"What are the best jump rope shoes?"
Hmm. We must have received this question at least a hundred times over the past few months both within our community and our support channels.
So we’ve finally taken it upon ourselves to put together the ultimate guide to helping you choose the best shoes for jumping for your jump rope journey.
In this guide, we explain why you need good shoes for jumping, how to pick the right ones, whether it's OK to go barefoot, and we cover some of our favorite choices.
Let's take a look.
Why Do You Need Good Shoes?
Choosing the right shoes is an important step in any training journey.
The shoes you choose to jump rope in can have a tremendous impact on your jump rope experience. The wrong shoes can not only make it difficult to maintain a good jumping rhythm, but it can set you up for potential injuries like shin splints.
When it comes to training and exercise, shoes should do a few things:
- Protect your feet from injury during exercise
- Act as good shock absorbers when your foot strikes the ground
- Keep your feet comfortable during exercise
- Make you look badass when you’re training
Similarly, shoes should NOT force you to change your biomechanics when exercising.
Overall, good shoes should enhance your jump rope training experience.
They should protect your feet during jumping (both from shock absorption and rope whipping) and they should be comfortable to jump in.
How to Pick the Best Jump Rope Shoes
There is no perfect shoe for jumping rope. But there is a best jump rope shoe for YOU.
You have to find the shoe that works best for you and your foot. Later in this post, we’ll share some of the shoes our team uses as well as some shoes recommended in our community.
But here’s generally what we look for in a good jump rope shoe:
- Offers good stability
- Offers good ankle support
- Offers good arch support
- Has sufficient cushioning in the midsole
- Doesn’t have deep grooves, an elevated heel, or a platform
- Not ridiculously expensive
- Makes you look badass
Those are the criteria we look for. Most shoes are not going to meet ALL of the criteria, but it’s important to try to hit on as many of them as possible.
Now let’s take a look at some of our favorite choices.
Best Shoes for Jumping Rope
We broke this section down into two parts. First we'll show you what shoes the Crossrope team uses. Then we'll show you what shoes members of our jump rope community have mentioned.
Let’s begin with the Crossrope team.
1. Converse All Stars
Srdjan Popovic’s pick.
Srdj's jumped in a lot of different shoes in his time.
While he's currently rocking a pair of minimal New Balance kicks, he's jumped in Converse All Stars for a long time and still considers them his favorite.
"I love them because they’re comfortable, they are low to the ground, they look good, and they’re relatively cheap. I can also use them for other parts of my training (especially for lifts where I need my foot to be flat on the ground)."
If you want to see them in action, check out this REALLY old video of Srdj demonstrating some slow-motion jump rope exercises in his raggedy chucks.
2. Inov-8
Megan’s pick.
Megan introduced us to Inov-8. We had never heard of them before, but man do they look badass. They’re also sturdy, low to the ground, and offer great support.
Here’s what Megan said:
“I tried metcons and nanos before and didn’t like them very much. I like Inov-8s because they are lightweight and feel like they move more naturally with me all while providing good foot and ankle support. Plus they look pretty cool.”
3. New Balance 1267
Dave’s pick.
Dave loves his New Balance kicks. Here’s what he had to say:
“They are the perfect balance of stability and cushioning. They provide good toe protection and the soles are flat so the rope doesn't get caught. Plus my favorite shoe color is neon green so there you go.”
You can see Dave rocking his New Balance in pretty much every video we put together so if you want to see them in action, check out our YouTube channel.
4. Nike Flyknits
Jeannette’s pick.
Jeannette jumps in Nike Flyknits. She’s also the one with the best sense of fashion out of everyone on the Crossrope team. Here’s what she had to say:
“I like jumping with the Nike Flyknits because they are light on my feet, provide good cushion and support and allow me to go from chasing my one year old to a hard training sesh!... Not to mention they look pretty awesome!”
5. Nike KD 7 "Electric Eel"
Kyle's top pick.
Kyle crushes triple unders in his Nike KD 7's. Here's what he had to say:
“I like jumping with the Nike KD 7's because they are comfortable, have great cushioning, and just look great!"
So those are our favorite jump rope shoes. As you can see, we’re a little bit all over the place. But we typically try to look for shoes that fit at least a few of the criteria we’ve laid out.
At the end of the day, it’s all about personal preference.
You have to choose shoes that fit you and your feet. There’s no right or wrong choice. The key is to choose shoes that are comfortable, that protect you from injuries, and that enhance your jumping experience.
So what about everyone else?
First, here’s what our bros from Zen Dude Fitness had to say on footwear:
Shoes ZDF recommended from video:
- Air Jordan Eclipse
- Nike Lunar Series
- Adidas Tubular
Next, we've scoured our jump rope community to see what shoes people have been talking about. And there was A LOT of discussion about shoes.
If you want to join in on the conversation, you can join our community here (it’s free).
Now here are some of the responses and discussions we've pulled from the community...
This one is from Barbara’s thread where she asked the following:
“SO...what are the best shoes for jumping? Runners or Cross trainers? Aerobic shoes? I have been using an old pair of runners with a lower profile of tread in the front. These shoes are a bit worn but are better than the shoes I use just for running because the rope catches on the tread. I need cushioned shoes for impact after years of teaching aerobics/step classes. Any advice will be appreciated!!!”
Here were some of the responses:
Here was one note from Lyssa in another thread about shoes:
Tracy asked the following question in the community:
Vibram Five Fingers are the closest thing to jumping rope barefoot without actually going barefoot.
In fact, you can see an even older video of Srdj jumping in Vibrams. What’s funny is that of the 900 + comments that were left on that video, about 400 of them were asking what shoes he was wearing!
Here’s what Steve had to say about them:
In another thread, Debbie asked:
"New jumper -- recommendations for best shoes? I wear towards right sides of my shoes not sure if that is over or under. Not super expensive."
And the conversations just go on and on.
"What about jumping rope barefoot?" This is another common question.
Most people agree that jumping rope barefoot is a safe practice, but it is highly dependent on the health and condition of your feet and joints and the surface that you will be jumping on.
Here's what Shana from Punk Rope mentioned in our community:
That's right - don't forget to consider that if you strike your toes with a rope - especially a heavy jump rope - you might need a couple of minutes to recover from the sting.
For a deeper dive into this question, read this article.
So What are the Best Jump Rope Shoes?
We think we nailed this one.
The best jump rope shoe is different for everyone. What works for us might not work so well for you. But your perfect shoe is out there. You just have to go out and find it.
Hopefully this guide has given you a little bit of insight and guidance into finding the best jump rope shoes for yourself. Our suggestion is to try a couple of different styles that have been listed in this post and see what works best for you.
And of course, it you have any questions or if you are debating between options, let us know in the comments below or join our community and get input from thousands of other jumpers to help you find the best shoes for jumping rope!
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