Double Dutch (jump rope)

Double Dutch is a jump rope game in which two long ropes are turned in opposite directions while one or more players jump inside them at the same time. It needs at least three people, two turners and at least one jumper, and the American standard uses ropes about 3.5 metres long. Jumpers add tricks that can borrow from gymnastics and breakdance, together with fancy footwork. Rope jumping games are traced back to ancient Egypt and China, and the Dutch are credited with bringing a version to North America in the 1600s, although the name itself comes from English slang for confusing speech. The modern competitive form is widely held to have originated in the United States among girls in Black urban communities in the 1940s and 1950s, and two New York police officers formalized its rules in the early 1970s, leading to the first official competition in 1974. Competition is divided into compulsory, freestyle and speed rope events.