Jump Rope Skills Tutorials for Beginners: High Knees

Learning to do high knees with your jump rope is basically the same skill as the alternating foot skill. The difference is that it requires you to pull your knees up to parallel, which is a lot farther. This requires STAMINA and balance.

Before you can do high knees with a jump rope, you have to be able to do it without the rope. If you have knee or hip problems, this one is higher impact than boxer step or any other skill where you alternate your feet. It uses more core strength because your abs help you to pull your knees up.

If you want to learn the shuffle, this is one of the footwork pieces that goes into the shuffle combination. It’s a fun one and a challenge.

Facts About High Knees Jump Rope

Prerequisites: Before you can do high knees you should master the basic bounce and the alternating foot skills.

Difficulty: This skill is a 3 out of 5 in terms of difficulty. High knees isn’t complicated once you can alternate feet, but because you are raising your knee up to your waist, it’s harder.

Best rope: The best rope to learn this on is the beaded rope. Beaded ropes are not usually as fast as PVC ropes. A slower rope gives you more time to get your knee up high. If you have a Crossrope (1/4 lb or 1/2lb) these ropes spin more slowly because they are heavier, which can make it easier to master new skills.

Tips And Drills For High Knees Jump Rope

Tip: Practice this skill with no rope. Get to a point where you can do 10 alternating knees without the rope before you add a rope in.

Tip: Do one single bounce between each high knee.

Tip: You may get tired of hearing this, but keep your elbows in close to your sides.

Tip: Be sure you are warmed up before you work on this skill. Don’t try it cold.

Drill: Start with 4 basic bounces, then 4 boxer steps and finish with 4 high knees. Then repeat. This one will really get your heart rate pumping.