Ever wondered what they mean by triple axel? In this blog article, i’m going to explain… let’s get straight into it…
Where do we hear the term, Triple Axel?
You may have heard the term triple axel when you were watching figure ice or roller skating. Perhaps you are at the start of your figure skating journey, and you want to understand more about the terminology? The triple axel can often be one of the more difficult components of a range of technical skills which the skaters work on and perform with when they are being assessed in competitions. Take a look at this skater for example… you can watch him perform the Triple Axel, via the link below:
(108) triple axel jump on roller skates by Dario Betti 2010 – YouTube
So what is required when performing the Triple Axel?
There are 3.5 rotations in this skill. The skater jumps from a forward facing position on the outer edge of their skate. It requires a lot of momentum and energy to perform 3.5 rotations. There is an extra half a turn in the triple axel compared to the triple jumps. The skater must reduce their body’s radius in order to increase rotation speed.
How do skaters learn to do this jump?
Skaters can sometimes use a harness to help them when they are training to do this jump. It requires an enormous amount of strength to sustain the spinning motion.
Without a harness, the skater can learn to do the double jumps with consistent and specialised coaching and the idea is to master those first. Training focuses on quick rotation speed, body alignment including the shoulders and managing the impact of the landing.
Strength training is built up in the hip and core areas to increase strength in preparation for the jump.
Take off at the start of the jump is practised too, to ensure that the alignment of the body and legs is ready and correct. The skater also practises pulling the arms in as tightly as possible once in the air to increase rotation speed.
Who was the first skater to achieve it?
The first skater to perform the Triple Axel was a man named Vern Taylor in 1978 in the World Championships.
The first woman was Midori Ito in 1988:
So there you have it! The Triple Axel.
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