From Lutzes to loops and everything in between

For the casual viewer, watching a figure skating competition can be a little like watching a foreign film sans subtitles.

You get the gist of it, but the details are fuzzy at best.

For instance, if someone falls, you know that's bad.

But beyond that, you wouldn't know a Lutz from a loop if one landed in your lap.

There is, however, a relatively simple way to recognize the jumps and moves you see in elite skating competition even if your name isn't Peggy Fleming or Scott Hamilton.

It basically all comes down to takeoffs and landings.

In between those two things, the skater is basically doing the same thing -- rotating in mid-air. Rotate once and the jump is a single, twice is a double and so forth. In the Skate America competition, the women will primarily be doing triples and the men quadruples of all the jumps described here.

There are six major jumps you'll see in a competition like Skate America -- the loop, the toe loop, the flip, the Lutz, the Salchow and the Axel -- and you'll most often see two or three of them strung together in combinations. For instance, a triple Lutz followed immediately by a triple loop.

The skater executes only one jump, the Axel, while taking off on a forward outside edge. It is the hardest of the six and also the most easily recognizable.

Takeoffs for the other five happen while the skater is going backwards, and they are differentiated by which leg the skater takes off from, whether they're on an inside edge or an outside edge and whether or not they use the tip of the skate blade to help push off (making it a toe-assisted jump).

Here is a brief breakdown of the six major jumps you'll see during competition:

Axel -- The most difficult because the skater is going forward and taking off from the outside edge of his or her left skate (unless the skater is a "lefty," in which case the reverse feet are true for all jumps listed here) without the assistance of the toe. He or she rotates, then lands going backwards on the outside edge of the right foot.

Salchow (often referred to simply as a "sow", as in pig) -- The only other jump that takes off from the left foot and is not toe-assisted. In this one, the skater is going backwards, launches off the inside edge of the left foot and lands on the outside edge of the right foot.

Flip -- Another jump that launches off the left foot, but this one is toe-assisted. The takeoff and landing edges are the same as a Salchow, but it's usually entered into from a straight forward glide on the left foot. Just before takeoff, the skater's right foot goes directly behind him or her and taps the ice with the toe.

Lutz -- The fourth and final jump that takes off from the left foot. This one is also toe-assisted and can be recognized by a long backwards glide with the right foot extended back and a lean to the left, accentuating the outside edge. It's very much like a flip, but because of the complete backward set-up and the launch of the outside edge, it is much more difficult. In fact, many skaters will at the last minute switch to their inside edge, making it a "flutz."

Loop and toe-loop -- These take off from the right foot, the major difference being that for the toe-loop, the skater uses the left toe to help in takeoff. In the loop, the skater launches directly off the outside edge of the right foot. Both land on the right back edge.