The Effects of Jump Rope Training onFitness: A Randomised Controlled Trialamong Maltese Female Basketball Athletes

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of rope jumping on fitness. Thestudy also investigated whether the effects of rope jumping were induced by a combinationof jumping with the rope or simply by jumping repetitively. A sample of 15 female basketballathletes were recruited to this study (basketball experience = 12.2 4.42 years; BMI = 24.6 2.95 kg/m) and randomly allocated to one of three groups: rope jumping group (n = 5), jumpwithout rope group (n = 5), and control group (n = 5). The intervention groups participated injump training (with or without the rope) for nine weeks. Three weeks into the intervention, allsports were stopped due to Covid-19 and the remaining sessions were held online. A significantdifference between the three groups was observed in lower-body power output: +3.72% forthe without rope group, -0.04% for the rope jumping group, and -10.3% for the control group.No significant differences were observed between the groups for the change in all other fitnessvariables. Rope jumping and jumping-without-the-rope were found to be equally effective inincreasing lower-body power output.