How to learn jump rope trick names?

The world of freestyle jump rope is vast and can be confusing at first. There are many tricks to learn and new terms and names to remember. But, amongst all this new language there are few consistent patterns to be uncovered.

Skills are traditionally named after or by the jumper who first landed, invented or popularised them. This is why a lot of the foundational skills, such as the EB, are simply just the initials of that person. In this case, the EB is named after Edith Berry. Skills can be named in a few other ways, so here are some examples.

Some skills, such as the Money Maker, are named by the jumper as a right of honour. In this case, the honour went to Nick Woodard for landing the Money Maker first in 2006 on a $100 bet.

Some skills, such as the EB Toad, are "compounds" of two other skills. Each hand placement is borrowed from another skill, in this case, the EB (hand crossing behind the back) and the Toad (hand crossing under the opposite leg), which together form a third unique skill.

Some skills, such as multiple unders, will have contracted names. For a skill such as Swing Cross Open Cross quadruple under, the skill may be more easily written as SCOC, so that it is not confused with the four single under sequence Swing, Cross, Open, Cross.

Some skills, such as the Toad Wrap Release, will have many steps from start to finish. These skills are written chronologically so they are easier to follow and understand. In this case, the jumper performs a Toad, then jumps a second time to wrap their leg, and then finally unwraps immediately into a Mic Release.

Some skills, such as the EB Wrap 180 quadruple under, are so longwinded to name conventionally that, due to their popularity, they adopt their own name. In this case, this skill is called a Hummingbird.

In the history of the sport, a lot of skills (both foundational and high-level) have been conceptualised in different parts of the world at the same time independently of each other. Before the internet and social media connected us all, these localised names would stick around. The classic example is the foundational leg cross, Crougar, invented by Carla Crougar circa 1977-1978, which also goes by the name of Leg Over.

As the world of jump rope has become more connected, it has become increasingly important that the way we communicate skills remains clear and un-confusing for newcomers to the sport. This shouldn’t however, be at the expense of the culture.

In all the resources on this website, skill names have been provided with a focus on consistency as well as respect for the sport’s culture. Some skill names and naming conventions have been adapted for the sake of clarity.