I thought everyone learned the loop jump that way.
You have not been working on that axel for very long yet.
Nope, all of the kids at my rink are told to do backwards crossovers and then told to "jump". I was constantly being criticized for my forward-three-turn spinny-trick method until I finally turned around backwards and did loop the proper way. I figured out on my own how to "ease" my way into that jump since I was so scared of it. It was completely improper technique, but it helped me get over the fear since jumping while moving backwards originally seemed so suicidal. I think I'm having the reverse problem with the axel now. Leaping forward off a cliff seems suicidal.
But the good news is the axel may happen after all! That's usually how it works. I reach the epic point of frustration, try to use the internet as a sounding board, then suddenly things finally start improving.
Day #1:
Basically I just kept my hip/butt pads on the entire time and did nothing but axels for 3 hours straight. My coach actually saw me fully revolve a few, so that's good! Though it still isn't "correct". Instead of fully kicking thru, I'm just snapping and revolving as fast as possible to keep it low to the ground. But for me its like
"hey! that's what I was going for! I was sick of being under-rotated!" The new skates are helping too. I've got more confidence to jump since I've got better support now and a larger toe pick to vault off of.
Tomorrow I'll probably do another 3 hour long axel jumping session and try to figure out how to kick all the way thru like she wants it, but still snap into position properly for rotation. I can't seem to do BOTH. If I don't kick-thru very much, I can snap and rotate fast. If I do kick-thru, I get more height, but I cannot get snapped into position before I'm already back on the ice.
I WILL get my axel and double jumps eventually. NO WAY am I letting age or fear or anything else hold me back. I want this so bad.
Day #2:
I think I managed to kick all the way thru and fully rotate a few times today. My coach had me work on the harness yesterday for the kick-thru part and I just tried to copy that as best I could. I'm still just doing it from a standstill, but coach showed me how to do it from the moving stance yesterday, so I'm trying to do that now too.
(I take that as a sign she's much happier with my standstills now or she wouldn't have showed me how to do the moving version.)Basically I've been working on it for a few months now and I've gotten to the point that I know the only thing probably holding me back is fear. So that's why yesterday I just kept my pads on the entire time and did nothing but fling myself into the air like I wanted to die. Same thing today. I rarely ever fall, but it's the fear of it hurting that I hold back a bit unless I really push myself with suicidal thoughts lol. The kids just go for it, they have no fear. And that's what I have to imitate to get anywhere.
I don't think there's any reason I can't progress almost-as-fast as the kids. I'm still in my twenties and in good shape, so while I may not be quite as fast/flexible/perfect as the younger kids, there still shouldn't be a huge massive difference. It's really just fear and the psychological game that I have going on that the kids don't have. I LOVE jumping as much as I love spinning. Gives me a thrill.
My coach has said before
(when I start whining or trying to use age or my height as an excuse) that she expects the same things from me and trains me the same way as the kids because she sees no physical reason I can't do it.