What causes a skater to over-rotate on a jump?

Over-rotation happens when a skater's upper body keeps spinning after their feet should have stopped. Think of it like a spinning top that won't settle—momentum carries the rotation further than the landing position allows.

The most common culprit is too much pre-rotation. As skaters prepare for a jump, they naturally rotate their shoulders and hips to build power. But if they wind up too much before takeoff, that extra twist has to go somewhere. Since they can only land on two feet facing one direction, that excess rotation forces them to keep turning through the landing, which throws off their balance and often results in a fall or a scratchy, unstable touchdown.

Another reason is momentum carryover from the skating pattern. If your skater is building speed with aggressive edge work or a rushed approach, that rotational energy from crossing over or stroking compounds what they're already generating in the jump itself.

At Pre-Preliminary and Preliminary levels, over-rotation is actually quite common—it shows your skater has good power generation, which is fantastic. The fix is learning to harness that energy more efficiently through better timing between when they start rotating and when they actually leave the ice.

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