26 Basic Tricks

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Back when I started jumping rope, one of the main things needed to qualify for the team was to complete the 26 basic tricks without a mistake. I can remember having this list on my wall. It was a constant goal for me to “check it off” the list. We actually had to perform each skill in front of a coach 10 times in a row without a mistake before they would sign off that we could do it. Why these 26 Skills? When you’re first getting started in jump rope, you want to have a variety of skills that challenge you in different ways.Read More →

How to Size a Jump Rope

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Learning how to size a jump rope is a fundamental skill you need right from the beginning. There is a bit of nuance based on the type of rope that you are using, but our general guideline is a great place to start with all ropes. The (Almost) Universal (Quick and Easy) Way to Size a Jump Rope A proper jump rope length is determined by standing on the middle of the rope with both feet. When you pull the handles up, the ends should reach the bottom of your arm pits. Back in my teenage days, when I would perform with a group ofRead More →

Jump Rope Cross

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It’s fitness season! What? Is there actually a season for that? Gauging how full the gym becomes for the next 2-3 weeks, it must be. In case you have a fitness goal of learning how to jump rope, I want to help you learn how to do a jump rope cross (or criss-cross, cross-over, whatever you want to call it). Why the jump rope cross? After the basic bounce, this would be in the running for the most widely seen jump rope skill. Check out the video below for our 60 second version of how to do it. For the video impaired, you can checkRead More →

Jump Rope Videos Shoot

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Every muscle in my body hurts! I can’t stand up or sit down without my quads screaming at me. I’m excited about the pain…why? Because I just finished shooting some new jump rope videos on single rope! I got to stare into some very bright lights for 3 days. We have over 250 gigabytes of raw jump rope footage I was able to rent my all time favorite studio in Tulsa, OK (Little Mountain Productions if you are in the are and are in need of one to rent). I’ve used their facility multiple times over the years, most notably when I shot Frozen. TheirRead More →

Jump Rope in Egypt in front of the Sphinx

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Every time you travel somewhere new, you usually have some sort of idea on what it will be like. Egypt was quite an experience on so many levels. The one that really stood out to me was what the state of jump rope in Egypt was like and how they got there. If you would like to read about the trip itself, jump over to my performance site for a run through on what we did. I want to focus on jump rope in Egypt. I was first contacted about putting on a series of jump rope shows outside of Cairo for a festival. TheyRead More →

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Every once in a while I get requests to do TV interviews. It’s always interesting to see the different takes people have on what I do. Last week I did one of the longer interviews that I’ve done with Explore Tulsa (Oklahoma). I’m based in the area so it was a nice change to do a local interview where I wasn’t rushed. We discussed some of my history, Guinness World Records, etc. We filmed the Explore Tulsa spot over at Fast Fitness in Tulsa, OK. They have a great gym that I would recommend checking out if you are in the area! If you’re inRead More →

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I love reading exercise related research studies because they so often prove the really obvious stuff. They certainly come out with some genuinely shocking news from time to time, but often it is verifying things that would seem rather obvious to most of us. This is a good thing since we shouldn’t blindly accept an idea, but I do find it entertaining to say the least. A recent study had this awesome headline “Exercise may reverse age-related bone loss in middle-aged men“. The study that was completed at the University of Missouri-Columbia found that “certain types of weight-lifting and jumping exercises, when completed for atRead More →

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Have you ever noticed that you can hear something a hundred times, but never bother to actually think about what it means? The head coach of my jump rope team, Mr. Berry, used to always start out our shows with a quick speech explaining what the crowd would see. One of the lines that he would say is that jump rope is a cooperative education model. As a kid I never even thought twice about it, some form of PE Teacher gobbledy-gook that I didn’t understand or care to ask about. I was talking with him the other day as I was looking for feedbackRead More →

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Some time ago I had a performance in Hayfork, CA. If you’ve never had the opportunity to drive through NorCal, it’s quite an adventure, especially if you get off the interstate and drive along the mountain roads. The roads are quite windy and can become very steep at a moments notice. Most of the drive was spent at about 30 mph as I was pulling a loaded down trailer. One thing I found interesting is that I rarely touch the brake when driving downhill through the mountains, but I found myself stuck behind a guy that practically stood on his brake pedal through every downhillRead More →

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This is a follow up article to ‘5 Steps to Jump Rope Like a Pro‘. The first 5 got you started jumping rope on the right foot, these 5 will take you from being able to do the skills, to looking like a pro while you do them. Variety is the spice of life Or so the saying goes anyway. Work on a variety of skills. You can do footwork, crosses, multiple unders, rope releases, swings, wraps and a plethora of other skills. Don’t just work on only one type of trick, take time to learn a little from each category. To the uninitiated, mostRead More →