Skipping Rope - Jumping Rope Techniques

Jumping Rope Techniques

Some of the techniques that can be used when jumping rope are:

Basic jump or easy jump

This is where both feet are slightly apart and jump at the same time over the rope. Beginners should master this technique first before moving onto more advanced techniques.

Alternate foot jump (speed step)

This style consists of using alternate feet to jump off the ground. This technique can be used to effectively double the number of skips per minute as compared to the above technique. This step is used for speed events.

Criss-cross

This method is similar to the basic jump with the only difference being that while jumping, the left hand goes to the right part of the body and vice versa for the right hand, with arms crossing in front of the body.

Side Swing

This is a basic technique where the rope passes the side of the skipper's body, without jumping it. Usually the skipper performs a basic jump after a side swing, or a criss-cross.

EB(front-back cross)

This is similar to the criss-cross except one arm crosses behind the back.

Double under

To perform a double under, the participant needs to jump up higher than usual while swinging the rope twice under his feet. It is possible to have the rope swing three times under the feet (triple under). In competitive jump rope, triples, quadruples ("quads"), and quintuples ("quins") are common.

Double Dutch

Double dutch is a game in which two long jump ropes turning in opposite directions are jumped by one or more players jumping simultaneously.

Toad

The toad is a more complicated trick where the jumper performs the "Cross" manoeuvre with one arm crossing under the opposite leg from the inside.

Crougar

The crougar is a trick where the jumper jumps in a normal open jump, but with one arm hooked under the same leg.

Awesome Annie

This is where the jumper alternates between a crougar and a toad without a jump in between.

Inverse toad

Similar to the toad, except the arm crosses the same leg from the outside (rather than the opposite leg from the inside).

Elephant

A cross between the inverse toad and the toad, where both arms cross under one leg, rather than one.

Frog/Donkey kick

This is a variation of a handstand, with a beginner version and an advanced version. In the beginner version, the jumper does a handstand, comes down and then pulls the rope under. In the advanced, the jumper pulls the rope while coming down from the handstand.

Combination jumps

There are many more difficult jump roping tricks that combine two or more of these techniques to make a single trick. These combinations can also be used in Chinese Wheel, Double Dutch, Egg Beater, triangle and Long Rope.

Other

Many other variations are possible, including: "skier", a side-to-side jump keeping the feet together; "bell", a front-and-back jump keeping the feet together; "scissors", a jump putting one foot forward and the other back, then switching back-and-forth; "jumping jack", a jump putting the feet apart and then together; and "can-can" a jump with one leg up and bent, followed by a jump with both feet on ground, followed by a jump kicking the foot out. The possibilities are endless, and many Grand National champions have routines consisting of tricks they made up.

In competitive jump rope, competitors are required to have three elements in their routine: Multiple unders (when the rope passes under the feet multiple times in the air), strength or inversion/displacement, which consists of tricks utilizing a jumper's strength such as the frog/donkey kick, and rope manipulations, when one or both of the handles are released and caught, when jumpers cross the rope over their body, or when they wrap it around one of their limbs. Crosses, side swings, EB jumps, toads, and inverse toads are all examples of rope manipulations.