Pop.. slide… pop

Oh that’s a pretty sweet move.
It has a feel of a matrixy robot dance.

And that visualization is really intriguing as well. It supplements the video nicely. Although it certainly doesn’t replace it just yet — especially since you’re doing a direction reversal. I’d suggesting experimenting by adding words to the graphic as well.

I was actually thinking about how hooping could use something like guitar tablature for describing moves for the sake of taking notes for yourself, but also for sharing. This is a good start towards that.

Here’s how I’d describe the move by it’s component parts (I describe some tricks for determining “forward” vs “backwards” below):

* Start with a forward lefthand isolation
* Break at 6 o’clock
* Slide your lefthand outwards to the left a few feet away from your body
* Do a full forward rotation and break at 6 o’clock again.
* Slide the hoop to the rightside of your body
* Do a full reverse rotation breaking at 6 o’clock again.
* slide back to the left and start over with a full forward rotation.

For the right hand, when moving to the right, do a forward rotation, and when moving to the left, do a reverse rotation.

Now, I’m sure that the “forward” and “reverse” can probably be confusing, and so I’d like to share a couple of ways I think about whether the hoop is moving “forwards” or “backwards” around the hand. The easiest way to tell is when you hand is to the side, and the TOP of the hoop is either moving forwards or backwards.

But sometimes it’s hard to tell when you’re watching someone else, or the hoop is in front of you or someone else, or they’re doing some crazy fast breaks — all of which are happening in this video.

So a surefire trick that I have to use a mnemonic inspired by the “right-hand rule” from electromagnetism.

This video is the best visual explanation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2leLwaQ9ueA In electromagentism, you follow the path of the electrical current, and then whatever direction your thumb is pointed in will determine which direction the magnetic field is moving. It’s called the Right-hand rule because it only works with your right hand.

So with hooping you can use a modified version of that same trick for vertical hooping to determine if the hoop is moving “forwards” or “backwards”

It goes like this: If you’re hooping on your left hand, then curl your lefthanded fingers in the direction in which the hoop is spinning. Your thumb will either be pointing TOWARDS your body or AWAY from your body. If it’s TOWARDS your body, then that’s BACKWARDS. If it’s AWAY from your body, then it’s FORWARDS.

With this particular trick, I had to resort to the left-hand rule to even perceive that Rich was switching directions when moving side to side.

Love it. Yes, the “pop” definition makes sense! :) I’ve been playing around with that, but it’s not very smooth yet. More practice!

The part 2 of my comment is more of some thoughts on some mnemonics to help with the “forward” and “reverse” hoop direction terminology since it can be confusing. I have a couple of ways I think about whether the hoop is moving “forwards” or “backwards” around the hand. The easiest way to tell is when you hand is to the side, and the TOP of the hoop is either moving forwards or backwards.

But sometimes it’s hard to tell when you’re watching someone else, or the hoop is in front of you or someone else, or they’re doing some crazy fast breaks — all of which are happening in this video.

So a surefire trick that I have to use a mnemonic inspired by the “right-hand rule” from electromagnetism.

This video is the best visual explanation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2leLwaQ9ueA In electromagentism, you follow the path of the electrical current around a loop, and then whatever direction your thumb is pointed in will determine which direction the magnetic field is moving. It’s called the Right-hand rule because it only works with your right hand. With hooping, the following trick only works with whatever hand you’re hooping with.

With hooping you can use a modified version of that same trick for vertical hooping to determine if the hoop is moving “forwards” or “backwards”

It goes like this: If you’re hooping on your left hand, then curl your lefthanded fingers in the direction in which the hoop is spinning. Your thumb will either be pointing TOWARDS your body or AWAY from your body. If it’s TOWARDS your body, then that’s BACKWARDS. If it’s AWAY from your body, then it’s FORWARDS.

And if it’s on your right hand, then you use your right hand. So that’s why it’s a ‘modified’ right-hand rule.

I had to resort to this trick to even perceive that Rich was switching directions when moving side to side.