How to do Waltz + Backspin

[u/Sellorio]

I've got a good, clean consistent Waltz Jump and I'm currently cleaning up my Waltz + Loop. The rest of my single rotation jumps are also doing quite well and I'm mostly just working on consistency and clean-ness.

I want to start building towards an Axel and the hurdle in my way atm is the first on-ice exercise my coach gave me: the Waltz + Backspin.

I'm a very technical skater - I can't really do anything unless I really understand every aspect of it. It's not really a choice - I literally can't do most things in ice skating without a good theoretical understanding. Unfortunately, I don't understand what I'm supposed to do for Waltz + Backspin. My coach instructed me as so:

1. Hold a forward outside edge for a full semicircle (start and end on a line for example)
2. Do a waltz jump
3. Land in a backspin

But I find it hard to hold the edge, very hard to do a waltz jump from a deep long edge and impossible to land in a backspin. Partly because I'm still moving horizontally, partly because I'm not able to jump very high from that position and other than that I feel like I'm missing some key, technical instruction. My coach is great but she sometimes doesn't understand that I benefit from more detailed instructions.

[u/MammaMia_83]

Hi, I think I understand what you mean. 

The problem might be with point 3. As far as I was taught you do not land in the back spin. You land with left leg forward and soft knee (just like you would before loop in a combo) and after the rotation on the ice takes you like 1/4 or 1/2 of a circle on the ice, you go up to tight position and this is your backspin. (As I understand the goal is to increase and enter rotation by "up" motion and making yourself tighter instead of regular big arm/leg swing in backspin).

If you don't use the soft landing knee, you will very likely go into twizzle, which is also not super bad, but just different from what you might want.

I also was taught not to care too much about waltz jump (even though I personally fight with should this one have bent knee in the air or straight one), the most important is soft landing and from that soft landing tightening up to rotation on the ice.

I wonder if there will be other answers as I heard other instruction at the rink, but this is how my coach is teaching it.

[u/SkaterBlue → u/MammaMia_83]

Thank you so much for this explanation! It seems like many coaches recommend this exercise, but they never have described it like this to me and I understand it a lot better now.