When I was in korea I continued my taekwondo classes with one of the Korean instructors. He was real big into jump rope, and we all had to get a vinyl jumprope with wooden handles. He had a weighted jumprope, which was like a punishment to have to use. It wasn't just weighted handles- the rope part was weighted. If it hit you when you missed, it HURT.
I have one of the "ropeless jumpropes". It makes a jumprope sound as it turns, and has little weighted oval balls on a short string that you twirl around, which sort of let you know if you aren't making good rotations because they'll hit you in the hand if you aren't. It counts rotations and will make a tone when you've completed the time you set. It's good for doing in the house, when you are doing workout tapes that use a jumprope like cathy smith's boxing workout (really good workout) or the newer biggest winner series of dvds.
vickie