Salchow
From open-encyclopedia.com - the free encyclopedia.
The salchow is a figure skating jump. It was invented by Ulrich Salchow in 1909 [1]. The takeoff is started on a forward outside edge, then turned backwards to a back inside edge, from which the skater takes off, landing on the other foot a backwards outside edge. The rotation is gained by the movement of the free leg around the circle and the coordination of the free leg and arms at the point of takeoff. The salchow is taught to most figure skaters as a basic level jump, along with other jumps such as the waltz jump and the toe loop because it teaches the skater to check her turn and how to jump off the edge rather than the toepick. Like these and other figure skating jumps, there can be as many as four rotations in the salchow, although 'quads' as they are called in the skating world are still rare among men and nearly unheard of among women.
