"Arthur eventually learned to fly, basically by falling and then forgetting to hit the ground. The thing about flying is not to realise that it is, in fact, impossible, or then gravity will suddenly notice you again and take exception to being ignored."
I found this quote by Googling "Arthur Dent" and "flying," although I couldn't quickly locate the actual passage from the Hitchhiker's Guide books. But the upshot is that the schlubby Earthling learns to fly, but anytime he thinks, "Hey, wow, I'm flying!" he falls to the ground. This is how it is with me and jumping rope right now. I start in and do 20 jumps just like zing! and it feels great, and I think, "Cool, I'm jumping!" and then I trip. I restart and can't do more than 3 in a row. It's hard to consciously LET GO and RELAX about something you're trying to LET GO of. I'm just mildly annoyed at this point but I restart and restart and restart and eventually get all my jumps done.
I would love to learn how to make it smoother, though. Anybody got some form/technique tips to share?
Rock on!
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Hmmmm...jumping form/techniques. Let me think. I notice I trip more as I get tired and if I think too much about it. My strategy is to pick a point, focus on it and zone. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but that's my suggestion.
ReplyDeleteReally, I think it's going to get easier with practice. No doubt. Letting go also gets easier with practice, but damn!, it IS hard.
Your brain is wiring all these new muscles together, everytime you have a jumprope session your upgrading to the newest fastest OS. Just keep going!
ReplyDeleteAw geez, I know what you mean! The first couple of days I pretty much had it down pat. Last couple of days I keep tripping and it really shits me! I think Im not lifting my feet high enough - this may be due to some soreness I guess. But yep, It will get easier with practice!
ReplyDeleteI do what jenny does. pick a point, completely zone out, focus on the counting. STOP THINKING ABOUT IT! haha.
ReplyDeleteI feel like i'm lucky because i had practice with jump rope coming into this but I remember hen i first got one last year....the frusteration...was rather large....
The gravity suddenly noticing you again thing is definitely also true with yoga; I can stand around quite happily on one leg with the other in half-lotus UNTIL I think "oh hey, this is going great!" and THEN I immediately fall over. Just a fact of life, I guess -- finding that perfect balance between mindfulness and "letting go."
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go against the grain here and say, DO think about what you're doing.
ReplyDeleteNotice how far your hands are from your body, try to maintain the wrist turn, not the whole arm turn, think about how you pick up your feet (if you think about flexing your feet, you may be lifting them just a bit higher so they don't catch the rope) and how close/far your feet are from each other.
Usually when I'm not jumping well, I've got to adjust one of these things to get back into the rhythm.
But mostly just keep jumping!