I just started freehand, so how do I improve?

1. The first thing I would do is check out the tutorials.

I recommend starting off with the Figure-8, since it's a very basic move. Of course, you won't know a lot of moves at this point, so it's natural to go back to the Figure 8 time-and-time again. This actually helps you to smooth out your Figure-8, so down the line it will look pretty good.

Figure-8 Tutorial

Next up, tracing. The stomach trace is the most basic trace. Watch that tutorial over and over until you understand the motions on how it's done, and keep practicing it. The stomach trace will be overused when you first learn it, but again, it helps on getting it down smooth.

Stomach Trace Tutorial

Don't limit yourself to just the stomach trace either. There are many more traces that you can come up with, it's all about creativity. You can trace pretty much everywhere, using one or two glowsticks.

Next up, tossing. Start off by just doing random tosses. It doesn't really matter what tosses you do...you're just trying to get used to the feel of tossing and catching.

2. Watch videos of other people who freehand.

Personally, I've always enjoyed watching videos of people who are freehanding. It's absolutely mind-boggling to see all the different kinds of styles out there. You can learn a lot by just watching videos, so try it out. The concepts might be very confusing at first, but after numerous views you start to understand how they are doing the things they are doing. That's improvement right there, without even picking up any glowsticks.

3. Have fun with it.

This is VERY important, since it does take a very long time to develop your own unique style. Everyone's skill level is different, it doesn't matter where you're at. Just have fun with it, that's what glowsticking is all about anyway. There's no need to get worked up over it.

I have been glowsticking for a while, do you have any suggestions on developing my own "unique" style?

1. Flow is the most important thing in freehand.

Surely you might know many moves that you can do, but without any transitions, it looks very choppy. There's no easy way in order to achieve flow FAST, you just need to practice whenever you get a chance to. After a while, your mind will become very accustomed to doing certain moves a certain way, then you will start to do moves in a certain order. This is what is called a "combo", and they are very important. This is crucial in developing your own unique style.

2. Practice slowly in order to get the moves down even smoother, and come up with new transitions.

A lot of transitions can be made up by just practicing slower. This kind of practice will help break out from the "muscle memory" mentality that we get into far too often. Creativity and innovation are important in freehand, and you can't do that by reverting back to the same moves and combos that you are used to. Try something that you think hasn't been done a lot before. Another suggestion would be to improve on an idea/concept, also known as a "variation".

You will also notice that by practicing slower, the tracing will be much smoother. Try to keep the glowsticks ON your body at all times in order to achieve flow with tracing.

- Written by nmestar99

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