Tossing up

Im learning staff and im getting pretty good at it. One thing im having trouble with is tossing the staff in the air so it kind of does a full turn and catching it as it comes down.

Im having trouble getting it to spin in the air and im also having trouble catching it by the grip on its way down.

Any advice?

Hi Zanev

Catching first - If you focus your vision as hard as possible on the centre point of the staff this should help you catch it much easier. The reasons for this are:

1, This part of the staff is spinning the slowest,
2, This is the best place to catch the staff (as a beginner)
3, If you are trying to throw the staff at night and you focus on the flames rather than the grip the contrast between the brightness of the fire and the sky behind it make the staff harder to catch.

Throwing with spins should be pretty easy, I would try it from a figure of eight with your hand slightly off centre to the outside to give you a bit more leverage. Make the throw so it is parallel with your shoulders. The staff should leave your hands as it passes the front of your torso.

You can catch it in the same hand and go back into a figure of eight, or you can throw it to the other hand and go into a reverse figure of eight.

I hope that helps, if you search "staff juggling" in YouTube you will find lots of different staff throwing vids.

if you are struggling to throw from Fig 8's then you can always start in rotor and throw. Start with small throws. MCP has a few throws on her site...

http://mcp.tepookatoys.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=140&Itemid=32

There

Good luck!