I can skip easily enough but I was just wondering about rythm and footwork. I skip twice or three times on the same foot and switch. Should I change it to once on each foot or perhaps two foot jump? Would anyone say it's important? Also what about skipping backwards?
Its a bit like shadowboxing....the way you do it is up to you. I tend to go L-R-L-L-R-L-R-R as my "standard" hop rhythm but will double foot, sprint and shuffle step as I improvise
I used to skip slightly in stance and try and move around. Obviously pivoting and such is out of the question, but moving lateral and forward and backwards was fine. Had no set rhythm on how i went from one foot to the other. As i got better i started crossing the rope and swinging it side to side, not to show off more to keep it interesting as it became boring. But the other stuff like doubling up and running was pretty normal as well to help get a sweat on.
You must have a set rythm though, that's the point. Claiming you don't have a set rythm means you could be going 1-1-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-1-2-2-2-1-1-2-2-2-12-12-1-2-12-2-1-12 Where 1 is the left and 2 is the right and 12 is both. That is not a rythm. You must have a rythm.
Smoothness and control -- which I suppose is a way of saying "rhythm" but is more meaningful to my ear. And being light on your feet. Those are more important than the specific pattern.
I go L R L R... but as I get into a rythm, it kinda becomes L L R R etc...but it'll also be like the hokeypokey with the foot going in, then sticking out. I'm not very good though, I tend last like 3mins on average. Chatting with this guy at a Comicon... http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0641172/?ref_=tt_cl_t7 He told me to try and keep skipping non stop for 20mins , then 30mins non stop. Idea being, if you can skip that long, you can fight that long.
Think tangents within a framework, when it comes to how one ought to go about how to view rhythm/footwork. The thing with boxing footwork - its not about the conditioning* of the legs so much as it is about the coordination between the two legs, between the legs and the hands, the legs, hands and head and between what you want them to do, separately and combined, and what they actually are doing Nothing comes as close as skip roping when it comes to trying to duplicate that synergy required in the ring nor simulates the pace of movement quite as well. You do need to develop rhythm but you don't want your rope skipping to ever become stale or monotonous anymore than you'd want your footwork to become so. Constantly changing, yet being able to keep your own rhythm within those changes - think about the implications in being able to time your opponent, the implications in mis-timing them as well as the ramifications of being able to develop a rhythm between your two feet, suddenly switch your timing belt, feint to a certain direction, all the while there's a subtle, unseen weight-shift - which is now at the ready - that's been occurring during your timing switch... Its simplistic, I know, but IMHO, the more adept one is at rope skipping the more fluid, quick and reliable (which seems to go right after head movement abandons you) will be your footwork. Yeah. Single legged hops X 1, 2, 3 each leg...take that and develop a shuffle-shuffle/bounce with it (easier said than done ) Front to back, side to side, cross-crosses, side-swings, double-unders. Any and all that you can do. Then some more. I suck at skipping. But I used to suck a lot more at boxing till I began sucking a little less at skipping. They seem to go hand in hand, no gettin 'round it. Then there's the stamina correlation...another thread. :topic:* Think of conditioning as the "currency" - medium of exchange, without which, nothing would get done
Skipping, for me and as I have been taught, is about breaking rhythm and understanding breaking rhythm and beats and half beats and quarter beats etc. Very important. Also getting my feet as fast as my hands...not slowing my hands as fast as my feet, because when I punch fast I want total body movement and not just arm punching. This involves failing and aiming to fail by going faster once a certain speed has been reached and not by posing and skipping just to look good. At home I have no room to skip so I do fast footwork drills instead.
for fighters i tend to have them do a start off on two feet then hopping off one foot alternating then kickouts which are like kinda running in place then high knees sort of routine but like some have said its really up to you
basic single unders, side-to-sides and X's. Also demo's what he calls "right-left" (I call a shuffle) [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rsK1hYBcfg"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rsK1hYBcfg[/ame] Single legged hop X 2 [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-Gf3j5zAzA"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-Gf3j5zAzA[/ame] High Knees [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQXPl_nxTgo"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQXPl_nxTgo[/ame] Good tutorial on side swings [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i-KcCI3AKA"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i-KcCI3AKA[/ame] Double Unders [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86iCOCtA4Ww"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86iCOCtA4Ww[/ame]
the most important thing about skipping rope to a combat athlete is to improve footwork cardio and to match hand speed to foot speed and improve coordination as long as those are being achieved i see no problems in skipping rope many different ways there is really no wrong way to do it
About the only set rhythm I can think I have is L L R R L L R R but that's usually to start (I just tested it without a rope watching Peppa Pig with a confused one year old looking at me and that's the one rhythm I went for). After that I'll mix it up between L R L R, running on the spot, double unders, skipping on a single leg etc. I can't say I'll do 5 sets of L L R R before I move into something else. If I'm doing double unders I'll do a single jump and go straight into it for instance. It's not something I think about, I generally just daydream or mess around with the rope.
I'm not very good at skipping, I should do more. After a minute or two my lower shins always start hurting and I have soreness for hours..
Are you absorbing the shock of the landing. If you have a look at the skipping thread linked earlier there is a small section regarding the landing. Good shoes and a decent surface also make a difference. Can you get a small jigsaw mat or carpet to skip on?
I just mix it up,it alleviates the boredom a bit/adds a challenge. maybe 20 one leg then 20 the other,or 10 jumps in something similar to a right handed stance then 10 in the left or just alternate each skip. Squats in between,double up,pike jump,cross over,intervals etc the list goes on.
