The is not your sister's jump rope performance

September 30, 2009 2:18 PM

The Kings Firecrackers performance at a Naval Academy basketball game.When we jumped roped in high school basketball practice I was happy to get through the 60 seconds without falling on my butt. 4th to 8th graders doing this with jump ropes is almost beyond comprehension. 8 minute video - and worth every second of it.
posted by COD (26 comments total)

I could do that. I just don't want to.
posted by Joe Beese at 2:25 PM on September 30, 2009

Beat that, internet skipping fans.
posted by imperium at 2:30 PM on September 30, 2009

Wow, that was pretty damn impressive. I remember playing games as a little girl that involved increasingly difficult jumps and spins, but nothing like that. Who the hell choreographed that thing?!!
posted by msali at 2:33 PM on September 30, 2009

That was pretty cool.

What's with all the waving?
posted by ODiV at 2:36 PM on September 30, 2009

all what waving? All I noticed was some incredible coordination. the powers-of-2 group jump 2/3 of the way through was my favourite part.
posted by Fraxas at 2:39 PM on September 30, 2009

Who the hell choreographed that thing?!!

"The Firecrackers are a performance jump rope team made up of talented 4th-8th graders from the Kings Local School District in Ohio. Coached by Lynn Kelley, they perform at venues across the country."
posted by brokkr at 2:41 PM on September 30, 2009

The fact that these are normal kids from one school district in Ohio makes it even more impressive. If I had had that kind of drive and dedication in elementary school the baseball career may have panned out for me :)
posted by COD at 2:44 PM on September 30, 2009

All right, that was just crazy good.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:44 PM on September 30, 2009

Cool! My niece does this, but I've never gotten to see her compete.

When I was in elementary school the girls split into two groups at recess...the "good girls" who jumped rope and played four-square and the "tomboys" who played touch football and tag with the boys.

To this day I still can't jump rope...
posted by JoanArkham at 2:47 PM on September 30, 2009

Ow, they were jumping rope on their knees. Hurts just thinking about it.
posted by doctor_negative at 2:51 PM on September 30, 2009

They're doing it wrong. I've jumped rope before and it looked nothing like that! Those poor girls.

Perhaps these particular jump ropes didn't come with instructions, or something.
posted by Atom Eyes at 2:58 PM on September 30, 2009

I'd say 75% of the individual tricks are things we learned to do in my elementary school, but taken to an extreme level of precision and choreography. Some of it though, was just unbelievable.

I think the best thing about this video, though, is actually the reactions of the crowd. They start out with a few vocal supporters and a lot of 'I'm too cool for this' looks on the faces of cadets. By the end of it, everyone is on their feet.
posted by jacquilynne at 2:59 PM on September 30, 2009 [1 favorite]

Man, those middies lost their shit by the end of the performance. I was inspired.
posted by taumeson at 3:03 PM on September 30, 2009

What jaquilynne said.

I tried out for my elementary school jump rope team. My lame routine was punctuated with the finale of me using the handles of the rope in an air drum solo. I didn't make the cut.

My friend, Chris, could do over 300 triple-unders in a row. He could easily have done more, but we got tired of counting.

Did anyone else here participate in Jump Rope for Heart? I raised like $78 jumping my ass off in the gym, and it was the first time in my life that I experienced muscle soreness the next day from a physical activity. The coolest part about it was that our school would hire The Green Machine, a mobile DJ outfit that would come in with enormous speakers, and they'd boom Van Halen's Jump at us while we jumped in shifts.

A few years later, in middle school, I'd headbang to Blackened and One, and wake up the next morning not being able to lift my head off the pillow because my neck would be so sore. Damn, those big Klipschhorns would make you move.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 3:23 PM on September 30, 2009

(what jaquiynne said about the crowd eventually losing their shit)
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 3:24 PM on September 30, 2009

Totally awesome. But as others said, the best part was seeing the crowd so incredibly into it.
posted by dfan at 3:44 PM on September 30, 2009

The amazing thing to me is that this was, apparently, some sort of pre-show or half-time entertainment for a game of basketball. And that there's probably no other way that that many people would have turned out to see it.

It's just the way athletics are structured, I guess, but what must it be like to be that damn good at something so cool-looking, but play second-fiddle to a bunch of athletes that are duplicated pretty much exactly at every school in the country?
posted by gurple at 3:52 PM on September 30, 2009 [2 favorites]

These kids' routine is even more impressive live. If I remember correctly, this particular performance was better than the game. (Sorry, Navy basketball.)

You would not catch me attempting any of it without wearing motorcycle leathers. I can just imagine them coming home from practice covered in welts. Of course, they're probably not as clumsy as I am.
posted by haltingproblemsolved at 3:52 PM on September 30, 2009

These kids start their performance at a level of physical prowess I can only dream of possessing... but by the end, I pretty much expected them to burst out of their corporeal forms and transform into beings of pure light, because what the fuck is even going on? They're jumping rope without using their limbs? Even the bear in the audience was flipping out, and you know he has to have seen some shit. He's a bear.
posted by synaesthetichaze at 4:03 PM on September 30, 2009 [23 favorites]

This reminds me of the troupe that would perform at my elementary school to get us excited for the Jump Rope for Heart thing every year. I think they were called the Skip Its, and this would have been around 1983.
posted by marble at 4:31 PM on September 30, 2009

There is no way I'm watching 8 minutes of ...

... holy shit, is that even physically possible? You can't skip rope when lying on your stomach!

(Amazing stuff)
posted by math at 4:51 PM on September 30, 2009

If I was on the basketball team, I don't think I would have the nerve to come back out of the locker room.
posted by Daddy-O at 7:39 PM on September 30, 2009 [3 favorites]

Yeah but can they do this?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 8:06 PM on September 30, 2009

Yip Suet Bun
posted by tellurian at 9:24 PM on September 30, 2009

Holy cow, that was awesome. I loved how genuinely excited all the girls were.
posted by marginaliana at 6:57 AM on October 1, 2009

Un.Fucking.Believable.
posted by Ber at 7:11 AM on October 1, 2009