Is it just me or is the weave hard to learn?

I've only started spinning recently, but I've been practicing for a fair bit and I don't seem to have the coordination to do it. Anyone else have similar problems?

Endangered Sanity,

I see myself as a slow learner. I think the weave was my first "hard" trick. Oneday someone saw me attempting this move and told me to use only one poi and go though the hand motions with the poi-less hand. Then after practising this use the poi in the other hand. I got it soon after doing this.

Remember to have regular breaks when trying something new. Keep at it with the right frame of mind you can do anything.

Thanx for the advice

Endangered Sanity (i hope it's not because of Poi ) - some people can learn Poi must faster than others and that's a fact but on the other hand i would say that pretty much everyone has the necessary coordination to learn... maybe you will need some extra patience and effort but at the end of the day i think it's worth it...i also think that Poi is more beneficial for people who do not have excellent coordination since through poi you will be able to develop your coordination - remember this was one of the main reasons Poi was used in the first place...
on the more technical side of things i would say that the quickest way to learn the weave is to practise lots with one poi at the time and with the other hand try and make the movements as if you are holding another poi...practise much more with your weaker hand and when you are confident that you can do the movements with each hand without thinking too much about them then try and do it with both Poi; if after some practise you still don't get it, post a message saying what is going wrong and we'll come to the rescue
happy swinging and good luck,
Simos

Once you do get it....it makes you even more frustrated "WHAT THE HECK WAS I DOING!"

Right now i cant get the backward weave....but when i do, its right back to "WHAT THE HECK WAS I DOING!"

I know what you mean Endangered. They're all right, just get the motions down for one hand at a time. Then go eat dinner or something, then try again but with both hands. Mebbe it's just me, but DON'T think about what your doing. If you've practiced enough with each hand at a time, it should just flow. If you start thinking about what your doing, you'll become nervous and end up with a lot of bruises^__^. I still don't know how i do it, it just sorta happens on it's own, and once you get it started, the rhythm will keep it going. Hope that helps NE, since i just got it last night

Not to worry, it'll come. I had a hell of a time with the weave, as has everyone I've ever taught it to. A few pieces of advice:

1. Materials are very important. I started out with these cheesy homemade wicks which hurt A LOT when I hit myself (which _will_ happen to anyone no matter what their skill level), then switched to spinning these tiny LEDs that were way too light to be good to learn with. Get yourself a pair of tennis balls, or bean bags, or better yet, a pair of the streamer-style poi sold on this site. The right amount of heft combined with the noninjury factor is _really_ of vital importance. I had been practicing for two months and all I could do was the butterfly and the figure-eight. When I got my streamers (a friend gave me a pair of Zunis) I learned like five more moves that very day; ones I'd been struggling with while using inferior poi sets. Having a really good set to practice with is very very important!

2. If you get frustrated working on a certain move, stop working on it for a bit! Take a break; work on a different move, just do the things you already know how to do, or put the poi down and get a drink. Sometimes the brain needs a few minutes to percolate in order to get that mental breakthrough that makes it all come together. Very technical moves, like the weave really are like this.

3. Many many moves are much easier to learn starting out with one poi in one hand, then practicing with the other, and only THEN practicing with both. Again, the weave is no exception to this. Study carefully and practice the hand motion shown here in the first animation:
http://www.juggling.co.nz/theweave.htm
Make sure you can do that "over..under..out.." with each hand one at a time, even if your brain can't quite grok what the other hand is supposed to be doing. It'll come, I promise!

4. Take good care of yourself psychologically. This is _fun_. I seriously doubt you're as slow a learner as you think you are in comparison with others, but who cares anyway? Don't think in terms of your performance compared to other people..there will _always_ be somebody slower, and there will _always_ be somebody faster. To belabor the point, when I started learning I was the only person in the city who was doing this stuff. Then when I started to get pretty good and confident in my skill I started teaching a friend, who learned ten times as quickly as I did. I was pretty bummed out about it, feeling like I'd wasted a lot of time, getting so easily surpassed by somebody I considered a "student", but then it occurred to me that a. who the hell cares and b. i didn't have the luxury of having someone around to show me how to do the moves or explain things except on rare occasions when I had out-of-town visitors, so it's perfectly understandable that he'd learn a lot faster than I did. I promptly forgot about it and continued learning at my own pace.

5. Take care of yourself physically. If your shoulders start to ache, put the poi down until tomorrow. There's _always_ tomorrow, and you'll be in better shape for it. And don't forget to stretch before and afterwards! Over time you'll be able to practice longer and longer.

Don't hesitate to get back to us with questions if you have them. And see if you can get some friends in your area in on the fun too..one of the best ways to learn is to have a friend nearby to laugh at you when you screw up!

Best of luck & good fortune!

-protie

I just got the weave on the weekend after weeks and weeks of hitting myself and looking like a complete unco, i could do it with the right hand swinging ok, but the left..not a chance.
Even watching other people was just annoying me more than helping
But Finn let me borrow the Art of Poi, which is available from this site (??) and i watched and listened and whallah!! it just came to me!!!
I was very excited
I will be buying the art of poi myself very soon, for both me and my friends.

Yay Frenzie!!!!!!

Im just glad to know that im not the only one who had trouble. It kind of gives me a bit of hope knowing that so many people found it hard but ended up being able to do it in the end anyways.

I did it!

It was so cool, one minute I wasn't doing it and the next, I was! I can't believe how easy it is now. Once I found out how yo do it, I practiced for about an hour, I was so psyched. Pity that I now have another blister on my finger.... ouchie

Lemme b the 1st then 2 congratulate u, Mr Sanity! Ain't it cool.....that feeling....I know 'cos I had exactly the same experience. I started out being able to do a half a weave (ag man, I don't exactly know what I did but it *seemed* like half a weave 2 me) So the one eve I had a friend over who tried to help me get the weave. I'm sad to say that he gave up 'cos I started getting *dangerously* frustrated.......After he left, however, I told myself that it was goin to be dry toast for me for breakfast, lunch and dinner for as long as it takes me to get the %$*&^%!#$#%!!! move. So for the next....uhm.....say, hour and a half I was on my bed in my rondawel in front of the mirror, collecting one bruise after the other (aquiring that perfect "battered woman"-look)until...........suddenly.....just like you.......I DID IT!!!! (sorry 4 capitals but that's the only way to describe my reaction - I nearly lifted the roof with decibels) The friend was the first one who knew obviously - sent him a message via cel phone: I've fucking got it!!!!
And -just like you and everybody else- now I can't believe I *ever* battled with it.
Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!

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*WC*