We got a new Dope Rope from Lauren Jumps. She says:
These are the most common jump rope mistakes that I see a lot of beginners making:
- Make sure your rope isn’t too long – most new jumpers start and keep their rope too long. The excess rope leads to poor form and less efficiency and more effort required to spin the rope. The heavy impact of the rope on the ground leads to more wear and causes the rope to bounce up, resulting in more trips.
- Avoid wide arms – this is linked to the point above. A long rope can lead to wide arms as the user aims to compensate for the excess cord. The optimal jump rope arm positioning is elbows back and hands in next to the hips. When the hands are close to your sides, you can use a shorter a rope, improve your efficiency, go faster and perform tricks and skills more easily
- Not ‘elbows in’ – another common mistake is to have the elbows in to the hips which leads to the hands sticking out wide. The elbows need to be in but set back to allow the hands to be in next to the hips.
- Avoid jumping too high – keep bounces low, only enough for the rope to pass underneath. This lowers the impact on your legs and allows you to go faster.
- Don’t do too much too soon – if you do long sessions at the start, you may get injured. Get used to the movement with shorter sessions of 5-15 mins and only 3-4 times a week max and build up slowly from there.
- Use the correct rope type – if you want to learn skills and good form, you need something that isn’t too light or too heavy. You need a rope that gives you feedback but isn’t going to cause too much strain on the body. This is why our general recommendation to beginners is to use a beaded rope.
Check out our beginners guide and sizing guide for more useful info!
