How to build Practice Poi

This is a quick easy guide to making the simplest and softest of practice poi -- sock poi. These are ideal for the raw beginner -- they're cheap and easy to make, they're forgiving when you tangle them, and best of all, they're soft when whack yourself. Ready?

As my lovely assistant Sadie shows, here's all the stuff you'll need:

- Knee Socks
- Tennis Balls (or any kind of easy weight)
- Something to wrap the tennis balls/weight in the bottom to make them softer

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Step 1: Make it soft!

This step is pretty straightforward -- you have tennis balls or whatever you want to use and you want to soften it. This is the part at the whacking end of the poi, so a little work ow can save you a lot of time later.

Here's what you want to do:

- Make them heavy enough to be comfortable (a personal choice, but a tennis ball is a good beginner weight)
- Make them smooth -- you want the covering to be soft, and ideally not lumpy. The more balanced they are the better they'll look and the easier they'll be to spin.

For this set, Sadie flips the socks inside out, where, like a dangerous snake, they eat the tennis ball alive.