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Cyclone

Hands together, the whole rope goes round the head. Then a rodeo, then the rope goes under the left foot and the right foot, then another rodeo, and round the head again to finish. Named by school children in Sheffield, and it stuck.

Individual skill
Red Award · AdvancedSilver Award
Suitable for Years 4 to 6Speed skipping ropes

How it works

Hands together, the whole rope goes round the head. Then a rodeo, then the rope goes under the left foot and the right foot, then another rodeo, and round the head again to finish. Named by school children in Sheffield, and it stuck.

skip-hop tipThink of it as 2 hands, 1 hand, 0 hands, 1 hand, 2 hands round the head.

All-Access Skip Pass

Teach the cyclone with the All-Access Skip Pass

Everything a teacher needs to teach this skill to a whole class, from skip-hop coach Lee Collinson-James:

  • The skip-hop video of this skill, with a slow step-by-step section and ½× and ¼× slow motion
  • Step-by-step teaching: helicopter, rodeo, flymo, rodeo, helicopter
  • Two ways to remember the order, and the turning cyclone
  • Spot the fault, a pupil self-check and a link to the Silver Award
See the All-Access Skip PassI have the pass: sign in

£149 a year for the whole school, or 6 months free with the whole-school rope set.

Where it fits

Learn firstRodeo
This skillCyclone
Try nextCoil
skip-hop Skipping Awards

Cyclone: Red Award and Silver Award

Red Award · Advanced

Red Award: Advanced

A related skill for the Red Award: one to include in lessons.

To pass, a pupil:

  • Side swings on both sides and opens out into a skip
  • Jumps a crossover and uncrosses without stopping
  • Jumps into Double Dutch and bounces 4 times
Silver Award

Silver Award

One of the ten Silver Award skills.

The skills on this award:

  • Rodeo
  • Cyclone
  • Coil
  • Crossover
  • Side swing cross
  • Continuous cross
  • Cross cross
  • Double unders
  • Can can
  • Frog can can
  • Then the link: any 7 of the 10 skills linked in one routine, without a miss or error.

Also a related skill for the Black Award.

In the scheme of work

This skill isn't in the scheme of work lessons yet. It's a great one for skipping clubs and playtimes.

What you need

Speed skipping ropes, bag of 10

KS1 2.1m, KS2 2.5m or KS3 2.8m. skip-hop ropes are designed specifically for the skills shown on this site.

Shop ropes

SEND and inclusion

Make it work for everyone

Ideas for pupils with SEND, and for anyone who finds cyclone hard. Change one thing at a time.

What usually makes it hard: A long sequence: round the head, rodeo, under the feet and back.

  • CommunicationUse the skip-hop tip: “2 hands, 1 hand, 0 hands, 1 hand, 2 hands”.
  • TaskLearn each part on its own, then link two at a time.
  • SpacePlenty of space.

Seated or no-jump version. The round-the-head parts of the sequence, seated.

An adapted pass is still a pass on the Skipping Awards. Use your own judgement and each pupil’s care plan. More in SEND and inclusion at skip-hop. Pupil struggling to get started? Try Lee’s tips for pupils who are struggling to skip.