Handmade Hoops by Peachysteve

Lift From Neck

Taken from Chapter 4 of
"Hooping"
An Instructional DVD by Peachysteve

We've previously looked at hooping on the neck and the handroll.
When you can do the hand roll in the vertical plane it's easy to transfer the skill to the horizontal plane.
A simple way to do this is to take the hoop up from the neck.

From neck hooping you can take the hoop up with either hand.
I suggest that one hand is easier to start with and that is arm one (which I explained here)
I will go through arm one first and then arm two.
My hoop is travelling in a clockwise direction so my right arm is arm one.

We want to optimise the amount of time we have to do this lift so it helps to take the hoop when the space is coming around to the front. I reach across to the opposite side with hand one and reach up into the hoop.
The hoop rolls into the palm of my hand.
Push the hoop sraight upwards. A slight circling with the direction of the hoop helps but don't allow too much movement.
By the time the hoop has done half a circle it should be above head level.
Once above head level you can go into hand rolls. Keep you eye on the hoop throughout the lift and the hand rolls. Don't lock your elbow, keep it relaxed.

Now that you've got the hoop up there you have to do something else with it.
There are lots of places you can go from here but for now we'll look at taking the hoop back to the neck.
You may be concerned about hitting yourself in the face but I'll show you that your face is protected when the timing is right.

The first thing to do is familiarise yourself with the timing. The space is in front of you... The space is overhead.
We want the hoop to be over head when it comes down so we need to start when it's in front.
You must start with a relaxed elbow so that you can bring your hand straight down. If your elbow is locked you will move the hoop forward.   Keeping your eyes on the hoop and your hand just in front of you, Start to lower your hand.
As the hoop comes past my face, my hand is directly in front of my face, my palm is facing outward. There's no way for the hoop to hit me in the face.
The hoop is now at neck level and I let it circle around until it touches my neck.
Once the hoop touches my neck I push out to the side to give the hoop some momentum.
My hand drops out of the circle and I'm back to neck hooping.

Now let's look at arm two

Arm two needs to take the hoop from the exact same position as arm one. So this time it's on the same side as the arm. You are offering the back of the hand rather than the palm.
Push straight up as before. Now you are into handrolls but they are reverse or backwards in relation to your other arm. Make sure you are comfortable with reverse vertical handrolls on arm two.
Start your drop when the hoop is at the front. Keep your elbow bent and your arm on its own side.
Once the hoop is at neck level give a strong flat push to generate momentum and you are back to neck circles.