Flick Start

[user]

Hello I have just bought a neon powerball pro. Ho do i flick start it? I have watched the video but just cant see how you get enough speed from the flick to get it going

Dave

[user]

I've been trying since I got mine a week ago.

I can only ever get a couple of turns out of it before it dies. I guess it's just practice. Apparently you should practice running the ball really slow for a while to get used to it.

Let us know how you get on!

celardore

[user]

A good way to practice it is to start the ball with string .. and try to get the ball to run at the lowest possible speed.. This is kind of how it feels like when you flick start a ball .. You have to feel when to rotate the ball very precisely at low speeds.. it is not something you can learn in 10 minutes.. it can take alot of tries..

Alex Rodenberg

[user]

It's easy, hold it in your right hand and put your left thumb on the rotor and flick across it as fast as you can then keep the ball moving in a very rythmic motion until it picks up speed.

James

[user]

You have to make it turn very slowly at the beginning just like you would like to make a glas of good wine turning...Then put some more more speed very gradually and use your feeling to know when you can generate more speed (you should always feel that the movement keeps some "power" some grip, if you lose that power slow down). It takes a little bit practice to get it start but it's worth it because you won't need a string anymore!! Remember to keep a light grip on the ball and to start very slowly. Good luck.

TECHNO BEN

[user]

Keep practising, it's tricky for the first hours but you'll get used to the flick and wrist motion quickly.

Quake

[user]

I've pretty much got it.

I don't do it every time, and when I do get it to work it takes so long to get it up to speed!

I've found trying to spin it faster makes it worse. Start slow. The LED versions are quite a good guide actually. No light = no powerballing! With your first flick you should at least see a glimmer of light from those LEDs

Celardore

[user]

you might find it easier if you put the PB in one hand and running it along the palm to the end of the fingers, I've been doing that for 9 months now- the 'flick' isn't as easy.

tonyb

[user]

I found this easy. but then again i can easly spin it up to about 1300 with the flick so getting it moving from then is easy. You need to get 1000+ of the flick to make it easy. i only used the string for the first few goes.

AAron

[user]

I got my power ball about half hour ago and just started it using my hand on the third try. It is best to start it across the palm and then flick at the finger tip. Totally hooked on this thing though!

Ben

[user]

I find it's easier to start it by sitting down and rolling the powerball along your leg to your knee. It gets faster speeds than the flick and the palm technique and produces speeds very similar to the cord.

Josh

[user]

Don't run it along your knee! On this site they recommend you not to do so :) I did that for one week and my PB got dusty and lost speed, use the fingers :)

jesper

[Palm Pilot]

Ok, kids, let's keep things moving...on to the one-handed flick start...see my thread.

[The Creature]

I struggled with this for a while ( i still cant do it everytime) although my freind taught me his technique today and i am getting better, funny story to this, my freind got me into powerballing because he got one to help his shoulder after an op, at first i must admit i want that interested in a ball you spin in your hands (thats how i perceived it at first) thought it was some fancy gimmic! well he got it and let me have a go with it and suddenly i thought it was great and i had to get one!!! well he left it round my place for a while and i practised and practised and started getting (what i considered) to be good scores, and then i eventually learnt how to flick start, not long after my freind learnt how to do it too, and now he can do it everytime and i seem to have lost the knack, but as i said he showed me his way of doing it and i am getting better again! i think my origianl problem was i wasnt getting high enougth rpms on the flick to start it, i was being to gentle with it, as i think it may be a bit sensitive to bangs and being knocked about, but my freind kinda gives it a hard 2 fingered spank in a downwards motion and he gets it going all the time, and it works ok for me too, but i do worry if its causing any damage, one unusual thing about my freinds technique is that he seems to do the spinning the opposite of how most people say to do it, he spins it fast and it works everytime for him, yet when i try it, i loose the momentum, and i do it slow and i find that easier, i think everyone has a sligthly unique technique that works best for them! for anyone thinking spj starting it is imposible, i thought that too, keep trying, it is possible and its very satisfying when you spin start it the first time, but once you do it, dont throw out the strings in some kind of im a big boy now ritual! because, i thought i had mastered it, and then i had do sent it off for repair and in the time it took for me to practise again i had lost the knack, i dont think its like riding a bike, you can loose the technique as i did, or maybe its just me!

[The Creature]

One thing i forgot to say, and i think its something that has been left out of the advise on how to flick start it, it may sound really obvious, but its important to have clean dry non sweaty hands and fingers when flick starting it, othwise your fingers will just slip on the rotor, and not grip it enougth to make it spin, also, i find it easier holding it in my weaker hand, you only need to be able to spin it slowly, and i can do it easily with my left, i use my stroger right hand to get more power in the flick (just my own personal technique)

[Obiw4n]

You should write a book, you seem to have a lot of things to say about starting techniques ;)

[jorgegonzales]

yeah man thanks a lot for saying that i will keep trying as i really want to master that way of starting it!!!!!

[whitenkhaki]

I'm at your opposite, The Creature, I prefer to hold with my stronger (right) and keep my left palm still while I roll the ball across it. But hey, whatever works for ya.

[Tim]

:mad: :( Yeah, I got used to it and could start the ball 50% of the time. But now I cannot do it at all :rolleyes:

[flip]

I've got this almost every time now. The trick is, when you feel the rotor "catching", just KEEP SPINNING, and it'll slowly build up. After a while, you'll get used to it and you'll find that it needs a lot less effort. I start mine at about 600rpm.

[donkapone]

i learned to flick start it yesterday in the live competition... the red string is now put safe in a box - just in case :) it is really fun when you do it :) it is not so hard than i thought - i just realize that i can think of my own technique to start it :) maybe i`ll post a video of it someday :) i can`t explain it good in text - but it is really the easiest way to do it

[flip]

Has anybody succeeded in just spinning the ball without touching the rotor and getting it to start? It would need some pretty accurate movements, but that's my goal :p. The thumb start is really easy. Like I said, just keep on spinning the rotor and don't give up. When the LEDs turn on (if you have them), the rotor has achieved stability.

[donkapone]

i don`t think that it is possible to start the ball without touching the rotor... oh, and by the way - i did a video about my flick start - here is the link www.abaldai.com/flickstart.avi

[flip]

I notice that from some wrist movement, I can get the rotor spinning REALLY slow, say 20rpm. I'll post a vid in 20 years, when I get this dialled in :p

[Tim]

right, if people are still having difficulties, like I was...

People have been saying spin it quickly then very slowly rotate your wrist, etc. But that wasn't working at all for me, so i changed it and span the rotor, then rotated my wrist REALLY QUICKLY in small circles and within around 5 seconds the blue lights come on and your ready to go!

[donkapone]

Tim i start it like that too :)

[flip]

That's how I do it too :p

[Enda]

Take a look at the video here (http://www.powerballs.com/powerball_videos.php) at the bottom of the page.

The trick to starting the Powerball with the finger 'flick' is to apply a lot of pressure with your finger when you are doing the initial 'flick'. If you press down hard with the finger, and quickly 'snap' the finger along the surface of the rotor then you should get it started relatively easily.

In the movie, the wrist is rotated slowly, but I usually hold the ball with the rotor facing upwards and rotate my wrist as though I am holding a stick and stirring something.

Hope this helps!

Regards

Enda
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