The 4 Penspinning Fundamental Tricks

In order to become a skillful penspinner, there are a few basic tricks you will need to learn. Some of these are the so called “fundamentals”, which build the foundation for combos and more advanced tricks. They can be learned in any particular order. Under each description, I have embedded a short video of the given trick in normal speed as well as slow motion. This is the beginning of your penspinning adventure and you do not need any special gear yet. Just take out that pen you used at school/work and start practicing the following tricks!

Thumbaround Tutorial

In this trick, the pen makes a full revolution around the thumb. An easy way to achieve this is by pushing the pen with your middle finger as seen below. Remember to keep your thumb straight, as bending it even slightly can easily change the motion of the pen.

Charge Tutorial

The charge involves spinning the pen in a circular motion between two fingers, ie. in some “finger slot”. At this point I recommend checking out the first part of this article. The easiest charge variation is probably the one below, charge 23, though it can be done between any two fingers.

Sonic Tutorial

To execute this trick, you must transfer the pen from one finger slot to the other, sending it behind the finger between these slots. The pen will have made one full revolution. The motion is a bit tricky at first, so make sure you have understood it before attempting the trick. Below is a video of sonic 34-23 and sonic 23-12.

Fingerpass Tutorial

The fingerpass is a rather intuitive trick where the pen travels through adjacent finger slots in one direction, starting and ending in finger slot 12. It is a mini combo made of “passes”, which describes the pen simply being moved from one slot to another. In the beginning, the lower passes such as 23-34 will probably be more difficult than the upper ones. This is due to lack of finger dexterity. Keep practicing and you will eventually be able to do a smooth fingerpass. On the other hand, don’t obsess on reaching perfection it if it seems too difficult. As long as you can execute it without dropping the pen or lagging too much, you will probably want to move on to other tricks.