It is a relatively cheap red plastic rope with black handles at each end and, two weeks ago, the best that Kylee could do was two skips. It’s summer, there is a an up and coming skip rope competition at her school and Kylee wanted to skip.
So, after breakfast (I have been on early morning duties recently), I was asked if she could skip outside. It was painful to watch, I have to tell you, as time after time she managed two skips and then bust.
I may not seem like the best skip rope tutor these days, but skipping is like riding a bicycle. Once you know how to do it, you can always do it, or at the very least remember how to do it.
The first job was to get the right length, and you do that by stepping on the rope and adjusting the length such that it reaches your armpits. In theory this is good but not when the skippers arms are not holding station. Anyway, after a few minutes, we had the rope at the right length.
By the end of the first morning, we had six consecutive jumps. Two weeks later, and after practising every weekday before school, Kylee managed forty eight consecutive skips, followed five minutes later by forty four. Not bad when you consider that her personal target was thirty. In total, she probably managed two hundred jumps in total, and although it wore her out, she made her way to school feeling very pleased with herself and a determination to enter the skip rope competition at school.
Do I think that she will do well? Yes, I do because when Kylee puts in the effort, she can do anything, and Kylee is not the type of personality who likes being at the back.
A tip I gave her is to hold both handles in one hand and rotate the rope at a constant speed, adding jumps every time that the rope hits the ground. This technique helps a great deal with timing, and Kylee adopts it when she is struggling to make more than three skips.
She thinks that I should take on a second job as skip rope tutor to the world..
