Pen spinning is a form of contact juggling, so one will need to be very comfortable with all of the physical aspects of the art. By this, I mean that you need to understand how the pen moves, how the hands and fingers move, and finally, how the mind learns.
This short essay is meant to be only an introduction into the cognitive and metacognitive processes of learning tricks, not to learn the actual tricks. Please use this guide as a way to shape the way you learn.
In order to begin learning tricks, you have to figure out what is your learning style. Do you learn best visually or textually? Do you need someone in your presence to learn the trick fully or can you manage on your own? Can you imagine a trick inside your mind or do you need a hands-on approach? You must ask yourself all of these questions before you even attempt to learn, otherwise the path to achieving tricks will be a rather difficult one. If you are a person who needs visual aids, videos will probably be your best option. One might agree that the best way to learn is to have someone there in your presence to guide you through the process. However, this is not an option for most of us. The next best thing is to adapt. Adapt your learning style so that you can accomodate for the absense of a tutor. If you are someone who truly needs a tutor, take a few steps back to reevaluate the situation. Do you have the dedication to learn the tricks? Or rather, do you have the desire to learn the tricks? Forcing one's way of learning to change in order to adapt is not necessarily a bad thing. It can bring a new perspective to your way of seeing the world.
From this point on, I will write with the assumption that you have no other way of learning tricks other than to get online and do some research. Perhaps you have the option of asking people through instant messaging services. Maybe you have the option of posting a question on a forum.
In order to successfully land a trick, you have to look at how the brain processes information. Normally, the brain will look at the trick, see how it is performed, and then attempt to mimic the exact motions to achieve the same effect. There are too many underlying mechanisms going on so I will not attempt to cover them all. I will just go over the main ones. First, the brain will try to translate what it saw into actual motions. The hand is where the signals usually stop so this is the bottleneck. How you train your fingers will determine whether or not you land the trick. Often times, people will confuse the translation because the fingers are not used to the movement. Motor memory is often what makes tricks easy to remember and easy to do. In order to access this, you have to force your hand to move in ways it hasn't before. Just translating the steps is a feat unto itself.
Here are some tips:
-Watch the video closely. See how the pen travels through each finger. Does the frotn of the pen go front or behind the finger? At which point does it start revolving? Where on the pen should you grab? Where should the pen end up?
-If the steps are listed, try going through each step. Sometimes, the steps aren't too clear so it's up to you to fill in the holes. Repetition is usually the key. In order to fill in the holes, you need to find out how the pen is situated before and after the move. If the brain can process moving pictures and fill in the blanks, so can the hand.
-Create mnemonic devices. If there is a part of a trick that is particularly difficult, try creating some mnemonic devices. Is the hand curled up like a thumbs-up gesture? Is the pen moving like a see-saw? Does the pen move like a windmill? How many revolutions till you transfer the pen, 360 is too iffy?
-Pay attention to your fingers. This is a make or break for most spinners. If you don't understand how your fingers move, how do you expect to get other moves? Are wrist movements needed? How does moving this one finger affect the pen? What if you try moving this other finger, what happens then? How do I fill in the blanks? What do my fingers need to do in order to get from point A to point B? That question is the most important one.
-Be willing to accept new movements for moves you already know. Just because you know how to do the ThumbAround Harmonic one way doesn't mean that someone else's is invalid. This is optional, but trying other spinning methods may help you gain a new insight on how the hand works.
-Not everybody is good at explaining. If you realize this fact (yes, this is a unwritten fact), then you will not have high expectations. Unfortunately, we cannot come to rely on every single piece of information we find on the internet, so again we have to learn to adapt. If you happen to find someone who is excellent at explaining, as well as teaching (and has a great amount of patience), then by all means ask away.
-Pass your information back to the community. Not too many people know this, but teaching what you know will doubly reinforce your knowledge. Please double check your writings and make sure that you say what you mean, and mean what you say. This is a tough thing for most people to do.
-Check your pen. Does your pen allow for your trick to work? Is it too long or too short? Is it too thin or too thick? Do your fingers feel uncomfortable with that pen? What exactly do you feel like you need?
The aforementioned list of tips are, again, only an introduction into the cognitive and metacognitive processes of learning tricks. Take your time, and work your way through the learning. Do not hack and slash your way only to get flukes once in a while. While flukes may provide some small feedback, it's usually too fast for someone to actually take in the needed information and be able to reduplicate the results.
Good luck and happy learning!
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