In Pursuit of Excellence

Dave Newman never intended to start a business; he just wanted a better jump rope. Hilary Achauer catches up with the founder of RX Jump Ropes and finds out how it all began.

I had been struggling with double-unders. I was able to do them when warming up, but any sort of grip fatigue or WOD-induced nervousness led to me repeatedly stepping on the rope. This time, it was a disaster. I got about 10 double-unders in a row during the first set of 50, but after that the wheels came off.

Each time I started jumping the rope caught under my feet. After a few of these frustrating attempts, I threw down the rope and looked at my coach, Bryan Boorstein. He had watched my double-unders worsen over the past few weeks and always offered tips on how to improve. This time he just looked at me sadly and said, “Hilary, I don’t even know what to tell you anymore. You need to go see Dave.”

“Dave” is Dave Newman, double-under guru and founder of RX Jump Ropes, a company that makes custom jump ropes and runs double-under clinics. Being told to go see Newman felt a little like getting sent to the principal’s office. It was discouraging, to say the least, but I had reached the end of my rope (pardon the pun).