Hi Caroleena,

Thanks for your response. I think I wasn't clear enough in explaining my experience. What I meant to say is that of course the hoop doesn't stay in place. I mean that the hoop changes to the opposite direction, and doesn't stall. Actually, it goes all over the place :)

I'll try the hand thing that you explained. Thanks for your help.

Thanks for adding to the thread once again. I worked so hard at it the other day that my middle back is still hurting after 4 days, and I'm having to take it easy.

There is probably a body part that I'm not focussing on that is crucial to the move, something others my do right naturally and are not aware of, and therefore do not explain. I'll try and watch videos with a different focus. It may be something like a magic trick, where your attention is focussed on something else, so you miss the logic of the trick.

Hope someone will chime in with useful hints.

I get dizzy too.. so I can only seem to do a couple rolls.

Hi everybody!

I can definitely help with the barrel roll!

First off there are a couple different variations to the barrel roll. The first one most people learn is on the waist and is a step turn will you continue pushing the hoop the whole time around. The second variation is more of an angled spin where you are turning with the hoop the whole time. You can feel the difference while just hooping on the waist. first step around in a circle and feel the constant push, then spin a circle, looking for a bit of the feeling of a "stall".

For both variations you have to remember that your body needs to stay perpendicular to the plane of the hoop the whole time. ie, if you are less flexible in your back you may not be able to do a really steep angle, which can get tricky because most people can bend further forward than back, creating a difference in body angle that will throw the hoop off it's axis.

Try picking a point on the wall or a tree to have a visual spot for your upwards push. As you begin your turn you can think of continuing to push towards this spot all the way around. start slowly so you can really feel you push point shift through you body WHILE you are maintaing a steady push towards this spot.

Really, the best way to help you guys is for you to post a video of yourself attempting to do the barrel roll and I can tell you if i can see what you need to do different! If you could film yourself in different angles that would help as well. Filming some tutorials has been on my list anyway so I will use this to kick start my hoopin ass and film a barrel roll tutorial as soon as i can! Any tips on compressing video through imovie?

hoopiness~
Anah