HOPKINS sprayed in big graffiti letters, with Hoppy skipping through the middle of them

skip-hop’s skipping coach

Meet Hoppy

Full name Hopkins. Fully qualified skip-hop skipping coach, demonstrator of the skips on this website, boss of Skipathon day and, by his own account, the best dancer in any school hall in Britain. He is a little bit daft. We love him to bits.

“Hiya! I’m Hoppy. Grab a rope. We’re doing my thang.”HOPPY, EVERY MORNING

Spot him? He’s the i in skip-hop. He jumped in one day and won’t come out.

What do I call him?

One coach, four names

Hoppy answers to almost anything, as long as you say it with a smile.

Hopkins

The official one. It goes on his certificates, on his letters from the King, and it comes out when his mum is cross with him.

If I hear “HOPKINS!” from the kitchen, I know I’ve left my rope on the stairs again.

Hoppy

What nearly everybody calls him, and what every child in the hall shouts when he walks in.

Hoppy’s fine. Hoppy’s great. Hoppy rhymes with nothing, which is why I like it.

Hop or the Hops

What his mates at skip-hop call him, usually just before they ask him to stop dancing and get on with it.

The Hops is in the house!

The Hopmeister

What he calls himself when he is showing off. Which is quite often.

Stand back, everyone. The Hopmeister is about to do a trick.

His story

Born in a school hall

For a quarter of a century skip-hop has been taking skipping into primary schools, and Hoppy was there for all of it. He grew up under climbing frames and behind stacks of blue mats, watching thousands of children turn their first rope, trip over it, laugh, and go again. One afternoon, when everyone had gone home, he picked up a rope himself. He hasn’t put it down since.

He learnt from the best. Lee, skip-hop’s lead coach, taught him how to stand, how to hold the handles, and that the wrists do the work, not the arms. Then Hoppy worked his way through every Skipping Award, from White all the way to Gold, and became a fully qualified skip-hop skipping coach. The certificate is on his fridge. He shows it to visitors.

“Lee taught me everything I know. Well, nearly everything. The dancing I made up myself.”HOPPY

Backwards double bounce

What Hoppy does

The coach who never gets tired

Hoppy has one job: getting every child in your school skipping. He does it in four ways.

He shows you the skills

Hoppy demonstrates the skips on our skill pages. Slow him down, speed him up, watch him from the side. He will show you again and again and never once sigh.

He helps teachers

Hoppy is at hand to help teachers teach skipping. The basic skips are free, and so is all of his Skipathon advice.

He runs Skipathon day

On Skipathon day Hoppy takes charge of the whole school: the warm-up, the skips, the long rope games and the grand total.

He looks after the playground

He is on the skipping zone sign and the 30-day skipping challenge, cheering on every skipper at playtime.

Free for every school

Hoppy’s basic skips

These are the skips every skipper starts with, and the base for every trick Hoppy knows. Every one is free. Register your school (that’s free too) to open Hop’s House on each skill page and watch Hoppy from any angle, at any speed.

Ready for the clever stuff? Hoppy also demonstrates the harder skills, from crossovers to the 360 turn, with Lee’s coaching notes alongside, for schools with the All-Access Skip Pass.

Backwards single bounce

Skipathon day

Hoppy’s in charge

The Skipathon is skip-hop’s free sponsored skip for the whole school, and Hoppy runs the show. He leads the warm-up, demonstrates the five skips, insists on a long rope game in every session, and counts every single skip, from the Year 6 speed merchant to the Reception child jumping a long rope for the very first time.

“On Skipathon day I’m the boss. The teachers do exactly what I say. Mostly what they say back is, ‘Hoppy, please get down off the stage.’”HOPPY

Get the free Skipathon pack

The big dream

Skipping is dancing (he says)

Hoppy has a dream, and he will tell you about it whether you ask or not. He wants to invent skip-hop dance: proper dance moves that work with a rope turning, so skipping and dancing become one thing. He practises everywhere. In the hall, in the kitchen, in the queue for the bus.

Some of his moves are brilliant. Some of them end in a heap. He counts both as progress.

“Skipping is just dancing with a rope. I haven’t told the rope yet.”HOPPY

“Every routine starts with a double bounce and ends with a double bounce. That’s the rule. I made the rule.”THE HOPMEISTER

Hopping on one leg

Tips from the coach

Hoppy says…

Hoppy’s favourite tips. He shouts them across the hall so often that most children can shout them back.

“Hands by your pockets, not up by your ears!”Keep your hands around waist height, close to your sides.
“Wrists do the work. Your arms are just along for the ride.”Small circles from the wrists turn the rope.
“Land like a cat, not a hippo.”Soft, quiet landings on the balls of your feet.
“Big bounce, little bounce. Big bounce, little bounce.”The rhythm of the double bounce.
“Look ahead, not at your feet. Your feet know where they are.”Head up, eyes forward.
“Tripped? Brilliant! That’s how you know you’re learning.”Everyone trips. Smile and go again.
“Rope too long? Rope too short? Ask your teacher to sort it.”The right rope makes it so much easier.
“Never round anyone’s neck. Not ever. Not even as a joke.”Hoppy’s number one safety rule.

Hoppy’s fact file

Full name: Hopkins
Also known as: Hoppy, Hop, the Hops, the Hopmeister
Job: Fully qualified skip-hop skipping coach
Lives in: Hop’s House
Skipping Awards: Every one, White to Gold
Favourite skip: The double bounce. “It’s where everything starts.”
Best trick: The 360 turn. He will tell you all about it.
Favourite music: Funk. Loud.
Catchphrase: “I’m doing my thang.”
Never leaves home without: His skip-hop rope
Least favourite thing: Knots

For teachers

Hoppy in your school

Behind the daftness, Hoppy is a serious teaching aid. He skips with good form every time, he can be slowed right down to show exactly where the rope and the feet are, and children love him, so they watch.

On the skill pages

Hoppy demonstrates the skills on our skill pages, and he learns a new one most weeks. The basic skips are free for every registered school.

For your Skipathon

The free Skipathon pack is led by Hoppy, with the five skips, timetables, letters home and certificates.

In the playground

Print his skipping zone sign, or set the 30-day challenge with Hoppy as the guide.

“Right, that’s enough reading. Go and find a rope!”

Hoppy