Figure skating figures

Rittberger

The Rittberger is an edge jump that was named after the German Vice World Champion Werner Rittberger. In this jump, the skater slides backwards on the ice with both legs until he jumps backwards off the right leg, wraps around once, and then lands back on the same leg. Of course, he can also turn around himself twice or three times (single/double/triple Rittberger).

The toe loop was invented by American professional ice skater Bruce Mapes in the 1920s. The name Toeloop means "toe loop" and comes from the fact that this figure is reminiscent of a loop. In this leap, the runner slides forward, jumping off the outside edge of the right foot, and landing backwards on the same foot after a spin. Performing this jump once is considered relatively easy, but it can also be performed twice or even triple.

It is the most difficult of all jumps and was named after the Norwegian figure skater Axel Paulsen. Here the runner first slides backwards on the left leg. He then puts his right foot forward and jumps forward. Landing occurs after one and a half twists (on the simple axel) backwards on the right foot. Of course, this jump can also be performed twice or three times.

The Salchow was named after the Swedish figure skater Ulrich Salchow and is one of the elementary jumps in figure skating. During this jump, the runner jumps off backwards with the left leg, rotates once around the left shoulder, and lands on the right leg. The Salchow is part of every freestyle and can either be jumped once, twice, three times or even four times by the men. You can also combine it with other jumps such as the Axel, the Flip or the Rittberger.

This jump is named after the Austrian Alois Lutz and can be single, double or triple jump. Here the skater runs backwards, stops out on this backward run and, after tapping the ice with the prong of the right leg, jumps off the left leg. Now he gets the momentum from his arms and upper body and rotates in the opposite direction to the direction of rotation of the run-up. The Lutz is landed backwards on the right foot.

The flip is a jump very similar to the lutz. He is also jumped from the reverse run. The runner crouches with their left knee and at the same time swings their right leg and right arm from behind. He hooks himself firmly into the ice with the prongs of his right skate and spirals upwards in the direction of rotation. He gains momentum by stretching his legs in the air. During the jump, the arms are closed in front of the upper body. The difference to the Lutz is that the flip is jumped from the inside edge.

This pirouette is a variation of the standing pirouette, in which the runner begins with an upright pirouette. But then he grabs the runner of his free foot and stretches upwards. This pirouette is named after Denise Biellmann from Switzerland and is usually only performed by women for anatomical reasons. The only man who has managed to show this pirouette so far is the Russian Yevgeny Plyushchenko.

This figure is an element of pair skating. In the death spiral (Death Spiral) the partner is pulled almost horizontally and on only one leg gliding by the hand of the partner around his body axis. There are different variants of this figure, all of which differ in the direction of rotation and the leg.