Why not use weighted staffs?

Hi, I have no formal experience in staff spinning. However, recently I've taught myself some spinning tricks using my devil stick. I had not intended to seriously pursue staff spinning but after seeing what I can do after so little practice I'm seriously considering it. I've been juggling for almost a year and after under 8 hours of practice my staff spinning looks almost as impressive as my juggling. As I mentioned earlier, I've been using a devil stick to do my spinning. The devil stick is wider and heavier at the ends while it is lighter and thinner in the center. When I spin it this special weighting allows the stick to gain lots of speed. I've never used a "real" spinning staff, but my question is why aren't "real" spinning staffs weighted like this? Is there a reason why I shouldn't use my devil stick for staff spinning? My devil stick is 27 inches which I understand is a lot smaller than a regular staff. But this also allows it to spin extremely fast and use one in each hand.
Thanks for the advice.

well as for teh shape, i guess its because a staight staff is easier to hold and an hour glass shape on a staff wouldnt conform to contact too well. i could be wrong as ive never tried it.

my staff is 5.5 feet and has 7 inchs of wood dowel in each end to make it weighted like you are talking about i think. this is to give it that toppling effect. i think this tecnique is mostly for contact because i could see a smaller staff just for spinning might want to be weighted all the way through.

im new to this though so might wanna wait for others to answer you.

spinning staffs, in my experience, are nearly always weighted. Even if just a little bit. The weight at the end definitely keeps up the momentum and the spin. It all comes down to inertia (basic physics 101).

Fire staffs are ALWAYS weighted whether you want it to be or not. The kevlar and the fuel adds weight to the end.

I'd highly recommend getting yourself a staff, length is a personal thing it seems, some like short, some like long it all varies. Personally I love the contact stuff and much prefer a heaver overall staff with good weights at the end.

Good luck and have fun!

dude, the energy you use to spin your staff, the 'work' is the product of force and distance. by using a weighted end, you increase the amount of force needed to spin the staff. a longer twirling staff will have a greater distance, so that too requires more work to spin - hence no need for added weighted ends when there is so much more distance.

in my experience, spinning a matchstick is usually an ungraceful show of speed. ("Faster! with less control!") A rule of thumb that has remained true for me over the years is that a heavier toy will teach you clean planes, as the heavier mass will provide more momentum with which to remain consistent, fluid. I learnt on a 1.4m long, 32mm gauge pine broom handle.

congrats on choosing staff! there is much joy if staff.

ive spun flower sticks a few times, they, like devil sticks do have a really nice weight to spin. try out a few slightly longer 'regular' staffs to see what you prefer. They are all weighted at the ends (well, nearly all). You can still get alot of speed with two 1m long staffs-but i guess what really makes it look pretty is control. Shorter staffs are harder to keep in plane (ie they are harder to keep'neat' when spinning). Plus the even bigger staffs have alot of momentum so contact is made alot easier.
Also of course...the bigger your staff the bigger flames you can have which is always a bonus

Good to see you Mr Chaz, its been a while

i have weighted my new sticks with some craftily shaped and weighed out plastesine.

works a treat!

i custom built my staff to be heavier at the ends, the centre is made from a broom handle and the ends are made from two peices of metal tubing filled with coins to weight it. it allows certain contact moves to be achieved more easily but if you hit youself with it you know about it. i can do moves on this staff that are almost impossible on lighter staffs. it makes a shorter staff behave as if it is longer while giving the advantage of not being to long and getting in the way.

What are good ways to weight the ends of staff and d - sticks?

get a length of dowel that will fit inside of your staff shaft and glue those in the ends. My 5.5 ft staff has 7inches and my 5ft has 6 inches. but its all up to you. If i were to redo my staves i would screw a couple of washers into the inside side of teh dowel to add more weight.