Freestyle jumpers pick a rope on handle length, cable weight and grip, in that order. Spin speed comes last, because a trick rope has to be readable in the air rather than fast. In practice that means longer handles than a standard rope, a cable heavy enough to hold its arc through a cross, and handles that survive being smashed into the floor.
By Geraldo Alken, founder and CEO of Elevate Rope. Published 24 August 2026.
Handle length is the first decision
A standard jump rope handle is around 13cm. Our Elevation MAX Long Handle runs 20cm. That extra 7cm changes the geometry of every trick where your hands cross, swing to the side, or release.
Two reasons. Longer handles put the pivot point further from your hand, so a small wrist movement travels a bigger arc. And in a cross, the handle itself gives you reach, which means you can open the rope wider without your arms having to do the work.
The trade is real and worth saying out loud. Longer handles reduce how much of the cable you feel. If you are still learning to keep a rhythm, that is the wrong direction. Long handles are for people who already have the rhythm and now want range.
Cable weight decides whether a trick is readable
A trick rope has to tell you where it is when you cannot see it. That is the whole problem freestyle presents that plain skipping does not: half the time the rope is behind your back or coming around your body at an angle you have no eyes on.
Two ways to solve that. Beads, or cable weight.
- Beads. The 2.5cm beads on a Dignity Beaded Rope catch air and hold the shape of the arc, and they click when they touch the floor. You hear and feel the rope's position without seeing it. Our beads sit on 3.5mm polycord rather than the 3mm that is standard, which is there to stop the rope folding mid swing.
- Cable weight. On the long handle rope we run 4mm PVC, thinner than the 5mm on a speed rope. That reads as faster, which is what you want once tricks are chained together and the rope is passing constantly.
Customers who came to a beaded rope from a steel cable have told us the cable did not hold its shape as well when swinging. That is exactly the property freestyle needs and the one a thin wire gives up.
Why bearings are not the answer here
You would think a trick rope wants the freest spin possible. It does not. A bearing lets the cable keep turning faster than your hands are moving, which is precisely the thing that makes a rope unreadable at the moment you need to know where it is.
We build every handle without bearings for that reason. The full argument is in bearing vs bearing-free jump ropes. For freestyle specifically it comes down to one thing: in a cross, a release, or a side swing, you want the rope to be exactly where your hands say it is.
Handles get smashed, so build for it
Freestyle sessions involve dropping the rope, catching it wrong, and hitting the ground with the handles. That is not abuse, it is Tuesday. We build handles light enough to stay balanced and tough enough to take those impacts, and we warranty them for life because we would rather argue about design than about breakage.
What to actually buy, by stage
| Where you are | Rope | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Learning crosses and side swings | Beaded, 13cm handles | Maximum feedback while your hands learn the pattern |
| Chaining tricks, working on releases | Long handle, 20cm | Reach and range, faster 4mm cable |
| Building the base first | Speed Rope MAX | 5mm PVC over nylon core, balanced for general work |
Plenty of freestyle jumpers own more than one and switch depending on what they are drilling. That is not us upselling, it is just what the sessions look like.
The first trick most people want
Crossovers, usually followed by double under crosses. We have a full tutorial for that one already: double under crossovers tutorial. Every rope also comes with access to the Elevate app, which has over 100 workouts and tutorials in it.
Common questions
Are long handle ropes only for freestyle?
Mostly, yes. The 20cm handle exists to buy reach for crosses and trick work. For plain skipping it gives you range you have no use for and takes away feedback you do.
Can you learn tricks on a beaded rope?
It is the easiest place to start. The beads tell you where the rope is, which is the whole difficulty of learning a cross. More on the rope type in what are beaded jump ropes.
What length should a freestyle rope be?
Usually a little longer than you would size a speed rope, because tricks need room. Start from the standard method in our sizing guide and add a few centimetres. All our cables cut with scissors, so you can take it back down.
About the author
Geraldo Alken is the founder and CEO of Elevate Rope. He designs jump ropes and works every day with jumpers, from complete beginners to professionals.