Time needed: 1 hour
How to Double Dutch – Jumping Roping or Skipping is a fabulous way to get moving for your whole squad! Learn the basics then challenge your friends to ever more elaborate tricks and skills.
- Learn how to turn Double Dutch Skipping Ropes
Turning the Double Dutch ropes is the first and most vital skill to master to enable skippers to jump in and maintain a steady beat. Stand at a distance from your fellow rope turner that leaves approximately 1m of rope on the ground. With your elbows tucked into your sides make turns of the rope with your hands so that your hands are tracing circles about the size of a basketball in front of you. The left hand is making a clockwise circle and the right hand is making an anticlockwise circle. Your hands do not cross over so the two circles traced have a slight gap between them. Ensure that the rope hits the ground with a regular click and practice making the beat slower and faster. Practice this until perfect and then you are ready for your double dutch skipper to enter the ropes.
- Mark The Floor
It may be helpful to mark the floor to assist both the rope turners and the jumpers according to the following diagram. B is the waiting point. C is the stepping point and A is the landing and bouncing point.
- Stepping into the Double Dutch Ropes using the skip-hop method
Skippers will enter the rope from a position to the right of one of the rope turners. Stand for a moment to get the rhythm of the beat when the rope hits the floor. Watch the rope in the hand of the rope turner that is next to you. As it hits the floor you make a step halfway between your launch point and your landing point (centre of rope) and then jump over the rope as it turns and land in the centre and start to bounce to the rhythm of the rope clicks. You can leave the ropes by timing the exit and going towards one of the turners.
- Freestyle your Double Dutch
Once you have learned and practised getting into the ropes then you can start to freestyle getting in and out from the sides and making your own moves within the double dutch ropes. Turners can adjust the rotation to allow space and time for bigger moves in the centre.
- Watch the following two videos to help understand turning and getting into the ropes
