Can't Get Double Unders

[Julian Venison]

Hi,

I've been doing Crossfit for about 8 months and am enjoying it. My fitness level is increasing and I an enjoying the group dynamic.

Howeve, no matter what I do, I can't do a double-under. My single skipping is OK - I'm not a natural like some of the other people who I see in the gym who've obviously done boxing etc when they were younger but, as I said, I'm OK. But I can't even do one double-under. I've watched all of the videos on the web etc etc but no joy. I've been trying to observe what I'm doing wrong and it seems that when I whip my wrists to move the rope faster, my legs also try to skip faster - thereby preventing the double under happening, although I've tried to follow the guidelines in relation to jumping higher etc that I've seen on various places on the web.

Any thoughts on what I can do to make some progress? This is really starting to bug me now I think this is probably one of the most common issues with novice crossfitters so looking forward to getting some suggestions.

Thanks,
Julian.

[Graeme Moore]

So you can't even get a single double under? Or are you referring to linking them together?

Just doing single unders and throwing in the odd double under is generally the best way to start. Tbh, the vids on main page cover it pretty well and I'm not sure what you could try beyond those. I'd be interested to see what responses you get as I agree this tends to be a common goat.

[Julian Venison]

Just to clarify in relation to Graeme's question in his post ... can't get even a single double-under unfortunately. Will have a look at the vids on the main page again but look forward to getting any other suggestions also.

Thanks,
Julian.

[Bob Butz]

I think most people fail at stringing double-unders together because they practice practice practice at FAILING to string double-unders together.

I know you wrote that you can't even get one double-under. But have you ever tried to go for just one? Or when you go at it do you start with some single skips and start thinking, Okay. Here we go. I'm going for it. Gonna spin the holy heck out of this rope and jump like crazy to get as many as I can...ah, Shinola!

If you can get a single skip, you can get a double-under. Once you get one--just ONE then stop--you'll get a feel for the movement. After that, try working the act of doing single double-unders into every warmup, say three rounds of 10 single/DUs, for at least a week.

Don't worry about how long it takes. And even when they start to feel good, don't be tempted to do more than just those single/DUs. When you can bang off those three rounds of 10 single/DUs without even thinking about it--without failing--pick a day and go for two double-unders in a row and no more.

Then do a week, maybe more, of practicing at succeeding when it comes to stringing two double-unders together...say 3 rounds of 5 double/DU's. Then three double-unders. Then four. Then five. etc.

The biggest things to keep in mind are to set your practice number/volume low, easy, and not taxing so that you don't ever fail. I stuck with never doing more than 30 double-unders total when warming up, no matter if I was doing singles, doubles, triples, etc. Also, never go for more than your goal (singles, doubles, triples, etc) for the week, no matter how tempting.

I have a fused right ankle, so if I can string double-unders truly anybody can. I will say, from experience, that the longer you've practiced at failing them, the longer it will take to undo the damage (so to speak). It took me well over a year--maybe two--of failing at them pretty much constantly before I realized I needed to go back to being able to do just one with control and consistency before I had any business trying to string two together.

[Adam Molnar]

As mentioned above, try to go from singles to 1 double under. When you got it stop-be happy and go for it again.
Do like 5 singles and suddenly strong jump to the air + spin that rope hard-spin has to come from the wrist, not from the shoulder and do not bend the knees to get higher-no need for that the rope is only a few inch.

Most of my warm-up consist 5 min jump rope routine, where I do singles, cross, and try some double unders. With the practice above, now I can do 1 double under, and presently working to link them together.

Patience, practice and you will get them.

Good luck.

[Heath Shumate]

I struggled with rope length/type and timing. At first I was using a slower, thicker rope and could put together a few. The cheap rope eventually broke so I bought a cable rope(Again Faster brand). I honestly had to start over. Speed and timing were all of. Mostly due to rope length. If that smallest amount of length is bouncing off the floor and hitting you on the foot causing you to stop. Then it could be a length issue.

Try to get a rope that hurts the most when it whacks you. I rpomise this will make you better!

[Stu Christensen]

Most people I've seen do singles way too fast....and that makes their double-unders light speed!! Slow your singles down a lot, and then go to double unders jumping at the same slower pace....that might help.

[Tony Sutton]

I agree with the previous posts.

When doing your singles, try to keep your legs straight and jump high! This helps me get use to the height needed for a DU.

Do not bring your knees up or kick your feet back because this is less efficient.

Also, try marking the ground with chalk or some other kind of target and practice landing in the same place.

[Julian Venison]

Thanks to all who took the time to reply. I'm gonna try some of those tips and post back here what worked for me, hopefully it will help somebody in the future.

Thanks again,
Julian.

[Rebecca Roth]

There is a video out there the gives a technique where you just do singles only, but you do a slow speed and alternate a regular jump and a high jump (as high as you possibly can). We did that once or twice a week in the warmup (just 2-3 minutes of it) for about a month, then did it and followed with testing DUs at the end of the month, basically everyone either got their first DU or improved the number of strung together DUs they could do as a result.