Hooping question

[redhedlvr2]

I've been inspired by the hooping stories sara_merry99  and sassyinkpen  have written about.  So I went out and bought a hula hoop and ordered a dvd from Amazon.  It's just amazing to me what people are able to do with this thing and it really looks like fun.

Anyway, and here's where I have run into trouble, I'm a klutz!  I can't seem to get the thing to stay up around my waist at all.  For any one who is hooping, did you start out being able to do the most basic thing right off or did it require lots of practice at first?  Or maybe I need a smaller hoop?  I don't know.  Any advice would be appreciated.

Comments

[sara-merry99.livejournal.com]

Unless you're quite short, you almost certainly don't need a smaller hoop. It should come up to between your navel and the bottom of your breasts.

It did take me a *lot* of practice, probably about a week of working on it every evening and every time I walked through the living room (remember, I work at home, so that's a big chunk of practice), to get the hoop going around my waist for long stretches and reliably. I'm a total klutz too and have/had very little sense of connection to my body (hooping is helping with that lots).

Which hoop and DVD did you get off Amazon? Hoopnotica's Beginner 1 DVD has really good instructions on basic waist hooping and several other cool things. They do classes and have figured out how to have happy paying class-takers so their instructions are clear and they have a troubleshooting bit after each new thing which really helps. I have all three of their DVDs now and am moving into the Beginner 2 stuff.

There are about a million free tutorials on youtube too--for waist hooping I really recommend the one by the two women in pink velour track suits. Search youtube for "hula hoop basics 1" and you should find them.

But even with good tutorials, it just takes a while to get the rhythm and movement right. You need to put a fair amount of oomph into your movements at first, for one thing.

There are *tons* of other fun things to do while you're figuring out waist hooping. There are all manner of hand tricks you can play with that are really cool and awesome. Look for tutorials by Caroleeena (note the 3 e's) and SaFire and KaytiBunny and the Hula Hoop Basics series on youtube--they all have great tutorials for things you can do off the body. That will hopefully keep you from getting frustrated with the hoop while your body figures out waist hooping.

And this vid on youtube is not a tutorial, but it's so inspiring it makes me a little teary.

Edited to add a little bit and be more clear.

[redhedlvr.livejournal.com]

Yay! There may be hope for me yet then. I did order the Hoopnotica beginner 1 dvd. Can't wait for it to come in. I also have very little connection to my body. Aka, klutz, hee he.

My dog is not impressed at all. I tried out my new purple sparkle hula hoop (that's all they had! Not my fault.) over the weekend and she was very alarmed. Barked at me the whole time. Everyone's a critic!

Thanks for the tips.

[sassyinkpen.livejournal.com]

Where did you buy your hoop - because it's practically impossible to get adult hoop-dance hoops in stores. Most are either sold off hooping websites or homemade (which is really easy to do)

As Sara mentioned, you want it to come up to about nipple height (they're easier when they're bigger because they take a little longer to go around), but it's not just about getting the right size of a hoop....you also need one that's the right WEIGHT. Your hoop needs to have enough heft to keep the momentum going. The vast majority of hoops (both bought and made) are out of 160psi, 3/4" irrigation tubing.

Making your own hoops is dead easy and only requires an outlay about $40-$60 depending on what tapes you choose and if you buy a PVC cutter - but this will give you enough material to make 8-10 hoops. You can never have too many hoops!

I'd absolutely be willing to give you more advice and/or links - whatever you need. *g*

[redhedlvr.livejournal.com]

Not knowing what to do and being in a hurry to try this out, I just went to Dick's Sporting Goods and bought the only hoop they had. The guy had to dig it out of the back room some where so I'll bet it's not the right thing for anyone. It is a pretty purple/sparkle thing, though, and according to the tag, it has some distilled water inside.

So, I'm doing it wrong alreay. Ugh

[sassyinkpen.livejournal.com]

That one's not useless at all - it can be great for learning hand tricks on, or just for a different feel in off-body hooping.

But it is most certainly why you aren't able to waist hoop with it. *g*

Also - MY experience in the other comment was that I actually DO need to do a somewhat circular motion for waist hooping.

[redhedlvr.livejournal.com]

Ok, sorry. I read it wrong. No matter how I'm doing it now, the dog is still not impressed. hee he

But, the dvd came this evening so I'll get some pointers there too.

Thanks again for your help.

[sassyinkpen.livejournal.com]

I will also throw this out there: Nearly ALL of the waist hooping tutorials are very adamant that waist hooping involves a forward/backward motion, NOT the hips in a circle motion we all think of...

HOWEVER - I really couldn't get it until I watched my daughter who was doing more a circular motion, and now I do too. So experiment with varying motions, varying foot stances, etc.

It took me a few MONTHS before I was able to reliably waist hoop, and I still can't do any tricks originating or ending in waist hooping. BUT I jumped right in on lots off off-body hooping which is less like learning how to ride a bike, and more easy to study and learn to do.

[redhedlvr.livejournal.com]

Ooo, back and forth instead of circles. That makes sense.

Thanks for this and also the hoop making tips.

[sara-merry99.livejournal.com]

Here are the instructions for making your own hoop:

http://www.jasonunbound.com/hoops.html

I was a little nervous about the DIY, but it's really dead simple and if you don't want to buy the pipe cutter you can ask the folks at the hardware store to cut it for you. That's what I did. :D

[redhedlvr.livejournal.com]

This is wonderful! Thanks.

And for the record, my hoop only comes to hip level so I obviously need a bigger one.