Curl

Difficulty:
First, this trick is similar to a move that is done without the devilstick. It might be easier to understand how the trick is going to work if I explain what is going to happen with the devilstick.

If you hold a full glass of wine in your palm, put the stem between your fingers so that you are holding the part of the glass that contains the wine in your palm. You can take the glass and bring it in between your arm and body and around behind you. Then keep turning your hand and start to bring the glass higher in the air, it will help to extend your arm as you keep turning the glass. So if you were doing it in your right hand you would be turning your hand in a CCW fashion. Eventually your hand will be at the level of your head, depends how flexible you are. Keep raising your hand and turning it in the same direction. You will soon be able to start bringing your arm back down as the glass comes back around to the front of you until the glass is in its original position. The key is that you should be able to turn the glass behind you, up and around the side of you, and back to the front in one fluid motion without spilling a drop. If that description makes sense then imagine having a devilstick do the same thing as it rests on a handstick.

If you do a helicopter in a CCW spin then you would do a full curl in your right hand the same way described above. It is not an easy trick and it takes alot of practice to keep the devilstick from spinning off of the handstick. You also want to have the devilstick spin at the same rate you are going to do the curl.

Hint:
Here is a way you can cheat a little when practicing. Have the devilstick rest against your hand that is holding the handstick as you do the curl.

Alternative:
If none of this makes any sense, and you really want to learn this trick, then it may be worthwhile to pick up The Devilstick Book by Todd Strong. His description of the trick may help.

Variation:
Once you can do a curl on each side you may want to try to switch sides after each curl. Do one with the right hand, then immediately put the devilstick on the left handstick and do one with the left hand. Not an easy trick, but it looks great. And to make it even flashier, you can do the pass behind your back. Jochen Schell did this in the 1995 IJA Championship competition.

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