iTopSpin
Current Posts => Latest Spin => Topic started by: Ritter on November 01, 2014, 05:33:00 PM
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So I've started throwing tops again now that I finally have some free time during the week. My problem however is my entire house is either tile or hardwood. Since I work nights I throw late at night on my days off. My girlfriend is in bed early so I need to know if anybody has a good suggestion for something I can put on the floor that would be safe for my tops, my floor, and is quiet on the ears. First thought was a rug but it would have to be thick. Rubber mats? It ideally needs to be portable. Hoping somebody else has the same issue and found a good solution. Any ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks.
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Hey Ritter, Welcome.
I have jigsaw rubber mats. They come in 6 per pack. I use 12. 8 on the floor in two rows of 4 and depending on the trick I'm practicing, I use the other 4 in vertical position on the sides to close of one side and avoid the top rolling all over the living room.
You can get them in walmart, amazon or toys r us if you want colored ones. Should be $20-25 for 6.
Before that I got some outdoor carpet from home depot that had a rubber matting underneath. the one used for boat trailerbunks. They usually have leftover pieces pretty cheap. I like the mats better.
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Mats work great if the top hits point down, but when it lands sideways it shoots off pretty fast and with potential to make a noise louder than the floor depending on what it hits. I use carpet tile in my basement. On a hardwood floor carpet tile might not deaden the sound enough, but I would be reluctant to use anything thicker because it would kill the spin so quickly.
Recently I had a show scheduled over concrete so I went out and bought a 6x9 carpet at a local building surplus store. The carpet is thin but it has a thick rubbery backing, works great.
I think carpet over mats would be the best for sound and play, that or mats and stuffed animals to control the perimeter...
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well i sleep on a wool blanket folded double over (on account of my back, i cant handle a soft mattress) and i always practice on top of that when im playing with my stb2.0, it great because no noise when it falls and no damage to my precious ;D , thats portable as portable can be i supposes and no rocketing off to boot ;D
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Matt needs a mat
Or may-be a carpet ?
To play his top
I read that on the net
jim
mike ?? your turn !! ;D :D
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Ha ha! I was sitting on the terrace
Thinking of my friend Jim, from Paris
We seem to love good rhymes
Or even bad ones sometimes
The Hall of Fame had a mat from wall to wall
I thought it would be good in the winter and fall
But when I dropped my spinning top
Into the hard wall it would hop
The cushion was great but the crash was not
It would mar up brand new tops that I bought
So I added indoor outdoor carpet that was cheap
And from that the top would seldom leap
That is what I have done here in southwest Ohio
Come visit again Matt and this mat thing I will show
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I say get some scrap carpet...sorry, no rhyme at this time. :) I think they call them remnants?
I play over carpet. cheap/fake Pergo and tile. The carpet is most preferred by far.
There are these squares of carpet called Flor that are kinda fashionable, but too expensive I think. Lots of cool colors and patterns available tho. 8)
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Not quite perfect, but at my house, we have tile downstairs. Over the tile we have an area carpet. It's rather short. Since I'm pretty much only using bearing tips right now, it works fine. I also get a nice, big 10X12 area to throw within. I'm also mostly working on the basic throw and scoop. I'm new.
I'm looking for a decent solution for when I am out and about, mostly at parks in grassy areas, as using a frisbee is great and all, but I'd like something more substantial. I figure if I can find the right materials, I can make an 18"X18" square or circle and cover that with some carpet remnants and then glue it down using carpet glue. It's certainly not a perfect solution but it would lay rather flat on grass and with enough weight to stay fairly level but not weigh enough to crush the grass.
My suggestion for you would be similar to what I have going on at home: You can get small, low-shag, low pile area carpets if you want something nice, neat and pre-made. If everyone likes it, maybe you can just have it stay put. Otherwise, smaller is better since you want portable. Heck, a bath mat(the towel-type) can be fairly useful.
My regular carpet is too deep. Everything spins out far too quickly.
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My regular carpet is too deep. Everything spins out far too quickly.
Soon you will find out that you will be spinning tops on the ground very little. They will generally touch the ground only when you drop them. ;)
I don't think that the 3-time world champion will be doing spinners often. Still, the bounciness of the floor may be important:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjobgedJ8ks
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I'd almost forgotten that when I cared about my floor (it's past saving now), I found that one of these worked pretty well. It may not meet your sound requirements however.
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My regular carpet is too deep. Everything spins out far too quickly.
Soon you will find out that you will be spinning tops on the ground very little. They will generally touch the ground only when you drop them. ;)
I am very much looking forward to that day!
Right now I'm working on boomerang outside. Over grassy areas. I had a few "lookout! Incoming!) incidences last night. Nobody got hurt, thank goodness. But, at the same time, I did many good boomerangs. Nothing is quite as satisfying as seeing that top coming back at you, tip pointed directly down, landing it in your hand and then not needing to do much to correct it.
So, I look forward to when I'm barely throwing spinners. It will be a while. I see spinners being part of my warm-up for now. Gotta get that boomerang down a lot better. With about 2 hours a day of practice this week, I should have it really good by the end of today I think!
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The scariest thing for me was practicing in wet grass or having sweat on my hands/arms. If the string gets wet sometimes it snags and the top comes flying back at you when you least expect it.
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If the string gets wet sometimes it snags and the top comes flying back at you when you least expect it.
mmmm true dat :'(
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My regular carpet is too deep. Everything spins out far too quickly.
Soon you will find out that you will be spinning tops on the ground very little. They will generally touch the ground only when you drop them. ;)
I am very much looking forward to that day!
Right now I'm working on boomerang outside. Over grassy areas. I had a few "lookout! Incoming!) incidences last night. Nobody got hurt, thank goodness. But, at the same time, I did many good boomerangs. Nothing is quite as satisfying as seeing that top coming back at you, tip pointed directly down, landing it in your hand and then not needing to do much to correct it.
So, I look forward to when I'm barely throwing spinners. It will be a while. I see spinners being part of my warm-up for now. Gotta get that boomerang down a lot better. With about 2 hours a day of practice this week, I should have it really good by the end of today I think!
I envy your success with the boomerang! I am still stuck throwing spinners and doing skyrockets. :-[ Some day!
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Yes, mailman. Some day..............sooner than you might think!
We are with you.
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My regular carpet is too deep. Everything spins out far too quickly.
Soon you will find out that you will be spinning tops on the ground very little. They will generally touch the ground only when you drop them. ;)
I am very much looking forward to that day!
Right now I'm working on boomerang outside. Over grassy areas. I had a few "lookout! Incoming!) incidences last night. Nobody got hurt, thank goodness. But, at the same time, I did many good boomerangs. Nothing is quite as satisfying as seeing that top coming back at you, tip pointed directly down, landing it in your hand and then not needing to do much to correct it.
So, I look forward to when I'm barely throwing spinners. It will be a while. I see spinners being part of my warm-up for now. Gotta get that boomerang down a lot better. With about 2 hours a day of practice this week, I should have it really good by the end of today I think!
I envy your success with the boomerang! I am still stuck throwing spinners and doing skyrockets. :-[ Some day!
Find a nice, flat grassy area free of distractions and people, pets and other living things, and go for it. I throw it straight across my body, then jerk my throw hand upwards and back towards my throw side and it usually comes back. Be prepared to get the heck out of the way, or perhaps if you're a right handed baseball player, have your glove handy for bad catches!
Trust me, If I can do it, based on where you are, you can do it.