How to Jump Rope

Jumping rope is the most basic and essential skill that a boxer must learn, or any other athlete that wants to improve their aerobic endurance and co-ordination. Some people find it difficult to get used to and even use the wrong techniques. The below information from EmpoweringPunch will help you easily learn how to jump rope like a boxer.

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Develop Your Timing

“The first step to jumping rope is working on your timing. To develop your timing, we’re going to put the rope in one hand, and today we’ll start with the right (or left) hand.”

“Now I know it’s called jumping rope, but it’s really not about the jump. It’s more about the landing. And that being said, it’s all about keeping your knees soft, and pushing off your toes like you’re doing a calf raise. So you’re just pushing the balls of your feet into the floor, so you get your feet just enough off the floor so you can get the rope underneath them.”

“As far as timing, you’re going to put the rope in your right (or left) hand and you start swinging it around. And you’re going to keep up the opposite hand as if you have the rope in both, and here, we start our little hops. It’s about hopping, skipping, not jumping.”

“You’re just pushing off the balls of your feet and getting your timing down. You’re going to have off-rhythm until you get comfortable. We do this about 10 seconds or so, until you feel comfortable and then you stop. Then you can switch hands and you’re going to start over again as if you have the rope in both hands and then you’re going to start your hopping again.”

“You can then come back down to the floor and then pull the rope into both hands [for actual jump roping]. I always recommend starting with the little hops first. Push off the toes and you’re going to get the rope underneath your feet at the same time then you swing around.”

Jump Roping Side-to-Side

“Now we can start talking about getting side-to-side. I know you see boxers and jump ropers moving side-to-side. This makes it a lot easier on the body because the idea of jump roping is to be able to do it as long as you can without breaking your form or stopping so you get more of a cardio output out of your workout.”

“The way that you’re going to go side-to-side, you’ll stop, put the rope back in one hand, and what you’re going to do here is you push from side-to-side, not up and down. This is not an up and down movement. When you’re going side-to-side, keep your feet close together and your heels come close together when you jump.”

“When you skip side-to-side, you’re going to turn your hands over at the same time…You can then switch hands even when you’re in mid drift in the air, and you can put it in both hands and you’re jumping/skipping.”

The Crossover

“The whole idea here with the crossover is that it looks like magic but it’s really not. You’re not tying a knot but you’re switching your hands over in front of you and you’re going to point your first knuckle down towards the floor when you do this, so that when the rope comes around, you’ll unravel and the rope will come straight out instead of tying yourself up into a knot.”

“This takes a lot of practice, you just have to work at it, but you do it one skip at a time where you’re crossing over and coming back…A common mistake is people cross out in front and by the time (your hands) get to the floor, you’re stepping on the rope. So you want to throw your hands down towards the floor.”

Jump Rope Tips

• Use small wrist movements (rotations) to swing the rope around. Do not use your entire arms because it’s slower, uses more energy and completely messes up your co-ordination.

• Jump/hop/skip only just enough for the rope to slide beneath your feet. Again, if you jump too high then you’ll use up unnecessary energy and mess up your entire rhythm.

• Perfect one maneuver at a time, starting with the most basic. Only advance onto different jump rope techniques once you’re comfortable with the basics.

• When you’re learning a new jump rope technique (e.g. side-to-side, hand and/or feet crossovers), always emulate the movement without the rope first. This allows you to get comfortable with the actual movement co-ordination before adding the rope into play. It’s a lot easier this way.

• Everyone has their own preference when it comes to rope length. When you first purchase a new jump rope and begin cutting it, don’t cut off too much immediately. In order to know what length is right for you, test the rope each time after cutting off a few inches at a time.