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Hi i am struggling with 2 moves in card magic, no matter how much or how hard i try and practise i cannot do these moves smoothly at any speed or cleanly so they look professional, these two moves are:
1. Dribbling the cards
2. Spreading the cards between the hands
(both as described in card college volume 1)

Hey. Don't worry about that buddy. I am certain that it will come with time! I doesn't just happen.

How long have you played with card magic? It does take a few months to be familiar with a deck of cards and to get the feel for the cards.

I know some people aren't too in to flourishing but I do recommend learning some basic flourishes to familiarise yourself with cards . For the spread, learning some fans will help understand how cards spread.

Yes just to echo Stevebo's comments: Keep practising.

Other than that, when you are dribbling the cards, it may help to apply just a little pressure by bending the deck ever so slightly downwards. Try curling your index finger on the deck to achieve this. Gravity is doing the work here, unlike springing the cards, but i've always found a little downwards bend to be of help.

When spreading the cards, one hand is doing the spreading (right) but the other is simply guiding the cards away in a neat arc. To get it nice and graceful, you need to keep a tight grip with your left and pull away in a smooth arc to the left. Your right thumb should be going like the clappers, pushing the cards off in small bunches.

Practice!

The most important tip I ever got was to just make sure you get the mechanics right and with enough practice it'll look smooth. Also try and have a deck of cards with you at all times. I mostly practice while watching TV or listening to music.

stevebo wrote: I do recommend learning some basic flourishes to familiarise yourself with cards . For the spread, learning some fans will help understand how cards spread.

I agree, if you can nail a good pressure fan, it will help you gauge the correct level of pressure you need to handle the cards your using.

Also, don't get too put off with general handling if your using a brand new deck. One of my handling problems when i first starting using cards was that they occasionally tend to be a bit 'slippy' when their brand new.

Once you've broken them in after a while, you will start to recognise the moment when you get an optimum handling condition (when the cards are at their most supple & subsequently will be more versitile for other sleights as well).

Good luck with your practice. Hope you manage to perfect it in the end.

A friend of mine recently took up cards (about three months ago), and was frustrated by the fact he couldn't fan or dribble the cards as neatly as me (hey, what trumpet?). I encouraged him to carry on practicing.

I saw him the other day and he was fanning and dribbling perfectly. All it took was some practice and he's now got a really pretty looking couple of flourishes.

Everybody seems to have a slightly different technique when it comes to fanning and dribbling (certainly in my experience anyway). My friend has naturally developed a fan that is slightly different to the way I do it, but it looks excellent. I guess that's the difference between the way our hands work.

Wow, now I'm dribbling! Keep going and I'm sure you'll be fanning and dribbling cards like a pro in no time.