The Lutz is a figure skating jump, named after Alois Lutz, an Austrian skater who performed it in 1913. It is a toepick-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 and the second-most famous jump after the Axel.
Figure skating, sport in which ice skaters, singly or in pairs, perform freestyle movements of jumps, spins, lifts, and footwork in a graceful manner. Its name derives from the patterns (or figures) skaters make on the ice, an element that was a major part of the sport until recently. There are various kinds of figure skating, including freestyle, pairs, ice dance, and synchronized team skating. The style of competition, as well as the moves and techniques of the skaters, varies for each category of skating. Figure skating has become one of the most popular sports of the Winter Olympics.
Skaters wear leather boots, sometimes custom-fitted, reinforced with thick padding to brace the ankle and with wide tongues for control and flexibility. The figure skate’s blade is about 3/16 inch (4 mm) thick. It is hollow-ground to emphasize its two edges, although the skater usually uses only one edge at a time. The front of the blade, called the toe pick, contains serrations, which are planted into the ice and help the skater in certain jumps. The blade also allows the skater to pivot quickly on the ice in order to perform rapid 360-degree spins. Ice dancers wear skates with shorter blades and looser padding to facilitate quick foot movement.
Figure-skating movements are performed on either the inside (the edge nearer the inside of the foot) or the outside edge of the blade while moving forward or backward. Most movements are based on what are called school figures, the elements of which are curves and turns performed in a precise manner to form two or three connected circles. Figures have many degrees of difficulty and develop edge control, balance, and turning skills on a single skate over a small area of ice called a patch. For mastering figures the USFSA required a skater to complete nine tests. In all there were more than three dozen separate figures to perfect, and many had to be traced with each foot. The simplest was the outside and inner figure 8, and the most difficult was the paragraph loop or the paragraph double three, which required two complete circles on one foot.
“Moves in the field,” instituted after the elimination of figures, are intended to develop balance, power, stroking, extension, and edge skills. Starting with such basic edges as crossovers, spirals, and 3-turns, skaters progress to more intricate moves called mohawks, cross rolls, and edge pulls. However, unlike figures, which were confined to a small patch of ice, moves in the field are performed on the full extent of the ice. In the United States the USFSA requires skaters to complete eight tests of these moves in order to reach the top, or senior, level.
Credit : Britannica
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