Aerial Theories

yyyyyyy

Elite Member
Apr 7, 2012
537
12
I wanted to share a small discovery in the area of aerial flourishes and finishes. It's become a bit of a tradition to end a flourish with something like a Revolution cut, a Charlier or some kind of card twirl followed by a throw. I found through some experimentation in the art of aerials, that you can control the speed of the thrown pack/card while it's still in the air.
That may sound impossible, but it's definitely a plausible concept. Why does this seem impossible? All things should fall at the same rate, as a found out when dropping two playing cards, parallel to the ground, at the same height and at the same time. Obviously, they reached the ground at the same time. I tried to alter the test slightly. When the thrown card is given a slow spin, then it will appear to be falling slightly slower. When the card is given a fast spin, the card will look like it's falling much faster.

Why does this happen? I really don't know, but I have a theory. I think that it's difficult for the human mind to discern how fast the card is moving when the spin is moving at a different rate compared to the fall of the card. I think that the mind focuses on the speed of the card, which can be used to our advantage. Let's say a card is thrown with a quick spin to end a flourish. When the flourisher catches the card, it will appear to the audience as a much more difficult feat even though the flourisher hasn't really done anything different. Let's say the flourish that you're currently doing is slow, not fast. I don't like to add a quick spin to a slow move, it doesn't feel consistent to me. But if you throw the card with a slow spin, the whole thing will appear to be at the same speed, regardless of how fast the card is falling. This concept also applies to packets, so that could also be useful.

Again, these are all just theories and ideas that came across my mind when doing some aerials. If you have any questions, comments or disagreements please feel free to let me know and I hope my concept helps you in some aspect.
-Pav
 
May 6, 2012
75
0
Well with Dan and Dave's Flic, it is possible to control the speed of the rotation and even project a boomerang trajectory. Flic may be incorporated to other flourishes, just like CH's Revolver.
 

yyyyyyy

Elite Member
Apr 7, 2012
537
12
Really? How do you control the speed of the rotation on a Flic? I've always found it to have the same spin. The boomerang trajectory is understandable though, I'll have to try that. On the Flicker Flic technique, it's extremely easy to control rotation speed but that's nothing like the original Flic
 
May 6, 2012
75
0
It is a knacky thing, it depends on the pressure applied with your thumb, the speed with which the card is flicked and also the position of the card on the fingers. If your hand is closer to the centre of the card I usually get a slow rotation compared to a grip that holds the card far from the center.
 
Mar 4, 2012
11
0
you could record the time it takes when you just drop a brand new card with no bend with no spin, then one with a slow spin, after that one with a fast spin.you could even try and give it a bend like a helicopter blade so that the air pushes up/down. If you record a video of this you could put all of the footage together and show it to a third party and see what they have to say when it comes to which fell faster, but i don't think a side by side would help.

good luck.
 
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