Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Linette Hutchinson on August 14, 2012 at 11:49pm

First when you say 42" are you meaning the length of tubing or the diameter of the hoop? .. i am  bigger girl and when i started it was a lot of frustration to keep the hoop up! keep at it don't give up it will come! it takes time to be able to hoop for long periods of time. I found it easier to spin while hooping it helped keep the hoop going for me and helped me keep the hoop around my waist. so all i do is pivot on the foot that my hoop is spinning towards. find you rhythm and dont give up happying hooping momma

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Permalink Reply by Leigh Jenner on August 15, 2012 at 12:03am

42" diameter. If you were to lay a tape measure against outside rim, it would measure 11 feet. I will have to try pivoting, that sounds like it would really help. There is a hooping class locally, but the lady who runs it has yet to add me (it's up on meetup.com). 

I was wondering if the weight or lack there of has anything to do with it since the hoop is maybe 2 pounds.

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ModPermalink Reply by Martika* of MartikasMysticDesign on August 16, 2012 at 3:18pm

Your very right, no matter how big the hoop is if it's too light for your current level of hooping it will be very hard to work with. If you don't know what kind of tubing or psi(pounds per square inch) your tubing is try asking the person you bought it from. If they don't know, they are not doing their job right.A good beginner tubing would be 160 psi with pvc tubing (black irrigation tubing (water piping) can be found at many local hardware store.) The heavier the tubing the more it will cost though. Also some have sad 160 psi can be a little unforgiving on the the body but great to keep on the body.

One way to try and save the hoop you bought is to put rice,beans,sand or water inside the hoop to weigh it down.You would need so much tape to weigh the hoop down it's unrealistic method to use.

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Permalink Reply by Leigh Jenner on August 17, 2012 at 4:23am

I hyper linked the page that has the information about the hoop. (Amazon, BTdubs) But it's literally an eight sectioned hoop, like, molded in China for that purpous. I did actually add a little weight by adding a couple of ounces of rice to each segment. Now it's just over 2 and a half pounds. 

Thanks to everyone for being so supportive!!

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StudentPermalink Reply by Missina Lee on August 20, 2012 at 11:51am

That hoop might actually be your problem. Those waves on the inside of it look painful, let alone difficult to use! I think I would have trouble keeping that up, because the inside doesn't make a smooth circle, and it'd be hitting you in funny places that might offset the balance.

And if you taped it with electrical tape, that's only going to add to the slippery aspect. Pick up some hockey tape from the sporting section. They will mostly have black and white, but sometimes lime green, pink, skulls, and red. This will add some grip to help the hoop stick to your body a bit more. I have been hooping for two years and can hoop with untaped hoops, but I have to work that much harder to keep them from slipping. So if you are just starting, definitely rely on some grip tape!

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Permalink Reply by janet marie margarette on August 15, 2012 at 12:20am

Larger hoops are usually more helpful when you start out because it gives you more reaction time. But really, it mostly just takes practice and patience - which is frustrating - but feels so worth it when you finally nail it. If you want to do off body tricks your smaller hoops will probably be helpful.

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StudentPermalink Reply by Kelly H on August 15, 2012 at 8:51am

Definitely start out with a heavy hoop. My first hoop came up past the top of my hip and was the thick heavy tubing. I had trouble keeping it around my waist for about a week, but once I got one trick, a bunch soon followed. I was pretty discouraged at first and even after a few tricks I hit a plateau and didn't progress. Now this plateau has happened several times but each time I get past it I get so much better. 42" is really big, but probably a good starting size, but just make sure the hoop has the weight too. The heaviness keeps it stable.

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Permalink Reply by Mina Bear on August 15, 2012 at 10:45am

having a larger diameter hoop definitely helps because you can hoop slower with it, but you definitely want it to be heavy. Instead of using electrical tape, use duct tape, its much heavier, and 3 or 4 duct tape colors on one hoop should be enough weight

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Permalink Reply by Keseygirll~ on August 15, 2012 at 11:14am

its more of a shifting your weight from side to side than anything, don't try to move your hooops or with motions that are too big.. you know what i mean? just shift your weight from side to side, liike your waiting for something.. hope this helps a  little!

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StudentPermalink Reply by Tilly Whirls on August 15, 2012 at 6:29pm

You should check out Shannon's (Hoop Love) videos for some inspiration. It took her a couple weeks and a few different hoops to learn to waist hoop, but she refused to give up and she's a beautiful hooper. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdQijpb0GtA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icbN89EX32A

You should also check out these videos of hers, just for fun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjVMHfqK52c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhgHwychh4A

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StudentPermalink Reply by sheabrock of 'boro hoops on August 16, 2012 at 12:31pm

def need a bigger hoop. i am plus size hooper and when i started the only hoop i could keep up was like a 47 inch hoop. took me 6 weeks to hoop a hole song. keep it up

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