How to build a jump rope routine?

One of the amazing aspects of jump rope is how much creativity it affords individuals. There are limitless skills you can learn and, with them, an infinite number of sequences you can imagine. But where do you start? Let’s discuss this.

Different jumpers build their routines in different ways - there isn’t one best approach. So let’s explore a few ways you can approach this creative process. I encourage you to try all of them and see what works for you.

METHOD 1 - CUT & PASTE

This is the simplest method and requires the least work. Put simply, start by learning others’ routines that you like - the more the better. These pieces are how you begin to form your own ‘style’. Once you have enough ‘pieces’ from different combos, try stitching them together into totally new sequences. Some will work, and some will not. As you continue doing this, you’ll build up a ‘back catalogue’ of movements that you like, and you’ll soon find things that flow nicely together. From them there you can develop a style of your own.

So what’s the catch? There are two main limitations to this approach. Firstly, and most obviously, you’re personally limited by others’ creativity. There’s no self-exploration going on. Creativity itself is a skill that should be practised and leaning on this method too much can rob you of your creativity. Secondly, you run the risk of building habits from practising the same mini-combos over and over until you have strong muscle memory for those. And only those. To avoid this, I would encourage you to splice things you learn into as many fragments as possible to keep your creativity tested.

METHOD 2 - MATH IT OUT

Just like math, jump rope has rules. Fundamentally, all the movements in jump ropes can be expressed through a simple set of rules. Understanding these rules is the key to true creativity whereby you’re able to transcend only what you’ve seen of others. However, this method isn’t recommended as your first approach, especially if you’re newer to jumping rope. It can be overwhelmingly hard to visualise at first - and the last thing you’d want to do is take the fun out of jumping.

For those to whom math comes naturally, let’s dig in. All crossing skills can be categorised by where the hands cross. There are three groups:
Front Cross = both hands cross in front of your body (e.g. Cross)
Back Cross = both hands cross behind your body (e.g. EB)
Half Cross = one hand each crosses in front & behind of your body (e.g. TS)

With these categories, we can build some very simple rules which explain how you transition between any two skills regardless of which body part your arm crosses over.
Rule 1 = Open into FC = no swings
Rule 2 = Open or FC into HC = 1 swing
Rule 3 = HC into BC = 1 swing (except Dives)
Rule 4 = Open of FC into BC = 2 swings (or 1 Open)
Rule 5 = FR to FR, HC to HC, or BC to BC = no swings
Rule 6 = BC or HC revert to FR = no swings

If these rules are new to you, take your basic Cross, EB & TS and experiment with these transitions. Follow each rule. Try to break the rules. Only then will you be able to visualise how they work and how they can apply to any skills.

METHOD 3 - SET A BOUNDARY

Want to ramp up your creativity? Give yourself a boundary and see what you do with it. But what does that mean? Here are a couple of ideas to get you started.
“The combo has to be entirely backwards”
“I must keep one behind my back throughout the entire routine”
“I will keep one leg off the ground at all times”
“I must include every type of Ground Cross at some point”

Sometimes, these boundaries can present themselves in more unexpected ways. For example, different ropes lend themselves to different skill types and styles. You could try building a routine with a rope type you don’t often use, or try a style with a rope that doesn’t normally go together to see the effect it has on your creativity.

This method complements Methods 1 & 2 very nicely, and combining methods is the surest way to expand your creativity as much as possible.

METHOD 4 - CHOREOGRAPH

Music can be an excellent creativity tool which offers an entirely different approach to the previous methods. Like dancers, a jumper can express their creativity with which skills and movements they choose based on the ebb and flow of their chosen song. You can use the tempo, instrumentation, melody, rhythm and accents in the music to help you construct your routine. Let’s look at some examples.

Most western pop music is written with a 4:4 time signature. This means there are four beats in every bar. If your song is in 4:4 then you can plan your skills in groups of four or eight. You can use side swings in between every crossing skill very effectively here by creating a “one and two and three and…” back-and-forth flow.

Drums are the rhythmic backbone of most musical genres. You can use the accents and rhythm in the drums of a song to emphasise certain skills and movement patterns in your jump rope routine. 

All songs have a certain speed, or tempo, at which they’re played. Counting the beats which occur across a minute, you’ll jump to the beats per minute of your chosen song. You can elevate your jump rope routine by synchronising the downbeat of the song with the sound of the rope as it strikes the floor in every skill. But why stop there? Double unders, or double time? What about half-time it with a double bounce rhythm?