Figure Skating Jumps Explained: All 6 Types

There are six figure skating jumps, and they split into two families based on how the skater leaves the ice: three edge jumps (the salchow, loop and axel) that launch straight off the blade’s edge, and three toe jumps (the toe loop, flip and lutz) that use the toe pick of the free leg to vault into the air. Ordered roughly from easiest to hardest, they run toe loop, salchow, loop, flip, lutz and axel, with the axel standing alone as the toughest because it is the only jump that takes off facing forward.

All six jumps, and the points each is worth, are defined by the International Skating Union (ISU), the sport’s world governing body. Once you know the two takeoff families and the small detail that separates each jump, you can tell them apart in real time, which is exactly what judges do at high speed. Here is each jump explained.

The two families: edge jumps and toe jumps

Every standard jump lands backward on one foot, gliding on a back outside edge. What differs is the launch.

• Edge jumps spring directly off the edge of the skating blade, with no help from the toe pick. The salchow, loop and axel are edge jumps.
• Toe jumps use the toe pick, the serrated teeth at the front of the blade, of the free leg, which the skater stabs into the ice to pole-vault upward. The toe loop, flip and lutz are toe jumps.

That single distinction, edge versus toe pick, is the first thing to look for, and it immediately narrows any jump down to one of three options.

The six jumps, easiest to hardest

Jump	Family	Takeoff	Relative difficulty
Toe loop	Toe jump	Back outside edge + toe pick	Easiest
Salchow	Edge jump	Back inside edge	Easy
Loop	Edge jump	Back outside edge	Moderate
Flip	Toe jump	Back inside edge + toe pick	Harder
Lutz	Toe jump	Back outside edge + toe pick	Very hard
Axel	Edge jump	Forward outside edge	Hardest

Toe loop. The simplest jump. The skater glides backward, reaches back with the free leg to plant the toe pick, and rotates. It is the most common jump to attach in combinations because of how naturally it flows out of a landing.

Salchow. An edge jump that takes off from a back inside edge, with the free leg swinging around to help generate rotation. It is often one of the first multi-rotation jumps a skater learns.

Loop. An edge jump launched from a back outside edge with the feet crossed, no toe assist. Because it takes off and lands on essentially the same edge, it is a common building block and a frequent second jump in combinations.

Flip. A toe jump from a back inside edge, using the toe pick to vault. It looks similar to the lutz, which is what makes the two the trickiest pair for casual viewers to tell apart.

Lutz. A toe jump from a back outside edge, and one of the hardest because that outside-edge entry runs “against” the natural direction of rotation. A skater who accidentally rolls onto the inside edge on takeoff is committing the well-known “flutz” error, a lutz that is really a flip.

Axel. The signature difficulty of the sport. It is the only jump with a forward takeoff, which means the skater has to rotate an extra half-turn to land backward like every other jump. So a “single” axel is one and a half rotations, a double is two and a half, and a triple axel is three and a half rotations, which is why it is the highest-scoring and most feared of the six.

Why the axel is the hardest

The forward takeoff is everything. Because all jumps land backward, the axel’s forward launch bakes in that extra half-rotation, so a skater must generate more rotational speed and hang in the air longer than for any other jump of the same “number.” This is why the triple axel is a landmark achievement and why the quad axel, four and a half rotations, sat at the outer edge of what is humanly possible for so long. The ISU’s scoring reflects this, awarding the axel the highest base value of the six jump types.

How judges tell them apart

Judges and technical panels distinguish jumps by watching the takeoff edge and whether the toe pick is used, all in a fraction of a second. Getting the entry wrong, such as the “flutz,” leads to deductions or a downgraded element, because the jump attempted is not the jump credited. It is a level of precision that rewards years of edge work, the same edge control that underpins the careers profiled in our features on the greatest female figure skaters and the greatest male figure skaters.

Putting it together

Figure skating jumps are less mysterious once you know the framework: two families defined by edge or toe pick, six jumps that stack in difficulty from the toe loop up to the axel, and one jump, the axel, made uniquely hard by its forward takeoff. Add more rotations (doubles, triples, quads) and combine them in sequences, and you have the technical spine of a modern program. For a sense of how much this difficulty has shaped Olympic history, our look at U.S. figure skaters who never won an Olympic medal shows how fine the margins can be at the top of the sport.

The short version: the six figure skating jumps are the toe loop, salchow, loop, flip, lutz and axel; they divide into toe jumps and edge jumps by how the skater launches; difficulty rises across that list; and the axel is hardest because its forward takeoff forces an extra half-rotation, all as defined by the ISU.