For the longest time I've had trouble with one of Al Schneider's moves. It comes in the routine about an ancient gamester cheating people out of goats, etc. My problem was with the second move, loading the center cup. Unless I moved with utmost deliberation, my chances of snagging all three balls was about 50-50. If I added any speed and fluidity to the move, I usually got hung up under the rim or sent at least one ball scooting across the table.

Just the other day I was playing around with clear plastic tumblers that have the same mouth dimension as my regular cups. I realized that for the first time I was observing just how the balls move underneath the cups. By adjusting my approach and timing, I could put that motion to use and increase both speed and accuracy. Imitating what I learned with my good cups, my success rate was instantly almost perfect -- I could "feel" the ball under the cup. Also, I can now slide through that move with a casualness that implies only one ball is in play.

I plan to add clear cups as a regular part of my practice. This may be old news to the C&B veterans out there, but I haven't seen it mentioned before so I thought I'd share.

That's very smart. Thanks for sharing.
Try doing the pinky sweep in reverse (from the back of the cup to the front, or, from "curled in" to "extended out"). My focus lately has been on keeping the pinky out of view, and snapping the pinky back into the palm instead of snapping it out, or extending it, during the cup placement. The idea was a spin-off from Al's handling. It looks natural.
I've not tried it with more than one ball though. Using transparent cups will definitely assist.

Terrific thread. Thank you both for sharing. I'm going to try both of these out.

On his cups and balls videos, Michael Ammar uses clear cups in several places to show how what happens when the trick is performed. Those vids have been around for at least 25 years!

I had to go through that same sort of "visualization" when I was learning dice stacking. Knowing where the objects (dice, balls, whatever) are under the cups isn't exactly crucial, but it is extremely helpful in executing the moves smoothly.

Hi, Bill - I do own Ammar's wonderful DVD, and I understand your point exactly re instruction. I'm talking more about refining my technique -- not learning but practicing -- seeing what happens as I move the cups. For example, on one move when I'm gathering all three balls in the center, I saw that a ball was inclined to slide around the inside of the rim with centrifugal force. By capitalizing on that tendency, I gained a sense of control over the motion and could pick up the pace without losing the ball or having it knock another ball out of my control. Cheers, David