Newbie to magic - struggling with the injog shuffle!

Nov 19, 2017
10
1
Firstly Hello to all from sunny Manchester in the UK haha!

Quick bit of background - I've always loved magic for as long as I can remember (27yo) and especially card magic due to the skill and talent involved within it.

Very recently I've decided to properly take up card magic as a hobbyist.

I have card college vol. 1 and the girlfriend has bought me vol. 2 for Christmas along with a collection of 66 stunning various decks of cards but very little ability to use them with yet ha!

One thing I'm really struggling with is the injog shuffle! I've been trying and trying and trying but I can't quite seem to grasp it just yet.

I'm struggling with smoothly injogging a card in the sense that it doesn't sit flush with the first packet for example and therefore I can't create the break when I go to grab it or as I shuffle the rest of the deck off, it is falling "sloppily" so is therefore messy and when I do grab the deck I can end up with a couple of breaks!

Are there any decent YouTube videos or tips anyone can give me on practising this shuffle to grasp it a bit easier or is simply just a case of getting smoother at overhand shuffling and carrying on until I eventually "get" it?

Many thanks in advance for any tips or help!

Cheers,

Josh
 

DavidL11229

Elite Member
Jul 25, 2015
589
314
Seattle
Are there any decent YouTube videos or tips anyone can give me on practising this shuffle to grasp it a bit easier or is simply just a case of getting smoother at overhand shuffling and carrying on until I eventually "get" it?
Probably mostly just keep working on the overhand shuffle. Any videos you find online will likely have a different grip than Giobbi teaches and therefore not be of much help.

Your left thumb is used to position the injogged card. You can make your injog a bit larger when you are first learning.
 
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Nov 19, 2017
10
1
Probably mostly just keep working on the overhand shuffle. Any videos you find online will likely have a different grip than Giobbi teaches and therefore not be of much help.

Your left thumb is used to position the injogged card. You can make your injog a bit larger when you are first learning.

Thanks for the response! Yeah I did think whether that might just be the case!

It just gets a little frustrating when you try over and over again and feel like you're getting nowhere ha!
 
Feb 1, 2017
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235
Thanks for the response! Yeah I did think whether that might just be the case!

It just gets a little frustrating when you try over and over again and feel like you're getting nowhere ha!

Make sure the fist injog is contacting the pinky that is holding the deck. If you are following the grip taught, you'll know what I mean. Then run a couple cards flush with the first pack, then sloppily-ish shuffle off the rest of the deck to hide the jog. It should be easy to hold the break. If it isn't coming easy, then just keep practicing. Slowly go through the mechanics of the move and pay attention to what is happening. Try to adjust.

HANG IN THERE. A lot of people give up really easily. A lot of sleights you learn could take days-months-years of practice. I'm glad you sought out a forum to get some help.
 
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Nov 19, 2017
10
1
Really appreciate the response! Yeah I think one thing I need to do is go back over the mechanics of the grip and shuffle to see where I'm going wrong!

I know what you mean but I'm determined to get better and master it as I want to be competent with a deck of cards as a hobbyist ha! From what I've read over, seems like a friendly enough forum :)


Make sure the fist injog is contacting the pinky that is holding the deck. If you are following the grip taught, you'll know what I mean. Then run a couple cards flush with the first pack, then sloppily-ish shuffle off the rest of the deck to hide the jog. It should be easy to hold the break. If it isn't coming easy, then just keep practicing. Slowly go through the mechanics of the move and pay attention to what is happening. Try to adjust.

HANG IN THERE. A lot of people give up really easily. A lot of sleights you learn could take days-months-years of practice. I'm glad you sought out a forum to get some help.
 
Nov 19, 2017
10
1
I do find that grip awkward, I jut take him at his word that it's good for me. Don't get too bogged down on it. Be sure to have something else to work on for a change of scenery.

I know what you mean, I'm going to look at the grip again and make sure I've got it right so that I know that's one less thing to potentially cause me to be struggling with the shuffle!

That's what I did last night haha, decided to practice some of the false cuts instead ha!
 

DavidL11229

Elite Member
Jul 25, 2015
589
314
Seattle
He did make a DVD to go along with the books, but as far as I can tell it is no longer available. He covers much from his books in the video Roberto Giobbi LIVE 2 - The Card College Session. It's just that I don't think he goes over the mechanics of the overhand shuffle in that one either.
 
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Aug 15, 2017
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Really appreciate the response! Yeah I think one thing I need to do is go back over the mechanics of the grip and shuffle to see where I'm going wrong!

I know what you mean but I'm determined to get better and master it as I want to be competent with a deck of cards as a hobbyist ha! From what I've read over, seems like a friendly enough forum :)
oh you are SO RIGHT!
I have seen some other magic forums and they are so discouraging!
Anyways, good luck and PRACTICE HARD :)
 
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Oct 23, 2014
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It just gets a little frustrating when you try over and over again and feel like you're getting nowhere ha!

I promise you everyone here can relate haha. I was listening to a Richard Turner interview a couple days ago (best card mechanic in the world, look him up), and he was talking about how he will work on a single move for multiple years to master it. Obviously not all moves need that mileage, but it can help put your mind at ease. It's normal for certain moves to take a long time to get right, but rest assured that your repeated practice doesn't go wasted. In fact, it's the only way to actually get it. Heck, I've been working on my strike double for months, and it's still only 80% there. But I do notice that I am much better at it now than when I started.

As for tips on the injog: I also struggled with consistency for a while, and it's because I wasn't holding my pinky (on the receiving hand) in the correct place. I re-read the description in Royal Road, caught my mistake, and it's been a lot smoother ever since. That pinky will help you get a feel for the placement.
 
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Jul 26, 2016
571
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@Slightly False,

First, I just wanna say you have a TRULY GREAT girlfriend there!

Second, I would echo the tips that the other members have given on this thread - they are solid. The only thing I would add is to maybe slow the shuffle down to almost slow motion and practice that way for a while til you feel you are getting the mechanics really down, then very gradually speed things up.
 
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Nov 19, 2017
10
1
I promise you everyone here can relate haha. I was listening to a Richard Turner interview a couple days ago (best card mechanic in the world, look him up), and he was talking about how he will work on a single move for multiple years to master it. Obviously not all moves need that mileage, but it can help put your mind at ease. It's normal for certain moves to take a long time to get right, but rest assured that your repeated practice doesn't go wasted. In fact, it's the only way to actually get it. Heck, I've been working on my strike double for months, and it's still only 80% there. But I do notice that I am much better at it now than when I started.

As for tips on the injog: I also struggled with consistency for a while, and it's because I wasn't holding my pinky (on the receiving hand) in the correct place. I re-read the description in Royal Road, caught my mistake, and it's been a lot smoother ever since. That pinky will help you get a feel for the placement.

I'm glad to hear it's not just me then haha! Yeah I've convinced myself that it is simply just practise!

Thanks for the pointers, I'll go back and re-read over the description and check over the mechanics to see if I'm missing anything.
 
Nov 19, 2017
10
1
@Slightly False,

First, I just wanna say you have a TRULY GREAT girlfriend there!

Second, I would echo the tips that the other members have given on this thread - they are solid. The only thing I would add is to maybe slow the shuffle down to almost slow motion and practice that way for a while til you feel you are getting the mechanics really down, then very gradually speed things up.

Haha she's not bad I guess!

Yeah I think that's a good idea to slow it down and look at how I'm currently doing it and see if anything obvious sticks out that I can adjust or correct and fingers crossed eventually grasp it!

Thanks to all for the help and support so far :)

Josh
 
Nov 19, 2017
10
1
@Slightly False,

First, I just wanna say you have a TRULY GREAT girlfriend there!

Second, I would echo the tips that the other members have given on this thread - they are solid. The only thing I would add is to maybe slow the shuffle down to almost slow motion and practice that way for a while til you feel you are getting the mechanics really down, then very gradually speed things up.

Damn it! I've just re-read what I wrote. She's bought me Vol. 2 for Christmas.

The decks I have built up myself over the last couple of months haha! Nonetheless she's still not too bad ha!
 
Jan 26, 2017
2,173
1,338
23
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First off, Welcome!

Next, maybe it would be easier for us to help you if you were to make a video about what you are doing?

From what I read (and I may have understood it completely wrong), you are trying to get the in-jogged card to be flush with the other packet. However, it is supposed to not be flush, but rather sticking out or "jogged" inward.

It might help you if you over exaggerate the motion when you are first learning it (maybe give it a whole 1/2 inch jog), then once you get that down, start slowly decreasing the jog.
 
Nov 19, 2017
10
1
First off, Welcome!

Next, maybe it would be easier for us to help you if you were to make a video about what you are doing?

From what I read (and I may have understood it completely wrong), you are trying to get the in-jogged card to be flush with the other packet. However, it is supposed to not be flush, but rather sticking out or "jogged" inward.

It might help you if you over exaggerate the motion when you are first learning it (maybe give it a whole 1/2 inch jog), then once you get that down, start slowly decreasing the jog.

Thanks for the welcome!

I see what you mean but I've not explained myself very well sorry. When I say getting the injogged card flush, what I mean is to get it flush at both the left and right side, I find it can hit the palm of my left hand or the pad of my thumb and therefore end up falling back in line with the first packet and so not ending up being jogged.

I think I'm going to try slowing down the movement altogether and analyse the mechanics as to how I'm doing it at the moment and build back up from there :)

Thanks for the pointers!
 
Jul 28, 2017
51
7
I picked up magic because I couldn't shuffle cards at all. I looks absolutely idiotic trying to shuffle and it has been one of the best decisions of my life.

Spent about 2 weeks just practicing overhand shuffles, then in jog shuffles, then lift shuffles. I also found its better to do practice a few minutes and take a break, don't get hung up too long doing a particular thing. Let your brain process it and come back to it later. Make faster progress that way.
 
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Mar 13, 2015
17
8
Muscle memory is key. If you keep doing the same thing over and over again, you'll fail over and over. Try the injog shuffle once, if you fail take a moment to see what you can do differently the next time. If you succeed, reflect on what made it work this time. This constant reflection and action is what helped me with many many sleights.
Also, there are a lot of sleights to accomplish what the injog shuffle does, try a different method. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, even the greatest of deceptionists, don't be discouraged if you can't get it.
 
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Jan 26, 2017
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Thanks for the welcome!

I see what you mean but I've not explained myself very well sorry. When I say getting the injogged card flush, what I mean is to get it flush at both the left and right side, I find it can hit the palm of my left hand or the pad of my thumb and therefore end up falling back in line with the first packet and so not ending up being jogged.

I think I'm going to try slowing down the movement altogether and analyse the mechanics as to how I'm doing it at the moment and build back up from there :)

Thanks for the pointers!
Just keep practicing, I'm sure you'll get it!

It might be that your hand is closed up though. You can try a couple things that might help. First, flatten out the hand that is receiving the cards, so that there is more space for the cards to land on your palm without hitting the heel of your palm. Next, actively move the receiving hand forward for the in jogged card, then move it back for the other cards. Exaggerate the movement, have an entire half of the card sticking out. And take it slow. If you do it fast, not only does it look all janky and unnatural in performance, but it
ll also mess you up while practicing.
 
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