SKILL LESSON · SKILLS · 5 MIN READ
Learn the jump-rope swing–EB–swing–open
Keep the behind-the-back hand for one deliberate side swing after EB, then bring it home for the open exit.
Swing–EB–Swing–Open is the scenic route home. The direct exit leaves EB and goes straight to open; this one keeps the back hand at the station for one extra count, takes a side-swing detour and then rejoins the ordinary lane. The trick is not surviving the detour. It is choosing it before you set off.
The extra swing is a choice, not a rescue
Swing–EB–Swing–Open begins like Swing–EB–Open: a side swing feeds one EB clearance, with one hand in front and the swing-side hand behind the back. The exit then changes. Instead of returning both hands towards their usual sides together, keep the back hand in place and return only the front hand. The hands are now on the same side—one in front, one still behind the back—for one side swing. After that swing, return the back hand and open the rope.
Build the detour after the EB
Make one planted swing exit
- Begin with one familiar Swing–EB entrance and clearance, then land and plant your feet. Keep the hand behind your back where it is.
- Return only the front hand towards its usual side. Pause and identify the arrangement: both hands are working on the same side, but one remains behind the back.
- Turn the rope through one side swing from that split hand position. Keep the feet planted so the extra rope count is the only new job.
- As the side swing finishes, return the behind-the-back hand towards its usual side and catch the rope beneath your toes in an open position.
- Reset and mirror the route. The other hand now takes the behind-the-back job and waits through the extra swing.
I think of the back hand as holding a place in the sentence. If it comes home with the front hand, the sentence ends directly in open. If it stays for one more beat, the side swing has somewhere to happen. This is a timing image, not a rule about one compulsory hand distance or body shape. The open toe catch is the full stop: it shows whether the waiting hand eventually came home.
Add the jumps from the end backwards
Turn the exit into a four-part phrase
- Repeat swing–EB–plant–side swing–open catch on each side. Say ‘wait, swing, home’ after the EB clearance.
- Replace the open toe catch with one open jump, but continue planting during the entrance and exit swings: planted swing, EB clearance, planted swing, open clearance, park.
- Alternate one direct exit and one swing exit from the same side. The comparison should reveal whether the extra count was chosen or merely appeared.
- Add the jump during the exit swing, then park after the open clearance. Keep the entrance swing planted for one more round.
- Finally add the entrance-swing jump. Make one swing–EB–swing–open phrase, stop, then mirror it as a separate attempt.
When the scenic route loses the road
Find the first changed count
- The exit goes directly open: plant after EB and keep the back hand in place while only the front hand returns.
- Both hands remain behind the rhythm: rehearse the planted arrangement and move only the front hand home before making the side swing.
- The side swing happens but open never arrives: finish the planted swing, then isolate the back hand's return into one open toe catch.
- The extra swing becomes two or three: say ‘one swing, home’ and stop at the open catch rather than extending the detour.
- One side works and the other becomes a direct exit: mirror only the planted wait–swing–home sequence before restoring either jump.
Take it back to the rope
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