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Polypro Hoop Myths: Busted!
Behind The Size Myths
To set about busting these polypro size-myths, it’s helpful to explore what may be behind them. What’s that, you ask? More assumptions, of
course. Chief among these is the general, but misguided, belief that hoop size corresponds to hoop skill and ability, and that a dedicated
hooper should expect to incrementally “graduate” to smaller, lighter, fancier hoops as they “improve” over time.
Even if you already know that this is simply NOT true, you may still believe it somewhere in the back of your head, or worse, even feel
pressure to work with smaller hoops whether you want to or not. So the first step in changing our mindsets about this is to correct our
understanding of hoop sizes and materials.
Why Hoop Makers Experiment with Tubing
To this end, it will help to think of each kind and size of hoop as a different tool. Just as your first HDPE hoop helped you take on the
challenge of hooping, to grow and develop muscle, and a sense of your body in space, a Polypro hoop may ease your learning of breaks and
direction changes while fine-tuning your body’s more intuitive, softer movements. The DIFFERENCE here is a matter of responsiveness. Each
type of tubing produces a hoop that, in turn, lends itself to different subtleties in the dance of a hooper. It is the search for these nuances in
our dance (and not the search for something “better”) that drives our communal experiments in hoop-making materials.
So now that we’re agreed that there is no “best” hoop, and that the very idea of such a thing crosses the border to ludicrous, let’s get back to
the matter at hand. The defining characteristics of Polypro are not its weight and speed but, again, its responsiveness. When you pick one
up, what surprises and excites you is that it literally “responds” to the slightest of your movements. It’s like a whisper that asks you to listen to
your movements in a way that you didn’t have to before.
And this call-and-response quality is in the material itself; it is not determined by the size of the hoop. Nope, not at all. If you prefer a larger
hoop, does that mean you have to opt out of what Polypro might have to teach you? Unh-unh. POLYPRO FOR ALL, I say.
Constructing a “Bigger” Polypro Hoop
Now, some of the prevalent “small polypro” mandate may come from challenges in the hoop construction itself. No myths here, just physics
and part of the hoop-making learning curve. Whether or not your tubing will cooperate with you in becoming the size hoop you’d like depends
upon how it was produced in the first place. HDPE (the most standard hoop tubing) is machine-manufactured into 26” coils. It’s willing to work
with you up to about double its original production size. Polypro tubing, however, is manufactured on significantly smaller 10” coils. It doesn’t
want to be a 40” hoop (It will “eyeball,” or make a heart-shaped hoop). It’s not being mean - it was just “born” that way! Whether you
purchase a 100ft roll or just a section of a tubing, it comes from a very tight coil.
If you’re going to change the tubing’s “mind” about becoming a larger hoop, it’s going to require some extremely careful elbow grease and a
good deal of patience. (We’ve even been known to sweet talk it a bit. Chocolates and flowers tend to help. Hey, you never know!) It’s time-
intensive and it’s not easy. But after months of practice, trial and hair-pulling error, I can assure you that it is absolutely possible to make a
larger-than-36” polypro hoop that looks and performs exactly the way you want it to.
To set about busting these polypro size-myths, it’s helpful to explore what may be behind them. What’s that, you ask? More assumptions, of
course. Chief among these is the general, but misguided, belief that hoop size corresponds to hoop skill and ability, and that a dedicated
hooper should expect to incrementally “graduate” to smaller, lighter, fancier hoops as they “improve” over time.
Even if you already know that this is simply NOT true, you may still believe it somewhere in the back of your head, or worse, even feel
pressure to work with smaller hoops whether you want to or not. So the first step in changing our mindsets about this is to correct our
understanding of hoop sizes and materials.
Why Hoop Makers Experiment with Tubing
To this end, it will help to think of each kind and size of hoop as a different tool. Just as your first HDPE hoop helped you take on the
challenge of hooping, to grow and develop muscle, and a sense of your body in space, a Polypro hoop may ease your learning of breaks and
direction changes while fine-tuning your body’s more intuitive, softer movements. The DIFFERENCE here is a matter of responsiveness. Each
type of tubing produces a hoop that, in turn, lends itself to different subtleties in the dance of a hooper. It is the search for these nuances in
our dance (and not the search for something “better”) that drives our communal experiments in hoop-making materials.
So now that we’re agreed that there is no “best” hoop, and that the very idea of such a thing crosses the border to ludicrous, let’s get back to
the matter at hand. The defining characteristics of Polypro are not its weight and speed but, again, its responsiveness. When you pick one
up, what surprises and excites you is that it literally “responds” to the slightest of your movements. It’s like a whisper that asks you to listen to
your movements in a way that you didn’t have to before.
And this call-and-response quality is in the material itself; it is not determined by the size of the hoop. Nope, not at all. If you prefer a larger
hoop, does that mean you have to opt out of what Polypro might have to teach you? Unh-unh. POLYPRO FOR ALL, I say.
Constructing a “Bigger” Polypro Hoop
Now, some of the prevalent “small polypro” mandate may come from challenges in the hoop construction itself. No myths here, just physics
and part of the hoop-making learning curve. Whether or not your tubing will cooperate with you in becoming the size hoop you’d like depends
upon how it was produced in the first place. HDPE (the most standard hoop tubing) is machine-manufactured into 26” coils. It’s willing to work
with you up to about double its original production size. Polypro tubing, however, is manufactured on significantly smaller 10” coils. It doesn’t
want to be a 40” hoop (It will “eyeball,” or make a heart-shaped hoop). It’s not being mean - it was just “born” that way! Whether you
purchase a 100ft roll or just a section of a tubing, it comes from a very tight coil.
If you’re going to change the tubing’s “mind” about becoming a larger hoop, it’s going to require some extremely careful elbow grease and a
good deal of patience. (We’ve even been known to sweet talk it a bit. Chocolates and flowers tend to help. Hey, you never know!) It’s time-
intensive and it’s not easy. But after months of practice, trial and hair-pulling error, I can assure you that it is absolutely possible to make a
larger-than-36” polypro hoop that looks and performs exactly the way you want it to.
To preserve our own sanity and get you your hoops faster, Superhooper.org has its tubing manufactured in
larger, cooperative coils. We offer clear and colored polypro hoops in sizes up to 42” at no extra charge.
Clear Polypro Hoops Colored Polypro Hoops
Several size-based myths surround the newest, coolest, and most misunderstood hoop-making
material, known as polypro (polypropylene or ppe). Do these sound familiar?
Polypro hoops are fast, so they have to be small. You need to be at least an intermediate
hooper to handle them. They’re too light to be made in larger diameters. Polypro is only for pros.
Well, after lots of experimentation, I’m happy to tell you that it’s all bunk. Hogwash. Pshaw.
*We are grateful to the friends and customers who asked us to get to the bottom of polypro hoop sizing. Thank you!
material, known as polypro (polypropylene or ppe). Do these sound familiar?
Polypro hoops are fast, so they have to be small. You need to be at least an intermediate
hooper to handle them. They’re too light to be made in larger diameters. Polypro is only for pros.
Well, after lots of experimentation, I’m happy to tell you that it’s all bunk. Hogwash. Pshaw.
*We are grateful to the friends and customers who asked us to get to the bottom of polypro hoop sizing. Thank you!
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