Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kaylin Snailin on March 13, 2012 at 3:01pm

I have definitely been there. I went through periods of being so frustrated that I just put the hoop down and walked away from it for anywhere from 20 minutes or 6 months. Sometimes it can help to slow down and focus on what you know and are comfortable with. Do you like hooping at the waist? Hoop at the waist! Do you have a trick you can do. Do that trick over and over again. 

And if you are really feeling discouraged, stop hooping for a bit! Do something else that will make you feel good. It's difficult to learn with feelings of discouragement and frustration in the way. 

You will get through this and you will look back and feel proud about how far you've come.

<3

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Ristvedt on March 13, 2012 at 4:07pm

We've all been there. Completely agree with Kaylin, slow down and hoop with what you're most comfortable with! Just feel it, and try not to think about it too hard.  When I was first learning basics, I would get so frustrated trying to get down a bunch of tricks I wasn't ready for yet, so I learned that it was best to slow down, and enjoy my time in the hoop. :) 

Love the Process. 

If you haven't seen it yet, watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmEwVC9x-h4

Safire is amazing. And this video gave me inspiration/motivation when I first started, and still does today! 

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Permalink Reply by Maria Jensen on March 13, 2012 at 4:27pm

Thanks guys. I'm getting frustrated because I can't do new stuff. I just want it to make sense when I'm learning. I can hoop at the waist and do the lift and drop trick. All the tutorials make it look sooooo easy, and when I try to follow along I can't do stuff. Like controlling and moving the hoop up and down your body without using your hands?? I really want to be able to do that, but can't even come close to figuring it out. :(

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Permalink Reply by Kaylin Snailin on March 13, 2012 at 4:42pm

ACK! That is so hard to learn!!! So much of hooping is muscle memory, but until you have that memory, it's really tough. I was a slow learner starting out (and still am). I first picked up a hoop in January 2009 and hooped off and on for a couple of years. I didn't learn how to move the hoop up and down my body until May 2011. My main advice is get really good at turning and walking and dancing while you hoop on body.

For now have you worked on your flow with the hoop? I took a workshop with Baxter (Hoop Path) a couple of weekends ago and he talked about how sometimes hoopers say "oh once I get x amount of tricks down I will work on incorporating flow", but really flow should be apart of hooping from the get go. This is a rough paraphrase, but you get the drift. Work on feeling the beat of the music as you hoop and using your arms while hooping. It was amazing to me how much more awesome waist hooping looks and feels when I am also moving my arms and legs to the music. 

Practicing walking and turning with the hoop and also dipping your arms in and out of the hoop can be helpful in working up to being able to move the hoop up and down your body. You will get there! You are teaching your body totally new ways of movement. It takes time. 

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StudentPermalink Reply by Mrs. Skittles of Sparkle & Burn* on March 13, 2012 at 5:37pm

Do you have any other friends that hoop? Sometimes it can be helpful to hoop with other people who can teach you a new trick or watch you attempting a trick and giving you some tips or idea about what you may be doing incorrectly. I cannot even tell you how many times I have helped my best friend figure out a trick she was trying (that I could not even do) by simply watching her and giving her feeback.

We all get frustrated with our hoops, the videos make it look easy, but you cannot imagine how many takes it could have taken to get the tutorials right or how long it too the person to learn the trick in the first place. Everyone doesn't learn at the same pace. Some of my friends learn tricks SO fast... I used to be a bit jealous, but I have learned to honor the way that I learn and to utilize them as a tool to help me progress.

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Permalink Reply by Maryellen on March 14, 2012 at 8:34am

Hey, no worries, okay!  I have to watch tutorials over and over and if someone is showing me something in person i have to ask them to demonstrate it over and over too.  Usually i get it when it magically "clicks" in my head.  I will just suddenly see how it should be done, or when im doing another move, i "feel" the trick im trying to learn.  And some times i will do something extra slooooo mooooo to get the gist of it.  Its easy to get discouraged, i agree with others that this is just a stepping stone, you will get past it!  Get some music that you really enjoy that is close to rythym you like to hoop at, that will help with your flow.  When you feel that flow it makes hooping so much easier.  Get outside!  Sunshine and fresh air WILL improve your synapses, letting your brain connect with your body.  Imagine what you want to do with your hoop, see it in your minds eye.  Even if it doesnt come out that way, just imagining it will help it come closer to realization.  I do that everytime i hear a song that i would like to hoop to, when im driving, washing dishes, changing diapers whatever....i hoop to the song only in my head, like a mental choreographing session.  Then when or if i get to hoop with it, its like ive already practiced that as a routine of sorts.  I feel like i forget alot of stuff or get stuck on one move, and then i think thats just where i am in my flow atm. 

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Permalink Reply by Maria Jensen on March 14, 2012 at 11:50am

Everyone, I just wanted to thank you for all your kind words and for being so great to the newbie :). I needed to hear that stuff. You guys rock!

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Permalink Reply by Tweed on March 14, 2012 at 12:15pm

Watch this video:

http://www.hoopcity.ca/video/love-the-process-safires 

 

It takes a lot of practice and patience but you CAN do it!

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StudentPermalink Reply by Chelsea Holifield on March 15, 2012 at 1:55pm

I love this video! It has help inspire me and help me to keep at it. All it is, is muscle memory, you just have to learn to move and dance with your hoop. I am a newbie too, but once you find the flow in the movement your body will just move with it! 

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Permalink Reply by Fauna on March 14, 2012 at 1:00pm

Ahhh that's how I was when I first started! I'd feel so proud of myself one day for making so much progress, then the very next day I'd want to cry because it felt like I took ten big steps backward. Don't sweat it! When you mess up just laugh to yourself, pick your hoop back up, and move on to a different move. Don't drill a move so hard that you just end up frustrated with yourself. It's all about muscle memory and for most moves that's not going to happen in one day. When I first started hooping I'd only hoop once or twice a week (or less!) so that I wouldn't get too frustrated. Just remember, even the greatest hoopers had to start somewhere! Have fun with your journey

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Permalink Reply by Lex-Z LuvHoopz on March 14, 2012 at 1:10pm

Im very new to this and can relate to you! What im doing is focusing on one trick at a time. Like ill spend 3 days straight doing the same move over and over till ive got it! It gets repetitive but seems to be working! Good luck!!!

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Permalink Reply by Calyiopi The Courageous on March 15, 2012 at 12:17pm

Welcome Maria! 

I am also new to the hooping community..not sure why I never looked up hoop forums before, but sooooooooo glad that I found this resource! Love it! Safire's hooping manifesto is a soul quenching video to watch whenever you are having a difficult hooping day or you feel "stuck".

Try larger hoops. Make a ginormous airplane sized hoop with gaff tape all over that thing and take it to the park with one of those cheap dressing mirrors or record yourself hooping and get and RGB cable to project through you TV so that you can watch yourself hooping and review the videos later. Seeing myself hooping helps me to nail tricks that I thought were previously impossible. I start with the big hoop, 160 psi 3/4 in (40-43 outside diameter) and then work my way back down to my 1/2 inch 125 psi (I think) and this one has a 35 inch outside diameter.

 You have already come this far and I am willing to bet that with a larger sized hoop that you will perfectly execute that trick you are trying to do! Have courage to try new moves and accept uncomfortable positions that these new moves will put your body into..

<3 Love the Process <3

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