Length of staff.

I've just now starting to get more into staff spinning. And i was wondering if my staff was to long? And How do you find the right size staff? I'm 6'1 and my staff is 5'1/4 Should I invest in other staff sizes? or should this size do the trick for me?

P.S. I'm learning contact staff (if that matters)

I'm 5'9" and 5'1/4" is the size I'm using along with a 4'9" with a different grip and they both work just fine for my height as well as my fiancee who is your height. You're supposed to start out with a staff that is taller than your shoulder but shorter than yourself for contact staff. The 5 1/4 should work well for you and if your prefer to go 1 size up you may like that as well, having one just slightly different in length and weight to alternate with is great for changing things up and working on different things (I prefer to do throws, UTL, and faster movements with the shorter one and more balancing and slow movements with the longer one).

Get a friend to measure up to your shoulder and go from there with the measurement than factor in your comfort. Are you comfortable with the one you currently have?

It's all personal preference if it works for you keep on goin
and if you want it longer/shorter then get that

Ouchstaff hit it on the head (heh)

There are actually a lot of factors that go into your personal preference, including staff material and head size! A longer staff is recommended for contact because it's easier to balance - it's got more weight on either side of the balance point. But if you managed to make your heads/ends massively heavy, you could have the same effect with a much shorter staff. Such weight distribution makes a staff slower to accelerate or change direction, making it ideal for contact, since it takes more to stop it from 'flowing'.

In the end it does come down to preference, but you have a lot of freedom within your preference. You can have a short staff perfect for contact, or a long staff much better for twirling. For instance, a martial artist's performance staff (you know, with the sharply tapered ends) is long, but its construction and material makes it poor for contact, since the majority of the weight is near the center - but it's excellent for fast, flashy twirling!

The nice thing about staff is that just about any long material will work - I've played with wood dowels, aluminum tubes, steel pipe, PVC, &c., of vastly different lengths, from 3' to 12'! Don't fret too much about getting the "perfect" staff, 'cause you'll find your preference changes as your skill level does.

Ditto the above, also bear in mind weight.

A heavy stick has greater momoentum so is hard to get spinning quick and harder to stop when it is spinning. again for contact heavy is good to learn and light harder because heavy sticks are less likely to bounce during transitions. A light stick with heavy ends (large wicks) will be more likely to act like a heavy staff due to the weights distance from the balance point (as mentioned above) so will be good for contact but tricky for spinning.

Also you want a staff that is straight, metal sticks have a tendancy to bend if drop lots on hard surfaces, bent sticks can be a pain learning contact so ensure it has a core that can maintain straightness (wood or fibre cored)

Most importantly as mentioned find a stick you are comfortable with.

Also bear in mind thickness of staff, thinner staffs are easier for contact, but bend easier too.

it matters whether you aim for contact staff... longer=better
generally the length would rather depend on the length of your arms rather than your full body size. I choose staffs that still pass my arm pit when I hold them in the center (longer arms - longer staff, shorter arm - shorter staff)

you can add "end-weight" to your staff by adding more wraps of Kevlar or a second wrap on each end. you can also put more weight to the end by putting lead weights to the very tip.

Generally I do prefer "full wodden core" staff. they proved to be the toughest when it comes to taking drops. other solutions (like fiber) tend to wobble (=terrible for contact) or bend sooner or later (regardless of what people or manufacturers claim). even a solid aluminum staff will bend after a few drops.

(to try: take the staff horizontally and pretend you do a spin off in daytime. if you see it wobbling in mid air - it´s most likely bent)

there is a formula regarding length of staff, diameter and thickness of material (aluminum/ metal), type of wood used for the core (heavy/dense vs. light wood) ... it´s not a fixed value but matter of trial and err to suit up to your personal preferences.

One thing to ponder is the type of handle you got on the staff. for contact I do recommend a wide grip from leather (maybe up to 2.5´´), thicker at the ends than in the center and "garnished" with rubber at the end of the handle... hard to describe... looks like this:

flower devil sticks

only that the rubber is at the end of the handle not at the end of the stick... advantage is that the rubber fans out and provides additional stability...

hope that helped... enjoy

reconsidering I would suggest starting from a longer staff - easier to cut off than to glue on