Learn to Jump The Warm Up Always warm up before jumping. A good warm-up always includes stretching, a little running, and some calisthenics. It is important to stretch the calf muscles because they are most heavily used when jumping. Rope Length The rope should be adjusted to the proper length before use. This can be done by standing on the center of the rope and pulling upward lightly on both handles. The top of the handles should be approximately even with the underarms. Many advanced recreational and competition rope skippers use a variety of different types of ropes depending on the specific application (speed, freestyle, performance, etc.). Body Position The body should be slightly bent (not rigid) when jumping. Jump from the toes, not flat footed. The arms should be held in closely to the body. Legs should be kept together. It is best to keep the chin up, looking straight ahead. Two Foot Basic Jumping The most fundamental jump is the "two-foot basic jump". This jump should be performed with the feet together, jumping only once each time the rope rotates around the body. When the "two-foot basic jump" is mastered, variations can be performed including the skier (jumping from side to side), straddle (feet apart, together, apart...), jumping on one foot, and the twist (pointing the toes right, left, right...). The basic jump can be performed with crosses, backward, and backward with crosses. Double-Unders When performing double-unders, the rope rotates twice around the jumpers body with each jump. When double-unders are sufficiently mastered, they can be performed with crosses, backward, and backward with crosses.