Lou Lou, Skip to my Lou...

This tune was playing in my head while chatting with my guest this morning. I'd heard it played over and over again during my childhood. Oddly enough, today's subject matter for discussion in The Living Room was also an object and activity that's synonymous with that period of my life - skipping ropes and rope skipping. It may well be yours too!

I remember picking up my older brother's skipping rope and having a go at it. Never thought myself to be proficient at skipping ropes. There seemed to be a problem with the way I was flinging the ropes or just not skipping early enough. But after my chat with Founder of Rope Sports Singapore, Hansen Bay, I clung on to a glimmer of hope that the problem lied with the length of the rope and not me. "The rope should be up to your armpits when you're holding both ends of the rope and standing on it", he says. I'm led to conclude that the rope I was using was way too long and unsuitable for skipping given how short I was then.

So I picked up courage and decided to give it a shot to prove that the fault was really with the rope and not the person. Like a kid presented with a present, I hastily opened the pack of new SkipFit skipping ropes that Hansen had left behind for me, and promptly got myself into position for to prove I my childhood attempts at rope-skipping were jinxed.

How did I do? As you can see in the photos above, I could very well have made news headlines by being the first person to ever strangle himself while skipping rope. I'll stick with tennis thank you very much. Conclusion: Rope skipping isn't for everyone.

If you think you can better my pathetic attempt and if you take an interest to rope sports, check out the pros skip from Rope Sports Singapore every Sunday, 4.30pm - 6.30pm at the Bougainvillea Garden at East Coast Park. And tell them 'The Living Room' sent you!