I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to post this.

Any who. Are there reasons why some people learn/ catch on to glowsticking faster than others? Is it their determination/dedication, and hard work, or were they simply touched by God as an embryo and were given magical skills *cough* Melvenorc. Just kidding. He must work pretty hard at it.

Maybe it's the amount of resources available to us now, than before.

Do you think there is some reason why some are able to learn faster than others?

A lot of it comes down to hard work. But for me, I find the big difference is getting the one-on-one feedback. That's where practice and perfect practice really evolves. If you can find someone whose style or technique is near perfect in an area, and then ask them to give yo honest feedbac, then that is where you grow.

Like Drei said... people who have glowsticking "mentors" generally learn the fastest--nothing quite substitutes for a teacher. Next are people who have done similar arts and therefore have similar muscle memory sets... then slow learners. It's just based on past experiences and genetic predisposition in addition to whether you have a teacher or not. Plus, some people have 9 hours a day to glowstick, some have 1 hour a week.

I agree with everything that has been said but id like to add ambi-dexterity to the list not haveing a hand that slows you down is a big plus. but with enough practice you get the muscle memory to over come this obstical

Consistent practice counts for a lot. Ask stringers such as Syphon, Greens2Dust, or melvenorc. You will find out that for a significant period of time, they devoted at least four hours per day to stringing.

I cannot ever hope to devote even one fourth of that time to stringing these days. Last summer was the last period of time that I was able to put in at least two hours per day and that's when I released my most recent video.

time is a psychological thing to discuss (IMG:http://www.glowsticking.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

There are those with natural talent and those without. Natural coordination and intuitiveness can only take a person so far without practice. Its like singing. anyone can sing, some sing better than others naturally. With practice and voice coaching anyone can learn to sing acceptably. The key is practice. The human body is a very versatile instrument. Train toward your strong traits. some are better at poi, some at string manip, some at wraps, some at freehand. some can pick up moves quickly but cannot create them. and some are slow learners but very creative. You can be any variation as long as you don't give up.

alot of times it all depends on the person some ppl just absorb things easier than others. me and my friend ran into this the other day, he has been stringing longer than i have but he belives that i have caught up or even passed him up even with this 1 month headstart on me. i just guess i try harder than he does you know. it all varies though

When it comes to stringing it is a matter of learning and getting the motions correct and smooth.

When it comes to freehand a lot of it has to do with hand eye coordination and style developement.

I've learned that if I put a solid 30 minutes in on ONE move for stringing I can generally get it down. Then it takes another 30-60 minutes to figure out where it works into a solid routine.

For freehand I usually spend a lot more time because messing up generally knocks me out of my groove and I'm stuck starting back at ground zero. Typically due to dropping a stick in the middle of a ombo I'm working on or finding myself in a repetitive motion.

A lot of it also comes down to HOW you practice. Do you devote time to weak points in your sticking or do you just jam out for an hour? Do you practice moves in front of a mirror, or do you just try to feel them out? Some people can just pick up strings and go, and pop new stuff out of nowhere, I however need to drill things over and over, preferably in front of a mirror before i can be satisfied enough with a move to start incorporating it. For the most part, we all share the same resources, and really dialing in how you practice most efficiently can make all the difference in the world as far as improvement goes.

This is pretty much exactly how I feel its like you fucking read my mind.

Very well put. I completely agree with this. Some people learn and do things differently than others.

just stick with it and focus on your weak points. when i was learning it got to a point i made a list of thing to practice until it was all muscle memory but well i need another list now.

most people can accomplish either styles with alot of practice even the slower learners:) it takes dedication and time to learn anything new

i think that its the resources that is around a person..
for instance if a person that is starting lives close to
many ravers, he or she has more different perspectives
to learn and hear from.... and the other way around...

I think the point that just about if not everyone is making is that everyone learns at different paces and in different ways.

You may never get to the point where you wish you could be, just due to our own personal limmitiations, and abilities. That is ok though, with practice you will be able to get really good still, just like anything else though, I will never be in the NBA no matter how many hours I practice shooting hoops, my physical limitations (height, weight, muscle, etc) would exclude me from reaching that level. It does not mean that I am not a good player though.

Hope this helps..Keep it up, it is not about who is better then who, never loose sight of that.

I see... So everything has to do with the amount of time, effort, and dedication mostly - As is most things in life.

I have another question. What about those child geniuses with piano and such? Do you think that they put large amounts of time practicing, or were they just born talented?

Also, if they could be born talented, would it be possible for someone to be born naturally gifted at glowsticking?

Nobody is born naturally gifted at any particular thing, but people can be born with a good sense of pattern recognition, good hand eye coordination, good rhythm, a good cardiovascular system, what have you. For example, someone with good hand eye coordination could eventually become a good baseball player, or tennis player, or hackey sack-er, or anything that involves coordination. Maybe if you were born with some cross between pattern recognition and fine motor control, you'd be predestined to be a good spinner, but even then, those natural gifts are only worth the effort you put into honing them.

On the other side of the coin, things like object manipulation (spinning juggling whatever) have the effect of fine tuning things like hand eye coordination, fine motor control and pattern recognition. I was a clumsy ass kid, really uncoordinated, bad balance, the works. But after i started the whole object manipulation thing, i was able to develop those skills.

So yeah, in short, regardless of any sorts of gifts or abilities, it takes practice. Those child piano prodigies, while gifted, are usually forced by their parents to practice for ridiculous amounts of time to get where they are. At the end of the day, the only way to improve is to practice, and it really doesn't matter how good you are when you start.

Time and practice, my friend. Time and practice. I wish I was half as good as say.... Guinto was at his second month. Even now, in my near 4th month, I'm still not half as good. And I practice alot.

In the long run though, it's about the art and the fun, not the skill, right?