If you’ve ever thought about start hooping you must have been a bit confused. There are so many hoops, with diffrenet types of material, thickness and length. Each hoop suits hoopers from different levels.
In this post we’ll try to simplify it in order to help you picking your perfect hoop!
| Beginners | Intermediate | Advanced | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material | PVC, PEX | HDPE | Polypro |
| Thickness | 3/4″ | 3/4″,11/16″ | 5/8″ |
| Outer Diameter | 35″-42″ | 31″-34″ | 26″-30″ |
Hoop Material
If this this is your first hoop we recommend PVC, PEX and basically any semi rigid pipe. These are heavy pipes so the hoop’s movement is slowing down making it easier to control.
More experienced hoopers could use HDPE or Polypro pipe which will allow them a faster motion with a lighter hoop. Some tricks including Shoulder Breaks, Wedgie and Isolation are better to be done with these hoops. Heavier pipes could be painful performing these tricks therefore advanced hoopers mostly use the Polypro pipe.
Hoop Thickness
As mentioned above, Beginners should always start with the heavier hoops. Therefore, 3/4″ is the best to start with. When you feel your’e ready for your first Polypro hoop don’t rush it to the 5/8″, this will be a few levels above your skills. We recommand sizing down your hoop slowly and only after you’ll master your 3/4″ Polypro you can try the 11/16″ or 5/8″.
5/8” hoops are great for off-body advanced moves. If your’e not really expert on-body moves will be almost impossible.
★ 11/16” hoops are not as wide spread. They look a lot like 3/4” hoops and weigh the same except they are slightly thinner. Suitable for hoopers that find the 3/4” too clumsy and the 5/8″ too fast to control.
Outer Diameter
How to pick out the diameter of your hoop?
OD which stands for outer diameter, which would be the measurement from the outside walls of the hoop. The standard size for a beginner hoop is 38 inches, but this varies from person to person anywhere between 35”-42”(88cm-107cm) is great for beginners. The size of the hoop depends on your measurements so if you’re tall or plus-sized you should use bigger hoops. All measurements used here on hoop.tips are aimed at the averaged-sized hooper.
When you become more intermediate you could order smaller hoops 31”-34”(78cm-87cm) since you’ll have more control in the correct movement.
Advanced hoopers might consider practicing really tiny hoops – 26”-30” 66cm-77cm – in order to create an impressive fast dance flow.