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Hello,

I've been practising fanning (thumb fan) for a week and I find that I always have a problem that keeps the cards from spreading evenly.

About halfway through the fan, there will always be 8-10 cards bunch up or stick together very closely, then near the end of the fan the cards are always too spread out, making the fan looks very uneven where the cards near the centre of the fan stick very closely while the finish are spread out too much.

I use brand new bikes for the practice and I have yet to try fanning powder as I don't have one (do I need one to spread the cards evenly as I have seen in those videos?). I'd like to know how can I overcome the problem. I understand that I haven't practice enough yet, but in the past few days I have tried changing different pivot points and pressure from the thumb but still have the problem. I believe something is wrong with my current technique. Please share your tips on fanning if you like.

Thanks.

Hi Kronos, welcome to TM,

Fanning was one of those things that took me a while to get down, and to be honest its mainly just a knack, you've given yourself a sporting chance by starting with new cards and learning good technique, the rest is just a matter of time.

I had real issues with both the thumb and one-handed fan but suddenly they just clicked, and i no longer have issues with them, I'm sure this is the story for most people.

Rob

Hey, welcome to TM.

Yes, fanning powder would help greatly. It causes the cards to stick together more yet allowing them to slide. This makes it perfect for fanning. Make sure your grip for the thumb fan is correct also. For me, my thumb is halfway through the deck as my thumb is small . Bevel the cards as you fan so that the fan is nice and even. Try practicing a ribbon spread with your thumb on a table to get the idea of beveling. (Courtesy of the Flourishman)

Thanks for the tips! I guess I'll keep on practising and see whether I can improve or not.

Besides I seem only to be able to do a small semi-circle fan (perhaps for the reason that I have short thumb?). Any idea on how to produce a nice large round fan?

Thanks.

Before you fan, put the cards further out allowing you to c**k the deck to the left slightly until it is in the bit of skin between the thumb and the index finger. Then fan as wide as possible. This should provide a quite large fan. Then use the fingers behind to adjust it slightly by pulling on them.

I can manage about a 3/4 of a circle when I do a thumb fan but that's probably because I always do it when I pick up a deck!

Also a little tip i found, was that unsented baby powder works well if you cannot get fanning powder.

Also a little tip for fanning is that you have to be lose and relaxed; and your cards should spread more evenly.

Hope this helps

Regards

A technique I learned, is that you start with 2 cards, and fan them until you are comfortable (which should be quick). Then move to 3. Then 4.

As you perfect each one, you are making only a slight change to get to the next card.

By the time you hit 26 for a half deck, or 52 for a full, you should have a nearly perfect fan.

-James

Thanks for all the tips again! My fan seems pretty inconsistent, sometimes it fans smoothly, sometimes it's very uneven.

Also, it's quite hard to find the correct position for the deck after you c**k the deck. If I maintain my pivot point at the centre of the short end of the deck, I still can't make a 3/4 circle fan, though it's already larger than the small semi-circle fan. Where do you put your pivot point to make the fan so that it spreads about 3/4 circle?

This is how I learnt it:

Put your thumb to the top left corner vertically (straight up) half way down.

So deck is like:

--------------
--------------

Thumb is here:

-[]------------
---------------

As a side view. I know, it looks bad but you get the idea.

As you fan, once you hit about half way through the deck, flatten your thumb and finish the fan off.

So from top view down, soemthing like this:

[----------]
[++++++]
[----------]
[----------]
[----------]
[----------]

Where the + indicates thumb placing. So basically, it's flat. I know, looks bad again.



GO FOR SPEED.



Don't worry about getting it even at the moment or anything. Just go for speed. The equal distributions comes naturally after a while. You don't need to apply too much force either. So again, go for speed.

That's how I was taught it and my fans look fine.

LOL

I spent 5 hours straight (since I had a very long break before my next class) just doing this and my friend said, don't forget the magic word, "Wwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeee"

Hey, it worked.

stevebo wrote:Before you fan, put the cards further out allowing you to c**k the deck to the left slightly until it is in the bit of skin between the thumb and the index finger. Then fan as wide as possible. This should provide a quite large fan. Then use the fingers behind to adjust it slightly by pulling on them.

I can manage about a 3/4 of a circle when I do a thumb fan but that's probably because I always do it when I pick up a deck!

Oops... didn't mean that word to be as a curse word lol. Let's say tilt then!

I don't agree with you there bitsnpieces. The part about going for speed first. I always say go for the technique first and speed will come afterwards. As long as the technique is right, then as you practice, speed will come. This goes for all flourishes as I can't stand choppy cuts like choppy Sybils. Get the technique right and smooth and gradually work faster!

Well, I mentioned in another post, speed doesn't matter. It's important to get used the motion and everything and speed naturally picks up. But for this fanning, I did it with speed first.

I did it slow of course just to get used to how to vertical my thumb, know when half way point is, and the flattening of thumb. Only did it a couple of times to give myself a rough idea of when and when to do it according to size of my hand and how wide I can fan.

Then I went straight for speed. At first, spread too much, so I used less force at the start to have them spread closer. Too close. So used a bit more force.

The only thing I did was adjust how much force/pressure I used onto the card to apply an even distribution. I always went for the speed. Of course, not super fast. But just the average speed you see people fan it at.

But in the end, everyone has their own ways of learning and yeh, I learnt this just fine doing speed and only worring about adjusting the amount of force to use with thumb. Distributions just kept getting better and better.

And like I said, don't forget the magic word which my friend taught me, "Wwwwwweeeeeeeeee" LOL

No seriously... I sat there and walked around doing my fanning, speed and only adjusting power, saying, "Wwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeee" The last time I showed it to a friend, it wasn't perfect the distribution, and my friend reminded me to say the magic word, I did and it was fairly perfect. LOL

Oh, and don't 'Grrr, spread spread' sort of attitude. Just pretend as though they're all perfect (even if choppy) and it'll eventually come, through adjusting power.

EDIT: Oh, just remembered. This is the thumb fan, kept thinking using thumb but just realised it was holding at thumb. I say, until you can get used to doing it closer into your palm and even just a semi-circle or close, don't do the thumb yet. Because your holding hand will need to hold the cards a bit more tighter or the distribution is too wide. But same deal, go for speed and only worry about adjusting power, and slowly move it further from palm. Go again. Get used to it. Go further out.