Smaller hands and flourishes

[Muse M]

It seems like a natural question, though I'm not sure if it's been addressed in this forum before. If it has, apologies.

I'm finding it hard as a beginner to palm cards, and attempt springing, as my hands are only 6.5" from fingertip to wrist, and 3.5" widthways (palm size is roughly 3.5" x 3.5").

Are there any tips for the ...ahem, pocket-size mage to get enough curve in the deck for springing? What about palming? I'm using regular sized decks at the moment, as I was advised not to use bridge decks so that I'd be used to using a conventional deck. Are there any exercises I can do to strengthen my grip for springing? (Joke away, I'm used to it :P) Seriously - any help gratefully accepted.

[Joe Naud]

Malini is said to have very small hands and was a master of palming. I would recommend the DVD put out by John Carney as a very valuable resource on palming. If you search "palming" I'm sure you will find an old thread that will give you much more advice by people much more experienced than I. I have found the DVD to be very helpful as someons new to working with cards. Good palming skills call for much more than simply learning how to hold the card. Good luck. As Jason England tod me in regards to my second deal, "10,000 more hours of practice and you'll have it down cold. "
Peace, Joe

[Bill Mullins]

Springing cards: A deck is only 3-1/2" long. If you can get a finger on one end and a thumb on the other, you eventually work it out.

Palming: There are several palms that do not require the card to be completely covered by the palm of the hand (gambler's cop, gambler's flat palm, lateral palm, Tenkai palm, etc.) Using these successfully will help you gain the confidence that make other palms work well. And palming is at least as much about attitude and confidence as it is about making sure the card is completely covered by the back of the hand.

[Muse M]

Joe - Thank you very much for the advice. I have now perfected the art of evenly covering my carpet with a layer of cards about a metre wide....lots more practice needed!

Bill - Thank you as well - I do think it is the confidence aspect that needs to be worked on. I've just seen too many magicians with hands like bear paws. I'm sure that one of these days I'll establish a repertoire that caters to the smaller-handed.

[Joe Naud]

Muse M, You had mentioned that you were interested in hand strengthen exercises or at least I thought I saw something like that. Check out "The Grip Master" by prohands. You should be able to do a search in Google and find them. I bought mine at a sporting goods store, but Dan and Dave have them on their website, up priced of course. Strong hands help with all kinds of manipulations.
Peace, Joe

[David Alexander]

A simple excercise for the hands that Bill Pearl gave me years ago - take a double sheet of newspaper by one corner and crumple it up with one hand using only the fingers and thumb of the hand that's holding the paper.

The paper must hang down so you can't use gravity. Crumple up a few double sheets of paper a day and you'll soon see a difference.

Re: Malini...he wore a size 5 glove.