How To Make Your Side Swings SMOOTH | Jump Rope Beginners Tutorial - Rope Rage 

Rope Rage Smooth as always

Great to hear you got the book - excited for you to start applying the concepts and techniques to your training! That book took A TON of work, so I really appreciate your support. Cheers, - Glen

Hi Daniel thanks for reaching out. It is quite a tricky technique; I just thought I'd put out a tutorial that explains it as detailed as I could, since I know firsthand how much of a struggle it can be to learn! I'm glad this video was helpful for you. All the best with your training, and stay Raging. -Glen.

hey! Apologies for the delayed response here, it's been super hectic here lately. The great thing is that there aren't really any rules for footwork when doing the side swing in isolation. In fact, I'll often teach learners to do the side swing without moving the feet - stood still. This way you get a greater appreciation for the work on the core and on the arms (especially the wrists) But I do know exactly what you mean-using those boxer skips helps you to keep timing, rhythm, etc. There shouldn't actually be a half step in there for what you're doing. So if your swing is like this: left-right-left-right-left-right-single under, there shouldn't be a half step between that last right and the single under. This is because every swing of the rope counts as a revolution, all that changes is where the handles are positioned for the revolution (for the side swing, the handles are together on one side; but for a single under the handles are positioned with one on each side of the body). The issue you're having might be a "trust" thing, in that you don't trust that you can go straight into it without taking that extra half-step, but believe me on this-a lot of techniques become unlocked when you just kind of 'allow' them to happen. Flow with it and let the rope move as usual, then just make sure you open the hands in time for that single under. Key thing here is not to overthink it and just go with it-might fail a couple times but that's natural. Hopefully that helps, keep me posted. Cheers, -Glen

Glen, Thank you so much for taking time to understand my question and respond. I appreciate it!! You’re coaching helped!! I’ve been skipping and following Rushie and the JRDs for almost a year and skipping consistently but the timing of my side swings always felt off half a beat and now it’s fluid. Keep doing the still shots and slow motions and real detailed breakdowns; that’s your niche and super helpful. I want to keep training for the long term.

@@redrockclimber3296 Always a pleasure RedRock, you're more than welcome on the Rope Rage channel! We're just trying to look at jump rope training differently and develop into rope ninjas 😎 Thanks for such a cool comment; as always, I'll be working on putting out more breakdowns as well as the new follow along workouts. There's a SUPER intense workout coming out later today, hope you get a chance to watch it. Thanks again, and all the best with your training. -Glen

Hey Nina, thanks for reaching out! It's great to hear you found this one helpful. I'm glad you've highlighted it because I do quite commonly see hand-switching with this technique, and that was partially the motivation behind making this video. It's one of those things that isn't obvious to a first-time learner, so it's easy (and arguably natural) to let the technique slip while learning. I've been writing a lot of these ideas (such as the lead-hand concept you mentioned) in a training handbook that will be available soon (partly the reason there's been a hiatus from video uploads for a short while!). I'm excited to share a lot more of these insights from training with people and also from experimenting, developing skills (and whipping myself a bit more often than I'd like) for years 🤯 Also I wanted to say apologies for the delayed reply here - things have been very hectic over here recently as we work on a few new projects, so I’m just getting back to responding to comments a little later than usual. Anyway, I hope your training has been progressing well, and I'm glad to have you join us here on the channel! 🚀 Cheers, -Glen

@@RopeRage Dear Glen, thank you so much for taking the time to reply. As I was inspired to buy shoes by your footwear video, I have just left you a comment there, too. The side swing still takes practice, especially jumping in and out. Sometimes it goes quite ok, sometimes it is a mess. :D But your lead-hand concept causes the mess-ups to be much less. I have also tried around with my grip. As my hands are very tiny, it seems that I can swing the rope more tautly when my hands are more directed to the side of the handles where the rope comes out (don't know if one can understand what I mean). If I hold them just at the end of the handles/end of the whole rope, everything is more slack which leads to a mess. I love hearing that someone writes a training book. Not just someone but a professional rope skipper like you! Where will it be published? How will I get to know about it (publishing date, where to buy etc.)? Thanks for this informative channel. My journey has just begun and I think it will take me years to devour all the information you give here. Cheers! :)

Absolutely! There's a video on this channel that I think you'll really like, in that case. It addresses why you feel much more in control of your rope when you have it closer to what I call "the head" of the handle rather than the base. It's called 'Sharing My 2 Top Tips For Developing BLAZING Jump Rope Speed... And It'll Only Take 3 Minutes⚡️💥' And yes, for the side swing entry and exit, it's all timing-and the only way to improve is getting a "feel" for it through practice, and with practice your timing will sharpen 👌🏽 For the book, the manuscript is pretty much done so we're almost there and I can't wait. What I'm doing now is getting together a few illustrators and designers from all over social media who've been following along with Rope Rage for some time. I think it'll be incredible to have contributions in there from people who understand what Rope Rage is all about to make the book have a great visual element to it as well as great info in there too. Everything will be announced here on RU-vid as well as other social media pages such as Instagram, and it'll probably be made available on the website first and foremost (which currently needs revamping before the launch, but it'll be a good idea to subscribe there for updates) So we're working on it, and it'll be worth the wait! 😎 -Glen

@@RopeRage Oh, thanks. I will check out the recommended video soon. I am following on instagram (as nordwolke) and will try to subscribe on the rope rage website for sure. It sounds very exciting!!! I am wishing you a lot of success with the book. Now I am off to practising jumping but see you/your videos (at least) soon. ;)

yeah, definitely. I think it’s great that you've realized the connection between handle positioning and the path the rope travels 👌🏽 I’m actually in the process of wrapping up a training handbook, and one of the focus topics is working on handle positioning and the different styles of rope handling for effectiveness. It’s gonna be a part comic book/part training manual kinda thing and will comprise pretty much everything I have picked up in my experience training, good and bad, and it should be pretty much a guidebook of sorts for the rope training journey 👍🏽 Bit of a long message here but hopefully this handle positioning tip helps out with the leg-whipping issue going forward. Let me know how it goes 🚀 -Glen

have a look on the channel for the Part 2 edition of this topic, think it's called "Side Swings Like A Ninja: Top 3 Transitions" - that looks into what you've mentioned here. Hope that helps out, lemme know how it goes 👍🏽 -Glen

@@RopeRage haha. was just gonna watch that ....

Glad you found this useful; there are other aspects and variations to this technique as well. Videos coming soon...

thanks a lothan

no problem, Tonino! Glad to help out; that's the purpose of this channel 👍🏽 I hope your training has been progressing well 🚀

@@RopeRage It's hard. The rope is fundamental in my training. But I fall every time in following cardio training and I don't practice much to learn the fundamental move. In fact I'm too bound and not too smooth as I want. All advice are accept

@@tigertonys I understand, thanks for sharing. How long have you been training with the rope? One thing I'll say is the smoothness comes with practice, but I know it's hard to practice when it is frustrating. The best thing that worked for me is trying to make the practice SMALL. If you even do 10 minutes a day, do that because believe me-the consistency is what builds the muscle memory to get comfortable. Just doing it consistently and training with a focussed mind will make you get smooth and more relaxed 👍🏽

@@RopeRage I training with the rope from almost half 2017. I meet jump rope and I started to practice it to start to burn calories and doing fitness. But now, I'm near at 40 years old and I'm little bit jealous when I see other people doing a trick and I'm not able. I do a double under and then I continue with basic jump because an other duble under the rope meet my feet, same for criss cross only one the second hit my feet. I want to be smooth, fast and so on. I doing workout 5 days a week sometimes depends of family situations but I want to understand and spend my effort and my little time well

The best thing to do is try to relax as much as possible. In my experience, whenever I get anxious and impatient it just makes me more frustrated and I cannot make progress-REMEMBER! Everybody has their own journey and their own time frame 👌🏽 Maybe it is taking longer than expected because there are other things your body has to learn first. I have some stuff coming very soon that is going to help many people with techniques like double under - have you been able to do the Criss cross video on this channel as well?

"the truth" huh? I like it!

hey Karan, first off i apologize for missing this comment and not getting round to replying until now-things have been very busy lately! Now to your question - I know the technique you're referring to (a friend of mine learned that way also), but I'm not really a fan of it because it makes it difficult to get into a smooth and sharp rhythm with the side swings. If there's one hand on top, it's much more enabling of high speed because you can 'snap' the wrists from left to right. HOWEVER, if your technique works for you and you feel comfortable - GO FOR IT! 👍 just bear in mind that in future if you want to increase the sharpness and also perform other moves (more on that to come on this channel as well...) you might need to adjust slightly. But I think it's great you've found something comfortable for you. Thanks again Karan, appreciate you taking the time here. If there's anything else just shoot me a message-I'll help out where I can. Cheers, -Glen

thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you found it helpful - I have some more similar tutorials coming soon, so keep an eye out!

I recorded the closing thoughts at a different time and on a different device than the video instructions-it's not ideal; in future I'll do better with the sound. Thanks for watching the video, I'm glad it was helpful

Oh nice, glad you liked the tutorials - there’s a bunch more to come 💪🏽 How’s your training going? Hope it’s progressing nicely -Glen

Rope Rage I've got the basics down, criss crosses, double unders and stuff. Trying to get my side swings to look more smooth and learn some more advanced tricks. Usually I just jump rope as part of my workout, but now I'm putting time into actually learning new stuff.

Hey Brandon, apologies for the late response! That's a great question. There isn't a way to do it from the right simply because the hand that "opens up" (i.e., while the other hand stays where it is) has to be on top-and when swinging from the right side, you can't "open up" with the right hand since the right hand is already on that side .The only way to open from the right side would be if you switch your side swing to left-hand dominant (then your left hand will be on top)-at that point you can open from the right side. This is truly a great query though, I'll be doing a video on this very soon when I expand on the side swing topic as mentioned in this video. Thanks again, and all the best with your training. -Glen

Hey Brandon, just following up here. I have just posted a brand new tutorial on side swing transitions, and I answered your question and gave you a mention in the tutorial. Thanks again for contributing to the channel, check the video out when you can! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Cw0TMhl24Rk.html

glad you found it helpful! I hope your side swings are looking super smooth now 😎

haha!

+Derrick Orlando yeah exactly that, the lead hand is always on the outside (but just slightly though, otherwise you will lose the smoothness of the swing) . The following hand is tucked in a little tighter and acts as something of an anchor holding the swing in place, while the lead hand directs the swing left to right. Hope that makes sense, but feel free to let me know if thats unclear.

Hey mate, thanks for reaching out. I know what you mean and have seen this many times. That issue is more down to comfort and timing than anything else. One thing to understand is that those swings are equivalent to jumping normally in a way - it's still just rotating the rope. But we tend to overthink it and make it complicated, with comfort that timing will come and I'm sure you'll see what I mean 👌🏽 Also, apologies for the delayed response-have been occupied working on a few exciting Rope Rage projects (which I'll be sharing soon!) so I’m getting back to responding to messages later than I’d like here. In fact, I’m just wrapping up the upcoming Rope Rage training handbook and have literally just finished writing the section of the book on Timing, so I'll be going into that more later. Hope this helps out for now and your training has improved since posting this comment. Cheers, -Glen

@@RopeRage Thanks so much,and no apologies please when You're taking time to give Me free advice.Really appreciate it and happy holidays!

Hey Melony, thanks for reaching out. I agree that the classic pvc ropes are better, and I actually normally recommend those for people starting out. But definitely need to upgrade to a speed rope if you really wanna fly! I have been using Rx Smart Gear ropes for a couple of years now, and Rope Rage actually has a sponsorship agreement with them, have a look on their website (www.rxsmartgear.com) and you can use the code ROPERAGE18 for a 15% discount on any rope in the Original Rx range. Feel free to let me know if you've got any queries. Cheers, -Glen

Thanks for the answer. I will take a look at the site. I also have an eye on Buddy Lee Aero Speed Jump Rope since its just pvc but I get that you are also abit restricted in your recommendations. Appreciate the channel, you deserve more subs, just happens that this kind of advanced rope skipping is rather niche hobby but therefore more people giving you the looks :D.

Wow, apologies for the delayed response here! It’s been super busy on my end. Well I did actually buy Buddy Lee ropes before “graduating” to Rx ropes. I say that not because I’m an Rx ambassador (in fact, I only started working with Rx because I’ve used a ton of different ropes and found theirs to be the best for me) - but I say that because I believe the metal fibre ropes are the highest end of the spectrum. Whenever I’m teaching anyone their jumprope training, I recommend they use a regular PVC rope to start with, so that they can understand the dimensions of a rope better, then move up to speedier (and more difficult to handle) ropes as their skills advance. I say the basic ropes are like “driving in a learner car” then going up to rapid ropes is like “driving a supercar” 😄 I hope that helps out, but let me know if anything’s unclear - I know this message has been kinda long, ha -Glen

For me its just important that the rope is flexible enough to do crossovers and side swings. You dont seem to have any problem with it but you are also a different league than I am. I know what I get with the pvc. I got a speedrope at home and the if I cross the handles the bottom of the rope doesnt even follow up. If the rx has a more flexible one I would get it. Thanks for the response

Yeah, I hear you. Well above all I'd say work with what's comfortable for you. I do remember using speed ropes in the past that weren't really suited to me, but the Rx took some adjusting to. I actually still have my buddy lee and regular PVC ropes and switch them up from time to time but I just can't use any other rope for my particular training style. As I say, above all work with what's comfortable for you. Use PVC if you feel it's helping you get the most from your practice. That's the main thing.

Hey Rudy, welcome to the channel 😎 Glad you found the vid useful. With smoothness you’ve just gotta keep getting those reps in - repetition is the mother of mastery. I’d suggest training in front of a mirror to self-assess (or record yourself on camera) if you can. Above all, it’s important to RELAX. Being tense is understandable when first starting out, but try to build familiarity over time and loosen up - the smoothness will come. Hopefully that helps, but any further questions with your training, feel free to just shoot 👍🏽 -Glen

This is the Rx Smart Gear rope from the Original Rx range - it’s called the buff cable

yeah that's definitely high on my list-actually about to put out a post on my Spotify playlist real soon. I'll post about that on Instagram first so check out that account if/when you can. Thanks

Rope Rage what's your ig?

@rope_rage

Thanks a lot dagadm, really appreciate your message. I’ve worked really hard for years on developing my techniques, but I’m now applying more of that energy to video production - so get ready for some dope stuff 😎 Hopefully the Rope Rage community will grow accordingly 💪🏽 Thanks for the support, how is your training going?

@@RopeRage slowly but surely. My technique is crap though. I think it's time for a rope upgrade because I have to use a lot of wrist to make the rope spin. I got the "money rope", of that British guy channel as my first rope. I'm guessing my technique must be bad because my rope when skipping doesn't look uniform (like the parabola of the rope isn't constant like yours it wabbles a bit.

Ok I hear you. So the money rope will require more wrist action because it’s a pvc rope that doesnt have swivel bearings on the handles. It’s a very good rope to start learning with in my opinion, but speed isn’t as high as a rope with swivels on the handle - maybe that rope will be better suited to you; so try it out 👍🏽 Having said that, if you have pain in the wrist after training that could also be down to your technique. Gripping the handle too tightly can cause strain on the wrists as you rotate. Let me know how you get on, -Glen

hey Devi - you've gotta keep going! Soon enough you will see that the "what's wrong with me" changes and you realize it is all part of the journey. You have to fail to learn how to win. One tip I would say is slow down, as much as you can. Keep using the videos to help you. If you can get the criss cross, you will definitely get the side swing. I know that 100%👍 Let me know how it goes, I can't wait for you to come back and say "I can do the criss cross AND side swing easily" 😎 -Glen

Thank you... will keep trying 🙏🏻