For most jumps, the skater takes off facing away from the direction of the jump – backwards, effectively. The exception is the axel, which is considered the hardest of the jumps, because the takeoff is forward, and it thus adds an extra half rotation, since all jumps, without exception, are landed backwards.
Why is this? Is it a matter of physics, or physiology, or just the design of the skate (with the toe pick in front)? It seems odd to me – wouldn’t you want to see where you’re going when you jump/land?
I don’t know about the landing, but the takeoff is because the skater is digging in the skate first. The body will carry it’s momentum forward and the move has to be done vertically. So if you need to end up straight and you’re going to be propelled forward, then you have to start backward.
From what I’ve read, despite what it looks like, all landings require planting the toepick, then the proper edge, then the glide backward. I don’t know what planting the toepick and gliding forward would look like, but I suspect it wouldn’t be pretty.
Seem to remember in the last Olympics there was much talk about how now that the judges can use high speed HD images to replay a skater’s landing, they were more prone to deduct points for a landing that is not in proper form than they were when they were using their unaided eyeballs. Things have changed.
So, the point of the toe and angle and such are as much about scoring/ form as they are about the physics of executing a landing without landing on one’s bum.
OK, so the skater has her head above shoulders. She’s cruising along at 5 mph, let’s say. Now she wants to do a jump. What tools does she have available to get herself airborne? Well, all she has is her skates. They’re the only thing in contact with the surface.
So she digs in her toe to stop herself and “pops” herself into the air. Her feet go from 5 mph to 0 mph. The only problem is that her head and shoulders were still going at 5 mph. So with her head moving faster than her feet, instead of doing a jump, she does a face plant as her head passes over her center of gravity and into the ice.
It’s the exact same physics as if I were to trip you by tying your shoe laces together. Which way would you fall if I did that? Forward, right? Same thing for the skater.
To fix this issue, she starts the jump leaning backwards. When she plants the skate, instead of her head being pulled over her feet, her head will be pulled in line with the skates. She’ll be vertical.
So why does she have to be backward to lean backward? Well, it’s easier. If you’re facing forward, it’s not easy to plant your toe into your path. If you’re backwards, all you have to do is kick at the ice and your toe will dig into it.
Does each skater rotate all their jumps in the same direction? Would it impress the judges to do a double-axel clockwise and a double-axel counterclockwise in the same routine? Do the rules prohibit it, or is there just not enough time to practice and become proficient in landing on either foot?