Improving

[mykill]

Not sure where to put this (tricks or general)
but this is a really general topic so this looks fine 

I'm putting at least 30min a day 5-6 times a week on my diabolo-ing but i don't seem to be improving at all... it's really frustrating since it seems to be a complete waste of time.
all my 2D stuff is insanely sloppy (AC-fan, 2D high, vortex) and i still can't do mini-columns, i work on it all the time but it still sucks. I've learnt 2D somewhat well since october but i skipped out all winter because i go freestyle skiing all the time.
how much time are you guys putting into practicing to be so amazing in those videos?
Am i not putting enough time into practicing? or is it just me being talentless at this.

[monkiatzu]

a bit more than 30 min
you cant practise for the sake of improving, you practise for other reasons and improving slowly comes along.
when u diabolo u have to be pretty motivated and happy i guess, u shouldnt diabolo to become a pro, that comes naturally.
so wat im waffling on about is u have to enjoy it to succeed.
and every bit of practise counts even if u dont realise it.

as for mini columns, try doing it out of a shuffle with a tight string, that got me doing it. it takes a while to learn.
try other tricks and come back to it.
ive been tryin 3d for maybe a year and a bit now, and i cant last longer than 30 ott, and i hate that because i know ppl who did it in 8 months or 9. so yea u just have to stick to it.

and relax your wrists, that helps for some reason some times
good luck

[zwiggelbig]

Do you go to conventions?

I had the same problem as you.. Went to my first convention this weekend and that just gave me such a HUGE boost!

[Mr.D]

I bet most of those "amazing guys" will burn off your total hours of practice in a year, in a few weeks. But it's no rush eh?
I think the best training is when you just move around doing a little of this and a little of that. I usually just put on some music and flow around Suddenly you'll find that perfect movement you need to land a certain trick. It also helps alot to study tutorials and videos to discover the right movements.

General tip would be: Watch tutorials, relax and be patient Some ppl need more time, but eventually, you execute those trick with style!
Btw: creativity is a great part of diabolo

[Diabolo Dodson]

I practice about 30 minutes a day in the week and 2-3 hours a day at weekends depending on what ive got on. The key is too relax and to not rush tricks, try everything slow and smooth, dont tense your arms your wrists, listen to some music and almost be lazy when trying tricks, if your tense and over thinking it you'll never get it.

[Synkful]

I do diabolo about 30minutes to 2 hours a day, but I got many break-days. Like for example, I've just learned to do vertax infinite-suicide, for that I practiced a lot, about one to two hours a day for a week and I got it now very solid. Now Im a'bit relaxing, pretty much because I don't know what to learn next ; ( Well anyways I'm still learning those mind blowing vertax grinds : ), and getting them quite quickly. In the later summer I should also start 2d... ; D Yep, I can do nearly all vertax tricks I've seen in people's videos, from vertax-genocides to vertax-infinitesuicide, but can't do 2d at all   

[Matias]

hey i think you practice far too little, look i practice 2-3 hours on weekdays,and in weekends i practice over 6 hours

[Jesse]

Matias, some people have to go to work.  Oh and they might have girlfriends as well.

[Diabolo Dodson]

I think 30 minutes a day is more than enough, and as jesse said people do have lives  I go to college, play gigs with my band, help organize musical events and i have a girlfriend. 2-3 hours everyday is difficult for a lot of people, and its not really necessary, as long as you practice right you can still progress really really quickly.

[Marijn]

It is impossible not to improve every time you diabolo. Every minute spend on diabolo will improve your motor skills a little bit.

[Duncan]

Had a chat with Dave at the Dutch about something like this. I think one thing you have to remember is that what you're learning is actually hard.

Once this sinks in, the fact that you're frustrated makes sense. Especially if you had rapid progress and have hit the first 'snag' in your learning process. It's frustrating because it's not 'as easy as it was' to learn new things. That's just because you're trying harder things and they take a bit more time. Some people get angry at this 'snag', and some people just shrug it off and continue trying without much of an attitude change. They're the ones you see making rapid progress because they don't let the snag bother them too much (just a theory).

The big thing that pops as an example is people learning 3 diabolos. So many kids come up to me and ask "how do I make this work?!", and all I can say is "practice." 3 diabolos for many kids today is their first big wall - it's suddenly going to take more than 20 minutes to work out a trick. What used to take years now takes months, but they're still frustrated by the lack of progress.

So, yeah. I'll reiterate what other people have said - relax. Sure, you'll have frustrating moments, but nothing to beat yourself up over. If something's not working, give it a break and come back to it later in your session. It's been said by a few people on the forum (Aaro in particular I think), but just give yourself obtainable goals during practice. For the fan, say to yourself: "okay, 2 rotations and then clean exit." Once you've got that, move onto 3, then 4, then 5 (see where this is going?). If I'm having a bad day and can't get 50 catches of 3d high, I just say to myself: "okay, then do at least 50 catches over several runs." You're still getting the catches, just not in that one magical run. But you have to make those catches, and it's still progress. Soon, it'll happen in one or two runs. If I average 35 catches per run, and do 7 runs, I've just made 245 catches of 3d - not too shabby. It's better than giving up, and each catch is practice that I need.

So, keep practicing and relax - it's all good fun in the end.

[mykill]

thanks for the replies

So i need to work a bit more
Any conventions near Toronto Ontario i can go to?

[Sean]

There's the Waterloo (University) juggling festival in the winter (or at least it used to be). Don't know if any diaboloists would be there.

Your best bet is to take the train to Turbo Fest in Quebec City in January and/or the Montreal juggling festival in May.

[alfster48]

i practise 20 - 30 minutes a day and i do really learn something new everytime. But the only problem is, is that every time i try 3d, i fail, then i get in a bad mood with diabolo and it makes me wanna give up with 3d. I know i will never do this, but i don't really have any motivation for 3d. This is because when i see crackers or dodson landing an amazing 3d trick, i always say to myself "you will never be able to pull that off."

i need help

[Olive]

Diaboloing is fun. It is a hobby. Unfortunately we are never going to cure cancer or solve third world debt through diaboloing. Stop taking it all so seriously, I never "practise" but I do PLAY until the sun goes down some days. If you aren't loving what you're doing, or you're getting frustrated by a trick that is just not working out for you, change what you are doing. Eat an orange. Don't envy other peoples skill levels to the point of putting yourself down, or putting yourself off going for a play. I love that there are so many people that are so great at diaboloing and that on this forum you get their videos, tricks and opinions.

I find that I improve when I'm enjoying myself rather than trying tricks that aren't working out for me over and over again and getting frustrated by it. Plug into some music. And play.

(And if you have a spare copy of "The little book of calm" about, give that a read!

[mike.]

Eat an orange

best stress reliever ever, you have a point too

[Hack]

Diaboloing is fun. It is a hobby.

This is what everybody should be saying. In stead of complaining that you haven't perfected a new trick yet.

I never "practise" but I do PLAY until the sun goes down some days.

I totally agree with this, when I pick up my diabolos I'll usually try some new tricks, but I go through all the tricks I know, and sometimes I'll just flow from one trick into the other and all of a sudden I have a sweet combo. So when you grab your diabolos make sure you have the right mindset.

[RandomSeaBadger]

I can remember someone (don't know who, sorry!) saying don't judge yourself by other people achievements, judge yourself by yours and yours only! Guys like Crackers, Dodson have been going for years! Don't worry about it!