First Steps

Pen spinning takes a lot of practice and is not something you will pick up quickly, unfortunately. If you are having trouble, especially with basic tricks, watch different tutorials, watch slomo's (YouTube has a native 0.5x and 0.25x slowmo function), and try to really understand why the trick works the way it does. Guide the pen through the motion with your other hand to help with the muscle memory. Keep practicing! If you really feel stuck ask for help, but be sure to include a video of you trying the trick. Saying "I can't do the Sonic please help" is the same as telling a stranger "I can't run fast please help." - Letho72[2019]

I don’t think my fingers are flexible enough to do that…

Everybody can learn penspinning. You don‘t need special fingers to be an elite spinner. The vast majority of tricks only need little movement of your fingers, so no worries, you don't need to fold prezels with your fingers. Even though, japanese spinner Fire@Fox does exactly that...

Card title

Test

Tutorial

Trick: A single action that can be described using one standard term e.g. Thumbaround, Twisted Sonic, and Pass.

Linkage (Link): A short series of tricks.

Combo:A series of linkages that has well defined flow and aesthetic. Combos should have a distinct beginning and end and should feel 'complete.'

Hybrid: A linkage of two tricks where the second trick begins before the first is finished. There are many hybrids that are so common they are named and treated as a single trick e.g. Twisted Sonic and Ext TA.

Fingerslot: The location of the pen during a trick. Fingers are numbered 1 through 4 where 1 is index, 2 is middle, 3 is ring, and 4 is pinky. Thumb is represented as T. A fingerslot will be a combination of two or more fingers e.g. if you hold the pen between your middle and ring finger you are holding it in the 23 slot. Some eastern countries, like Japan, number their fingers 1 through 5 with 1 being thumb and 5 being pinky.

Reverse (Rev): A trick done in the opposite direction as normal. If you were to play a video of a trick backwards that is exactly what the reverse should look like.

Inverse (Inv): A trick done on the opposite side of the hand when compared to the normal. This is not applicable to all tricks.

Hand Position: Palm Up (PU), Palm Down (PD), and Palm Side (PS) can be used to indicate how the hand is oriented during a trick. This is usually only included when there is a change from one position to another or when it is unusual for a trick to be done in that orientation.

General Notation: Linkages and combos can be written out by listing the tricks in order. Tricks are separated by a '>' and tricks that are hybridized will be separated by a '~.' Using Kam's 4 Loop Combo as an example we would notate this combo as Sonic 34-23 > Twisted Sonic 23-12 > Thumbaround 1.5 12-T12.