A lifetime ago (early 1970s), we used to jump rope for five minutes as the warmup at basketball practice. Coach Lane was ahead of his time.
1. Outstanding players have combinations of elite athleticism, elite size, and elite skill. Players can improve their athleticism and conditioning by jumping rope.
"Jumping rope showed objective improvement in motor ability in preadolescent soccer players versus control subjects. Children allocated in the EG, received a jump rope training program at the beginning of the soccer training session for a period of 15 min, two days a week. The entire intervention program involved 8 weeks’ in-season from the beginning of October until the end of November (see Table 1). Prior to training, participants were instructed to warm up with general running exercises and dynamic stretching for ten minutes. During the jumping rope training, all the repetitions were guided by metronome rates of 120 rotations per min to ensure equal exercise intensity among children. The Jumping rope intervention consisted of 5 exercises performed with the following order: basic bounce step, double basic bounce step, alternate foot step, scissors step, and double under."
2. Jumping rope improves balance, conditioning, coordination, power, and strength. It's not the best training for vertical jump, but it helps.
3. Jumping rope burns 10-16 calories per minute. A ten-minute workout daily could potentially reduce about 15 pounds in a year.
4. Jumping rope offers variety. Pick out a few techniques that appeal to you.
5. There are inconsistent data on jumping rope and speed. On balance, the data trend toward improvement. I'm a believer. Rope jumping can increase vertical leap. Researchers have shown gains in maximal oxygen consumption, the purest measurement of cardiovascular fitness, in pre-adolescent males who trained with jump ropes.
How long should you jump? It depends on your purpose. For modest gains, modest amounts 5-10 minutes per day as part of a workout can suffice. If you want bigger gains, then 20-30 minutes per day are needed.
Bottom line: Jumping rope is fun, improves balance, coordination, and conditioning, and can be a part of plyometric, strength, and stamina training. Find a regimen that works for you (e.g. 10 minutes of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, or something more if we can build up to it).
Lagniappe:
Something different, staggered screen into wing ballscreen.Highlighted this play a few weeks ago in Basketball Bits. The timing of this SLOB set is vital; the screener needs to arrive just as the Iverson cutter receives the pass https://t.co/eEgzmxpdaO pic.twitter.com/yJ8sepQARq— NBA Rundown (@NBA_rundown) March 6, 2018
