Double unders are either your favorite movement or least favorite movement, what side of the coin are you on? This can be such a frustrating thing, because it seems like such a simple movement and yet its very complicated if you are struggling with them. The double under requires a lot of coordination as well as some plyometric skill. Spinning your wrist fast plus trying to jump is similar to rubbing your belly and patting your head. Here is a guide on some common mistakes and how to start progressing to get your double unders down and bump up the intensity of your WODS.
The first thing is your elbow and wrist position. Your shoulders are strong but slow and your wrist are weak but fast. The jump rope weighs only 2 to 3 ounces so we need speed not strength. Keep the elbows in and initiate the movement with your wrist and forearms.
If the arms are left straight and the elbows are away from the body, you are using too much shoulders and it makes the movements slower. This also shortens the rope and causes you to trip up on your feet.
The next thing is being able to jump high enough to clear room for the rope to pass through twice while maintaining a constant bounce. Think of a lacrosse ball, when it hits the ground it bounces right back up, there is no pause on the ground. This is how your jump should be during double unders.
At first you may have to do a pike movement (feet in front) or break at the knees (feet behind) in order to clear enough room. This is ok especially if this is the only way you are able to do them. They are not the most efficient way, but it gets the job done none the less. These would look like this.
No matter how good of a coach you have, double unders are all about practice. I recommend 5-10 minutes a day of practice in order to get these down. Make sure you have your own rope, https://youtu.be/xBE5wt6G0ww, click this link to learn how to properly size your rope. Here is a progression I like to do every day. It only takes 1 minute to do the progression and then you can work up to doing 5-10 minutes of practice.
:15 single unders (work on good elbow and wrist position as mentioned above)
:15 high single unders (work on jumping high enough while rebounding off the ground with no pause)
:15 2 single unders + 1 double unders (work on your timing and feel)
:15 Double under practice (work on stringing 2-5 together)
For the ninjas out there, we can work on being more efficient when we do double unders. Here are 3 tips for improving your double unders once you get there.
1-Breathe! If you are holding your breath during these, it will make stringing a lot together very difficult. Every 2-3 reps should be a breath.
2-Squeeze your butt at the top and point your toes-This is how we get to full hip extension and translates well to other movements.
3-Relax the shoulders-Try and keep the shoulder activation to a minimum and stay relaxed.
Send me some double under videos for any tips I can give you.
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