The six basic jumps split into two families by how the free foot moves at takeoff, and once you spot that, you can also read what underrotation, downgrade, and GOE marks are actually doing to the score.
Figure skating jumps are far easier to tell apart if you watch the feet at takeoff rather than trying to count rotations. The six basic jumps split into two families: toe jumps, where the free foot's toe pick punches into the ice to launch, and edge jumps, which spring entirely off a curved edge with no toe assist. Once that one distinction clicks, you can often guess which jump is coming before the skater even leaves the ice.
This list groups the six jumps by how similar their takeoffs look, then moves into combination structure and the scoring notation β underrotation, downgrade, edge calls, and GOE β that determines what a jump is actually worth. If this is your first close look, start by spotting the Axel, then work on separating the toe jumps from the edge jumps.
