Im practicing palming coins but am finding it hard to get far with it. How can I improve my palming? Whst techniques, exercises are best? What way is best to learn fast? It seems to be the thing holding me back from learning any tricks :/

Try using larger coins to start with. Moisturising hand cream may be helpful too.

Barry

Are we talking Classic Palm? If so I recommend learning Finger Palm and maybe edge grip. Then continue practicing your Classic Palm. This will allow you to learn and perform tricks while you work on your classic palm.

You should buy the hardback Bobos Modern Coin magic if you don't have it already and learn all the different concealments taught in there.

Make sure your technique is correct-- the sides of the coin are gripped in classic palm.
Having coins with a well-milled edge helps. Test out some uncirculated 1964 Kennedy halves. Clad ones don't seem have as nice an edge. Coins with a smooth edge (like soft Morgans) can be really hard to classic palm.
If you want to get an even better grip, David Roth suggested putting violin rosin on the edges.
If your hands are dry, palming can be difficult. Vagasil works the best for me (though I'm mainly using it for card handling now).

John Carney also advocates mainly using Finger Palm. It looks more relaxed.

Check out coinvanish.com
It has brilliant advice on CP that helped me so much!
I found drinking more water cured my dry hands, but that will depend on person.
The important thing is that you grip with the right muscles, which is covered well in that website.

You certainly can get by with other holds, but CP is so much more useful when you are doing close up magic in their hands. Trying to do finger palm while picking up a coin from their hand can be done, but feels a lot more unnatural. But there certainly are plenty of tricks that don't require it, so don't let that hold you back from learning!

The way learned to do a good classic palm was to palm a coin wherever I went. Learn to grab things while palming a coin, work on developing those muscles in the palm of your hands which will eventually create a natural look while palming. Also, learning to palm several coins at once and being able to release them individually also helped me out. One of the greates classic palmers I ever saw live was Imam back in NYC when he had his magic cabaret, Mostly Magic. He did an incredible Miser's Dream!


Roberto

I did/do the same as mrmagik: CP coins in both hands pretty much all the time. Just don't make it a habit of dropping them when your wife is around - for some reason it annoys them (!).

I can now do things like pouring juice from a 2liter container into a glass, coins in both palms. Assuming you have the proper technique, it's just a matter of putting in the hours. Once you have the ability to CP, work on dropping it into finger palm, then back into CP without shooting your thumb out.

Good luck and have fun!

Thanks a lot guys. A lot of help. I keep asking the same questions but I keep getting the same answers so I know what to practice! Thanks again people

Palming "all the time" really does mean just that.

Classic palm is tough in that it takes a great deal of long term commitment to become proficient at, however, it's one of the very few magical things you can practice almost anywhere at anytime. Keep two or three coins in your jacket pockets always, and when you are walking down the street, waiting in line, or doing any of the tedious things we do each day- spend it practicing classic palm.

Remember that it's just as important getting into and out of classic palm as well- fingertip rest should be practiced as well- palm, move to fingertip rest, palm again.

Get into the habit of carrying a coin palmed in your hand regularly outside of your pocket. Keep the third finger on top of the coin to keep from dropping it on concrete if it's a silver dollar until your feel comfortable at it. Don't walk around trying to keep your hand flat and open- look at how your hand is naturally held, with your thumb and second finger nearly touching. This is fine.

Do this until it is a regular part of your life- it shouldn't feel like practice, it should be part of your regular life. Once you get into the groove, it's not a chore or work- it's fun.

Learn it with both hands if you really want to commit to coin work. It's once of the most handy holds for both sides, and can be used for a great many tricks. If you learn some manner of invisible transfer betwixt hands, (I love the Sylvester Pitch), having this on both sides is invaluable.

But in the end- practice the CP until it is no longer practice at all.

Following an extremely cold start to the day, I am reminded that temperature can affect our hands, palming and other magic skills.

I was taught a light touch is enough.

Enough to hold the coin in place, so you could say do a coin rol with another coin.

So light a "slight" relaxation and the coin will drop.

If you can find a live magician, in your area, you will speed up the learning process. It worked in my learning and my teaching as I pass on what was freely given to me.


Harris
still with palms of aluminum foil...for a lighter touch in coin magic

A little violin rosin on the edges goes a long way to getting you used to where best to grip it. You will start to develop muscle memory and need no rosin eventually. I go to sleep every night with a half and an East African Dime (half sized) both palmed in oposite hands. 1 is smooth, 1 is milled. I palm them before I go to sleep and they are both there when I wake.

I will add, due to my illness and extreme lower back pain, I sleep in a reclining chair most nights - on a couch some, but my muscle memory is outstanding for holding a classic palm. The downside is... my muscle pass is harder because I am so used to holding the coins in place.

Fair enough trade off for me though. Also, excuse the pun, this wont happen overnight (although eventualy it will )

USA quarter to dime sized coins can be classic p......
Motivation, desire guidance time can produce great results.

From No Way can I do this .....
To things like Palm to palm changes with a penny and a dime.

Or .....

Hmm...and here I thought I was the only craz....I mean dedicated person here who CP'd while sleeping! In my case though, I've not yet woken with coins in my hands...usually have to fish around in the blankets to find them

One small note, make sure your palming coins have nice edges. This may be contentious, but it did help me at first. Over time, using hand-milled coins with relatively sharp edges, I developed callouses and muscle strength which helped with softer edged coins later on. Stay at it, the CP is in my opinion the most valuable and most used palming technique, period.

On the largest scope, you should spend every moment of your day palming a coin and performing simple common tasks while changing/transfering between grips to develop the knack through nothing more simple than practice...
...a finer point, would be mosturizing and finding a good balance to allow maximum grip without any excess standing oil...

...as with most sleights, once you are finally so frustrated that you think you won't get it; you will get up one morning and it will fall into place. lol

So true. The dead ones never answer my questions.

...the dead ones....

thanks for the Thursday morning smile....

Thanks guys!

Wow these are great tips. and I see just practice practice its starting to get bit by bit, easier and less unco. at first it seemed this would take forever but the easier it gets the easier it gets!! thanks again

Get "gorrilla Snot" from your local music store. It's what drummers use to improve their grip on drum sticks. On the edge of coins and it will help your palming.

I second the "palm all the time" version of practicing....

... except while driving. That is just not safe.

I had to palm for about 3 months, getting bruises on my palms and sore muscles before it "clicked" and I could start doing it automatically.