Following on from Coach Cath's Double under Skill Clinic last Saturday, Cath takes the time out to reflect on her own journey towards nailing what for many a CrossFitter is on of the most frustrating skills to master...
Early 2013 pre-crossfit... a training session with Matt (Scott, owner of CFA), first part of the warm up - 1 minutes skipping (singles)! 60 seconds worth of singles for me now would be a stroll in the park! 60 seconds back then almost killed me. I was out of breath, my calves were cramping and I would trip up countless times! Eventually I got to the point I was ecstatic at making it through the 60.s without keeling over! Roll on a month or so and I could go for 60+ seconds of singles without my lungs screaming, or me needing to break out of necessity! A trip up however – that’s 3 push ups please! On top of that, the time was up to 2 and eventually 3 minutes (that’s a lot of push ups)!!
Anyway, the story here being I didn’t move on to double unders until I had really nailed singles consistently and with good form.
Next up - double unders! Errr.... double what? I didn’t know there was such a thing. The amount of practice I put in trying to get my first double under was crazy but I got there in the end, and i’m pretty sure I told everyone about it too! Then came working on stringing them together... it felt like I was back to square one, endless amounts of 3 singles to 1 double repeated over and over... break or trip – 3 push ups please!
I was also a donkey kicker and extremely aware that I was doing it too, which is probably what frustrated me the most... not only did I know my legs should be straight but it was also the main reason I’d have to endure the endless amounts of lashes on my arms, legs and ends of my toes, usually followed by a stroppy rope throw and stopping of my feet!! But I got there through practice, determination and time... it was almost like someone flicked a switch and it all just fell in to place!!
I know sometimes when you’re in class and you watch people doing double unders (or any other movement for that matter) with what looks like ease and you think how can they do it so easily and I can’t... just remember that they haven’t rocked up, picked up a rope and got double unders after a few session or 15 minutes of practice, 9 times out of 10 they will have been through just as much frustration as you, they will have tripped and whipped themselves many a time before mastering the skill – everyone at some point has started from scratch and been in your position, you just haven’t been there to witness it.
So stick with it guys, try, try and try again!
There are a million cheesy quotes out there I could use but as long as you believe in yourself and don’t quit trying then you’re on the right path.
Cath
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