Lutz jump

Figure skating element
Element name	Lutz jump
Scoring abbreviation	Lz
Element type	Jump
Take-off edge	Back outside
Landing edge	Back outside
Inventor	Alois Lutz

The Lutz is a figure skating jump named after Alois Lutz, an Austrian skater. It is a toe-pick assisted jump with an entrance from a back outside edge and landing on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. It is the second-most difficult jump in figure skating ^[1] and "probably the second-most famous jump after the Axel". ^[2]

History

The Lutz jump is named after figure skater Alois Lutz from Vienna, Austria, ^[2] who may have first performed it in 1913, although historian Matthias Hampe did not find contemporary sources that specifically referenced the jump before the 1920s, after Lutz's death. ^{[3] [4]} Maribel Vinson wrote that it was rare in North America before 1930. ^[5]

In competitions, points are awarded based on the number of rotations completed during the jump. The base value of a successful single Lutz is 0.60 points, a double Lutz is 2.10 points, a triple Lutz is 5.90 points, a quadruple Lutz is 11.50 points, and a quintuple Lutz is 14 points. ^[6]

Firsts

Abbr.	Jump Element	Skater	Nation	Event	References
2Lz	Double Lutz (women's)	Jacqueline du Bief	France	1952 World Championships	[7]
3Lz	Triple Lutz (men's)	Donald Jackson	Canada	1962 World Championships	[3]
	Triple Lutz (women's)	Jill Sawyer	United States	1977 Pacific coast sectionals	[8]
4Lz	Quadruple Lutz (men's)	Brandon Mroz	United States	2011 Colorado Springs Invitational 2011 NHK Trophy	[8] [9]
	Quadruple Lutz (women's)	Alexandra Trusova	Russia	2018 ISU Junior Grand Prix Armenia Cup	[8]
	Side-by-side triple Lutz (pairs)	Meagan Duhamel and Ryan Arnold	Canada	2005 Canadian Championships	[10]

Execution

The International Skating Union (ISU) defines the Lutz jump as "a toe-pick assisted jump with an entrance from a back outside edge and landing on the back outside edge of the opposite foot". ^[3] Skaters tend to go into it with a long, diagonal take-off into one of the corners of the rink. It is a difficult jump because it is counter-rotational, which means that the skater sets it up by twisting in one way and jumping in the other. Many skaters "cheat" the jump because they are not strong enough to maintain the counter-rotational edge, resulting in taking off from the wrong edge. ^{[2] [11]} A "cheated" Lutz jump without an outside edge is called a "flutz". ^[2]

Gallery

• 
  Semen Daniliants prepares a Lutz take-off
• 
  Wesley Chiu hits the ice with his right toe pick as his left blade remains on an outside edge
• 
  Jamal Othman landing
• Video of Adam Siao Him Fa performing a triple Lutz jump

References

1. Park, Alice (22 February 2018). "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Figure Skating Jumps and Scores". Time Magazine. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
2. "Identifying Jumps" (PDF). U.S. Figure Skating. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
3. Media guide, p. 16
4. Hampe, Matthias (August 2022). "Eislaufgeschichte: Neuentdeckungen über Alois Lutz" [Ice Skating History: New Discoveries about Alois Lutz]. Pirouette (in German). pp. 30–31.
5. Vinson, Maribel (1940). Advanced Figure Skating. Whittlesey House. p. 275.
6. "Introduction to the ISU Judging System". So You Want To Watch Figure Skating. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
7. "Jacqueline du Bief: Biography". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
8. Media guide, p. 17
9. Sarkar, Pritha; Fallon, Clare (28 March 2017). "Figure Skating – Breakdown of Quadruple Jumps, Highest Scores and Judging". Reuters. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
10. "Pairs: Meagan Duhamel/Ryan Arnold". International Skating Union. 29 July 2007. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
11. Abad-Santos, Alexander (5 February 2014). "A GIF Guide to Figure Skaters' Jumps at the Olympics". The Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved 9 October 2022.

Works cited

• "ISU Figure Skating Media Guide 2023/24". International Skating Union. 20 September 2023. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2024.