Buy a Rider-Waite Tarot Deck.
No kidding. Think of it like using weights to excercise. You push to failure, and then dial it down and watch the massive gains.
Here's what I did:
1. Picked up my regular poker sized deck and cycled through all the cardistry moves I regularly use. (8 mins total)
2. Switched to the Rider-Waite. Broke it in w/ shuffles and springs. Focused on doing three moves w/ correct form: Lengthwise triangle, widthwise triangle, B4 cut. (20 mins breaking it in, 30 minutes on moves. Did this while watching the latest Dexter. 50 mins total.)
3. ????
4. Returned to my regular deck, cycled through all my moves again. Much faster, AND improved accuracy on the moves. (4 mins total)
Total time=62 mins
It's my first try doing this, so how permanent the gains are remains to be seen. I can only infer that it's just like learning a new move--massive results quickly, then improvements become more subtle and take more effort. I'm also interested in seeing how much I'll be able to expand my repertoire on the Rider-Waite. A lot of moves seem impossible now (my fingers ain't that long) but I felt the same way the first time I picked up a regular pack.
Try it, and if you do, I'd love it if you get back to me with results. Try measuring time and accuracy, or maybe even filming the before and after for comparison. It's worth the effort, because my regular deck felt like butter in my hands afterwards--butter that I could shape and bend to my will.
Also, there's a wide variety of larger decks out there, but the Rider-Waite was the one that seemed like the closest in size and proportions to a poker sized deck. If you know of any other decks that might be suitable for the job (i.e. larger than poker, but not so big that you can't hold it in dealer's grip) please do share!
kik,
--b
No kidding. Think of it like using weights to excercise. You push to failure, and then dial it down and watch the massive gains.
Here's what I did:
1. Picked up my regular poker sized deck and cycled through all the cardistry moves I regularly use. (8 mins total)
2. Switched to the Rider-Waite. Broke it in w/ shuffles and springs. Focused on doing three moves w/ correct form: Lengthwise triangle, widthwise triangle, B4 cut. (20 mins breaking it in, 30 minutes on moves. Did this while watching the latest Dexter. 50 mins total.)
3. ????
4. Returned to my regular deck, cycled through all my moves again. Much faster, AND improved accuracy on the moves. (4 mins total)
Total time=62 mins
It's my first try doing this, so how permanent the gains are remains to be seen. I can only infer that it's just like learning a new move--massive results quickly, then improvements become more subtle and take more effort. I'm also interested in seeing how much I'll be able to expand my repertoire on the Rider-Waite. A lot of moves seem impossible now (my fingers ain't that long) but I felt the same way the first time I picked up a regular pack.
Try it, and if you do, I'd love it if you get back to me with results. Try measuring time and accuracy, or maybe even filming the before and after for comparison. It's worth the effort, because my regular deck felt like butter in my hands afterwards--butter that I could shape and bend to my will.
Also, there's a wide variety of larger decks out there, but the Rider-Waite was the one that seemed like the closest in size and proportions to a poker sized deck. If you know of any other decks that might be suitable for the job (i.e. larger than poker, but not so big that you can't hold it in dealer's grip) please do share!
kik,
--b