Fishtails! help?

i have tried and tried and tried and i just cant get fishtails with my staff.....
im of course not going to give up but a few hints and tips would be greatly appreciated thank you!

wish i could help but have not succeeded. you can do a search with a keyword for fishtails or check out the staff section, mcp also has really good tutorials

yeah... i have managd to find some really old threads that helped a little but i still cant get it...

tons in MCPs threads at the top of the staff forum

http://www.homeofpoi.com/ubbthreads/show...5/o/all/fpart/1

most of theese vids are really jumpy on my pc, cant see whats going on... ill have to see if the college pc's will let me look...

ummm whats a fish tail?

all contact moves have a non contact equivalent (mostly)

even though it may not seem like it, the fishtail is probably the most basic contact move, it is just a weave but instead of holding in the hand the staff rests on the back of the hand, the movement of the staff is exactly the same

either ask mcp or antti or psi (mike)....my descriptions would probably suck....and dunno how to explain it properly....but if you need any help....continue reading....!

first of all you have to practice....again and again.....and again.....try to practice the basic figure 8 with the staff in front of you twirl backwards .....then you have to do that on the back of your hand and you are getting close to fishtails....., but there is more movement from the right to left...etc....see told ya...i cant explain it properly!

have fun....or check out one of the above named!

place the staff on the back of your hand. Place the other hand on top of it and hold it LOOSELY in place.

Now try to play a basic backwards 1-beat; NOT A 2-BEAT OR FIGURE-8

gradually, you will begin to feel how the staff moves, and how the hand underneath it should follow and guide the movement.
When you are ready remove the top hand

i got a nice practise -

balance the staff on the backs of BOTH hands. now do 1beats(either forwards or backward, whichever is most comfy) to either side(like a figure eight, but less circles!) - essentially one end of the staff is making circles on one side of you, the other end is making circles on the other.

you'll find that both hands are doing the fishtail movement. it's quite a big jump from there to actual fishtails, but it'll help with the motion.

ooh...i'll try that this weekend, one hand on top

The way I learnt was to just practice each transition separately. So do a wrist wrap and switch from in front to behind, and vice versa and practice getting the heads to drop past opposite sides of your body. I found the transition from behind to in front considerably more tricky than the front-to-back one, also backwards spinning is much easier.

Trust me on that last point, I spent months learning forwards ones, and then got backwards ones in a couple of weeks!

took me ages to get backwards, i had forwards down for quite a while, but yeh backwards is easier, and opens things up alot more

@_Y_: for us (people around my area) figure 8 is the 1 beat...and if you do it backwards....we're talking about the same thing

when i first learnt staff, the figure of 8 was a 2-beat.
not that it really matters what you call it, as long as the people you talk to understand you

i learnt by text descriptions on hop and transitioning from a fwd fig-8 on my dominant hand. however now contact is so popular there are so much more people available to teach it in person.

i'm still trying to get it happening for the sticks i use for shows (thin 1m concentrate sticks)

a movie is worth a thousand words 24 times a second! (mostly the same words repeated, you see ... )
I doubt i'll ever post fishtail lessons on my site as i'm slack/focus is elsewhere and it's been done before and well.

so i almost got them im thinking with a shorter staff it would be much easier.

It seems like im cheating to pull off my fishtails, I'll start with the staff in my right hand and do a wrist wrap and bring the staff over to my left, then a do the weird hand motion and i pretty much pinch the staff between my hand and wrist to get it back over. then when i go for the next one the staff usually ends up locked under my arm pit. also iv enoticed i have to move A LOT to get them to clear me.

any tips based on this?

it will take a while

practise more

sounds like you have the basic motion down, when you first start doing them you prob will have to move alot once you get them cleaner you wont

Hey Robyn.. sorry been mia.. lots going on. pm coming!

Fishtails..

1. Balance the staff on the back of your right hand.

2. Trying not to let it tip the balance, move your right elbow out, so the right head of the staff is in front, and the left head comes back closer to your body.

3. If you dip the thumb of your right hand slightly, the right head of the staff will begin to rise.

4. Using the staff's grip against your skin to maintain grip (heavier staff would be better, as there's more pressing the staff to your hand), move your hand up and outward to the right, to follow the right head. Think about making a small arch with the right head (don't think of a full circle, just a small arch).

5. As the right head completes the arch, you'll notice the left head is starting to rise.

6. Now slowly move your hand up, following the arch the left head is trying to make, while feeling the weight off the staff and thinking about it's natural grip on the back of your hand. If you forget for a moment, the staff will do things like slide off, or over tilt on one side.

7. So make the left head do a small arch.

8. Repeat.

It's pretty much just working on making small arches on both sides. As you get better, the height and width of the arches increase, eventually getting it into a weave type motion. When you begin, it'll feel like paddling a kayak, but digging wide instead of digging deep.

Have fun!