My daughter's coach says her edge is wrong on the Lutz — what does that mean?

Great question! The edge is essentially which part of the blade your daughter is skating on as she approaches the jump. A Lutz requires a very specific setup: she needs to be on a back outside edge of one foot while gliding backward into the jump.

Here's why this matters: the edge creates momentum and direction that makes the jump possible. If she's on the wrong edge—say, back inside instead—the physics work against her. She'll either struggle to rotate properly, lose height, or the jump won't look clean to judges.

Your coach is noticing that your daughter might be drifting onto a different part of her blade as she approaches, or perhaps not setting up the correct edge shape before pushing off. This is actually really common! It takes serious focus and body awareness to hold that specific edge while building speed.

The fix usually involves slowing down the approach so she can feel and control that back outside edge more deliberately. Once she masters holding it, she can gradually add speed back in. It's one of those "less is more" improvements that often clicks quickly once a skater concentrates on it.

Have your daughter ask her coach to watch just the last two glides before she takes off—that's where edge problems usually show up most clearly.

Want to see this in your child's skating? SkateMarks analyzes every jump with per-second AI coaching notes.