Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Carissa Nguyen on February 22, 2012 at 12:10pm

smaller spaces almost force you to go in a different direction. Try spinning (carefully) through the hallways in your house and you will notice you can go in all different directions as long as you keep yourself moving. Try tricks you already know and build your combos off of them. I have just learned double shoulders and vertical shoulders so lean your body in different ways. It may feel uncomfortable at first but I promise after hard work and dedication you will get it! Watch other hoopers and video tape yourself! I always go back over my videos and see what i could have done after that trick or that one. Hope this helps! 

Permalink Reply by Alyssa on February 22, 2012 at 12:12pm

i've been videotaping myself all the time and it's been helping so much. i'm going to start trying to hoop at different angles thank you this was really helpful actually!

Permalink Reply by Kacie Knight on February 22, 2012 at 1:42pm

A great way of diversifying your on body hooping is to try switching things up. A venue change like Carissa mentioned, or try moving to different types of music, with hoops of different sizes. A big groovy hoop with some jazzy, funky tunes, or a smaller hoop to some sick breaks, or a medium sized hoop with some pop or orchestral music. There are infinite combinations that will make you move differently as you interpret the music with your body and the hoop.

There are also so many different angles you can take things to vertically chest or waist hooping... You can do things like duck outs on the vertical plane too, coupled with throwing in breaks and reversals on the waist (people don't do this often enough, it's fun), chest and shoulder breaks, vertical chest and shoulder breaks, knee breaks (which you can do on the waist, or chest).

Another great way to open things up on body is to do tons in your reverse current. You might have a different style of movement when you hoop in a different direction, plus it's awesome for your brain and body!

Permalink Reply by Alyssa on February 22, 2012 at 1:57pm

everything you mentioned are things i'm working so hard on trying to improve so i'm glad i'm headed in the right direction! luckily i no longer have a dominant hooping direction and it's made everything so much easier. i'm just having a really hard time vertical hooping at all but i'm sorta getting there. thank you for responding i feel a lot better knowing i'm already taking the initiatives towards getting better :)

Permalink Reply by Tink in Tokyo on February 25, 2012 at 7:15pm

Sometimes tricks will get in your way. At least for me, I get frustrated that I can't remember a different one or I make a mistake and then my hooping gets entirely in my brain, which is pretty critical of my shortcomings. So try to forget your tricks and find your flow. Turn off your brain (easier said than done) and let your body take control.

Sustained spinning is a good gateway to hooping without thinking. Try blindfolded hooping, different music, anything that will allow you to really focus on the movement of your body without your brain and ego interfering. Trick your brain into staying quiet by telling yourself that you'll just practice this way for a few minutes and then you can get back to working on tricks. You may be able to fake your brain out and hoop in flow for quite a while.

Flow is a zen-like state. We can feel it in a lot of activities - from making music to making dinner - where we are fully present in the moment. Don't think about what comes next, just do whatever comes and accept it.

Muscle memory helps variety in flow, so if you want to expand the things you can do easily in flow, create some sequences deliberately and practice them (brain fully engaged) until they feel fully natural. Then, when you go into a flow state, those sequences will be the ones that you body does without any thought at all.