How to spin a top and learn tricks

Start with a ball bearing tip - it keeps spinning while you learn, so you get more attempts per throw.

Your first four steps

• Set up the string on the top
• Wind it tight and even, no gaps
• Throw the Spinner - the top leaves your hand upright and lands on its tip
• Land the Scoop - pick it up off the ground and onto your hand

Find a flat, hard surface. No grass. Focus on control and timing, not power.

The string does the work. You wind it around the top, hold the finger ring, throw down and pull back as the string runs out. That pull is what sets the top spinning.

Three things that decide the throw

• A tight, even wind with no gaps
• Tip pointing up as it leaves your hand
• Pulling back just before the string fully unwinds

Ball bearing. It keeps the top spinning while you learn to land, so a missed attempt does not cost you the whole throw.

The difference

• Ball bearing - the tip spins free of the body. Longer spin and easier to learn on. Some advanced tricks work on it, but it cannot be accelerated mid-play, so once it slows the throw is over.
• Fixed tip - the tip turns with the body. Total control, the tricks where the top rides on the string, and it can be accelerated mid-play. That is why pro players prefer it.

You will want both eventually, because the advanced tier mixes them. The Starter Spin Top Set has one of each.

Yes, with your fingers - hold it between finger and thumb, snap, and drop it on a flat surface. It spins for far less time than a string throw, so you cannot do much with it.

Pro players spin by hand, then accelerate the top with the string and go into tricks. That only works with a fixed spin top.

Speed comes from the wind, the throw and the pull.

What actually helps

• Wind the string very tight and even
• Set the string slightly longer
• Hold the top firmly, tip up
• Pull back just before the string fully unwinds
• Land it flat, not at an angle

The stronger you pull, the longer the spin time.

36 on this page, in learning order, and 150+ video tutorials in the SkillAddicts app. New tricks appear all the time, because players keep combining elements in new ways.

Spin top tricks fall into a few families: throws, string tricks, regenerations, and fixed tip tricks like Wire Walker and Cable Car.

Yes. Trompo is the Spanish word used in Latin America, peonza is the word in Spain, spin top or spinning top is the English. Same object, same tricks.

A trompo de rodamiento is a ball bearing spin top. A trompo de punta fija is a fixed spin top.

It builds hand-eye coordination, timing and patience, and it is one of the cheapest ways to practise a real skill. No court, no net, no screen.

What it trains

• Hand-eye coordination
• Timing and rhythm
• Focus and patience
• Fine motor control