Forums > Help! > please dont laugh

Posted: 21st Jun 2008
Id say to try on your first and second fingers...

Also, when spinning at your sides, do not hold the poi with your palm facing down. Hold the poi with your palm facing inward (ie your two palms should be facing each other) and your fingers pointed straight ahead of you (kind of like if you were holding a box in front of you.

If these tips don't help, perhaps try a different style of grip such as a ball handle which will force you to keep a hold of your poi. Personally, I prefer the ball grip and will usually hold onto the chains while spinning, even on poi with looped handles.

Let's turn those old bridges we crossed into ashes.
We'll blaze a new trail,
and torch the rough patches.

-Me

Posted: 21st Jun 2008
You can also put down your thumb on the 2 fingers holding the poi, though I agree with Icon that you should try the index/middle finger.

How far up on the fingers do you have the loops? Maybe shifting them up a bit would help?

"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)

Owner of Dragosani's left half

Posted: 21st Jun 2008
This is what I do for double loops: try holding your hand flat, palm face down. Put the loops on the 2nd and 3rd fingers and let your forefinger and thumb pinch the end of the handle right in front of the chain attachment. You can keep the poi's weight on the middle and control with your pinch. You can also open your palm at times without too much concern about flying off your hand.

"to a man whose only tool is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail." Abraham Maslow

Posted: 22nd Jun 2008
ah ha i will try all ur suggestions, thanks.
btw dr. i've got them up as far as they would go.

should the poi hang from the palm or the back of my hand? I've been doing it from the back.

the other thing I thought was just that maybe the loops were just too big 4 my fingers, cuz they are a bit skinny, and maybe taking tiny rubberbands on each loop to sinch them more onto my fingers.... would that work or would it cause movement issues?

Posted: 22nd Jun 2008
It is really best to hold the poi rather high on your fingers, like above the middle knuckle.

You should not need to tighten the loops. It is all about control and how you hold the loops in your fingers. I can just as easily spin with very long loops as smaller ones. The main thing is, you do not want handles that attach themselves tightly to you (especially with fire poi) in case you need to let them go quickly.

Let's turn those old bridges we crossed into ashes.
We'll blaze a new trail,
and torch the rough patches.

-Me

Posted: 22nd Jun 2008
Its completely personal preference as to whether to let the poi hang from the palm or back of your hand. Each one feels different and can influence your movements.

I'll second MikeIcon's opinion regarding tightness, though. Always think worst case scenario. There's a conversation on another site where the parachute connectors on someone's ball chain poi somehow slipped together and locked.....one fire head and one handle. In a case like that, do you really want those handles to be synched on tightly?

"to a man whose only tool is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail." Abraham Maslow

Posted: 22nd Jun 2008
I've got the loops up as high as they will go.

and good point about the fire aspect, although I'm not there yet, gooooood point.

Posted: 23rd Jun 2008
Personally If I'm using double finger loops I twist them before putting them on my fingers. Hard to explain in writing, but I take the top end of the loop and twist it once before I put them on.

But I do usually use ball ends on my poi.

Never pick up a duck in a dungeon...

Posted: 23rd Jun 2008
I HoP-community

No laughs - no foolish remarks

We've all been there at some stage

the best smiles are the ones you lead to

Posted: 23rd Jun 2008
Get sock long and wrap them multiple times around your hand.
make then coming off a feature and practice those catches.
Get really long poi and wear them on your arms like leads. The at least they wont fly offski.

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu

Posted: 23rd Jun 2008

 Written by : Squid

Its completely personal preference as to whether to let the poi hang from the palm or back of your hand.

Is is personal preferance, but it is easier and you will have more control if they come from the back of your hand. If you have the string from the palm, they could very easily get caught on your fingers and not spin freely.

Posted: 23rd Jun 2008
All these suggestions are good, I'd suggest making a pair of socks, anyway. Balloons with rice in, about 1/2 a cup or so in the bottom of colourful socks.



Nice and easy and it means you can play with throws and that kind of thing. It also makes it easier to do length changes for different movements or effects. Buzzsaws are easier with shortened poi, for example...



But if you do truly love your fluffy poi, you could remove the double loop handles, attach a piece of fabric of your choice to it and hold that, perhaps even have it long enough that you can wrap it once around one of your fingers or some such thing. Or you could have a single loop of fabric, allowing you to use the grip you currently speak of that would grip slightly tighter https://www.homeofpoi.com/lessons_all/teach/Library-POI-Beginners-part-1-Holding-the-poi-3_7_7 as well as being able to transition to a grip that'll allow throws...



And by the way, I don't think anyone would bother to laugh, I've got video of me doing a 2bt weave then a "3bt weave" as well as a corkscrew and a "4bt corkscrew" They're in inverted commas because they're actually no different except they have an extra little wiggle put into the transitions. The best way to learn is to admit your weaknesses and work out how best to address them, often other people can help.



*These suggestions aren't to go against the others on this page, they're good suggestions if they work for you, but if not, theres this!*



Happy spinning!!
EDITED_BY: Mother_Natures_Son (1214217010)

Posted: 24th Jun 2008
I've started spinning recently and also have fairly small hands. I started with sock poi but having to hold them made my hands cramp after 15 minutes practice or so.

Currently I alternate between the socks (my hands are gettting stronger) and double loops which I put an extra twist in to secure them. I start with them coming off the palm, them twist them again between the 2 fingers to the back of my hand, as in the 3b picture on the HoP lessons page:

https://www.homeofpoi.com/lessons_all/teach/Library-POI-Beginners-part-1-Holding-the-poi-3_7_7

I take the point about being able to let go easily when using fire: I've started to practice with an untwisted 2 finger hold for tricks I'm comfortable with, I still find it easier to learn new ones with the more secure hold.

YMMV

Posted: 24th Jun 2008
thanks soo much for all replies, and 4 being sooo kind, I'm used to reptile forums, where u get ragged for being a newbie if u ask a simple question, I'm gonna try the twisting of the loops.

let u know how it goes.

Posted: 24th Jun 2008
Jameth, when you hold the socks, how do you hold them? I usually wrap it once around my index and middle fingers and then maybe again around my index, depending on how I'm feeling, this took away the feelings you were experiencing as well as making it much easier for me to understand how to lengthen and shorten the poi!

I dunno, whatever works for you, I guess. Have my posts been useful or am I rambling off topic?? That wouldn't be uncommon for me.

Posted: 24th Jun 2008
Initially I wound it around several fingers - I had to shorten it a fair bit as 55cm is the longest that will fit along my arm. I've now sewed a small loop at the end, I slip that over my index finger before looping it around my fourth finger and out, with another whole loop for buzzsaws.



It's much more secure, I can relax my hand but it can cut off the circulation in my fourth finger if I'm not careful where I loop it.



I also tried a ping pong ball near the end of the sock, that felt insecure at first but I plan on giving it another go with moves I'm comfortable with. Atm I'm trying as many handles / grips as possible, to find what suits me best and to avoid getting dependant on any one method.

Posted: 24th Jun 2008

 Written by :nyannyan6465


I'm used to reptile forums, where u get ragged for being a newbie if u ask a simple question

That doesn't happen very often here. If it does happen, it's usually because the question's been asked 1000 times before, so if you think you have a problem that might've been discussed already the search function's your friend. Or you can browse through the technical forums like beginners poi.

Just to keep you out of trouble in the future, not that I think you'll need it

"vices are like genitals - most are ugly to behold, and yet we find that our own are dear to us."
(G.W. Dahlquist)

Owner of Dragosani's left half

Posted: 25th Jun 2008
ahh a day off, I may get a chance to practice today. finally..

Posted: 25th Jun 2008
Indeed. The search button is a good friend on such a large site with so much history. The one that works best is on the tabs at the top of the page (next to 'calendar') not the Google one on top right. It works well.. you can narrow the search down to likely forum areas or keep it general.

Good luck! Pinching poi between thumb and first finger is probably the most common thing... gives you more control... fine tuning a tiny bit at the hand/wrist makes a big difference to where the poi end up.. how 'clean' your 'planes' are.



Another tip about posting here is to name your new thread precisely.. that way more people will know what you are asking now and it will come up in future searches to help newbies in future.

Enjoy your poi!

Cheers

Gabe

.....Can't juggle balls but I sure as hell can juggle details....

Posted: 10th Jul 2008
i keep my figers slightly bent, but in a realxed way (if that makes sense) and that usualyl stops them flying off. i usually put the looks over my first and third fingers.

Dunno if that might help.