How to prevent bouncing?

I've been practising some new contact moves with my staff and I find my staff bouncing on various body parts, which obviously disrupts the spins (and the move). Is this just a sign of needing more practise or is there something I'm doing wrong?

Just wanna know if I just need to keep trying or if I'm busy learning a chucked skill and need to change my technique.

Love, Intala

Yeah it's a sign you aren't doing the movement quite right. There is a case for bouncy contact moves, but only if you're doing it deliberately, and with controlled bounces.

It probably the case that you're not positioning the staff correctly in the move, and it's falling onto a body part instead of smoothly rolling / wrapping (or whatever) to that body part.

Try and work out the path the staff should be taking, and why it's falling onto the body part creating the bounce. Then fix it.

but another thing to look at could be your staff may have a slight bend as that can cause bounce too. straight staffs are important in contact..

bendy staffs will teach you how to not bounce the staff also, as well as highlighting when the staff is rolling and when it's not.

Also, make sure your staff is weighted properly. If you have too much weight on one side (due to screws and/or wick/pad overlap) then your staff will bounce as a normal part of it's rotation. This is a very frustrating thing and can destroy your learning curve.

For instance, the steve will begin to roll down your arm to your neck, start bouncing due to the weight offset, and then bounce right off your back/opposite shoulder. Since you need the staff roll to control the movement, it's difficult to compensate properly for the bounce.

The best way I know of to determine how well the staff is balanced is to do a clean free spin movement (like a burnoff spin) in front of you with as little verticle movement as possible. If you get enough air time in there you will be able to see how the shaft rotates in conjunction with the wicks/pads. If the staff is bobbing much during this free spin, then it's weight is not distributed well.

Hopefully that helps a bit.
Peace,
- Sui

Thanks all. The staff is ok, I can perform some nice moves with it... it's just new moves that give problems. I guess I need a second pair of eyes sometimes.... time to meet up with other spinners .