THE PRINCIPLES
OF WRAPS

The principles of wraps can be split into six parts: types, structure, layering, embedding, linking and exits.

TYPES

The first principle of wraps is the types - there are three types of wraps, based on which body part the rope wraps around.

Top tip: when the rope wraps around a body part, this is called a ‘contact point’. The type of wrap can be defined by where the contact point is.

  • Arm wraps are any wraps where the jumper blocks any Box or Wrist Swing with their arm.

    The rope is commonly wrapped around the jumper’s wrist, such that the contact point is as close to the free hand as possible.

    Learn more.

  • Thigh wraps are any wraps where the jumper blocks any leg-restricted Swing with their thigh.

    The rope is commonly wrapped around the jumper’s uppermost thigh, such that the contact point is as close to the crotch as possible.

    Learn more.

  • Leg wraps are any wraps where the jumper blocks any leg cross or ground cross with one leg.

    The rope is commonly wrapped around the jumper’s lower leg, such that the contact point is as close to the calf muscle as possible.

    Learn more.

Structure

All wraps have the same fundamental four-part structure - the entry, the wrap, the unwrap and the exit.

Top tip: understanding the structure of all wraps is most-easily achieved by starting with a basic arm wrap which requires no jumps to complete, allowing you to focus solely on the pathway of the rope.

  • Wraps occur when a swing or crossing skill is blocked by a body part as the loop of the rope is jumped through.

    Arm Wraps & Thigh Wraps
    In both of these types, the wrap is caused by two Swings happening consecutively whereby the jumper’s arm or leg blocks the second Swing.

    Leg Wraps
    The wrap is caused by two Crosses happening consecutively whereby the jumper’s lower leg blocks the second Cross.

  • In wraps, the handle of the wrapped hand is considered to be the origin.

    When a wrap occurs around a body part, this introduces a contact point, the point where the wrap is contacting a body part other than the jumper’s hand. Advanced wraps may have many contact points on different body parts.

    In all wraps, it is important to keep the distance between the origin and all contact points as small as possible. This leaves the most amount of rope free to be controlled.

  • Generally, all unwraps will be achieved by a Swing on the opposite side of the body to the contact point.

    If a jumper wraps their left leg in a Toad position, the Unwrap Swing will be on the right side of their body.

  • When a jumper unwraps from any wrap, the wrap is effectively cancelled out.

    This means that the entry and exit points will connect in the same way, as if the wrap never occurred at all.

    ‘Box Swing’ Arm Wrap
    A basic Arm Wrap is entered by a Box Swing and exited in a Cross, the same way a Box Swing leads to a Cross.

    Toad Wrap
    A Toad Wrap is entered by a Toad and exited in an Open, the same way a basic Toad ends with an Open.

    Leg Over Wrap
    A Leg Over Wrap is entered by a Leg Over and exited in a Cross, the same way a basic Leg Over ends with an Cross.

  • It can be useful to think of wraps in terms of coded sequences where the entry/exit points are expressed by letters and the wrap/unwrap are expressed by numbers For example:
    A12B is Entry, Wrap, Unwrap, Exit

    This is helpful for visualising the structure of wraps without tying it to a specfic type of wrap or hand placement. This becomes essential for visualising long-chain sequences where wraps may include more advanced concepts such as embedding or linking wraps.

Layering

Layering wraps is where a jumper performs a wrap inside another wrap without unwrapping from the original wrap.

Top tip: understanding layered wraps requires a strong understanding of sequencing in wraps. Make sure you’re familiar with this section above first before continuing.

  • Wrapping a body part whilst in a wrap already introduces another new contact point.

    It’s important that both contact points and the origin are kept as close as possible to maintain rope control.

    When this is done, the second wrap must be unwrapped before the original wrap can be exited.

  • Since Arm Wraps are always entered by Swings, and so can be layered inside Leg or Thigh Wraps after the unwrap immediately before the exit point.

    This layered wrap can be expressed as (34) as follows:
    A1234B

    This layered wrap only adds two more counts (34) to the wrap’s total structure (instead of four) because the original wraps’s unwrap swing (2) serves as the entry point of the layered wrap, and the exit point (B) of both wraps coincide.

  • Arm Wraps can be layered within Arm Wraps by swinging the rope a second time on the same arm. Each wrap must be unwrapped one at a time. This is referred to as a Double Arm Wrap.

    This layered wrap can be expressed as (34) as follows:
    A1342B

    This layered wrap adds two counts (34) to the wrap’s total structure because the second wrap’s entry and exit point are the first wrap itself - it has no natural entry or exit point of its own.

    The numbers (34) represent the fact a new wrap has occurred and must be exited before the jumper can return to unwrapping from the original wrap (12).

    Any Arm Wrap can be layered within any other Arm Wrap, such as a Toad Arm Wrap inside an Inverse Toad Arm Wrap.

  • Since Thigh Wraps are always entered by Swings, they be layered inside Arm Wraps before the unwrap. When this layered wrap is on the same side of the body to the first wrap, it referred to as an Ipsilateral Thigh Wrap.

    This layered wrap can be expressed as (34s) as follows:
    A134s2B

    This layered wrap adds two counts (34) to the wrap’s total structure because the second wrap’s entry and exit point are the first wrap itself - it has no natural entry or exit point of its own.

    Because the Thigh Wrap is entered on the dsame side of the body to the original wrap (hence, ipsilaterally), a ‘limbo’ Swing (s) on the other side of the jumper’s body must be included at before the end of the layered wrap so the jumper can exit the original wrap.

    The numbers (34) represent the fact a new wrap has occurred and must be exited before the jumper can return to unwrapping from the original wrap (12).

  • Since Thigh Wraps are always entered by Swings, they be layered inside Arm Wraps before the unwrap. When this layered wrap is on the opposite side of the body to the first, it referred to as a Contralateral Thigh Wrap.

    This layered wrap can be expressed as (C34D) as follows:
    A1C34Ds2B

    This layered wrap adds five counts (C34D) to the wrap’s total structure because the whole wrap happens truly inside the original wrap with none of its steps coinciding with the original wrap.

    Because the Thigh Wrap is entered on the opposite side of the body to the original wrap (hence, contralaterally), a ‘limbo’ Swing (s) on the other side of the jumper’s body must be included at the end of the layered wrap before the jumper can exit the original wrap.

    The numbers (34) represent the fact a new wrap has occurred and must be exited before the jumper can return to unwrapping from the original wrap (12).

  • Leg Wraps can be layered within Leg Wraps by jumping the same leg crossing skill a third time and blocking the rope a second time. Each wrap must be unwrapped one at a time. This is referred to as a Double Leg Wrap.

    This layered wrap can be expressed as (34s) as follows:
    A134s2B

    This layered wrap adds three counts (instead of two) to the wrap’s total structure because, since two Box or Wrist Swing can not occur consecutively without causing another wrap, a ‘limbo’ Swing (s) on the other side of the jumper’s body must be included, making the total added counts three.

  • Leg Wraps can also be layered by wrapping the other leg inside the original leg wrap. This is referred to a Dual Leg Wrap.

    This layered wrap can be expressed as (sC34D) as follows:
    A1sC34D2B

    This layered wrap adds five counts to the wrap’s total structure because a ‘limbo’ Swing (s) is required to transition to the other side, before being able to complete a full leg wrap on the other leg (C34D) inside the original leg wrap.

    The numbers (34) and letters (CD) represent the fact a full second wrap has occurred and must be exited before the jumper can return to unwrapping from the original wrap (12) .

  • Wraps can be layered more than once.

    Since Arm Wraps can be layered inside Thigh Wraps and vice versa, a triple-layered wrap can be performed two ways:
    Layer 1 is an Arm Wrap
    Layer 2 is a Contralateral Thigh Wrap
    Layer 3 is another Arm Wrap

    The sequence for this triple-layered wrap would be:
    A1C3456Ds2B

    Layer 1 is an Arm Wrap
    Layer 2 is an Ipsilateral Thigh Wrap
    Layer 3 is another Arm Wrap

    The sequence for this triple-layered wrap would be:
    A13456s2B

    As with all layered wraps, the wraps must be unwrapped starting with the deepest layer first.

Embedding

Embedding is where a jumper performs skills inside a wrap (other than other wraps).

Top tip: understanding layered wraps requires a strong understanding of sequencing in wraps. Make sure you’re familiar with this section above first before continuing.

  • Skills can be embedded inside wraps always between the wrap and unwrap steps.

    It’s important that the contact point and the origin are moved together in tandum.

    A1o2B is an embedded 360
    A1tst2B is an embedded Step-Through
    A1p2B is an embedded Pass-Through

  • A 360 can be embedded inside any wrap type in one step as a Full Turn.

    A1o2B is an embedded 360

    The embedded 360 is always performed away from the contact point toward the opposite side of the body where the Unwrap Swing (2) happens. This means the embedded 360 will be:
    Clockwise for left-sided contact points
    Anti-clockwise for right-sided contact points

    It’s important to keep the rope swinging as vertically as possible during this skill.

  • A Step-Through can be embedded in any Arm Wrap.

    A1tst2B is an embedded Step-Through

    The Step-Through adds three counts to the wrap’s total structure - one for each leg in turn (t & t) and a ‘limbo’ Swing (s) between them. This is because two Box or Wrist Swings can not occur consecutively without causing another wrap, and the two Swing which we step through are the same type of Swing for a given wrap.

  • A pass-through occurs when the jumper passes their entire body through the rope without wrapping or unwrapping in the process.

    A1p2B is an embedded Pass-Through

    If a jumper is in a layered wrap, the pass-through applies to the deepest layered thus far.

    A jumper can perform consecutive Pass-Throughs indefinitely in a wrap the same way they can perform consecutive EBs or Gogos.
    A1ppp2B is a triple embedded Pass-Through

Linking

Wraps can be linked together to make longer continuous ‘chains’ of wraps.

  • Linked wraps occur when the exit point of the first wrap is simulatenously the entry point of the second wrap.

    Although two wraps would normally equal 8 steps, here the linked wraps equal just 7.
    A12B12C is two linked wraps

    Linked wraps is only possible when the first wrap is based on an open skill and the second is based on a crossed skill, or vice versa.

  • Arm Wraps can be linked to Leg or Thigh Wraps by altering the exit point of the Arm Wrap to match to the entry point of the other wrap.

    Consider the following sequence:
    Arm Wrap, Cross, Toad, Toad Wrap
    This would be sequenced as:
    A12B C12D

    Instead of doing each wrap separately, the jumper could exit the Arm Wrap immediately into a Toad and then perform the Toad Wrap. Doing so would make the wraps linked:
    A12B12C

  • Leg and Thigh Wraps can be linked by performing an Awesome Annie swing between them.

    Fun fact: it is very common for Leg Wraps to be performed with an Awesome Annie as the exit point since it is much easier to balance as you perform the unwrap swing this way.

  • Leg and Thigh Wraps can be linked using a 360 turn. When this happens, the hand will pass from behind one knee to behind the other.

    The 360 turn is always performed toward the side of the body when the contact point occurred in the wrap (1). This means for the 360 turn:
    Clockwise for right-sided contact points
    Anti-clockwisde for left-sided contact points

Exits

Wraps can be exited many different ways including (but not limited to) different direction changes and releases.

  • The general structure of wraps can be altered with different exit points.

    These alternate exit point usually involve adding other skill types such as direction change or releases.

  • Leg and Thigh Wraps can be exited with an Awesome Annie swing between them.

    Fun fact: it is very common for Leg Wraps to be performed with an Awesome Annie as the exit point since it is much easier to balance as you perform the unwrap swing this way.

  • All wrap types can be exited with a 180 turn.

    The 180 exit is always performed away from the contact point toward the opposite side of the body where the Unwrap Swing (2) happens. This means the 180 exit will be:
    Clockwise for left-sided contact points
    Anti-clockwise for right-sided contact points

  • All wrap types can be exited with a reversal.

    This is achieved by performing a Contact Stall adfter the wrap (1) and reversing the previous steps of the sequence:
    A11A

  • All wrap types can be exited with a release (MO).

    Crossed skills exit into a Mic Release
    Open skill exit into a Same-Side Release

    The swing of the release coincides with the Unwrap Swing (2) so the sequence will be as follows:
    A12MO

    Top tip: wraps which lead to a Same-Side Release will tend to be easier to complete with a Mamba.

  • All wrap types can be exited with a handle pass.

    The handle pass occurs immediately after the wrap (1). This causes the rope to momentarily release from the contact point and unwrap itself. When the handle is regrabbed, the unwrap swing (2) is replaced by a normal swing (p), as follows:
    A1p2