Expert: Dr. Bruce Forciea - 6/27/2009

Question
In the past month or so I have been having alot of trouble with popping my jumps, mostly double lutz and flip. I have no idea why, but I either pop it, come out early, or even when I do actually fully rotate, I fall. Randomly though one day maybe every couple weeks though I get my jumps and they just feel right and they are perfect. This is so annoying and I do not know how to stop popping my jumps! Any help is GREATLY appreciated! Thank you!!!!!!!

Answer
HI Lilly:

Popping can be a real problem. I used to think that popping was a technical problem like rushing the takeoff or dropping a shoulder. I attended a seminar many years ago where it was stated that popping happens in the skater's mind, it is not a technique problem. What happens is that the skater makes a last minute decision to abort the jump.

So to help correct the popping problem I would use a mental timing technique. This consisted of a simple count when performing a jump. The count goes something like this:

one-two-up-out

For example in a flip (or dbl flip) the "one" count would be the forward edge before the 3 turn. The "two" is the backward edge. "Up" is of course the tap and takeoff and "out" is the landing. The idea is that each jump has a count and the skater only thinks about the count when jumping--no technique. This works like a mental cue. I first used this technique on myself when I was in an ice show and had to perform every night with little or no warmup. I basically had to link my technique with the mental cue of the count. I then had to trust that I knew what I was doing and just counted through the jumps. My consistency improved dramatically. I then used this on my skaters. It doesn't happen overnight but if you get used to it your consistency should improve.

Give it a try and let me know if it works for you,

Bruce