Anatomy of a Triple Twist

Dan Zhang & Hao Zhang

2006 Skate Canada Exhibition

This is not the best example of their twist, and not the worst.  It illustrates a number of details in executing the twist.

All photos Copyright 2006 by George S. Rossano

They precede this element with a brief carry.  This is their typical entry.

The man's hands are on the lady's waist.  She is gripping his forearms fairly far from his wrists.  For most teams the lady grasps the man at or just behind his wrists.

Continuing the preparation.  Following this brief carry Hao sets Dan down so she can tap for the take off -- shown below for their free skating program.  Note the better hand placement of Dan's grip for the attempt in the Free Skate

A feature is available in the twist for a difficult takeoff.

Just after the tap.

Note the change in grip as Hao begins the toss.  He is now holding onto Dan's dress instead of her waist.  This is not a fluke in this attempt, this is the technique they use.  Most men do not toss the lady by gripping the dress like this.

Hope those panties are nice and strong!

The lady does a split on the way up.  A 90 degree split gets a feature, with each leg required to be at least 45 degrees from the body axis.

This split looks a little less then 90 degrees to me, but is nicely split evenly in both legs.  It's hard to say what the split angle really is from this orientation and this one instant.

During the toss the lady is pushing up on the man's arm.  Some of the height in a twist is supposed to come from the lady pushing off the man's arms at full extension, just as he releases her.  This requires good timing to properly achieve.  A hand to wrist grip helps the lady get more height out of the twist.

Note in this view how both of Hao's hands are gripping the dress and not Dan's body.

The lady is released and begins the first quarter rotation relative to the man's arms.

Going up!

Slightly more than one-half rotation completed.

If the lady's arms were above her head that would be a feature.  But they are not.

A lot of height in this twist!

One full rotation complete relative to the man's arms.

Nice air position of the lady.

One and one-half rotations done.

The man is spotting to do the catch.

Just over two rotations completed relative to the man's arms, and on the way down.

Man's arm's extended preparing for the catch.

Two and one-half rotations fully completed relative to the man's arms.

A nice solid catch at the lady's waist without the assist of her arms on his.

This is a feature.

Or is it?

Dan starts to grasp Hao's arms during the descent.  Most of the time this team does not do this, and Dan never grabs Hao's arms, but not this time.

Still, a solid catch from the man.  He is controlling her descent.  Not the free fall you often see.

Note also the team started this element facing to the left and now the man is facing to the right.  That is the extra one-half rotation that makes it a triple twist even though the lady only rotates two and one-half times relative to the arms of the man.

The catch is done with the man on two feet.

Now she really has a good hold on his arms.  Minor contact perhaps with his left shoulder, but only lightly if that.  You can't say for sure from this view.
Placing the lady on the ice.  The lady is supposed to land on the ice on one foot, which she is doing here.
The man is starting to push the lady out.  She remains on one foot.  He also steps to one foot as he finishes the set down and begins to push her out.
Continuing the exit.  Both skaters are on one foot as they should be.
Continuing the exit.  Both skaters remain on one foot.

 

Continuing the exit.  Both skaters remain on one foot and are starting to extend their free legs.

 

Final exit position.  Both skaters on one foot.  The free leg of each skater is fully extended in a solid position.

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