Fitness Member,
About a week ago, through iGoogle, I stumbled across this forum link & joined just to reply to ur jump rope shoes ?. Plus, since I had all this new found knowledge from Nike + net, then I had to help you. Seriously, I was jumping rope barefoot too (with sneakers) and a brace. I did get that pain in my arch, but as soon as I switched sneakers it was gone. That whole forefoot support was a big thing, but I already tried a pair that has cushioning for the ball of foot (Nike Shox for Dance) and the Nike Shox TG work better. Their also lightweight. In my case they picked out a pair with lateral stuff thats good running through the rope. And this new model had more cushioning than any of their other models. So, I think u should call up Nike or go down to on of their stores and just tell them to pick 'em out for jumping rope. There are so many cross-trainers that have Shox for men. If not keep the ones u have, even though they look clunky, and put gels pads in them. I have them for the ball of foot.