The second thing you should do with your poi: Hit yourself, a lot

Build comfort with poi contact so fear and flinching don’t slow your progress. Nick Woolsey frames this as a normal reflex response, then trains a calmer relationship to the prop by choosing very soft poi and spinning gently while allowing light taps on different parts of the body.

Use each contact as feedback rather than a mistake to avoid. Stay relaxed, notice what changed in your timing or pathway, and adjust instead of reacting. This mindset supports smoother technique development and makes it easier to explore new patterns, including controlled-contact elements and directions like backwards crosses and weaves.