The Thigh Pop is an eye catching and powerful move to end a sitdown combo or even develop into a transition. It’s also one of the most fun sitdown tricks there is.
It’s important to learn how to do a hamstring catch first. This is fundamental trick and you can check out my tutorial HERE. Once you’ve learned that we can move onto the Thigh Pop.
Step One: Firstly, we need to practice getting the ball into that sitting hamstring catch position. The simplest way is to roll the ball into yourself, lifting your leg out of the way then locking the ball into position. Keep your inactive leg straight.
Step Two: Practice turning into yourself, cross your foot over your knee and lift one arm off the ground. This creates the room for you to extend your leg and pop the ball out.
Step Three: Combine the first two steps. Practice the grab and turn as one motion, preparing the momentum for the release. The sooner you become comfortable with this, the easy the Thigh Pop will become.
Step Four: Now it’s time to practice the pop. Extend your leg out slowly and kick out into the air, this will force the ball up. Practice releasing the ball gently like this so you can understand why the move works the way it does.
Now you can attempt the trick with full power. Once you’ve released the ball remember to turn back the way you came so you can return to sitdown juggling.
Top tip: To gain more power and height almost jump up before you release the ball. This will give you added power and make the trick look even more impressive.
Top tip: Keep your eye on the ball at all times. It’s important you don’t tuck your head away to get more of a rotation, you want to keep the blind spot to a minimum.