I am be working on a variety of dama tricks, lots of beginners’ tricks and some intermediate as well. I often get the heart of the trick but rarely can I finish it off with a spike. I would welcome any tips on how to set up for the spike at the end of a trick. Also, if you know of some drills that would help me hone this fundamental aspect of kendama, I would appreciate them too.
Awesome, I would suggest getting comfortable manipulating the tama hole. Here’s a hole control video by sweets.
I find around Europe helps to practice spiking from several different angles and learning to control where you land the hole. Here's a link to the trick. Also around USA is great for consistency =D
setting up the kendama on the last part of the trick helps as well. ex: placing the tama on lighthouse and practicing the falling in will help your muscle memory (and nerves) to the point where it will be like second nature. the same goes for a trick like bird. placing it on bird and moving your hand around helps your brain know and remember what a bird feels like. other than that, just playing kendama will help you with that last spike. the muscle memory plays a big factor
I am working on the same issue right now, learning to control the hole to set up the spike. The two videos above are perfect lead-in to my question: the Sweets video shows a pull the to the side to turn the hole, while all the Learn Kendama videos show a forward movement. Which way do the more experienced players here approach it?
I tend to push the ken hand forward more than to the side but I'd imagine it more personal preference and where exactly you're trying to get the hole pointed. For example on Around the Cosmos the first landing I tend to have the hole pointed more to my right but on Around the World/Japan I prefer it facing me pretty much in the middle.
Thanks for your response. I'm kind of finding that it's sort of in the middle for me... a little forward, a little sideways...