• Sale items. Buy now - stock going fast. Specials
  • You must now select Courier Delivery if you wish to receive items before Christmas.
 

Forums > Beginner Staff Moves > Yet another fishtail thread...but i need help

Login/Join to Participate

LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
ok, fish tails i can do, but only one handed fowards of the right hand side.......and im having problems with them, i can only get a max of about 5beats till it goes wrong?!?

any advice (dont just tell me to go practice cuz i have spent ages trying)?
i'll show you what i mean if i can get a lil vid clip of me self from ifrit.

i should prob go check meg's site and see where im going wrong (do you have fishtails on there mcp?)

but ta in advance for the help smile

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


ado-pGOLD Member
Pirate Ninja
3,882 posts
Location: Galway/Ireland


Posted:
have you tried breaking it into two halves.

it finally clicked for me when i started doing the second half first. ot when i made the first half the secnd half instead. Make any sense? If not its because i am only coming to grips with them myself. Its taken months of trying, leaving it and coming back though..

I would try to explain fishtails to you but others have already done a much better job.

Try mcp's contact thread in this forum. There are two (at least) excellent step by step explanations in there somewhere.

if you can do them on the right you should be able to do them on the left. nuthin but practise will help you there i reckon

Love is the law.


CharlesBRONZE Member
Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand


Posted:
If you are doing about five beats and then it all goes wrong, then it does sound to me like a practice issue. I understand you said you didn't want reponses like this, but if you can go for five then you have the basics.

What might help with the practice is to look at where it goes wrong.

Does it fall off the left, the right, stop spinning, has it travelled to a different spin point furthe rup or down your arm? Ask lots of questions like that and watch what happens and you will be able to correct it easier through practice.

Don't forget to look at your stance, and your shoulders not only at the START, but also at the END, as many people unconsciously change their stance as things get harder or easier, and this could be changing the way the staff reacts.

Finally, try looking for a progressive error, such having to scoop it more on th eleft than the right the 3rd time, even more the 4 th time, and so on. A small error that ends up making the pattern widen out, meaning it needs ot be corrected for even more next time, is the most common reason for not getting a repetitive trick down.

This is also a common reason why some never get a trick consistently (me included)...

HoP Posting Guidelines
* Is it the Truth?
* Is it Fair to all concerned?
* Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
* Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
thank you for the help, i'll go practice some more later, and see what the problem is, slow it all down etc, i'll let you know how it goes, and will have another look at mcp's thread again.

it normally ends up with my hand thumb down, little finger edge up and doing the fishtails like that, rather then on the back of the hand, it just seams to slip there *looks confused*

lava

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
Ok spent the day workign out how to make them work better (all be it in my head) and then went to my local meet type thing, and they flowed pretty well, or at least better than before, altho left handed still wont work.

lava

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


BozBRONZE Member
sober
109 posts
Location: Bury St. Edmunds, suffolk, United Kingdom


Posted:
hello.
well, i DID do a search, but didn't find anythign helpful beofer my attention span ran out and i started looking for somethign else, so i figure i'll just stick this in here smile
i can do forward fishtails, i want to learn reverse fishtails. I can't do it frown .
help?
(oh and since i'm new i don't know the consensus n here, but i count reverse as the staff spinning clockwise on the right side- the lead end swings from toes to face)
cheers

*produces sandwich- is happy*


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
which end is lead end? and i may be able to picture it. ummm, just try doing a reverse fig of 8 but keeping the hand still as possible, then do th same as normal fishtails but just from this position, and keeping the same spin?



(hey i may be complealy worng)



oh and btw reverse is ment to be easier, but i dont see so may self.



hope i helped (not sure i have tho, cuz my fishtailing is a lil poor improving tho i must say)



Lava

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


UCOFSILVER Member
15,417 posts
Location: South Wales


Posted:
"which end is lead end?"

How long is a piece of string?
wink


"oh and btw reverse is ment to be easier, but i dont see so may self"

I learnt backwards fishtails first.... then waited and the forwards one just clicked into place.

smile

BozBRONZE Member
sober
109 posts
Location: Bury St. Edmunds, suffolk, United Kingdom


Posted:
lead end.. i take it to be the one you lead into a move with?
so in forward spinning, the thumb end, in reverse, pinky finger end.
make sense?

*produces sandwich- is happy*


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
Kinda makes sence, but my excuse if im still not sure, is that im not sure of anyting at the mo, due to the large amounts of painkillers etc in my system due to being ill (glandular fever i think) i had a thought, the best place i can suggest looking is mcp's contact site and there is a section on fishtails and their variations there ( i think)



*notes to self when ever some one asks for contact help just point them to mcp's site* ubbidea



hope that helps this time.

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:


How long is a piece of string?
wink

twice as long as half of it biggrin

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


whitehawknewbie
23 posts

Posted:
errr
ive read both the fishtails threads and I STILL dont get what they are??!

maybe im just stupid

could someone do me the favour of explaining it very very clrearly so I can get an idea of what they actually are

even a movie someone could link me too??

god im slow lol

ben-ja-menGOLD Member
just lost .... evil init
2,474 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia


Posted:
log into yahoo mail with
userid: thedualduel
password: fishygoodness

and ull get what fishtails are smile

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?


ben-ja-menGOLD Member
just lost .... evil init
2,474 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia


Posted:
ps its most likely falling off cos of a cumulative error which is because the center of the stick is supposed to stay in contact with a single point on the staff but u most likely have lots of different points of contact with your hand ive written i couple of things on how to learn fishtails one is on pip and megs big compilation post and another is [Old link]
EDITED_BY: ben-ja-men (1104248969)

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?


whitehawknewbie
23 posts

Posted:
awesome, thanks for the link!

il try them out once i get my new staff!

LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
Ok people coming soon, me doing staff on a video, on the net, im quite scared, should be up by the end of the week, it also will have some superbe devilsticking from russel of the devilstick varity, and some amazing diabilo from ifrit.
but i'll hide this fact in here so its more supprising :P

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


mcpPLATINUM Member
Flying Water Muppet
5,276 posts
Location: Edin-borrow., United Kingdom


Posted:
Well having decided to leanr fishtails to stop ben-ja-men moaning, I have discovered two things: My left and right hands do reverse fishtails differently. ANd they can't seem to agree on the better method so they're both learning each others.

And there is a nice way to do forwards fishtails! Woooo! It just involves a tiny throw / quick movement so that your hand doesn't have to curl under, but can be beautiful and straight like in reverse fishtails. Hmmmmmmmmmmm, reverse.

I still have no idea about inverse fishtails thou.

Considering I was trying to learn the contact waistwrap, I think this is good going. biggrin

"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade

I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
well i learnt something new, one i think i can do the inverted ones, not intentionally tho(is that on the inside of your wrist).
Oh playing around lastnight with doubles i tried a bit of double 'tailing, not the nice stuff out the side tho, it kinda went so the staffs are infront of you parallel to the wall plane, i only managed about a beet tho, and cant remember how i got there umm

This said i still havent worked out exactly how to do them with my left hand single *looks confused*


Oh and mcp ta for the vid's of the fishy tails etc on your site they helped quite a bit

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
right wooooooooo today they clicked finally........ i dont know how, but they can go infinate now biggrin got em working on the left hand as well........not long for doubles...maybe

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


Fear-TineSILVER Member
enthusiast
227 posts
Location: dublin Ireland


Posted:
Fishtails was all i did last night for about 2hours trying to get them neater and I think i did on my right hand at least. starting on left hand at the mo and I am back to the begining.

How do you start the reverse fishtails?cause everytime i try them I end up doing normal ones!!

Grow old but never grow up


ben-ja-menGOLD Member
just lost .... evil init
2,474 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia


Posted:
roll the staff over the back of your hand from little finger to thumb when your arm is infront of your body or from thumb to little finger when its behind you smile

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
i always thought that was forwards :S

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


ben-ja-menGOLD Member
just lost .... evil init
2,474 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia


Posted:
if the ends are coming towards your head its backwards if they are moving away from your head its forwards smile

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
ah ok then, thank you for sorting that smile

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


Fear-TineSILVER Member
enthusiast
227 posts
Location: dublin Ireland


Posted:
I thought I did that was forward to. cheers, feel pretty dumb now. well in that case how do you forward fishtails?

Grow old but never grow up


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
ah so i have been doig fowards propperly (come up and then away yeah?)

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film


ben-ja-menGOLD Member
just lost .... evil init
2,474 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia


Posted:
yes

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?


LavatwilightGOLD Member
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK


Posted:
wooooooo biggrin

Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars

Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film



Similar Topics

Using the keywords [fishtail] we found the following existing topics.

  1. Forums > More Elbow grip shenanagans :) [8 replies]
  2. Forums > Fishtails [58 replies]
  3. Forums > Contact stalls and foot juggles... [8 replies]
  4. Forums > Inverted fishtails?(Now with 100% more pictures!) [6 replies]
  5. Forums > contact catches.... [16 replies]

      Show more..

HOP Newsletter

Subscribe now for updates on sales, new arrivals, and exclusive offers!