Can someone explain the different figure skating jumps?

I was just watching figure skating and saw all the jumps done by the skaters. However, I really can't tell the difference of all the jumps. Can someone explain what the difference is between the jumps that figure skaters do (axel, lutz, flip, loop, toe)???





I don't know much about figure skating but all the jumps look the same to me!|||Okay, so there are 6 jumps total, each skater should show proficiency in all jumps during the long program...





1 jump has a forward take off (the axel) and the other 5 take off going backward (In order of complexity: Lutz, Flip, Loop, Salchow, Toe-loop). And there are 3 toe-pick assisted jumps (the lutz, flip and toe-loop) and 3 edge-take off jumps (the axel, loop and salchow). Let's go over the jumps in detail (From decreasing complexity)...





*All jump descriptions assume a right-handed person





Axel - is the most complex jump because it takes off going forward, and therefore requires a half revolution more than all the others. Therefore a double axel has 2.5 revolutions, and a triple has 3.5. Women rarely accomplish the triple axel, but Japan's Mao Asada had done 2 last night to win the silver.





Lutz - Right toe assist take off, going backwards. This jump is easiest to spot because of it's long outside edge setup. The difference between this jump and the Flip that also has a right toe take off, is that with the Lutz, you should be taking off on the outside edge of your left skate, whereas the Flip takes off on the inside edge of your left skate.





Flip - Right toe assist take off, going backwards, inside edge of left skate.





Loop - two edge set up, left foot in front of right, the right edge grips into the ice to lift off.





Salchow - this jump is also easy to spot because the skater has to start forward, then turns around (called a left inside 3-turn), then propels off the LEFT inside edge, using the right to provide leverage in the air. It is really fun to do.





Toe loop - skater makes a right outside 3-turn and digs the LEFT toe-pick into the ice to propel upwards. This is the only toe jump with the left toe assist, and it is the easiest. Often this jump is added as the second jump in combinations because it is so easy to just swing the leg back and use the left toe pick after landing the first jump to take off into the toe-loop.





Hope this clarifies.|||To non-figure skaters I'm sure they do look the same! The differences are the take-offs. The takeoff of an axel jump is on a forward outside edge. After jumping forward from that forward edge, the skater makes one and one-half revolutions in the air and lands on the other foot on a back outside edge.





A lutz jump is done just like the flip, but the takeoff is from a back outside edge instead of a back inside edge.





A flip jump is a move where the skater glides backward on a back inside edge, picks with the other skate, jumps a full revolution in the air, and lands on the back outside edge of the foot that picked.





In a loop jump, an ice skater takes off from a back outside edge, jumps a full revolution in the air, and lands backward on the same back outside edge from which he or she took off. There is no toe assist.





A toe loop is done with a toe assist. While skating backward on an outside edge, the figure skater picks with the other toe, then jumps a half revolution in the air like a waltz jump, and lands on the foot that did not pick. The skater should be gliding backward on an outside edge when he or she lands.





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