This week I’m excited to share 5 basic aerial hoop tricks for beginners that I learnt as an aerial hoop beginner and regularly use in my aerial hoop combo.

I’m using a single point aerial hoop with a 34mm tube diameter that I purchased from Polefitnessdancing.com at my own home. Always check your aerial equipments set up to make sure everything is secure and in order before starting. Also never skip warm up and gett into some basic conditioning first. This will gradually ease your body into the moves you will be training on that day. Whole body warm up is necessary. But place more emphasis on the core, back and shoulders. To make it easy, learn a good warm up sequence from a professional hoop instructor. And incorporate it as your lyra warm up routine.

From the get go, you want to start training your gripping strength. Working on the muscle strength to lift yourself up into the hoop will bring great returns so don’t skip the conditioning!

Aerial Hoop Tricks for Beginners

1. Spinning Stag Seat 

This is an elegant transition move and is used ALOT in aerial hoop combos. This is my favourite way to get used to the spinning momentum of the hoop. Did you know the dizziness from spinning gets better the more you train yourself to do it? Mine certainly improved and I can spin longer and faster the more I train spinning motions.

To do this seat, extend one leg and keep it straight while you bend the other leg to get a pretty shape. Use your straight leg to push on the floor to spin you around and you can enjoy the spin while maintaining the seated shape. You can either hold on the hoop with your hands or try a variation like I did where you straighten both arms out.

Game Changer Tips: When starting out, it is normal to experience pain on your palms and other contact points. Don’t see this as a negative at all, instead rejoice in the knowlege that you are improving your grip and conditioning your skin/body for your aerial hoop journey. I promise that it gets better with time!

2. Man In The Moon 

This trick is a classic aerial hoop trick and is loved by beginners and professional dancers alike. I find this move easy for beginners because there are a lot of contact points and it feels pretty secure. I learnt this move and practiced it many times on a super low hanging hoop to start with until I became confident. My best tip for this move? Wedge the hoop between your big toe and next toe. This way, you can point your toes and get a good grip. This looks much nicer than the flexed feet version.

3. Double knee Hang

Whilst many beginners learn the Hocks Hang a way to mount the pole, I found it much easier and safer to train the double knee hang in the picture to get my knees used to griping the hoop. When hanging from the upper bar, I like the extra support that the ring gave me while I was inverted.

This is not only a great beginner inversion move, it will prepare you to mount the lyra using the hocks hang and train other knee hangs later on in your journey.

4. Mermaid

This is my favourite beginner’s arial hoop trick as its elegant and easy to move in and out of. There are many variations for this move but I find this classic mermaid pose to be the easiest. From a seated position, you can lean back with one arm stretched while you grip the hoop high with your other hand. As you lean back start tilting your hips to the floor, pressing your legs on the hoop. Make sure to arch your upper back to make it pretty.

Lesson Learnt: Before attempting ANY trick or shape, make sure you have the descend or exit strategy. You may think you understand how to get into a move and rush to try it only to realise midway you did not learn how to exit to the ground. 

5. Hip Hang

This trick may cause some discomfort at first but it really gets better with practice. I got plenty of bruises on my upper thighs when I first learnt this trick. It turned out I was over-squeezing my thighs to the hoop to get a grip.

I now realised that there is no need to do that. Instead, if you engage your upper body and legs, it will distribute your weight. This will place less impact on the contact points along the hips. Just make sure to get the hoop exactly in your hip crease and press down with your feet towards the floor.

Hope the tricks and tips are useful to you. More on my journey as a beginner aerial hoop dancer in my blog next week! Stay healthy and safe!