Learning the Salchow: take off from the backward inside edge, one revolution, land backward. Prerequisites, step-by-step build-up, mistakes, safety.
The honest answer first: the Salchow is an edge jump with natural rotation that takes off from the backward inside edge [1]. You need no toe pick, but a clean three-turn as entry (practice standard, no study) and a secure waltz jump.
It is one of the classic edge jumps. Under the ISU rules solo jumps are to be landed on the backward outside edge [2]. And the ISU rules take care that the take-off does not already begin forward: a clear forward take-off (except in the Axel) counts as a "cheated take-off" and the jump is downgraded [2].
Realistic: the Salchow is not a jump for the first season. Whoever learns it has already practised the three-turn, backward edges and the waltz jump. We cannot back a fixed duration; count in months, not weeks (experience). The charm lies in the rhythm: turn, inside edge, take-off, landing. Whoever has every part clean on its own puts them together surprisingly easily in the end.
Skate a clean forward outside three-turn, right and left. After the turn you glide backward on the inside edge. That is the entrance to the jump. Milestone: you hold the backward inside edge three counts stable after the turn.
Glide on the backward inside edge, free leg behind, arms slightly open. The trace should be a calm curve without a kink. The inside edge bites differently from the outside edge, and whoever skates it too flat slips away at take-off. Milestone: five curves in a row without wobbling.
Jump lightly out of the inside edge and land softly backward on the other foot. The landing is one of the most critical phases of a jump [4]. Jump low until the landing sits softly. Milestone: five soft landings without rotation.
The free leg swings past the body and gives momentum. Then you pull arms and legs close to the axis of rotation. The rotational speed in a jump is mainly determined by the moment of inertia: the closer the limbs are to the axis, the faster the body spins [3]. For that you must catch the swinging motion of arms and legs in a controlled way after take-off [3]. The height comes from the powerful extension of the standing leg [3]. Milestone: you rotate one full revolution, whether you stand it or not.
You land on the other foot backward on the outside edge [2]. Absorb the impact with a bent knee. Roll out at least three counts. Milestone: you stand three of five attempts.
The Salchow thrives on low-risk repetitions. Count per session how many backward inside edges after the three-turn run calmly, how many hops without rotation land softly and how many revolutions you stand (experience, not a study). If you move to the rotation only when the first two numbers are high, you avoid most hard falls. A side video shows you whether your knee gives on touchdown and whether you really pull the arms in after take-off. A coach also sees at once whether the take-off stays cleanly on the inside edge.
This guide explains and motivates, it does not replace supervised training. Jumps load knee, hip and back. In young skaters overuse of the legs from repeated jumps is a known problem [5]; this applies all the more when the technique is off. Wear a helmet and gloves, practise in a free area and let yourself fall sideways (see the guide "Falling and Getting Up on the Ice"). Double and triple Salchows do not belong in this guide: for them you need a coach, in practice often with a harness system on a pole.
Train your jumping power dry: in a review, box jumps and medicine ball throws count as an essential part of off-ice training for jumpers [3]. You train the powerful leg extension without loading your back on the ice. Add landing training on a soft surface. Add landing training on a soft surface and plan breaks so knees and back can recover.
An edge jump with natural rotation that takes off from the backward inside edge [1]. You land backward on the outside edge of the other foot [2]. In practice a three-turn often serves as the entrance.
First secure the three-turn, the backward inside edge and the waltz jump, then take off without rotation, then add one revolution. Work with a coach and practise the landing first [4].
The Salchow is an edge jump from the backward inside edge, the toe loop a toe jump from the backward outside edge [1]. In the toe loop the toe pick of the free foot helps, in the Salchow it does not.
Usually rotation is missing or the take-off already begins forward. Pull arms and legs to the axis earlier [3] and stay on the backward inside edge until the extension [2]. Practise the landing without rotation first.
The Axel: The Only Jump With a Forward Take-Off