@colton112 I would recommend RX Smart Gear ropes http://www.rxsmartgear.com/ropes/. They are super high quality and you can swap out different weighted ropes as you progress. They are a little on the pricey side but it's very high quality and will last a really long time if you take care of it. I used it to help learn my cadence in DU's.
@janeenjoy Rx is great for learning double unders. I managed to find a discontinued (read ugly) handle that was $15 cheaper than all the others, so you might want to click through all the options to there's a similar savings available now. It's especially good if you are one of those people who tends to speed up after a couple of double unders. The weight slows you down and helps build the right rhythm.
For what it's worth, once I gained proficiency, I switched to the rpm and immediately became much better/consistent, but it's way too fast for someone who doesn't have the basics down. I was able to get a Black Friday deal on that one (direct from the company).
@colton112 I bought one earlier this year, they had a 15% off code leading up to / during the CF Open. Maybe wait and see if there's something similar for Black Friday this year?
@colton112 I will say the rope itself is great. I struggled with learning double unders with a speed rope, but have been making much faster progress with the thicker rope.
@colton112 One more for Rx Smart Gear with Buff cable.
After one year of practice with a Rogue SR the best I did was 1 SU - 1 DU sequences.
A couple of weeks after getting the Rx (and some practice of course) I was managing to reach 10-20 unbroken DUs. At this moment I am considering changing the cable.
@colton112 I recommend Rx Smart Gear jump rope with the Buff Cable.
The key is the Buff cable. You need a heavy rope to slow you down in between jumps. The biggest mistake I was making and I see countless others make is swinging the rope at the same speed throughout. It is hard to control the cadence of a super light cable, especially if the handles require you to whip your wrists / forearms to make the rope move.
The Rx Smart Gear handles are comfortable to hold and allow you to gently whip your wrists and make the rope move... but you have a lot more control in my opinion... you can slow down and speed up easy and dial in the right cadence.
I got the Buff cable and then have bought thinner and thinner cables over time as my technique improved. I just bought the uncoated metal cable to replace my Ultra cable. I just managed to rip off 100 unbroken at the beginning and end of a workout for the Team Series at my gym. This is about 2 yrs after being unable to do one DU with the speed ropes my gym has.
@britebore I'm keen to pick up one of these but not sure what length of rope I should by, are there any good guide for this in regards to jumping for double unders?
@dawn16 Yes, check out the Rx Smart Gear website. The have a sizing guide that is helpful. I would take the time to look at where you hold the rope in a mirror to see how far you spread your hands for your body and adjust your length accordingly. It does you no good to get a rope to long or too short and it take some trial and error. I ended up changing my rope length each time I bought a new thinner rope and my technique improved.
@colton112 I got this RX Smart Gear knock-off and it is great. Has 2 cables, a speed and a "heavy" (not sure of the exact spec on either), but the heavy has been great for helping me progress with double unders.
@colton112 I am in the same boat and just got the Elite Srs surge 2.0 kit. It is a speed rope but it comes with different cables so you can start with a heavier cable and slowly work your way to a true speed rope. It was 50 bucks but I looked at it as cheaper than getting a beginner rope then a speed rope down the road.
@colton112 I don't see people mentioning Crossropes here very often, but they were the key to me learning double unders and many other jump rope skills extremely quickly. They don't sell the specific set that I bought anymore, but their starter set with a couple different weight cables that are QUICKLY interchangable with one set of handles is awesome. I still use it every few days just for fun.
The set I have came with a 3 oz cable, a 9 oz cable and a 19 oz cable. By playing around with these during a practice session, you will develop an much better awareness of rope speed and control. If you do end up going with a set like this, let me know and I can help you with some programs/practice drills that really worked for me.
I especially liked the style of these handles because they way the cables attach allows them to still move very freely in all directions, which is advantageous when working on more interesting skipping techniques like side swings, crossovers and all that good stuff. The RPM, RX, Rogue and other typical "speed ropes" aren't meant for that kind of work and are much easier to get tangled when playing.
