Handmade Hoops by Peachysteve

The Penguin

Taken from Chapter 2 of
"Hooping"
An Instructional DVD by Peachysteve

This is a move which enables you to take the hoop up from the waist to the neck.
It works by moving the hoop up the body with small alternate lifts of the arms which are inside the hoop.
First you need to get used to hooping with one arm inside the hoop.
Just getting your arm in there can seem hard at first but remember to use the same arm as you lifted first in the previous move.
I refer to this arm as Arm One.
You'll need to figure out whether that's your right or left arm.

So drop Arm One into the hoop and just hold it by your side. Hoop normally. Don't try to power the hoop by moving your arm.

Take a little time to get used to hooping with your arm inside the hoop.
If the hoop always starts to fall once you put your arm in then it may be that the hoop is below your elbow.

The hoop loves support. If your elbow is below the level of the hoop it will tend to tuck into you. If your elbow is above the level of the hoop then it has no support and will tend to move downward.

Once you are comfortable hooping with one arm inside the hoop you can try an arm lift.

As the hoop makes contact with your arm, lift your shoulder sharply.
You must make sure that you do not move your arm away from your body.
It can help to loosely hold your thigh as you lift your shoulder. This generates a clean upward motion without affecting the circular momentum of the hoop.

You should feel the hoop lift a little although it will quickly drop down again.
If that worked then you are ready to move on.

Now it's time to try putting the other arm in. Starting from hooping on your waist, drop Arm One in and lift.
When you lift, the hoop is in contact with your arm so the space is on the opposite side, now's the time to drop Arm Two in...
...and lift.

Remember to lift from the shoulders and to keep your arms straight down at your sides.
As soon as you go into lift mode you will stop your normal hooping motion, stand still and lift shoulders alternately.

With each lift the hoop should move a little higher until it's on your neck. Once it gets to your neck, keep it going with a side to side motion.

It may take a little practice but if you stick to the technique it will come quickly.
When teaching people this move I've found that it's incredibly difficult not to lift your arms away from your sides to "help it up".
It doesn't help.
If the hoop loses momentum then you may be doing this, so really focus on straight shoulder lifts.

Click here to learn how to hoop around your arm and neck