Afraid to jump
My 11 year old daughter has easily landed all of her single jumps except for the axel. She gets scared and pulls out of the jump. This has been going on since January. She has completed the jump before but fell very hard causing her to be more afraid of the jump. Please help! Lana |
Linda says:
The axel seems to be a tough jump for many skaters. It is not unusual to
hear of a skater who easily landed all their single jumps and then have the
problems you're describing on the axel. Although 6 months may sound like a
long time to learn a jump, especially when the other jumps came quickly, for
the axel this can be within the expected time frame. Many skaters contribute
to the problem by losing their confidence. If your daughter has fallen hard,
she may be holding back. If she does not wear crash pads, or other extra
padding, you may want to invest in some. This can be expensive but they do
help considerably. Discussing the issues may help and if she is aware that
this happens to other skaters may help her self-esteem.
The other part is try to not put any extra pressure on her to land the axel. Sometimes working on a different element, such as spins, or different jumps, such as double salchow, can help. Sometimes so much is focused on landing the axel that the other aspects of skating are forgotten. Just remember, it will take awhile to land the axel, as well as the other double jumps, and will take longer to get consistency with these jumps.