Step 7. Flower Stick Trick - Wave

The Wave is a very spectacular, advanced-level flower stick trick in which the stick performs a continuous, wave-like motion between the handsticks. It is essentially a combination of the Helicopter (Trick#1) and the one-handed spin (Trick#2). The goal is to guide the flower stick in a steady rhythm while keeping the motion smooth and continuous. You should try this trick once you’ve mostly mastered the basic flowerstick tricks, as it requires good control and stable play. The Wave trick helps further develop your rhythm, coordination, and control over the stick.

Entry Level

Entry Level

1. STARTING POSITION

2. One-handed TIC-TAC on the ground

Take a handstick in your stronger hand and tilt one end of the flower stick onto it. You won’t need the other handstick.

Raise your hand and tilt over the flowerstick one way and then the other. Just like in TIC-TAC, but this time only with 1 handstick.

Advanced level

3. One-handed TIC-TAC + lifting

4. One-handed TIC-TAC in the air

If you are already good at one-handed TIC-TAC on the ground, slowly raise your hand while doing it.

Do it continuously in the air. Tilt it low and make your hands bounce. Don’t rush. Guide (do not hit) the flower stick.

Expert level

5. One-handed TIC-TAC in the air + push-pull

6. The wave

During TIC-TAC, at one point, pull the flower stick towards you, and then push it away.

Try to make the contact between the sticks as continuous as possible. To do this, you need small upward movements close to the centre of the flowerstick.

1. STARTING POSITION

Take a handstick in your stronger hand and tilt one end of the flowerstick onto it. You won’t need the other handstick.

2. One-handed TIC-TAC on the ground

Raise your hand and tilt over the flowerstick one way and then the other. Just like in TIC-TAC, but this time only with 1 handstick.

Advanced level

3. One-handed TIC-TAC + lifting

If you are already good at one-handed TIC-TAC on the ground, slowly raise your hand while doing it.

4. One-handed TIC-TAC in the air

Do it continuously in the air. Tilt it low and make your hands bounce. Don’t rush. Guide (do not hit) the flowerstick.

Expert level

5. One-handed TIC-TAC in the air + push-pull

During TIC-TAC, at one point, pull the flowerstick towards you, and then push it away.

6. The wave

Try to make the contact between the sticks as continuous as possible. To do this, you need small upward movements close to the centre of the flowerstick.

#7 Tutorial video - the wave

An advanced flower stick trick: It opens a new dimension of the game, but you already need to know the basics

About The Wave

The Wave is actually the Helicopter with one hand. It’s easy to describe, but it takes time and experience to get it right. It’s no coincidence that this is the final part of our tutorial video series. It’s only worth starting if you’ve already been able to do most of the previous tricks. Most importantly, you should be able to perform the Helicopter and the One-Handed Spin (Tricks 1 and 2) slowly and, and be able to link them together.

But the reward for persistence will not be lost. As soon as you can do it, you’ll realise you’ve only just started really playing ☺ You’ll (accidentally) pull off incredible tricks as you practice the wave. Well, even after it’s working properly…:)

To see just how far you can go from here, will be revealed in the next lessons in our series of tutorial videos, which are currently in preparation. Subscribe to our newsletter – on the bottom of this page – and you won’t miss out!

Common mistakes:

  • The end of your handstick is pointing downwards, so the flowerstick keeps falling down – away from you. The far end of the handstick should always be higher than the nearer one that you are holding!
  • Lack of perseverance and high expectations: I, who am writing these lines, learned the wave only after two years. However, there are many people who learn it from beginner level in a few weeks or a few months. For younger people (6-10 years), the complexity of the trick means that it can take months or years. They shouldn’t give up, even if they can’t do it in 1-2 months. Instead, practice the simpler tricks until then. But for those who already have the basic hand skills and more advanced movement coordination (e.g. expert at playing yo-yo or even dancing beautifully), quick success is guaranteed. 
IMPORTANT

The Wave is not an easy trick, but it’s well worth it! When you get it, it will be a new beginning in your flower stick game. To get started, it’s important to have confidence in your knowledge of the previous tricks. And to do it really nicely, even more important than what you’ve learned so far is the constant contact between the handsticks and the flowerstick. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll feel it 🙂 Just don’t give up!

You only need one handstick, which you hold in your better hand. You don’t need the other one, it will just get in the way at the beginning.

Advices that work for every flower stick tricks

  1. If you can (also) play with the flower stick slowly, you will also be able to do it quickly. The other way around is not necessarily true.
  2. The closer you play to the centre of the flowerstick, the slower you are able to play. The closer you play to the end of the flowerstick, the faster you play.
  3. If you want to play slowly, you need to play with the flowerstick closer to the centre of it (with the handsticks). At the same time, you also need to be more subtle with the handsticks. Flex your hands more. The handsticks should rather guide the flowerstick than hit it.
  4. For most tricks, it can be said that the handsticks should not be facing the ground. Instead, they should be horizontal or even slightly pointing upwards.
  5. Apart from a few extra advanced tricks, always hold the handsticks by their ends. This way, you’ll have more playing surface on them, and on the other hand, they won’t restrict your wrist movement. A loose (moving) wrist and hand position are very important parts of the game.
  6. One or two tricks can be learnt relatively quickly with a few repetitions. However, to repeat it many times over and over again typically requires a lot more learning. But that’s not what’s important. Instead of repetitions, try to combine the current trick with other tricks. You will learn a lot from it.
  7. If, despite lots of practice, you still can’t learn one or two movements or tricks, don’t be disappointed. Try something else for a few days and you’ll see that you’ll get better at what was difficult before. 
  8. This is most common in younger children (6-8 years old), but it can also happen at much older ages when they play only from the wrist or forearm. When this happens, their elbows do not move, and they simply cannot lift the flower stick enough to turn it over. Or they may swing from the wrist so much that the stick flies away. The lesson is to get your whole body involved in the game, rather than just one or two parts of it.

 

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