terms and requirements may not be immediately obvious. Explaining an element is a challenge in itself.

Sometimes you might hear something like, "This jump uses a backward outside edge, and picks with the right foot."

Can you say that again? I think you lost me after the backwards.

When I watch skating with friends, most of them ask, "Wait, what was that? Was that a triple? A double? A lutz or a flip?"

Even avid figure skating viewers can have trouble distinguishing between jumps. Learning how to identify figure skating is often difficult to understand because the technical terms and requirements may not be immediately obvious. Explaining an element is a challenge in itself.

This series of articles will serve as a tutorial in figure skating, detailing basic moves, jumps, and some, but not all, other elements that comprise a complete program.

Edges

Before we get into jumps, we have to learn about edges.

There are three kinds of edges in skating, identified by the lean of the skate blade. A good edge involves a deep lean of the body, and is often referred to as a "deep edge." You can learn best how to identify an edge by trying it yourself (no skates required!):

Straight Edge: Stand on one foot. This edge is the simplest of all, it is when the body is positioned directly over the skating foot. Most elite skating programs will have as little straight edges as possible, as they are not challenging or technically demanding. In this basic position, imagine yourself as standing inside a vertical circular tunnel. This "circle" will help in describing jumps and edges.

Outside Edge: Stand on one foot and lean towards the outside your circle. In other words, if you are standing on your right foot, lean towards the right; if on your left foot, lean towards the left.

Inside Edge: Stand on one foot and lean towards inside your circle.

All edges can be performed either moving forwards or backwards. Additionally, edges are identified by which side the skater is leaning toward. For example, a right forward outside edge is when the skater is on his right foot, leaning outside, facing forward. Confused? Don't worry! It's very confusing, but try it out yourself and the hands on experience will help you a lot in understanding figure skating, as well as give you a deep appreciation of how difficult skating is.

You will find that in regular shoes or socks, it is very difficult to get a deep lean in your body! However, on skates and ice, this is possible because of the construction of the skates and the way skates are made to move on the ice. When you get on the ice and try this, you will also find that it's easier to build speed if you have deep edges. This is why good edges are a very important basic element to figure skating.

Crossovers: This is the most basic way to gain speed. Crossovers are easily identifiable. A skater will skate, either forwards or backwards, with his legs crossing over one another to make strokes on the ice. Most skaters use backwards crossovers, because it allows them to gain more speed. While a skater is doing backwards crossovers, look carefully for the position of the skater's back. Good posture will help the skater build more speed; while a skater who is hunched over or pumps his back not only looks unattractive, but is also using some wrong muscles to crossover.

Pairs skaters have an added challenge to crossovers because the length and size of the crossovers MUST MATCH. What happens when a very tall male skater is paired with a tiny female skater? The male must shorten his strides to match the female. Ekaterina Gordeeva, who, with her late husband and skating partner Sergei Grinkov won two Olympic Gold Medals, wrote in her autobiography that throughout their entire career, Sergei had to consciously shorten his strides so they would match hers.

My next article will discuss jumps and how to identify them.