Bolas should be practiced with a rope that has no handles and with the rope ends turning in the forward direction (so it approaches the toes before the heels), to minimize the risk of injury. An even easier way to learn and do bola skills is to use two separate ropes. That way you do not have to contend with the middle of the rope limiting your arm motion.

We didn't include these skills in our exercise class, but we include them in our shows since they are beautiful to watch.  Just a few examples of bolas are shown below.  More complicated bola skills are difficult to depict with static picture.

	"Synchronous Bolas" are the easiest to master.  The rope ends turn together in synchrony as the name implies.  Until you learn to angle and position your wrists and forearms correctly, you might end up striking your shin.
	With "Alternating Bolas" the ends turn 180 degrees out of synchrony with each other. The same motion is used with another the Jump Rope Skill Group called "The Wheel" (see Jump Rope Skills page.)
	You shouldn't attempt "Counter Bolas"  until you are experienced to the point that you know that you won't strike your face with the rope ends turning backward.  With this skill, one end turns forward and the other end turns backward.
	Most of the various jumping cross skills can also be done with bolas. The thumbnailed diagram to the left depicts the "Front Cross Bola" to the far left and the "Overhead-Inside Leg Cross Bola" to the near left.
	The "Single Butterfly" is best described as doing a Front Cross, but with the rope ends alternating rather than in synchrony.  The Double Butterfly is not shown here, but is essentially a Single Butterfly with the arms continuing to cross over each on each side.  It is a beautiful skill and used in other disciplines and with other apparatuses.
	With the "One-handed Bola" you hold on to the middle of the rope with one hand and swing the rope in different ways.