Hole Position

[NathanC]

First thread, just got into kendama and had a quick question about hole positioning. I've seen some videos saying to keep the hole always facing towards you so you know where it is and then before spiking just give it a gentle turn with the toss(Colin Sander, Sweets), and other videos saying to always keep the hole facing straight down so it's always where it needs to be when it's time to spike it(Sam Miller). Is there a consensus, or a correct way? Does it matter? Just want to make sure i don't pick up any bad habits in the beginning that will be hard to overcome later on. Thanks in advance for any advice!

[The Void]

Hi Nathan, and welcome.
Right, I assume you're talking about ball-grip tricks. For a simple Aeroplane, I would have the hole upwards (facing you). However, for other tricks where the ken will be turning in the air, this gives the risk of the spike hitting the string in mid-air as it turns, thus mucking up your trick. The Japanese method is to start with the hole upwards, but to roll the ken off your fingers (by a quarter-turn) as you release it, leaving the string at the side of the ken. You are then free to give a tug on the ball to initiate the ken's rotation without fear of a string clash.
However, if you are going for 2-Turn or over tricks, you can still experience a string clash (sometimes on the base cup), so the Japanese avoid this by holding the ball out slightly to the side of the ken.
Hope that helps!

[NathanC]

Thanks so much! I was actually wondering more about tricks like Around the World/Japan/USA where you juggle the ball between cups before spiking it. I'm curious what position the hole should be in during the juggling and before the final toss to spike? Hopefully that makes sense! Thanks again though as you answered another question i had about string tangles during tricks!

[MattDeCoteau]

Nathan for tricks such as those just practice turning the ball in all different directions as you go cup to cup. In no time you'll have mad control over your hole placement. As far as a proper hole placement before spike, like I said, just work with juggling between cups and seeing what works and what doesn't.

[The Void]

Okay, I just realised you were talking about the Ball Hole position, and not the String Hole (on the ken) position. Reading your post again, it was really quite obvious what you were asking, and I don't know how on earth I manage to misunderstand you!

So anyway, for ball-grip tricks, what I wrote is true, and for ken-grip tricks, what Matt wrote is true too. In terms of the comment about having the Ball Hole straight down (when it's in a cup), I don't agree with that at all. You always want the hole where you can see it (so towards you, at least slightly). If it was straight down, then firstly, it's quite awkward to throw the ball straight up with no spin at all, and secondly, if you do throw it up only slightly off-straight, it's going to be harder to see to correct the catch.

[TheKendamaSensation]

I think I'm with Void on this one. I need to have the hole facing me. If it's directly on it, I can't jump it to Spike worth a flip. Neither way would really be a bad habit. Find out which one you become comfortable with.

[Thorny]

I must say, Sam's technique of 'have the ball hole constantly facing the floor because that's how it sits on the spike' sounds like a bit of a broken theory concocted by someone who doesn't play a lot of kendama, if any, to me haha.

I would recommend always trying to keep the ball facing towards you slightly, so you can see where things are. If I'm playing kendama and I think "I'm gonna go from bottom cup to big cup... then spike it", on the penultimate throw I will try and spin the ball so that it lands in position (hole facing me slightly) on the last catch, making the jump/catch to the spike easier. Another thing I used to do when I was learning was 'if I'm about to spike, but it looks difficult due to the ball's hole position, I'll just continue juggling a little bit' and after a few more cup catches chances are the ball would've span around a little more and I'd be able to then continue and set myself up for the last catch before the 'to spike' part.

I hope this was understandable and not just a load of nonsense! haha