skipping safely

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We recommend, as with any new exercise, that skippers consult their doctor before undertaking skipping as described in the pages of this website. If your doctor agrees that skipping would be a suitable activity for you we would then recommend the following;

Warm up
It is essential that anyone attempting any of the tricks described in our website or associated pdfs goes through a warm-up procedure before commencing. Suitable, body-part specific warm up exercises which target relevant muscle groups, and joints must be performed. The key areas are wrist, hip, shoulder, ankle and elbow joints along with leg, chest, back and arm muscles groups. This would be followed by a few minutes of slow, gentle double bouncing with very small jumps, before any skipping tricks are performed. This has the effect not only of making sure you are warmed up properly but provides an opportunity to identify any problem areas before more strenuous activity is undertaken. If any pain or discomfort is felt by the skipper they must stop immediately.

Enjoy your skipping exercises/tricks keeping in mind the following simple points;

1. We recommend that both children and adults get into the habit of tying their ropes around their waist the moment they are given a rope or in any skipping session where there are other skippers or on-lookers. In the case of children (and some adults!) it prevents them from skipping while there are other children or adults too close. A suitable space has to be found before ANY skipping commences.

2. When a mistake is made by a skipper, it is crucial that they step through the rope to get it into the position they need it to be in to start skipping again, rather than swinging it over their head. This applies equally to both backward skipping position and forward skipping position. In other words, if you want the rope behind you (forward skipping position), step over the rope to get it there. If you want the rope in the backward skipping position, step over it to get it there. Anyone standing behind or in front is likely to get hit in the face otherwise. This is particularly important when face to face partner skipping. Think about it...

3. Skippers must bounce on the balls of their feet with legs slightly bent at the knees. Straight legs and/or landing on flat feet or heels will cause greater and unnecessary stress on the skippers body.

Note: It is very rare that skippers suffer any form of even minor injury when skipping and there has yet to be a single case of a serious injury of any kind during skip-hop skipping workshops or a skip-hop skipping workout. Adults especially need to take it a little easier, and even more so if they are out of the habit of doing regular exercise. Skippers should always make the first skip they do a slow, gentle double bounce to enable muscles and joints to be properly warmed.

Warm down
Remember it is just as important to do a full and proper warm down to allow your body to return to a relaxed state gradually and allow your heart rate to return to normal. It is also the perfect opportunity to perform gentle stretching exercises to improve flexibility. Don’t forget, there is no rush. Take as long as you need to warm up and warm down. Take as long as you need to master the skipping moves. You have all the time in the world.

The above safety aspects will be familiar with anyone who has attended the skip-hop skipping workshops or skipping workout.

This material is downloadable in PDF format to all registered users of this site. To download please log in or register here you will then find the file at the bottom of this page.

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