I was feeling a little frustrated tonight (and on such an amazingly warm midwinter’s day!) because I’ve been having such a hard time getting the vertical shoulder skill down. I can hoop vertically on the chest just fine, but once I get my arms in the hoop, it goes all wonky and hits my ankles on the way to the floor. So instead of beating myself up about what loser I am (an old habit I’ve been trying to kick), I decided to list out what I’ve learned over the last eight weeks.
Things I learned during the 30/30 challenge, December:
- Horizontal shoulder hooping
- Core & chest breaks & reversals (using hands)
- Barrel roll isolation
- Half chest roll (front)
- A number of different isolations (non tracing) and folds
Things I learned during the 30/30 challenge, January:
- Barrel Rolls (in current)
- Chest breaks, reversals & stalls (vertical)
- Reverse weave
- Leg hooping
- One-leg hooping
- Arm breaks & reversals / early paddling
- Core hooping in countercurrent (waist, hips, chest)
- Horizontal elbow pass / duck-in
- Vertical duck-in
- Vertical (isolation) jump/step through
- Vertical chest hooping
- Tracing isolations / two-handed
- Brass Monkey (step-out/reverse… almost!)
So all in all, I can’t really complain. It seems like this vertical chest/shoulder hooping is the last core move I need to learn to have a really solid foundation. Justin likes to remind me that just a few weeks ago, I was crying about how I couldn’t do a barrel roll to save my life, so I guess all good things will come in time.
Look at all those things you learned in 30 days! I guarantee once you get that last skill down you will never have a problem with it again! Maybe you are just over-thinking it! Feel the hoop. Be the hoop.
Cool pics, BTW!
I think you’re right, I’m probably just overthinking it. That’s what Caroleeena says, too, in this tutorial.
It will come eventually. Like Goenkaji always says, “try, try again.” So I guess I will.
And thx for the props on the photos! This is one of my most favorite parts of doing it, ‘cuz it’s kinda artsy on a different tier.
Mesh