Learning the toe loop: backward on the outside edge, take off with the toe pick of the free foot, one revolution, land cleanly. Prerequisites, mistakes, safety.
The honest answer first: the toe loop is a toe jump with natural rotation. You take off from the backward outside edge, and the toe pick of the free foot supports you [1]. A single rotation is one revolution. Under the ISU rules solo jumps are to be landed on the backward outside edge [2].
How realistic is it for you? It presupposes that you can do the waltz jump and glide backward on an edge securely. Whoever has come this far can reach the toe loop in small steps; a fixed duration cannot be backed. The exact effect of the toe pick was compared in a study of ten skaters: in the triple toe loop, vertical velocity and angular momentum build up step by step in the glide and transition phases [3]. That is a competition jump, but the logic also holds for one revolution: nothing happens all at once.
Glide backward on the outside edge of one foot, the free leg stretched behind, the upper body calm. That is the starting position of the jump. Milestone: five counts stable, right and left.
Quietly put the toe pick of the free foot into the ice behind or beside the standing foot and glide on. You learn the feeling of the stab. Do not place the pick hard. Milestone: ten clean stabs in a row without the glide breaking off.
Jump a small distance upward with the pick, without rotating, and land softly on the standing foot. The height comes mainly from the powerful extension of the legs [4]. In toe jumps skaters tend to jump higher than in pure edge jumps according to the literature [3]; the pick slows you down a little in return (practical experience). Milestone: five soft landings on the standing foot.
Stab the pick, extend the standing leg and turn one revolution. Make sure you do not already turn forward before the stab: a clear forward take-off counts as a "cheated take-off", and the toe loop is the most commonly cheated take-off [2]. Keep your back toward the direction of travel until the pick is in the ice. Milestone: one revolution, landed or fallen, without forward rotation at take-off.
You land on the take-off foot backward on the outside edge [2]. Absorb the impact with a bent knee. According to research the landing is one of the most critical parts of the jump [5]. Roll out at least three counts. Milestone: you land three of five attempts and roll out.
The toe loop is not a jump for the first attempt. Note per session how many of ten toe-pick stabs sit calmly and how many landings you stand (experience, not a study). If the rate rises over several sessions, you are on the right track. If it falls when you increase the rotation, go one step back to hopping with toe-pick help. A side video helps to see whether you keep your back to the direction of travel until the pick is in the ice or whether the hip already opens forward before. That is the moment the rules also watch most closely.
This guide explains and motivates, it does not replace supervised training. Jumps load knee and hip. Toe jumps carry an additional risk: the pick can catch in the ice and tip you forward. Wear a helmet and gloves and let yourself fall sideways (see the guide "Falling and Getting Up on the Ice"). Jump only in a free area. I deliberately give no instructions for multiple rotations here: for that you need a coach.
Practise the stab as gliding: place the pick quietly and let it glide along without jumping. When the pick finds the ice calmly, half the work is done. For the jump then only the leg extension is added. That saves you many hard attempts and protects the joints.
A toe jump with natural rotation that takes off from the backward outside edge [1]. The toe pick of the free foot supports the take-off. Under the ISU rules solo jumps are landed backward on the outside edge [2].
Via the backward outside edge, quietly placing the toe pick and hops with toe-pick help, then with one revolution [1][3]. The waltz jump should be solid beforehand. Keep your back to the direction of travel until the pick bites [2].
According to the literature toe jumps tended to reach more height than edge jumps [3]; the pick adds support to the take-off. In return it brakes a little in practice. The leg extension remains the main engine [4].
When in the toe loop you already turn forward before the stab. The ISU rules treat that as a downgraded jump; the toe loop is the most commonly cheated take-off [2].
The Salchow: The Edge Jump After the Three-Turn