Jump rope recommendations

Howdy....I'm looking to buy a good jump rope so I can add a bit of skipping to my cardio routine. I was poking around online and am astonished by the variety AND opinions about quality. SO I thought I'd cut to the chase and ask the TE crowd! :) I see that the Buddy Lee line is supposedly the "best" but is pricey too ($28 to $40). I don't mind paying that IF it's realllllly worth the price. Happy to buy another brand if it comes highly recommended here.

I'm 5'3", 115 lbs, and have very small hands, so ideally the handles shouldn't be too big. Also, the less wrist/hand motion the better, 'cause I have "issues" with my laptop-weary wrists. Thoughts from you experts? Anybody have a rope they swear by? Thanks!

Hey Kathi,

I own three jumpropes:

a regular gymnastics rope - a thick woven cord without handles (15$)
a cheap plastic rope (like the ones pictured here http://www.skip-hop.co.uk/skipping-rope-c27.html) (7$)
a cable speedrope with weighted handles (30$)

It depends on what you want to do with your rope.
The gymnastics rope is very slow. Its great for learning to skip. It doesn't hurt if you step into the rope by accident. Becasue it has no handles, it tends to tangle after a while.

The plastic rope is quick but light. It doesn't hurt very much if you miss a step. If used on concrete it will wear after a while. It's not a high quality rope but it's cheap and does the trick if you just want to skip for fitness.

The speed rope is the fastest rope, because the cable is quite heavy. Because of that it really hurts if you miss a step - you can even break your toe so skipping without shoes is not recommended. The weighted handles add a bit of workout for your arms.
Some tricks are hard to do with this rope because of the way the cable is attached to the handles - bringing the handles together will cause the rope to tangle.


Personally I like the cheap plastic rope the best because it's quite easy to do tricks with it and I can use it for a quick warmup without shoes.
Ropes that are attached to the handles with a bearing in a 90° angle rotate quicker and easier but are more diffcult to handle if you want to do tricks.
One last thing: the rope has to be long enough - mine reach my armpits on both sides if I stand on them with one foot. Better too long than too short, you can always shorten it.

Kathi,

For ski conditioning, I'm adding rope jumping to my workouts. I bought my rope a long time ago at a fitness store and there is no brand name. From the description I think it's a speed rope. It is easy to use and the handles fit my small hands well. It rotates fast enough for interval training. The handles spin so they may have ball bearings in them. I remember removing one end of a handle to adjust the length. There were instructions on adjusting the rope to the correct length.

I haven't jumped for a long time and was looking for beginner training programs to get started and found this website.

http://www.healthylifetoolkit.com/ty...ump-ropes.html

From the descriptions on this link, unless you're a beginner, I'd think you'd want either a speed rope or Buddy Lee rope.

Thanks, Susan and Kathi! Just the kind of input I was looking for. I'm definitely a beginner but figure it's worth buying a decent rope that's a pleasure, not pain, to use. :)

From the lik Kathi posted, the cheap plastic rope I was referring to is the "Licorice PVC Rope". It's so cheap that you can't really go wrong with it and will give you the same workout as more expensive ropes.

The Buddy Lee rope looks fine too. I haven't tried it, but the way the handles are attached to the rope looks fine for tricks. Generally for a beginner there is no need to achieve maximum speed.

Here's another thought on what rope to buy.

A novice should purchase a beaded rope that can be adjusted. The extra weight of the beaded rope provides more feedback for beginners. As proficiency with jumping rope increases, move to a lighter rope, which forces improvements in technique and allows the rope to be turned with greater speed.

http://graycookmovement.com/?p=406

More great info, thanks! I wondered about the "beaded" factor that pops up in some jump rope descriptions.

I think I'll make a trip to a local sporting goods store and see if they have a variety on hand so I can compare types. :)