A compiled list of common skating jargon/moves/equipment defined for your convenience.
Jargon
- Inside/Outside Edge: Think of your blade as a rectangular prism. The inside edge is the bottom corner of that prism closer to the center of your body. The outside edge then, is the bottom corner closer to your finger tips when you hold your arm out. On your right foot, the inside edge is on the left and the outside edge is on the right.
- Into/Out of the Circle: Often used to describe turns. When a skater moves on a curve, one can imagine that curve to be part of a larger circle. Turning into the circle would then mean turning toward the center of the circle to start off a rotation. Turning out of the circle would mean turning away from the center of the circle. If your arms “Hug the Circle”, your chest faces the center of the circle and your arms rest on the circumference.
- Long Boards: Refers to the walls surrounding the skating rink–these are the two longer walls. If you turn toward the long boards, the short boards are to your left or right.
- Short Boards: Refers to the walls surrounding the skating rink–these are the two shorter walls. If you turn toward the short boards, the long boards are to your left or right.
- Traveling: When talking about spins and twizzles, this is when a skater is rotating but also moving translationally across the ice. With twizzles, this is to be expected and a good thing. With spins, this is to be avoided.
Moves
- Bunny Hop: I’ve seen this term used for two things — One as a simple hop off of and landing on two feet, and Two a hop from one foot onto the toe -pick of the other foot and quickly back onto the first foot. When starting off, a bunny hop usually refers to the first definition. A little bit later, a bunny hop can become the second definition. A bunny hop, however, is not an advanced move and is most likely one if not the first “jump” a skater learns.
- Curves/Slaloms: A skater keeps both feet together and pushes with their edges to form a squiggly line-path on the ice. When curving left, the left blade is on an outside edge and the right blade is on an inside edge. When curving right, vice versa. Curves have a less concrete definition–some coaches equate them with slaloms; other coaches say they’re more like pumps, alternating feet, in a straight line.
- Lean: It is what it sounds like–when a skater bends one leg and leaves the other one straight, leaning to the left or to the right (like a sideways lunge but not as low). Often used in transitions to make a program more interesting (ie. lean-lean, lean-pump). A skater can use this to push, similar to a pump but without bringing the foot back in.
- Lunge: A skater bends one leg and lets the other drag behind. Most commonly with one bent leg and one straight leg, lunges have many variations. A Broken Leg Lunge or Bent Leg Lunge (no super clear name for these, varies by person and rink) is a lunge where both legs are bent, and instead of dragging the boot behind them, the skater drags their knee on the ice.
- Power Pulls: Like slaloms on one foot–you push using your inside and outside edges on one foot to move forward or backwards across the ice, tracing a squiggly line-path.
- Pumps: A skater uses their inside edge to push, taking one skate and moving it in a semicircle (kind of like a Rond de Jambe if you do ballet) as the standing leg bends (bends when moving foot away from body, straightens when bringing foot back in). Most of the pushing comes from moving the skate away from the body (the lower half of the semicircle if moving forwards, the top half if moving backwards).
- Snowplow Stop: The most common way of stopping on the ice, where a skater pushes one foot out.
- Spiral: A skater balances on one leg, leaning forward and lifting the other leg behind them with their toe turned out. Both legs are straight.
- Stroking: A simple push on the ice, where the skater pushes one leg behind them, relying on their inside edge to propel their body forward.
- Swizzles: Almost like two pumps put together–the skater pushes both feet out, and brings both feet in to move forwards or backwards, tracing a lemon shape on the ice. Can also be referred to as a Rocking Horse which is simply a forward swizzle immediately followed by a backward one, over and over so the skater sways back and forth.
- Three-Turn (3-Turn): The most basic, fundamental, and annoyingly-difficult-to-learn one foot turn. A skater starts on one edge, turns into the circle, and flips onto their other edge now traveling backwards (or forwards if they start off backwards). The end result is a path that looks like a less-curvy “3” on the ice.
- T-Stop: The second stop most figure skaters learn, where the outside edge is once again used to stop, but this time by placing one foot behind the other so that the blades are perpendicular to one another in a “T” position, thus the name.
- Twizzles: Somewhere between 3-turns and spins, twizzles are traveling turns where a skater flips from forward to backward on their blade usually on a semi-curved path. Unlike a three-turn, the standing leg stays straight the entire time and turns are done in very quick succession. Unlike a spin, the toe-pick does not touch the ice and the skater wants to travel rather than stay in place.
- Waltz Jump: A half rotation, jumping from forwards to backwards, where a skater jumps from their nondominant foot to land on their dominant foot.
Equipment
- Bunga Pads: For blister prevention. A sleeve-like combination of cloth and gel that acts as a wearable cushion for anywhere from your ankle to your heel. Usually placed outside the skating sock.
- Gel Discs: For blister prevention. Flat circles made of a gel-like material used for blister prevention. Usually placed inside the skating sock on the needed area. There are many variations, thicknesses, and sizes, so it is recommended to buy one from a pro shop rather than online to get the best fit.
- Hard Guard: A hard, usually plastic, encasing for your blade.
- Soft Guard: A soft cloth encasing for your blade.
- Toe-Pick: The front of a figure skating blade that looks like a small row of spikes and is commonly used for jumps and spins. These do not exist on hockey or speed skating blades.