Notation

Think of every single under skill like a note of a melody. Each new Open jump is a new note, “O”. For a sequence of four single under Opens, the notation would read:

O, O, O, O,

Each comma indicates the landing of the jump between one skill and the next. Therefore, if we did a Double Bounce between each Open, the notation would read:

O,, O,, O,, O,,

Core skills (Swings and Crosses) are defined by letters.
Open is O
Cross is C
Swing is S

For a sequence of Swing, Open, Cross, Open single unders the notation would read:
S, O, C, O,

Multiples are defined by conjoined letters.
Standard Open double under is OO
Swing Cross double under is SC
Swing Open Cross triple under is SOC

For a sequence of of Swing Open, Swing Cross, Open Cross double unders the notation would read:
SO, SC, OC,

As we can see already this is saving us a lot of space on the page (and time!). It only uses 20% of the total characters and that’s only for a short sequence of three double unders.

Every skill (cross or swing) in jump rope is made up of a combination of two hand placements. There are nine unique hand placements, and they are:
O pocket position
C across hips
E behind back
R behind neck
T hand under opposite leg (“Toad”)
I hand under same leg (“Inverse Toad“)
L leg over hand
J opposite (“inverse”) leg over hand
N behind both knees

Symmetrical skills include all crosses where both our hands cross in the same placement, such as the basic Cross and the TS. These skills are unique in the fact they are the only crosses or swings which contain only one letter. They include (but are not limited to):
O = Open
C = Cross
E = TS
T = Caboose
N = AS

Asymmetrical skills include all crosses where both our hands cross in different placements, such as the Toad and the CL. The first letter will always be uppercase, and the second letter will always be lowercase. They include (but are not limited to):
Tc = Toad
Le = EB Leg Over
It = Elephant
Tn = Weave
En = CL

Basic side swings are notated with the following two characters:
Box Swing is S
Wrist Swing is $

For any given sequence all Box Swings are on one side and all Wrist Swings are on the other. This means for the following sequences:
S, C, S, C, = both Swings are on the same side
S, C, $, O, = both Swings are on opposite sides

For any skill where both hands are on the same side of the body, for example where one hand is in a Toad placement “T”, and the other hand is in the pocket position “O” such that you can swing the rope in that placement, a lowercase “s” will always be used in place of the “O”. For example:
Toad Swing is Ts
Inverse Toad Swing is Is
EB Swing is Es
Leg Over Swing is Ls

The only exception to this rule is swings which are skills where one hand is in the Leg Over “L” or Inverse Leg Over “J” placements and the other hand is in any placement on the same side other than across the hips. This includes:
EB Leg Over Swing is Le
Neck Leg Over Swing is Lr
Toad Leg Over Swing is Lt

Note: “L” will always be the first letter in asymmetrical skills so as not to be confused with “I”.

Rope manipulation is defined by the use of punctuation.

A 180 turn to the left is <
A 180 turn to the right is >
A contact stall is :
A no-contact stall is ;
A switch between sides is -
A gogo is (o)

We will cover all of these in depth later.

In notation, ‘left’ and ‘right’ side does not exist. The skills in a sequence will all be on the ‘same’ side relative to the first skill.

Consider the following sequence:
S, C, $, O, Tc, Ts, Tc, $, Lo, S, C,

Let’s assume the initial Box Swing is on the jumper’s right hip. It then follows that all subsequent box swings are on the right side and all wrist swings are on the left side. The Cross, Toad and Leg Over will all have the left hand on the bottom. The Toad and Leg Over will be under different legs because of this.

Any time a jumper wishes to change from one side to another a switch is required. The symbol - is included immediately before the skill it applies to. The following are common examples:
C, -C, = Switch Cross
S, C, -S, C, = Swing Crosses (alternating sides)
Tc, -Lo, = Toad to Leg Over under the same leg

For a switch to occur, there doesn’t need to be two adjacent Crosses or Swings. When a Switch occurs, any Opens between skills are ignored, and the Switch is relative to the last skill in the sequence. For example:
S, C, O, C, = both Crosses are on the same side
S, C, O, -C, = both Crosses are alternate sides

Releases are notated with the following two methods:
Tissue Box is S, M, O,
Double Rotation is S, M, M, O,

It is not uncommon for the Mic rotations to be performed whilst the jumper is not bounding. When this occurs, commas are not included between the rotations:
S, M O, or S, M M O,

Other types of Release are notated as follows:
Same-Side Release is S, m, O,
Reisig Release is $, M, O,
Wrist Pop Mic is $’, M, O, (see note below)
Mamba is S, M, -m, m, -M, M, O,
Vertical Release is O, M, O,

The ’ symbol signifies the rope wrapping over your wrist during the Swing, which will be explored later in the Wraps section.

Multiples are defined by conjoined letters.
Standard Open double under is OO
Swing Cross double under is SC
Swing Open Cross triple under is SOC

For a sequence of of Swing Open, Swing Cross, Open Cross double unders the notation would read:

SO, SC, OC,

Because only the first letter of any asymmetrical skill is uppercase, establishing how many unders any given multiples contains requires you only count the uppercase letters. So, for the following skills:
SC is a double under
STcO is a triple under
SC$Ec is a quadruple under

It is not uncommon in some styles of jump rope to adopt a delayed bound whereby the first Swing in a multiple under happens entirely on the ground. In this instance, the first letter of the multiple will be separated from the multiple but no comma will be written. Some examples include:
S MO, = double under / failed triple under Mic Release
S TcOO, = triple under / failed quadruple under TJ
S EsN, = double under / failed triple under AS

Since backwards is actually reverse, and by extension all the rules are remain in tact (except reversed), the structure of notation does not change.

The only difference is that all notation will be underlined during the backwards skills regardless of the method of direction change.
S, C; C, O, is a Cross Stall
S,> C,> O, is a Basic 360

In some messaging apps, underlining isn’t possible. Using an underscore before each skill can be used instead.
S,> _C,> O, is a Basic 360

In notation, all jumping occurs in one plane. All turns are assumed to be 180 degrees*. Turning is defined by the following notation:
> is a turn to the right
< is a turn to left

The the only exception to the rule is Full Turns, where the jumper performs a 360º turn in one count. Here, the notation is ≥ and ≤ for right and left turns respectively.

* Turns of any less than 180º (such as ¼ turns are considered ‘style’ since the jumper remains jumping forwards.

Stalls are defined by the following notation:
: is a contact stall
; is a non-contact stall

Floaters are defined by the notation:
f is a one-handed floater
ff is a two-handed floater

If the floater is caught inside the placement, such as directly under the leg in a Toad, the f is affixed to the start of the next skill:
C, fTc,

If the floater is caught outside the placement, in front of the body, and the jumper then proceeds to immediately enter the next skill, the f is written independently from the next skill:
C, f Tc,

If the free hand changes from being on bottom to on top (or vice versa) then this is considered a switch and the - is used here:
C, -f Tc,

O, O,

Examples:
1) High Knee with Crosses
2) Running Man with Mic Releases
3) Alternating Step with Double Unders

O, O,

Examples:
1) High Knee with Crosses
2) Running Man with Mic Releases
3) Alternating Step with Double Unders

O, O,

Examples:
1) High Knee with Crosses
2) Running Man with Mic Releases
3) Alternating Step with Double Unders