Kenzie Christensen – Growing the Next Generation of Jumpers, Transitioning to Collegiate Jumping, and Performing with Flight Crew (#80)

“Everyone has different backgrounds and were raised differently [and] I love that. And then you come into a team, and you just have to figure out how to work together, which I think strengthens everyone individually” – Kenzie Christensen

Kenzie Christensen is a long time competitive jump roper and member of Flight Crew Jump Rope Team

We get into loads of details about growing up in the competitive jump rope world, which was super fun! If you’re not a competitive jumper just a heads up that there will be some specific references, but you’ll still really dig this episode.

We talk about so much in our conversation, including growing up in the sport of jump rope, how Kenzie’s competitive training improved over the years, why speed step isn’t as popular as freestyle, and the growth of jump rope organizations over the last decade or so.

We also get into the jump rope club Kenzie started in College, how that club put on workshops for the local elementary school, the differences between coaching youth competitive jumpers versus adult recreational jumpers, and a whole lot more!

Click here to read the full transcript of this episode.

You can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Overcast, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Selected Links

Just Jumpin Jump Rope Team

Summerwind Skippers

Montana Super Skippers

Utah State Jump Rope Club

National Collegiate Jump Rope Association

Proform Airborne

Flight Crew Jump Rope

Transcript

Click here to read the full transcript of this episode.

Show Notes

01:20 How Kenzie Became A Competitive Jump Roper

03:45 How Kenzie Trained For Competitions

04:41 Why Isn’t Speed Step More Popular?

08:32 The Different Ropes Kenzie’s Used

11:20 How Kenzie’s Competitive Training Progressed

16:25 How Kenzie Started A Jump Rope Club In College

25:48 Kenzie’s Favorite Competition Year

28:14 Competition Routines Vs. Performance Routines

31:03 How Jump Rope Has Impacted Kenzie’s Profession

32:54 Managing Chronic Knee Injury

36:59 How Kenzie’s Jump Rope Goals Have Evolved

39:36 How The Sport Of Jump Rope Has Grown Over The Years

41:38 The Rise Of Adult Recreational Jumpers During The Pandemic

46:09 Coaching Youth Competitive Jumpers Vs. Adult Recreational Jumpers

52:25 What Kenzie Has Learned From Jump Rope

56:49 What Is Jump Rope To You?

58:32 Kenzie’s Favorite Flight Crew Performances

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Here’s each step of this combo: 👉 Swing 👉

Here’s each step of this combo:

👉 Swing
👉 Leg Over Swing
👉 Arm Wrap + Release
👉 Unwrap + Regrab
👉 Swing
👉 Basic Cross

Make sure you keep your hands really close, even as you’re doing all of this wrapping. Keep a smooth, even rhythm without speeding up the rope aggressively. Doing this will prevent handle from flying away from your body haha

And definitely don’t power through this combo with your entire arm. You want to use your wrist to rotate the rope and get that nice, smooth motion for this combo!

#jumprope #skippingrope #athomeworkout #ropeskipping #jumpropetricks

The Split Bound Handstand is where your feet split

The Split Bound Handstand is where your feet split apart (like a front straddle) right before bounding into the handstand position!

Remember: DON’T TRY THIS IF you haven’t already learned how do a Stepping Handstand Pull Through.

If you’re ready to try this, use your front leg to push off the ground to bound into the air.

Once you’re in the air, your back leg swings to rotate you into the handstand position.

This one is intimidating at first, and I would definitely recommend NOT full sending it right away! Take it slowly and only do small bounds into that handstand position at first 👌

#handstands #jumprope #skippingrope #doubleunders #handstand #athomeworkout #ropeskipping #jumpropetricks

This combo is: 👉 Toad Cross 👉 Toad Swing

This combo is:

👉 Toad Cross

👉 Toad Swing

👉 Elephant Cross

For this to work, you MUST use both hands to turn the rope! That might sound a little bit obvious, but it’s really easy to forget to use the hand that’s underneath the Toad leg.

As you go from the Toad Cross into the Toad Swing, use that Toad hand to rotate the rope as you transition into that Elephant position.

Make sure you go slowly so you don’t jump too early for the Elephant. If you wait until the rope comes all the way down to the ground before jumping, it’ll be way easier to do the Elephant Cross!

#jumprope #skippingrope #athomeworkout #ropeskipping #jumpropetricks

The Swing, Swing, Open, Open Quad is a classic ski

The Swing, Swing, Open, Open Quad is a classic skill!

You start this with a Swing, and then use the hand that’s farther away from your body to transition over your other hand to the other side.

Then pull the rope back to an open and finish with one final open rotation!

This one’s definitely tough, but the most important important thing to remember is to make sure your hands are really really efficient at doing that swing transition movement!

Your hands must be able to transition from one side to the other with very minimal movement in order to get this done. You could still complete the skill without efficient movement but it’s going to be a lot harder haha so keep all of these tips in mind as you try the SSOO Quad!

#jumprope #skippingrope #doubleunders #tripleunders #quadrupleunders #athomeworkout #ropeskipping #jumpropetricks

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