Learning a double axel typically takes 1 to 3 years for most figure skaters who already have a consistent single axel. Some dedicated athletes with optimal training conditions might achieve it in 12-18 months. Others, particularly adult skaters or those with limited ice time, may need 2.5 years or longer to land this jump consistently.
I have watched dozens of skaters work through this progression at my local rink. The timeline varies dramatically based on age, training frequency, coaching quality, and physical readiness. Understanding what affects your learning curve helps set realistic expectations and prevents the frustration that causes many skaters to quit before reaching this milestone.
The double axel represents a critical gateway in figure skating. It separates intermediate skaters from advanced competitors and serves as the foundation for all triple jumps. This guide breaks down exactly what to expect, what factors influence your timeline, and how to optimize your training for the fastest possible progress.
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How Long Does It Take to Learn a Double Axel In 2026?
Most skaters need between 1 and 3 years of dedicated training to learn a double axel from the time they start attempting it. This assumes you already have a solid single axel and are training consistently. The wide range exists because skaters approach this jump with vastly different resources, physical abilities, and training schedules.
A skater training 5-6 days per week with professional coaching and strong off-ice conditioning might land their first double axel within 12-18 months. An adult skater training twice weekly with limited coaching might take 2.5 to 3 years to achieve the same result. Both timelines are completely normal and valid.
The key factors that determine where you fall on this spectrum include:
- Age and physical development (children often progress faster than adults)
- Weekly training hours on ice (4-5+ hours minimum recommended)
- Quality and frequency of professional coaching
- Strength of your single axel foundation
- Off-ice training and physical conditioning
- Mental approach and consistency in practice
- Access to harness or other training aids
What Is a Double Axel and Why Is It So Difficult?
A double axel is a figure skating jump that requires 2.5 full rotations in the air, totaling 900 degrees of rotation. It is the only double jump that includes an extra half-rotation, making it significantly harder than all other double jumps (double toe loop, double salchow, double loop, double flip, double lutz).
The axel family is unique because of its forward take-off and backward landing. While other jumps launch backward and land backward, the axel starts forward and finishes backward. This forward take-off creates a natural blind spot where you cannot see your landing until the final moments of the jump.
The difficulty compounds with the double axel because you must complete 2.5 rotations instead of the 1.5 of a single axel. This extra full rotation requires substantially more height, faster rotation speed, and better air position. You need approximately 0.45 to 0.50 seconds of air time to complete a clean double axel, compared to just 0.35 seconds for a single axel.
According to coach Sheila Thelen, a double axel performed at 0.46 seconds of air time is excellent. Anything under 0.40 seconds typically results in a cheated jump with insufficient rotation. Achieving this air time requires exceptional explosive power from your take-off leg and perfect timing in your jump mechanics.
Master the Single Axel First
You cannot successfully learn a double axel until your single axel is fully consistent. The single axel serves as the foundation for rotation mechanics, air position, and landing technique that the double version builds upon. Attempting doubles before mastering singles typically results in bad habits that take even longer to correct.
A competition-ready single axel requires:
- Clean 1.5 rotation take-off and landing with full blade contact
- Consistent air position with crossed feet and tight rotation
- Ability to land with control on the correct back outside edge
- Execution without significant pre-rotation on the ice
- Height sufficient for 0.35+ seconds of air time
Most skaters need 6-12 months to learn a single axel if they are children with good natural jumping ability. Adult skaters often require 1.5 to 2.5 years to land a clean single axel consistently. One forum member reported it took them one year to land an axel on the floor in off-ice training, then another full year before they could land it on ice without a harness.
Before moving to double axel attempts, you should be able to land your single axel cleanly at least 8 out of 10 attempts in practice. You should also have developed a strong backspin position, as the rotation mechanics in a backspin directly translate to proper air position in the axel.
7 Factors That Affect Your Double Axel Learning Timeline
Understanding what influences your learning speed helps you control the controllable factors. While some elements like age are fixed, others like training frequency and coaching quality are within your power to optimize.
1. Age and Physical Development
Young skaters under 14 who are still growing often learn jumps faster than adults. Children typically have better flexibility, lower centers of gravity, and less fear of falling. They also recover from falls more quickly and build muscle memory rapidly during developmental years.
Adult skaters face additional challenges including greater fear of injury, established muscle patterns that resist change, and responsibilities that limit training time. However, adults bring better body awareness, stronger discipline, and the ability to analyze technique intellectually. Many adults successfully achieve double axels with patience and proper training.
2. Weekly Training Frequency
Training frequency may be the single biggest predictor of how quickly you learn a double axel. Skaters who train 4-5 hours per week or more progress significantly faster than those with limited ice time. Malcolm Gladwell’s research suggests that practicing just 30 minutes per week would theoretically require hundreds of years to master complex skills.
Serious double axel training requires a minimum of 4-5 hours on ice weekly, ideally distributed across 3-4 sessions. Spreading training across multiple days allows for muscle recovery while maintaining consistent skill development. Single sessions on weekends only produce much slower progress.
3. Quality of Professional Coaching
Self-taught or minimally coached skaters almost never achieve double axels. This jump requires expert eyes to identify technical errors in take-off, air position, and landing. A qualified coach can spot problems you cannot feel and provide drills that address specific weaknesses.
The best coaches for double axel training have experience specifically with this jump progression. They understand the air time requirements, can set up appropriate harness training, and know when you are truly ready to attempt doubles versus when you need more single axel refinement.
4. Physical Conditioning and Strength
Double axels demand explosive leg power, core stability, and upper body control. Skaters with strong plyometric ability and good core strength achieve the necessary air time more easily. Off-ice training including squats, lunges, plyometric jumps, and core work significantly accelerates on-ice progress.
Poor physical conditioning forces you to fight against your own body while trying to execute complex rotation mechanics. Building baseline strength before or during double axel training removes this barrier and lets you focus purely on technique.
5. Mental Approach and Consistency
Your mental relationship with the jump affects learning speed enormously. Skaters who approach each session with patience and focus on process rather than immediate results progress faster. Those who get frustrated after failed attempts and develop mental blocks often plateau for months.
Mental skills coach Rebecca Smith recommends a 6-month judgment suspension when working on double axels. This means showing up and putting in repetitions without evaluating whether you are making progress day-to-day. Trusting the process and suspending self-judgment allows your body to learn without the interference of frustration and anxiety.
6. Quality of Single Axel Foundation
A cheated or technically flawed single axel dooms your double axel attempts from the start. Any pre-rotation, poor air position, or edge control issues in your single will magnify exponentially when you add another full rotation. Skaters with clean, high single axels have a direct path to doubles.
Before starting double axel training, have a coach evaluate your single axel for technical correctness. Fix any issues with take-off edge, rotation initiation, air position, or landing technique. This upfront investment saves months of frustration later.
7. Access to Training Aids
Harness training, pole harnesses, and off-ice jumping equipment accelerate double axel learning substantially. The harness allows you to feel the proper rotation and air position safely while building muscle memory. Many skaters cannot conceptualize the feeling of 2.5 rotations until they experience it with harness assistance.
Rinks with harness equipment and coaches trained in its use provide significant advantages. Off-ice jump training on mats or with floor barres also helps you practice take-off mechanics without the fear of hard ice landings.
What to Expect: Month-by-Month Progression
Setting milestone expectations helps you recognize normal progress and avoid discouragement. Here is what realistic progression looks like for a skater training consistently with proper coaching.
Months 1-6: Building Foundation
During the first six months, you will work primarily on single axel refinement and double axel preparation. This includes waltz jump-backspin combinations, loop jumps to practice rotation, and single axel repetition. You may start working on air position drills and off-ice rotation training.
Most skaters do not attempt actual double axels during this phase unless they have exceptional natural jumping ability. Instead, you build the physical and technical foundation necessary for success later.
Months 6-12: First Attempts and Harness Work
After six months of preparation, you may begin attempting double axels with harness assistance. These early attempts focus on feeling the rotation and identifying where you lose position. You will likely under-rotate consistently at this stage, which is completely normal.
Off-ice training becomes critical now. Plyometric exercises, core strengthening, and rotation drills on the floor help bridge the gap between what you can do on ice and what you need to achieve.
Months 12-18: Rotation Development
Between one and one-and-a-half years, dedicated skaters often start landing occasional double axels. These landings may be shaky, two-footed, or under-rotated initially. The goal shifts from attempting the jump to consistently completing the rotation.
Air position refinement becomes the focus during this phase. Your coach will work on keeping your rotation tight, your feet crossed, and your arms controlled. Video analysis often helps identify small position errors that cost you rotation speed.
Months 18-24: Consistency and Quality
By 18 months to 2 years, skaters with consistent training typically start landing clean double axels regularly. The focus shifts from landing at all to landing with flow, correct edge take-off, and controlled landings that can be used in programs.
This is where many skaters experience a plateau or even regression as they clean up technical issues. Consistency may fluctuate as you correct old habits and build new muscle memory for the proper technique.
Months 24-36: Mastery and Competition Readiness
After 2 years, you should be landing double axels consistently enough to include them in competition programs. The jump becomes automatic rather than a conscious effort. You can execute it under pressure and recover from small errors mid-air.
At this stage, many skaters begin working on triple jumps, using the double axel as their foundation. The skills you developed for double axel rotation speed and air position translate directly to triple toe loops and salchows.
Adult Skaters vs Young Skaters: Different Timelines
Adult skaters face a unique set of challenges when learning double axels. Forum discussions and real experiences reveal that adults typically need 2 to 2.5 years to land a clean single axel, with double axels requiring an additional 1.5 to 2 years beyond that.
One adult skater shared that after starting lessons at 30 minutes per week, it took them over two years to work up to a single axel with proper coaching. Another reported landing their axel after 15 years away from skating and returning in 2026, proving that persistence matters more than speed.
The specific challenges adult skaters encounter include:
- Greater fear of falling and injury due to longer recovery times
- Established muscle memory from years of walking/running that conflicts with skating mechanics
- Work and family responsibilities limiting training time
- Physical limitations including reduced flexibility and balance challenges
- Pressure to progress quickly that creates mental blocks
However, adults also bring advantages. Better body awareness, the ability to understand technical explanations intellectually, and stronger discipline often lead to cleaner technique once skills are acquired. Adult skaters who commit to consistent training and accept a longer timeline often achieve beautiful double axels.
Young skaters under 14 typically learn the single axel in 6-12 months and the double axel in an additional 1-2 years. Their bodies adapt quickly to new movement patterns, and they recover from falls almost instantly. The natural flexibility and fearlessness of childhood provide significant advantages for jump learning.
Training Requirements for Double Axel Success
Meeting minimum training thresholds dramatically affects your double axel timeline. Undertraining extends the learning curve exponentially while proper training creates steady, measurable progress.
Minimum Weekly Ice Time
You need at least 4-5 hours on ice per week to make meaningful double axel progress. This should be divided across at least 3 sessions to allow for muscle recovery while maintaining skill consistency. Training once per week for 4 hours produces far worse results than training 4 times per week for 1 hour each.
Elite competitive skaters training for double axels often skate 10-15 hours per week or more. While this volume is not necessary for recreational skaters, it demonstrates how training frequency correlates with jump acquisition speed.
Off-Ice Training Requirements
Off-ice training is not optional for double axel development. You need strength and flexibility work that ice training alone cannot provide. Recommended off-ice components include:
- Plyometric exercises for explosive jump power (box jumps, jump squats)
- Core stability work (planks, Russian twists, leg raises)
- Leg strength training (squats, lunges, calf raises)
- Rotation and balance exercises on balance boards or discs
- Off-ice jump simulation on mats or gym floors
- Flexibility training including splits and back flexibility for air position
Plan for 2-3 off-ice training sessions per week, each 30-45 minutes. This supplements your on-ice work and builds the physical capacity you need for the jump.
Harness and Training Aid Access
Harness training accelerates double axel learning by allowing you to feel complete rotations safely. Many skaters cannot conceptualize 2.5 rotations until they experience it with harness assistance. Rinks with overhead harness systems provide significant advantages for jump training.
Pole harnesses, spin trainers, and off-ice jumping equipment also help develop the feel for proper air position. If your rink lacks these resources, consider traveling periodically to a facility that has them, or investing in home training equipment like spin boards.
Coaching Frequency
Weekly lessons with a qualified jump coach are essential for double axel progress. Group classes alone rarely provide the individual attention this jump requires. Plan for at least one private lesson per week focused specifically on jump technique, supplemented by coached practice sessions.
Coaches experienced specifically with double axel teaching can identify errors in take-off mechanics, air position, and landing technique that general skating coaches might miss. Seek out a coach with a track record of successfully teaching this jump.
Overcoming Mental Barriers and Frustration
The mental game often determines whether you achieve a double axel more than physical ability. Skaters who develop mental blocks or succumb to frustration frequently plateau for months or years, while those with healthy mental approaches progress steadily.
Double axel training involves countless failed attempts, scary falls, and days where nothing works. This is completely normal and part of the process for every skater who eventually succeeds. The difference between those who make it and those who quit is how they handle this frustration.
Mental skills coach Rebecca Smith’s 6-month judgment suspension technique proves remarkably effective. By committing to show up and put in repetitions without evaluating daily progress, you remove the emotional rollercoaster that destroys motivation. After six months of consistent effort, review your progress and you will likely see significant improvement that was invisible day-to-day.
Fear management is also critical, particularly for adult skaters. The double axel requires commitment and aggression in the take-off. Hesitation creates under-rotation and falls. Working with a coach on progressive fear reduction, using harness training to build confidence, and developing a pre-jump routine all help manage the natural fear that comes with this difficult jump.
Visualization and mental rehearsal provide additional tools. Spending time mentally practicing the jump, feeling the rotation, and seeing yourself land cleanly builds neural pathways that translate to on-ice performance. Many elite skaters spend as much time visualizing jumps as they do physically practicing them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are double axels hard?
Yes, double axels are considered the hardest of all double jumps in figure skating. The double axel requires 2.5 rotations (900 degrees) in the air, which is a full rotation more than other double jumps. This extra rotation demands significantly more air time (0.45-0.50 seconds compared to 0.35 seconds for a single axel), faster rotation speed, and better air position. Most skaters find the double axel more challenging than double lutzes or double flips because of this additional half-rotation requirement.
What is the hardest skill in ice skating?
The quadruple axel is currently considered the hardest skill in figure skating, first successfully landed in competition by Ilia Malinin in 2022. For most skaters working through the progression, the double axel represents the first truly difficult jump that separates intermediate from advanced skating. The triple axel, requiring 3.5 rotations, is also among the hardest skills and was not landed by a woman in competition until 2025. Jumps become progressively harder based on rotation requirements, with axel-family jumps being hardest at each level due to their forward take-off and extra half-rotation.
How long does it take to learn to do an axel?
Learning a single axel typically takes 6-12 months for young skaters with good natural jumping ability and consistent training. Adult skaters often need 1.5 to 2.5 years to land a clean single axel consistently. The timeline varies based on training frequency, coaching quality, physical conditioning, and prior skating experience. You should not attempt a double axel until your single axel is consistent and technically sound, as rushing this progression creates bad habits that are difficult to correct later.
Can adults learn a double axel?
Yes, adults can absolutely learn double axels with proper training and realistic expectations. Adult skaters typically need 2-3 years of dedicated training after achieving a consistent single axel. The timeline is longer than for children due to factors like increased fear of falling, established muscle patterns, and limited training time. However, many adult skaters successfully achieve double axels in their 30s, 40s, and beyond by committing to consistent training, working with qualified coaches, and maintaining patience through the learning process.
Final Thoughts
Learning a double axel takes most skaters between 1 and 3 years of consistent, dedicated training after achieving a solid single axel. This timeline varies based on age, training frequency, coaching quality, and mental approach. The double axel represents one of the most significant milestones in figure skating progression, separating intermediate skaters from advanced competitors.
Focus on building a strong single axel foundation first, then commit to the training volume and quality coaching necessary for success. Trust the process, manage your expectations, and celebrate small improvements along the way. Whether you achieve your double axel in 12 months or 3 years, the journey develops strength, discipline, and skills that serve your skating for years to come.
The skaters who ultimately succeed are not necessarily the most naturally gifted. They are the ones who show up consistently, work with qualified coaches, and maintain patience through the inevitable plateaus and frustrations. Your double axel is achievable with the right approach and commitment.