Replies to This Discussion

StudentPermalink Reply by Ness on June 6, 2011 at 7:16am

You already answered your question pretty well. "I understand that hooping is different for everyone,our bodies learn in different ways and each has a learning pattern of their own." That pretty much sums it up. 

For me personally, I have been hooping 10 months and I practice A LOT, daily. It's an obsession for me, so I'm at it constantly.  I stopped looking at my hooping in terms of "outcomes" and "tricks" and focus more on flow, dancing, having fun, and trying new things. It's so hard to say how long it took me to learn particular moves because in my practice, I'll focus on a movement for a while then move on to something else then come back to whatever I else I was working on before. I can give you vague time frames something took, but it's going to vary so widely for different people depending on so many factors. Muscle memory is an amazing thing and once you have it, I think it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly how long it took to get there.

But I know you're looking for something more specific - so if I had to guess - it took me about a day to get waist hooping down, within a week I could lasso, vortex up and down, and produce some weak isolations. Within 2-3 weeks I could navigate the hoop to chest with arms out. I worked on knee and chest (arms in) hooping for about 3 weeks until I was proficient, they were by far the most challenging for me to learn. Within maybe 2 more weeks I could waist/chest hoop vertically. After I got those basics down, I learned tons of movements rapidly in the time that follows. It usually takes me 1 or 2 days of practice to nail a new move. Once I get the muscle memory of a new movement I continue to work on it in every practice.

Hope that helps.

• ▶ Reply

StudentPermalink Reply by Christine W on June 6, 2011 at 8:50am

Everyone moves differently. And yes we all learn differently. I have been hooping since the end of March, I practice almost every day but now have had to slow it down a bit due to work and other obligations. When I go out to play I  try to focus on about 3 moves I would like to achieve. I still work my other moves but I work on these 3 obsessively and whatever one seems to be making the most progress I stick with it. Chest hooping (no arms) has been my big obstacle. Everyone else can seem to do it, yet I have struggled to make my curves work the hoop the way I want it since day one. Guess who can "boob hoop" (as I like to call it) now? Me! I'm still working on the arms in chest hoop, but the little step was something huge to celebrate!!! So, celebrate your successes.

Some days are better with hooping, I notice Im more loose in my chest (something I need to work on but am getting better!!!) I take mini videos for me to watch and critique a move, especially if I am trying to learn it the opposite way. the videos are for me- maybe someday I will post something.

Getting together with hoop groups is a great option. If we see a move we like someone doing we run up and ask, and they are more than happy to help. Work on alternative places to bring the hoop over the head, variations on bringing it down, if the wind picks up my hoop a bit Im more prepared to alter my moves and it makes for more interesting hooping. Seriously though.... video. Oh yes and good music. If you dont have something to jam to, its super boring and difficult to work your flow.

 Dont get discouraged. Im not sure if you play with other performance toys (poi, etc.) I have been a poi player for about 6 years now. Learning certain moves on hoop helped from my knowledge of poi (for off body stuff). Plus its fun. Just another thought.

 

Happy Hooping!!!!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Isabella on June 7, 2011 at 12:32pm

Boob hooping!!!That's exactly how I call it as well!!:)I'm a cup D and a week ago i thought I would never manage this...but now i can keep it going for about up to 30 rotations fairly comfortably,and the arms in chest hooping thing is still wonky,but much better than when i first tried it.

I did take a small video of my practice the other day...i was mostly messing around,nothing specific,and i was a bit dissapointed at my total lack of flow.But i guess in a more open space with clothes other than my jammies and music,it will be better.

So far i only hoop,but i've been considering poi,fan veils,and ribbons,for a while now.Not sure which one to start with.Also,i'm fond of stilts and maybe even aerials...but that's far far in the future I guess.

Unfortunately I think i must be the only hooper around here.Hard as i searched,there are no hoop groups in my city..so i am  mostly on my own in this.Well there is hoopcity of course:)and i love it

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tweed on June 6, 2011 at 9:08am

It also depends on how diligent you are too. If you're only picking up the hoop once or twice a week it's going to take a lot longer to get it down. There has been plenty of times where I've whipped my hoop across the yard and thrown it on the ground in frustration. Its when you nail the trick that you've been working so hard on that makes it all worth it though.

IMO I would say shoulder hooping was/is the most challenging for me. I've been hooping for over a year now & I'm STILL trying to make it look like I'm not having a seizure. It took me about 3 days of persistent hooping every night to get leg hooping down. Now its one of the easiest things for me to do. I'd say if I'm out there for hours on end 2-4 nights in a row I can accomplish almost anything I'm working on. I go through phases and sometimes I'll be outside with with my hoops with any spare time I have, 4+ hrs a day sometimes. Other times I wont touch it for a week so it's hard to tell exactly how many days/hours of practice it takes. & like you said everybody is different and learns at their own pace. 

Like Ness said though, it's all about having fun with what youre doing. When I learned to let loose and let go, my hooping skills improved with that mentality alone. Music definitely helps too. Close your eyes and try feeling the hoop. Recording yourself and watching the videos helps teach yourself and learn from your own mistakes. It really helped me, and you'll be surprised how good you look too!

Happy Hooping! Dont forget to HAVE FUN!

• ▶ Reply

StudentPermalink Reply by Tilly Whirls on June 6, 2011 at 11:57am

I practice anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes a day on weekdays, and sometimes up to three or four hours on weekends. I'm obsessed. Though there are days when I just don't find time for it.

It took me about two or so hours to learn to waist hoop. It started with me keeping it up for a few rotations. Then after an hour I could keep the hoop going for a couple minutes. After a week I could keep the hoop going on my waist for quite a while. Things like lasso/halo, that was quick.

Chest hooping probably took me a week and a half of practicing to get down. I've been working on shoulder hooping for probably a month and a half to two months now. I can do it, but it's not perfect. I still keep working at it.

Knee hooping took me a couple weeks to really get it down, and it was only once I was using my large hoops and doing it on bare legs that I really got it. Then I could knee hoop on my bare legs with a smaller hoop. Then I worked on knee hooping in pants with my bigger hoop, and now I'm working on knee hooping in pants with my smaller hoop.

The vortex took me a couple days. The helicopter took me a few minutes. The kick start took a week or so. Elbow passing took a day of long practice, and behind the back elbow passing took another long day.

Everything is different. Sometimes I'm surprised at how quickly I'll figure out how to do something. Other times I work at it until I'm frustrated and I won't even bother to try it again for a week. Or two or three.

For example, I made myself some 32" twins to start practicing doubles. I really wanted to learn the two-beat weave, because even though it's a fairly simple move, it's always super impressive to people. I worked on it for probably two weeks. Couldn't get it, couldn't get it. Hoops would go wonky. Kept smacking myself. I didn't try it again for two or three weeks. Last week I picked up my twins and started swinging them and tried it again and it just happened.

Also, knee to waist didn't take me long to figure out but I'm still not consistent with it. Waist to chest was harder and took way longer for me to figure out but I'm consistent with it. Go figure. :)

Anyway, yeah. Everyone is different. Everyone struggles with different things. But I do think that with patience and persistence whatever trick you're working on IS possible.

• ▶ Reply

StudentPermalink Reply by Kacie Knight on June 6, 2011 at 12:26pm

It's so hard to say.... It took me a week or two to learn how to waist hoop really easily in both directions, and months to learn how to shoulder and leg hoop in both directions comfortably. I picked up paddles and breaks pretty quickly (mostly cause I practiced them obsessively). Some little tricks I picked up within minutes: helicopters, palm spins, step outs, anti spin flowers, etc. Some "easy" tricks were hard for me. I have only been able to consistently do duck in's within the last couple weeks (I've been hooping since August). But then again, cause duck in's were hard for me, I almost never tried them.

I saw a lady in her late 50's pick up leg hooping within an hour of first picking up a hoop! Every one really does learn at their own pace.

The thing that really makes everything though, is flight time. How much time do you spend in your hoop? That is what it comes down to, over months/years hooping. Once a week for 2 years is very different from 8-10 hours a week for six months.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by copesetic chinacat ;) on June 6, 2011 at 1:10pm

it took me around 11 months to learn chest hooping! my biggest battle with my circle, now its all i do lol. for the first 6-8 months i played everyday, all the time... then i got a full time job, so i barely play on weekdays anymore, but weekends are hoop filled. i thought i'd never be able to chest hoop, honestly. one day it just clicked!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by andshespins on June 6, 2011 at 1:53pm

god i feel you, chest/over the arm hooping was my biggest challenge so far.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gail Daniel on August 9, 2011 at 12:12pm

I agree!

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by bornonthewrongplanet on June 6, 2011 at 1:53pm

pretty much every time i see a hoop, which is all the time, i pick it up and hoop anywhere from a minute to a couple hours. at least an hour a day most days. i've been hooping for a year this month so you can check out my progress on my page, i'm not usually a super quick learner on things like this but i definitely caught the hooping bug and have somewhat of an obsession :)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by bornonthewrongplanet on June 6, 2011 at 1:54pm

BUT there are plenty of tricks that aren't even that hard that took me months to learn!! i never really get too caught up on one trick, i try it for a minute and if it doesnt work i just hoop and do things i know and come back to it a different day, i feel like if i tried a trick for more than 10 minutes i'd get really annoyed and discouraged, but that's just me

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Bumblebee on June 6, 2011 at 3:52pm

First I'd like to say, take your time. It is not a race to be the best its the Journey and personal enjoyment you get out of it. I started hooping 3 years ago, but I didn't really take it seriously. I would learn something here and there or just hoop when I got together with friends. Everyone around me was getting good and I think I found that intimidating.  For some reason this year I have really decided to take it seriously. I find that I get frustrated easily, so I work on 3 or four things at a time, so when I am sick of one I move on to the other. But honestly I do better when I pump some music in my back yard and just flow. All of a sudden I nail a trick by just flowin, and I stop and think, I hope I can do that again. and I do. Some tricks came super easy, others I can do but are still not preformed with ease. Some times it takes all of 10 minutes to learn a new trick sometimes weeks. But EVERY time I nail it, I am just flowing with my hoop not thinking about getting it right.

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next ›
• Page