Figure Skating Jumps Explained: Axel, Lutz, Loop, Salchow, and More

A skater glides backward across the ice, picks a spot, and a half-second later they are spinning in the air. By the time you register what happened, they have already landed and skated away clean. Figure skating jumps move that fast, and that is exactly why they look like a blur to a new fan. The good news is that once you know what to watch for, the blur sorts itself into a handful of recognizable shapes. This guide walks through the six competitive figure skating jumps, what separates one from the next, and how to start telling them apart from your seat in the stands.

What are the six figure skating jumps?

The six figure skating jumps, in order from easiest to hardest, are the toe loop, the salchow, the loop, the flip, the lutz, and the axel. Every jump you see in a competitive program is one of these six, just performed with different numbers of rotations. They split into two families based on how the skater leaves the ice: edge jumps, which launch off the curve of the blade alone, and toe jumps, which use a poke from the toe pick of the free foot to vault upward.

That is the whole vocabulary. Three edge jumps (salchow, loop, axel) and three toe jumps (toe loop, flip, lutz). Once you can sort a jump into the right family, you have already done most of the work of identifying it. The rest comes down to small details: which foot, which edge, and which direction the skater faces at takeoff.

A quick note on direction. Most skaters rotate counterclockwise in the air and land on the back outside edge of the right foot. The descriptions below assume a counterclockwise jumper, which covers the large majority of skaters you will watch. A clockwise skater mirrors everything, but the logic is identical.

Edge jumps vs toe jumps: the two families

The difference between edge jumps and toe jumps is the single most useful thing to learn first, because it cuts the field in half before you even start.

An edge jump uses no toe pick assist. The skater rides a deep curve into the takeoff and springs straight off the blade, the way you might jump off a diving board with your feet flat. The motion looks smooth and rolling, with the height coming from the knee bend and the swing of the free leg.

A toe jump uses the toe pick of the free foot as a kind of pole vault. The skater reaches back, stabs the pick into the ice behind them, and uses that fixed point to launch up and rotate. Toe jumps tend to look a little more abrupt and pickier at the moment of takeoff, with a distinct "tap" into the ice.

Here is the quick sort you can use in real time:

• Smooth glide into a spring with no tap from the back foot, that is an edge jump.
• A visible reach-back and pick into the ice right before liftoff, that is a toe jump.

Watch the back leg in the final stride before the jump. If a toe pick stabs down, you are looking at a toe loop, a flip, or a lutz. If the skater simply springs off the gliding foot, you are looking at a salchow, a loop, or an axel. That one observation gets you halfway to a full identification every time.

The three toe jumps

Toe jumps share the pole-vault mechanic, so the differences between them come down to which foot the skater takes off from and which edge they ride going in. Reading those edges is the harder skill, but the patterns are consistent.

Toe loop

The toe loop is the most common jump in skating and usually the first one a skater learns in this family. The takeoff comes off the back outside edge of the right foot, with the left toe pick reaching back to vault. Because the skater is already turned mostly backward and rotating in the takeoff direction, the toe loop tends to look compact and quick.

You will see toe loops everywhere, often tacked onto the end of a combination. When a skater lands one jump and immediately springs into a second without a stride in between, that second jump is very often a toe loop, because its entry flows naturally out of a landing.

Flip

The flip takes off from the back inside edge of the left foot, with the right toe pick reaching back to assist. The tell is the inside edge: the skater rolls onto the inner curve of the blade just before picking in, often after a turn called a three-turn or a mohawk that sets up that inside edge.

Flips and lutzes look similar at a glance because both are toe jumps off the left-foot entry pattern. The edge is the giveaway. A flip rides the inside edge into the pick.

Lutz

The lutz takes off from the back outside edge of the left foot, again with the right toe pick assisting. It is the counter-rotated jump: the skater glides on an outside edge curving one way, then jumps and rotates the other way. That fight against the natural curve is what makes the lutz the hardest of the toe jumps.

The classic visual cue is the long, straight glide along the boards before takeoff, often reaching into the corner of the rink, on a clear outside edge. If you see a skater set up in a deep diagonal glide before picking in, you are probably watching a lutz. When commentators mention a "flutz," they mean a skater who tried a lutz but rolled onto the wrong edge at the last moment, turning it into something closer to a flip.

The three edge jumps

Edge jumps spring straight off the blade, so the family resemblance is that smooth, rolling launch. The differences come from foot and edge, just as with the toe jumps.

Salchow

The salchow takes off from the back inside edge of the left foot. The free leg swings around and helps pull the body into rotation, so the takeoff often has a wide, sweeping look as the right leg comes through. It commonly follows a three-turn that drops the skater onto that inside edge.

Because the swing of the free leg does so much of the work, the salchow can look almost effortless when done well, more of a controlled rotation than an explosive leap. It is often the first edge jump a skater masters.

Loop

The loop takes off from the back outside edge of the right foot, with no toe assist and no big leg swing into it. The skater is usually gliding backward with the legs crossed, and they spring up directly from that position. Because both legs are already close together at takeoff, the loop looks tidy and is a favorite as the second jump in a combination, much like the toe loop.

If you see a skater land a jump, hold the landing edge, and then pop straight up into another rotation without a pick, that follow-up jump is frequently a loop.

Axel

The axel is the one that breaks the pattern, and it deserves its own section. Everything below is dedicated to why.

Why the axel is unique

The axel is the only jump that takes off facing forward. Every other jump launches from a backward edge, but the axel launches from the forward outside edge of the left foot, with the skater striding ahead and stepping up into the air.

That forward takeoff has a big consequence. Because the skater leaves the ice facing forward and still has to land facing backward like every other jump, the axel carries an extra half rotation built into it. A single axel is actually one and a half rotations in the air. That extra half turn is exactly why the axel is considered the hardest of the six and why it is the last of the basic jumps most skaters learn.

The forward takeoff also makes the axel the easiest jump for a beginner fan to spot. Watch for the skater who strides forward, steps up off the front foot, and almost appears to leap into the jump rather than spring backward into it. The forward step and the slightly longer hang time are dead giveaways.

This is also the reason the triple axel gets so much attention. A triple axel is three and a half rotations, a full half-turn more than any other triple, packed into the same window of air time. If you want the deeper story on why that half rotation matters so much and which skaters have made the jump famous, see what is a triple axel.

Doubles, triples, and quads: what rotation means

The name of the jump tells you the type. The number in front tells you how many times the skater rotates in the air before landing. A double salchow is a salchow with two rotations. A triple lutz is a lutz with three. A quad toe loop is a toe loop with four.

The takeoff and landing mechanics stay the same no matter how many rotations are stacked on top. A single loop and a triple loop start and finish exactly alike. The skater just pulls their arms and free leg in tighter and faster to fit more rotation into the same height and hang time. That is why elite jumps look so compact in the air: tightness equals speed equals more rotations.

The rotation counts run like this:

• Single: one full rotation (and one and a half for the axel).
• Double: two rotations (two and a half for the axel).
• Triple: three rotations (three and a half for the axel).
• Quad: four rotations (four and a half for the axel, which sits at the very edge of what humans have done).

Because the axel always carries that extra half turn, its rotation math is always offset by a half. That is worth remembering when you hear a number thrown around: a "triple axel" really is a longer flight than a triple of any other jump, even though both say "triple."

How judges and fans tell jumps apart

Judges have an enormous advantage over fans: they study edges in slow motion and know each skater's habits. But the cues they rely on are the same ones you can train your eye to catch from the stands.

Judges look at three things in a heartbeat. First, toe pick or no toe pick, which sorts the jump into a family. Second, the takeoff edge and foot, which names the specific jump. Third, the rotation count and whether the skater completed every turn or came up short, which is called under-rotation and costs points.

Fans can lean on simpler, faster shortcuts:

• Did the back foot pick into the ice? Toe jump. If not, edge jump.
• Did the skater take off facing forward? Axel, every time.
• Was there a long straight glide along the boards into a corner before a pick? Almost always a lutz.
• Was the jump the second half of a combination with no stride between? Usually a toe loop or a loop.

You will not catch every jump at first, and that is fine. Start with the axel, since it is unmistakable, then add the lutz with its long entry glide, then the toe loop and loop as combination jumps. The salchow and flip are the trickiest because their edges are subtle, so leave those for last. Within a season of watching, the families will start sorting themselves automatically.

Where to watch real jumps up close

Television replays are useful, but nothing teaches the eye like watching jumps live and unedited. That is what a freestyle session offers. Freestyle sessions are blocks of ice time set aside for figure skaters to practice spins, footwork, and jumps without the crowd of a public skate. You will see the same six jumps attempted over and over, in singles and doubles, with falls and corrections that make the mechanics easier to read than any clean competition pass.

Many rinks run freestyle ice on a regular schedule, separate from public sessions. To understand how freestyle fits alongside public skating, learn-to-skate ice, and hockey time, our rink session types guide breaks down what each block is for and who it is meant for.

Rinks with strong figure skating programs are your best bet for watching real practice. A dedicated training facility like the Skating Club of Boston supports skaters working through the full jump progression, and a busy community rink such as the Centennial Sportsplex Ice Arenas often hosts freestyle blocks alongside its public and hockey schedules. Check each rink's own page for current freestyle times and whether spectators are welcome, since policies vary.

To find a rink near you with figure skating ice, you can browse all rinks and filter by location. Sitting rinkside during a freestyle session, with the jumps happening a few feet away rather than on a screen, is the fastest way to make these six shapes click.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the hardest figure skating jump?

The axel is the hardest of the six jumps because it takes off facing forward and therefore carries an extra half rotation. A single axel is one and a half rotations, which makes a triple axel a full three and a half. That extra half turn is why the axel sits at the top of the difficulty ladder and why skaters usually learn it last.

What is the difference between a lutz and a flip?

Both the lutz and the flip are toe jumps that take off from the left foot with a right toe pick assist, so they look alike at a glance. The difference is the edge: a flip rides the inside edge into takeoff, while a lutz rides the outside edge and rotates against the direction of its entry curve. That counter-rotation makes the lutz the harder of the two.

How can you tell figure skating jumps apart?

Start by watching the back foot at takeoff. If a toe pick stabs into the ice, it is a toe jump (toe loop, flip, or lutz). If the skater springs smoothly off the gliding blade, it is an edge jump (salchow, loop, or axel). The axel is the easiest to spot because it is the only jump that launches while the skater is facing forward.

What does it mean when a jump is a "triple"?

The word in the jump name tells you the type, and the number tells you how many rotations the skater completes in the air. A triple lutz is a lutz turned three full times before landing. The mechanics of takeoff and landing stay the same, the skater just pulls in tighter to spin faster and fit in more rotations.

Why does the axel take off facing forward?

The axel is built that way, and it is the only jump that does. Because the skater leaves the ice forward but still has to land backward like every other jump, the axel includes an extra half rotation just to get back to a backward-facing landing. That forward step is also the clearest visual cue for picking the axel out of a program.

Where can I watch figure skaters practice jumps in person?

Look for rinks that run freestyle sessions, which are practice blocks reserved for figure skaters to work on jumps and spins. Rinks with established figure skating programs are most likely to offer them, and many welcome spectators. You can browse all rinks to find one near you, then check that rink's page for its freestyle schedule.

If you have a child who is starting to attempt these jumps and you want to support the path from first steps to first axel, our guide on getting kids started ice skating covers how learn-to-skate programs build toward freestyle, one edge at a time.