Jump Rope Guide

This document will discuss how to select a jump rope, how to size a jump rope, and where to buy jump ropes. We will discuss both single rope (SR) and double dutch (DD) freestyle and speed ropes.

Jump rope selection is primarily up to jumper preference. There is no “right” or “wrong” jump rope. The different styles of jump ropes offer advantages and disadvantages, and jumpers should choose the rope that best meets their needs.

Single Rope Speed

There is a huge variety of SR speed ropes available. While many jumpers simply use a freestyle rope to compete in speed events, many others use a specialized speed rope. These ropes feature purpose-built handles and a wire rope (either coated wire, or bare wire). Speed handles are designed to turn very quickly in a single direction.

Ultimately, you want a speed rope to be as small as possible (smaller circumference, faster turning). With a normal speed jumping posture, you are looking for 2-4 inches over the jumper’s head. Less experienced jumpers will require more rope; more experienced jumpers, less. Many speed ropes come with both a ferrule to crimp and a sizing clamp. You can set up a rope for a jumper, having them try it out while you observe, making adjustments until your jumper is happy.

A note about grip: encourage your jumpers to grasp the rope as close to the rope as possible. It will require more turning effort, but will ultimately be faster. Some jumpers will let the handles slide down their hands until they are gripping only the end of the handle. While some may find it easier turning effort, it is not as fast, and the jumper risks dropping a handle if they have any jumping error. We ask our jumpers to grip as close to the rope as possible, with at least their pinkie finger inside the flare at the end of the handle.

Specialized SR speed ropes are available for many vendors.

BuyJumpRopes.net offers several styles, including their Ultra Speed, their Triple Jump Rope, their new Surge Jump Rope, and their Quad Speed Cable Rope. These are very reasonably priced, and generous bulk discounts are available. We usually start new jumpers out with the Triple Jump Rope as a good quality rope at a good value.

Some jumpers prefer to use the R1 from JumpNRope.com. These ropes (commonly called the “Molly” rope for its inventor, Molly Metz) were the first to offer a high performance roller bearing in the handle for very smooth turning. One important detail to note about these ropes is that they require the use of the included crimps, which are smaller than normal crimps but which will not damage the handle in normal use. These ropes are about twice the cost of the Triple Jump Ropes, but some jumpers say they are worth every penny.

These are by no means the only speed jump ropes available, but are some of the most popular.

Speed Balls

On the topic of SR speed ropes, I would like to bring to your attention a related training product called “speed balls”. Both BuyJumpRopes.net and JumpNRope.com sell versions. These are excellent training aides that can help your jumpers develop strong forearms and shoulders as well as stamina and proper turning form. They can be used to train both SR speed and DD speed turning. They take a while to get used to turning (sometimes jumpers can hit themselves on the head! so care must be taken) so they may not be appropriate for every jumper, but we feel they are worth your consideration as a useful training tool.

Double Dutch Speed

There is a huge variety of DD ropes available for both speed and freestyle. Cloth ropes are the most forgiving as they typically don’t bounce much on the floor while turning speed. Beaded ropes are also very popular, but may be somewhat heavier. An extremely popular rope is the Cable Double Dutch rope from BuyJumpRopes.net. These are very light and very fast. They respond very quickly to speed changes. They are harder to see while jumping, however, so it will require a high degree of coordination for a double dutch speed team to be successful.

Turning technique and switching technique are extremely important during DD speed events. We also strongly encourage our DD speed teams to communicate as much as possible during their events. These factors are by far the most important ingredients to a successful DD speed event.

There are a fair number of opinions on the proper length for a DD speed team. The cable speed ropes come in 14’ lengths. We tend to have our DD speed teams use this length. The main advantage is that the longer rope offers the largest “sweet spot” for the jumper to work. The main disadvantages are added weight for a longer rope, and a longer distance for our youngest (and shortest) jumpers to enter the ropes. We spend a great deal of time training to overcome these disadvantages so as to fully utilize the advantages. Obviously, you will work with your teams and find the right balance for your jumpers. As always, there is no one “right” answer.

SR Freestyle

There is an enormous range of SR freestyle ropes available today. There are long-handle ropes, short-handle ropes, and recently, a mid-length handle from JumpNRope.com. There are cloth ropes, licorice ropes, coated wire ropes, and beaded ropes (with different size and type beads).

BuyJumpRopes.net offers an excellent long-handled competition freestyle rope. They offer it in both licorice and coated wire versions. These ropes use a bucket-and-claw fastener that holds the rope securely and allows it to rotate in the handle. JumpNRope.com also offers their versions of long and short handled freestyle ropes.

Long-handle freestyle handles make many crossing tricks easier, but are slightly heavier (for release tricks) and may be harder to execute multiple-under tricks. Short-handle freestyle handles are lighter (for release tricks) and offer easier turning for multiple-under tricks, but may require the jumper to work a little harder on crossing tricks.

Freestyle rope lengths vary greatly by jumper preference. To start jumpers out, with a long-handle rope, as your jumper to hold one end of the handle under their arm. Lace the rope down under their feet and adjust the rope so that the other handle comes just under their other arm. This will yield a reasonable starting length from which you can adjust to the individual requirements of your jumper. Short handles should be measured in a similar manner, but with the handle ends being measured not from underarm to underarm, but rather from just over the natural waist, under two feet, and back to just over the natural waist.

When viewing your jumper while jumping in order to verify rope length, it is very important that your jumper is turning with their wrists at the “home” position, which is about the belt-line on either side of the body. You should be looking for 5-7 inches of clearance over their heads while jumping with their hands in the “home” position. As usual, this should be a starting point from which you make additional adjustments to satisfy jumper preference.

Beaded ropes offer higher presentation value, but are a slightly heavier turning rope than a cloth or licorice rope. Some jumpers say they prefer this additional weight for some tricks, so as usual, there is no one “correct” answer. For SR beaded freestyle ropes, we prefer the “half-cut” beads, which are 1” beads. They are available from many different vendors and in many different colors. Vendors are now also beginning to offer “build-your-own” ropes that allow jumpers to mix-and-match colors to create their own truly unique beaded rope.

DD Freestyle

The same broad variety is available for double dutch freestyle ropes. Jumpers may choose from cloth, licorice, or beaded ropes. Ropes are offered in multiple sizes with the two most popular corresponding to Double Dutch Single Freestyle (two turners, one jumper) 12’ length, and Double Dutch Pairs Freestyle (two turners, two jumpers) 14’ length.

We tend to start beginners out with cloth ropes, which feature a large knot tied at each rope end to serve as a handle. Cloth ropes are very forgiving as they will slide more easily if turners cause the ropes to touch (generally, something to be avoided). They also don’t bounce very much on the ground, making them somewhat easier to turn and jump. However, they are not just for beginners. Many nationally competitive teams use cloth ropes quite successfully.

We have our jumpers use beaded DD freestyle ropes. While these ropes can sometimes be less forgiving, we feel they offer beneficial presentation value. Beads are typically 2” cuts. Most beads are rigid, but some vendors offer soft, flexible beads, which are what Extreme Air uses. They are sometimes a little harder to find, so we buy in bulk when we need new ropes.

Demo Ropes

“Big trick” demo skills may require different ropes. Obviously, long rope tricks require a long rope. Depending on the skill, we use 16’, 20’, 24’, and 32’ ropes. These longer ropes can be ordered specially from sources like JumpRope.com or you can buy several regular DD freestyle ropes and lengths of 1/8” nylon rope from a hardware store and string up custom lengths from the beads of those freestyle ropes.

Chinese wheel tricks (as well as Traveler tricks) typically involve the user of longer-than-normal SR beaded freestyle ropes. Depending upon the age, skill, and height of the jumpers, typical “wheel ropes” are 10’ in length. Obviously, this is much larger than an individual beaded rope. For Traveler tricks, the turner can wrap the rope for “bullet traveler” sections, and let the rope out when scooping multiple jumpers. Either way, a longer rope is required if scooping multiple jumpers.

While we’ve said it many times, but it bears repeating: there is no “best” rope type or rope length. The above are guideline to help you get started. As your jumpers build their experience, they will feel more confident and should be encouraged to experiment with different ropes to see what best suits their unique styles.