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Glossary of Skating Terminology


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Landing: The act of returning to the ice in a controlled manned at the end of a jump or lift.

Landing edge: The blade edge which contacts the ice during a landing.

Landing position: The position of the skater when landing a jump in which the free leg is extended to the rear and slightly to the side, the toe of the free foot is pointed out, and the arms are extended to the side and slightly forward.

Lateral twist lift: A twist lift in which the woman is oriented parallel to the ice while in the air.

Layback spin: A one-foot upright spin in which the free leg is slightly bent and extended to the rear, the back is arched, and the shoulders and head held as far back as possible.

Layout: 1. The act of skating a compulsory figure under test, competition or simulated test/competition conditions. 2. The mark left on the ice as a result of skating a compulsory figure under test, competition or simulated test/competition conditions.

Lean:  The angular departure of the skater's orientation from a vertical position.

Level: (1) Synonym for the IJS element level.  (2) Occasionally used in the U.S. to mean the division of a competition; novice, junior, senior, etc.

Lido lift: An overhead lift. The lift takes off like a waist loop lift. The torso of the lifted partner, however, is swung vertically behind the lifted partner, positioning the skaters back-to-back. The legs of the lifted partner are oriented horizontally in a full split, forming a "T" position over the lifting partner. The lifted partner should not be supported on the back of the lifting partner.

Lift: Any maneuver in which one skater picks another up off the ice, and later places the lifted skater back down on it; subdivided into overhead lifts, adagio lifts, exhibition lifts, half lifts, and small lifts, as well as short lifts and combination lifts in dance.

Lift Group:  Those overhead lifts with a similar takeoff technique in pair skating.  There are five pair overhead lift groups, numbered one through five.  These consist of armpit, hand-to-waist, hand-to-hip hand-to-hand press and hand-to-hand lasso lifts.

Lilt: A light and resilient (i.e., flexible and springy) manner of skating.

Line: A synchronized skating formation in which the skaters are arranged in a single line, side-by-side.

Lineup: The accuracy with which elements of a compulsory figure are aligned with each other in accordance with the requirements for the figure.

Lip: (informal)  A jump with a flip entry that takes of on the wrong edge.

In this case the skater intends to execute a flip jump, beginning the entry an a back inside edge, but just prior to the takeoff changes edge from the inside to the outside edge of the skating foot.

Listed element: An element that is included in the Scale of Values, and is counted towards the number of allowed elements in a program.

Lobe: 1. One of the circles incorporated into a compulsory figure. 2. A single step or step sequence that approximates a significant arc of a circle; usually at least one-third to one-half a circle.

Long axis: An imaginary line dividing a compulsory figure into two equal halves parallel to the long dimension of the figure.

Long program: Jargon for the free skating program in singles and pairs, and the free dance program in ice dancing.

Longitudinal axis: An imaginary line dividing the rink into two equal halves parallel to the long dimension of the rink.

Loop: 1. The almond shaped section of the trace in a compulsory figure smaller than the corresponding circle within which it is skated. 2. Any compulsory figure consisting of two circles in which a smaller loop is executed midway around each circle of the figure.

Loop jump: A normal rotation edge jump. The skater takes off from a back outside edge, and lands on the back outside edge of the same foot. In a half loop the skater land on the back inside edge of the opposite foot (despite the name, a half loop is a single rotation jump).

Loop lift: See hand-to-hand loop lift or waist loop lift.

Lunge: A connecting move whose position is that of a lunge in fencing, in which one leg is bent at the knee and the other leg is extended to the rear, with the foot of the extended leg dragged behind on the ice.

Lutz jump: A counter rotation tap jump. The skater takes off from a back outside edge, taps with the opposite foot, and lands on the back outside edge of the tapping foot. In a half-Lutz the skater land on the forward inside edge of the same foot and steps immediately onto a forward edge of the opposite foot. Named after Austrian skater Alois Lutz.

Lutz lift: An armpit lift in which the partners face the same direction at the takeoff and the lifted partner takes off from a back outside edge (i.e., from the takeoff edge of a Lutz jump).  The Lutz lift is a Group 1 lift.

Lyrical: Expressing deep personal emotion in an creative, inventive and beautiful way.

Copyright 2020 by George S. Rossano