Hi everyone.

Can you please give me some tips on springing cards from my right hand to my left hand. It seems and looks like such a simple idea, but I've been practising for ages and can't seem to get it. I tried to learn it from RRTCM, but it's going nowhere..............well, in fact, it's going all over the floor.

The issue I have is getting both ends of the cards to leave my hands at the same time. I don't know if I'm bending the cards too much or not enough or if I'm holding them wrong. It's really frustrating because I've managed to learn tons of sleights, etc but this is one thing that just doesn't seem to be happening.............plus I'm scared of ruining all my cards.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

Tim

You said the problem yourself I believe: "both ends of the cards to leave my hands at the same time." Depending on your method of springing, the cards should (for the most part), be springing off the thumb only, not both ends of the same time. In my opinion, the best card spring found in print is by Jerry Cestkowski, found in his fantastic book THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PLAYING CARD FLOURISHES. Of course you may not want yo pay $75 to learn a card spring, but basically you should be holding the deck at two points only: the small finger (pinky) on the TOP RIGHT corner of the deck and the thumb on the BOTTOM LEFT corner. Buckle the cars and release pressure from the thumb only. With practice, they should spring off one at a time into the other hand, which must be positioned with its small finger pointing straight up to help cradle the falling cards (and stop them from going all over the floor..or better, a bed).

You might among its million of crap videos on YouTube find a decent tutorial. If you are still stuck PM me and I'll see if I can help.

Good luck!

Ok, that is completely different to how I've been attempting it, which hopefully explains my trouble. I will spend some time trying it how you've said and I'll give you a shout if I am still struggling.

Thanks very much for your advice.

Tim

There's several grips that work quite well once you get the hang of it. But I think fingerjack has probably hit the nail on the head as to your problem. Whether you release from the thumb or the fingertips, you only release from one side. The thumb is a bit easier to control as there's only one contact point to worry about, though I've seen people spring the cards just fine from the fingertips.

When you practice it's helpful to hold your hands close together (so there's less chance of dropping) and concentrate just on springing them smoothly without any stuttering. Then once you can spring them smoothly you can then work on distance. Just remember when springing between the hands you start with your hands close together, then separate them as you start springing, then bring your hands back together to catch. The movement is slightly accordian-like.

I do reccomend the Encyclopedia of Playing Card Flourishes as well if you are interested in flourishing, there's an incredible amount of material in there with very good description on how to accomplish each flourish along with plenty of photographs of the key points in each move.

Woohoo! I can spring cards now. Not very prettily, but it's a great start. Thank you so much for your help. The Encyclopedia of Playing Card Flourishes is yet another book added to my list. I've got 4 books that I'm working my way through at the moment, so can't warrant buying anymore yet unfortunately.

Thanks again.

Tim

Check out dananddave.com and click on learn. They have a free video tutorial on a couple of basic flourishes like the spring.

Jerry Cestowski actually adopted his springing grip from Expert Card Technique. The only difference is the position of the index finger being on top of the deck. Jerry has state placing the index finger on top is counter-productive to whatcha you wanna do with a card spring. So just don't place the index finger on top of the deck and you basically get Jerry's spring.

Just remember smooth cards flying off of the thumb is most important as you can worry about distancing technique later.

Start here
http://www.dananddave.com/learn/media/card-spring/

Hey,

I also filmed a tutorial on how to properly spring cards cause since it looks pretty simple there is a lot what can be done wrong. I hope you can get something out of it.

cheers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRpWoxgGm1s

I started with a small packet of about 20 cards before I tried with a full deck. I also used cards I wasn't worried about ruining.

I have found for myself that it works better if the thumb is on the inner left corner and the index+middle fingers are on the outer right. Then you slowly roll the thumb back to release the cards. Also, the cards tend to go where the thumb is pointing so point it towards the center of the receiving hand.

Kingman

Practicing over a bed or sofa helps to make picking up the dropped cards much easier. I use the middle finger to regulate the flow of cards, with the other fingers guiding the cards. They leave the middle finger first and push off of my thumb. For a smooth spring, the cards should look like they're strung together, making a motion like you're opening and closing a concertina.

I havent read all the replies, casue I don't have enough free time but I will try to help you out. So soryy if I will be repeated.
First of all, spring the cards from such a grip that your thumb contacts left inner corner, and your pinky contacts outer right contact(I assume that you are right handed) Its important that you use your pinky since it gives you more control. Later, when you will get more confident you will be able to do it without pinkie (withe ring finger). Also make sure that your left hand catches the cards in straddle grip. Just to be sure, do a straddle grip simulation without cards, and then spring and catch them. Anpther tip is to practice such techniques on a bed or sofa. You wont get nervous cause of dropping cards. Also when you are practicing in stand up situation, you can use your body as a barrier. And most important thing is that you must not give up! Spring is not too difficult, imagine how difficult it is to learn Vertigo Hacky Sack!
Hope I helped somehow

Learnt the spring in a couple of days from the guys at Virtuoso, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE1P7fINjX8

Much prefer the control I can get with the diagonal grip, than with top/bottom grip...but then I am still learning card controls/flourishes/sleights and so forth - so my learned friends here may think otherwise?!

Check out Dan & Dave's website or Jeff McBride's The Art of Card Manipulation V1