Free Skating - The "Zayak Rule" and Jump Restrictions

The "Zayak Rule" and Jump Restrictions

Prior to 1982, skaters could attempt as many jumps of any type (i.e. takeoff edge) as they wished (e.g. a skater could include 7 triple toe loops in their program with no penalty). To encourage skaters to display a more diverse arsenal of jumps, the ISU passed a rule informally known as the "Zayak Rule" that states that only two types of triple or quadruple jumps may be attempted twice in a program, and if a type is repeated, one of the attempts must be in combination or in a sequence. Triple and quadruple jumps with the same takeoff edge are not considered as the same type of jump. Skaters that violated this rule were penalized with a 0.1 deduction for each infraction under the 6.0 system. The current implementation of the Zayak Rule under the ISU Judging System causes any jumping pass that includes a triple/quadruple jump that has already been repeated twice to receive no value, even if it is in combination or sequence with an otherwise valid jump. In the case of a skater repeating a jump, but fails to do either in combination, the later jump is scored as a jump sequence, and incurs the same devaluation to 80% of its original value.

In addition to the Zayak Rule, the ISU Judging System placed additional restrictions on jumps, limiting the amount of jumps to a number of jumping "passes" (8 for men, 7 for ladies), meaning that a skater could not attempt unlimited double jumps or make another attempt at a botched jump later in the program without substituting another jumping pass for it. If a skater exceeds the maximum jumping passes, they receive no points for any jumps past the limit and earn a deduction for each extra element.

The implementation of the IJS also required that an Axel type jump be included in one of the jumping passes in the free skate, and as of 2010, the amount of double Axels in the free skate is restricted to a maximum of 2.