A) THE COURT:

 SINGLES COURT:

Light blue areas are the left and right service areas.

You serve from there and the shuttle must fall in the
equivalent areas in your
opponent´s court.

If it falls in the dark blue areas, it is a fault.

After the service, all blue
areas are valid.
The red areas are not a part of the court, so they are out of bounds.

If your shuttle falls there, you lose the point.

 DOUBLES COURT:

The court for doubles is a little different.
Light blue areas are the left and right serving areas.
They are shorter than the
single ones, but wider.
The shuttle can fall at any
part of the court now, except
in the red area when serving.
If it falls there after the
service, it is valid.

B) THE GRIP:

Forehand Grip

Use this grip to hit shuttles that are on the forehand side of your body and around your head.
Place your hand on the handle as if you are shaking hands with it. Your racket face must be perpendicular
to the floor.
There must be a V shape in between your thumb and your index
finger.

Backhand Grip:

Use this grip to hit shots that are on the backhand side of your body.

Hold the racket as in the forehand grip.

Turn the racket to one side and place your thumb against the back part of the handle for greater control and power.

The racket handle must also rest loosely in your fingers.
You need to learn to change grips quickly between shots, so you always hit with the maximum power and accuracy.

In this video, you can watch the basics of this sport, including the different grips and techniques:

A) INDIVIDUALLY:

Basic jump with rebound:
This is where both feet are slightly apart and jump at the same time over the rope. You do a small rebound after jumping, while you swing the rope. This jump is very comfortable and you can also use it to rest between different skills in a routine.

Basic jump without rebound:
It is a little faster than the rebound one, so you get tired quicker.

Alternate foot jump (speed step):
This style consists of using alternate feet to jump off the ground. This technique allows you to double the number of skips per minute as compared to the basic jump.

Side direction change:
You start jumping forwards, and in a given moment, instead of swinging the rope under your feet, you swing it to one of your sides. You then turn with the rope to that side and raise it. When it is above your head, you swing it backwards and you are jumping backwards: you have completed a direction change!

Criss-cross:
This method is similar to the basic jump with the only difference being that while jumping, the left hand goes to the right part of the body and vice versa for the right hand, so that you cross the rope in front of you, and jump with the rope crossed.

Double under:
To perform a double under, the participant needs to jump up a bit higher than usual while swinging the rope twice under his feet. It is possible to have the rope swing three times under the feet (triple under). In fact, in competitive jump rope, triples, quadruples ("quads"), and quintuples ("quins") are not uncommon.

The skier:
a side-to-side jump keeping the feet together; you jump to the right with once, and to the left the following time.

The bell:
a front-and-back jump keeping the feet together.

The scissors:
a jump putting one foot forward and the other back, then switching back-and-forth.

The jumping jack:
a jump putting the feet apart and then together

B) IN PAIRS:

Enter your parner´s rope from the front:
You must be in front of him and to one side, so you can enter diagonally with only one step. When? When the rope hits the floor. To exit, move away diagonally  when the rope touches the floor.

Enter from the front and turn round inside:
Same as before but you turn as you jump inside the rope.

Enter your partner´s rope from behind (and turn round):
Similar to the previous ones, but the gap to jump in is smaller. You must get very close to your partner.

Catching your parner:
You start jumping, and your partner, a little apart from you, starts jumping at your same pace. You must jump towards him and “catch” him, so you get him inside your rope.

Here you have a couple videos showing all the possibilities of rope jumping:

C) IN A LONG ROPE:

Basic jump:

Entering the rope when it hits the floor and starts going away from you. You must jump in the center of the rope and exit at the other end.

Turning inside:
Turn around as you jump. It´s very easy!

How many?
How many students can jump at the same time in one rope?

Two crossed ropes jump:
Here you jump not one but two ropes. They form a cross and the trick is only to look to one of the ropes. You must enter and exit as if you were jumping a sigle rope. Jumping in the middle of the ropes is fundamental not to be hit by one of the ropes!

Enter the long rope with a small one:

You first have to practice jumping outside the long rope in rhythm with it, with the small rope on your hand. Then release and start jumping at the same time the long rope is hitting the ground. When you can do this fluently, it´s time to enter and give it a try.

Double Dutch:

Much easier that it looks. You only need two people that can swing properly, and enter jumping with you inner foot when the outer rope is on top.

Do you think it´s difficult? Look what these ladies (one aged 57 years) can do:

 

A) BADMINTON FACTS:

It is the fastest racket sport. The shuttle reaches 260 km/h!

It is very fast but you can learn easily, as you can also play in a relaxed way.
This makes it the perfect sport that everyone can enjoy.

                                                                                                                                                                                       Image:www.independent.co.uk
Badminton is also one of the most played sports in the World as it is a very popular sport in Asia as well as in some parts of Europe like Denmark and U.K.
It is played in Individual competitions (singles) or Doubles. Also is one of the few sports in which men and women play together, as there are Mixed Doubles (a man and a woman).

B) Basic Vocabulary:

C) Basic Rules:

Badminton games have a 21 points rally format. This means you don´t have to be serving to score a point. You can score a point no matter who serves.

D) So, how do you play?

-To win a match, you have to win 2 out of 3 games.

-To win a game, you have to score 21 points.

-You score a point when your opponent can´t return the shuttle or the shuttle he/she returns falls out bounds (out of the court).

-In singles, you serve on the right service court when your score is an even number (0, 2, 4...).
-You serve on the left service court when your score is an odd number (1, 3, 5...)

-In doubles, if you serve and receive first on the right service court during a match, you will
continue to serve there when the score of your side is an even number. Reverse pattern for your
partner.

-If a score becomes 20-20, the side which scores 2 consecutive points will win that game.
-If the score becomes 29-29, the side that scores the 30th point will win that game.

The side winning a game serves first in the next game.
There is no "service over", meaning you can score a point no matter who serves.

E) Here you have a small video reviewing the main rules:

A) Before we start:

1. Make sure you have a good surface to jump on (preferably wood with some spring to it; eg. best surface - wood, spring cushioned gym floor). Jumping too frequently on tile or cement can result in muscular pain and can damage your joints.

2. Make sure you have proper shoes on. Running or cross training shoes are the best as they provide the most support for jumping. Sandals, bare feet, or even mountain shoes can hurt you more than help you. Shoes that you would use for playing basketball, squash, running outside...are the type that would best work for jump rope as well.

3. As before any exercise, do a proper warm up to get your body ready. You must pay special attention to stretch your calves (lower leg), quadriceps (front of upper leg), hamstrings (back of upper leg) and deltoids and trapezius (shoulder area).

4. Make sure you do a proper cool down at the end of your "workout". Repeat the same stretches you did at the beginning with taking deep breaths, holding your stretches for a minimum of an eight count for each stretch.

B) How to jump safely:

1. You must try not to do high jumps. The higher you jump, the quicker you get tired. A height of three fingers above the floor is the ideal height.

2. Watch for posture:
Knees and ankles should be bent and the torso straight when jumping.
Arms should be by the skipper's side, with the rope turning from the wrists and forearms.
Jump on your whole feet. Placing only your forefoot on the ground makes your calves work too hard and it can result in a cramp.
 
3. Don't try too much too soon. Start with a 1:2 skipping:rest ratio, so if you skip for one minute, you rest for two. Add minutes up slowly.

Have you read this page already? Then look at this video from Lauren Jumps on jump rope basics: