5 Tips To Improve YOUR Double Under

Double Under for many people can be...Frustrating, to say the least, but there are some simple tips that I can teach you to help improve this skill from infuriating to fascinating!

Tip 1: Positioning

People have good intentions, but as soon as the double unders begin, their arms flare out, and they end up burning out. Of course, this is not ideal if we are looking at building VOLUME in our double unders, focus on;

- Keeping the elbows tucked in

- Generate momentum with the wrists/forearms, NOT the shoulders

- As you become more fatigued, be mindful to not let the arms flare out.

Tip 2: Rope Length

I've been doing CrossFit for 8 years, I've been a CrossFit Coach for 3 & 1/2 of them, and the number of people I find who buy $120+ ropes, expecting different results. That's the definition of insanity.

Rope length, however, is super important when it comes to having the correct rope for you. Of course, everyone has differing limb sizes & lengths, but this is a good rough guide to size your ropes

- My rope since 2013: https://www.thewodlife.com.au/collections/speed-jump-ropes/products/the-wod-life-ultra-speed-jump-rope-2-0?nosto_source=cmp&nosto=6105f7800e335f274ebe54d0

Reference 1# Reference #1 Reference #2

Reference #1

- Make sure the rope handles are in line (roughly) with your armpits, this will allow the rope to be long enough to pass over your head & under your feet without whipping you.

Reference #2

- Step on the rope with one foot, taking all the slack out of the speed rope to enable correct height. Just like mentioned, we do this to measure the length of the rope correctly, as to not step on the rope as it passes through our feet.

Tip 3: Technique

To be successful in any movement, ever - You need to be able to display good technique. 10,000 hours is required for skill mastery, you are just required to start with a few hours a week.

The most common error when it comes to double unders are;

- Jumping way too high

Don't compensate for a lack of power generated through your arms, jumping ridiculously high, will fatigue you very quickly & increase your room for error.

- Rabbit Hop

Jumping exclusively off the balls of your feet will allow you to maintain the correct height, reduce fatigue & maintain a consistent rhythm.

Tip 4: Timing

A majorly overlooked component to double unders, timing is essential to predict the flow of your rope. This is a tip that I can give, but cannot teach, as each person develops their own way to time their double unders, a good practice is the penguin drill;

- The penguin drill imitates a double under, without the hassle of the rope slapping you around. It begins with you jumping into the air, feet together, off the balls of your feet.

- Using your hands, keeping your arms locked into your body, clap your body twice as to imitate the rope going around, then return to the starting position.

Perform:

3 x 10 Penguin drills prior to commencing double unders.

Tip 5: Increased Capacity

Now that you have the fundamentals, we need to develop the capacity at which we can double under. It's all well and good to be able to string together 10 but try doing it after a 400-meter run, or after performing 21 toes 2 bar.

By increasing your capacity, we can improve the overall consistency of our double unders, and when the time comes for those double under heavy workouts, we have the ability to perform good quality repetitions without failure.

We can test capacity in many ways;

"The Triple 3"

3KM Row

300 Double Unders

3 Mile Run

However, this is just far too long and requires a rower.

We could do a classic benchmark;

"Annie"

50-40-30-20-10

Double Unders

Sit-ups

But let's be honest, this is mostly a sit-up workout, once you can string together those double unders.

So let's find a true capacity, like a 1-mile run, we are only looking at testing our ability to:

Double Under!

"The Double Under Bench Mark"

3 Minutes Max Double Unders

Record:

To get an idea of how you compare to others, here are some guidelines to follow, this will help track what level athlete your double unders are at;

Beginner: 1-50

Intermediate: 50-150

Advanced: 150-250

Elite Male: 324

Elite Female: 299

See what category you fall in, if you are still struggling to hit the first couple, at least your improvement will look epic, however, if you are a seasoned athlete, let's try to break those staple numbers of 324/299

Want to get started on a double under a program designed to get results?

Click the link down below.

Check out my YouTube video;