What defines the flip? Take-off from a backward inside edge, a wrong edge is called "e". Rules, a build-up with a coach and safety hints for flips.
The honest answer first: the flip is a jump taking off from the backward inside edge. That is what the ISU handbook says: "Flip take-off is from a backward inside edge" [1]. If the take-off edge is not clearly correct, the technical panel indicates the error to the judges with "e" (edge) or "!" (attention) [1].
The two signs have different consequences: an "e" stands for a definitely wrong take-off edge and lowers the base value of the jump. A "!" stands for an unclear edge; the base value stays, but the judges take the error into account in their grade [1]. A jump with under-rotation is also marked with "q", "<" or "<<", depending on how much rotation is missing [1].
Honestly: the flip is a jump that cannot be learned without a coach. This guide explains the rules and a safe build-up but deliberately contains no step-by-step instructions for run-up, take-off and landing. These need a coach's eye, video analysis and often a harness system that only a coach uses.
The rulebook states: the flip starts from the backward inside edge [1]. Have the edge shown to you while standing and in an arc, and feel it before you jump. Milestone: you glide a backward arc securely on the inside edge.
Your coach takes you through preliminary steps, for example half-flip exercises and dry-land training off the ice. The rule here: build-up instead of shortcuts. You do not jump the flip before the preliminary steps and the landing work.
Film the run-up from behind and from the side and let the coach judge the take-off edge. The rulebook distinguishes "e" (definitely wrong) and "!" (unclear) [1]. You should be able to recognise this difference on the video.
The coach decides when you try the single flip with one revolution. There is no schedule you can force. Milestone: you land the single flip three times in a row on one foot without putting a hand on the ice, with a clear edge on the video.
Only when the single flip is stable do you move on to combinations or double jumps with the coach. Under-rotation is judged differently in the rulebook depending on whether a quarter, more than a quarter or at least half a revolution is missing [1].
Your progress shows in the video, not in your gut feeling (rule of thumb, not a study): is the edge clear in the run-up? Do you land calmly on one foot? How many of five attempts are without a hand on the ice? Aim to increase quality rather than quantity: better three clean landings than twenty hectic ones. Your coach tells you when the single flip is stable enough for the next step.
This guide explains and motivates; it does not replace supervised training. The flip is one of the jumps with a toe pick and rotation, and jumps are the most fall-prone elements. A review names among possible influences on injuries the repetition of complex elements, such as multi-rotation jumps [2]; a systematic review states that the data are of low quality [3]. Both concern competitive skaters. Wear a helmet; in a video analysis of 216 ice-skating falls in children the head hit the ice in 13% of cases [4]. Practise only with a coach, not exhausted and not on crowded ice. Stop immediately if it hurts.
Have the coach film the run-up without the jump first: a run-up with a clean backward inside edge that then ends in a glide shows you the edge without you having to fear the take-off height. That way you learn the prerequisite for the flip without risking the jump (practical experience).
From the backward inside edge [1]. The Lutz, by contrast, starts from a backward outside edge, so the two jumps look similar but use different edges [1].
The technical panel uses "e" to show that the take-off edge is definitely wrong; the base value of the jump then drops. With "!" it marks an unclear edge without lowering the base value [1].
We advise against it. The jump needs a coach's eye and video analysis; safety comes before progress.
The signs mark missing rotation: "q" for a quarter, "<" for more than a quarter up to less than half a revolution, "<<" for at least half a revolution [1].
The Lutz: Take-Off Edge, Edge Calls and a Safe Build-Up