The Thurston grip involved pinching the short side of the card between your index and middle finger, so the bulk of the card faces in toward your palm. All the other fingers should be up and out of the way. The Hermann grip, named after another magician, involves pinching the card between your thumb and your middle finger in the center of the card about a third of the way down, letting the index finger wrap all the way to the opposite edge at the corner to help control the spin. The bulk of the card should be facing your palm.
To learn the appropriate motion and practice, just curve your wrist up without putting your whole arm into it and try tossing the card with enough spin. When you’ve gotten used to it practicing the toss, bring the card up beside your head to put more power into your tosses.
When you practice this motion, pay particular attention to how you’re unrolling your wrist into a smooth line with the rest of your arm as you toss the card. Like many things, it’s all in the wrist, but the power comes from your elbow.
To learn the Ricky Jay grip, place your index finger on one corner of the card and place your thumb on top. Fold your three other fingers along the bottom of the long edge of the card. This grip is a bit like a hybrid of the other two styles. Your thumb on top should be on the other side of the card as your middle finger, pinching the card, much like the Hermann grip.
Ricky Jay actually lifts his throwing hand up over his head, almost as if he’s going to do an overhand throw, but the mechanics are more like a frisbee toss than an overhand throw, or some combination of the two. It looks as if the card is going to touch the ear on the opposite side of his head. [4] X Research source
After practicing and being able to throw cards without missing, you could try moving your arms for extra speed.
In general, you can practice just using your wrist to toss the cards accurately, much as in the overhand throw. The mechanics are much the same, just oriented in a different direction. It’s still all in the wrist, but the power comes from your elbow.
Practice extending your wrist and your fingers in one fluid motion, as quickly as possible. At the apex of your toss, speed up your motion just slightly, really putting some flick into your wrist. This’ll be the difference between a lame duck and a cutting card.
Don’t throw cards at anyone’s face or body. Even if you’re not throwing with much power yet, a card in the eye can be extremely dangerous. Be very careful and only practice by throwing cards at appropriate targets.
Watch Ricky Jay throw cards on YouTube to watch closely the kind of motion he uses and the snap he gets into his cards. Go see a magician or card expert in action to learn more and pick up all the tricks of the trade you can.
It’s a good idea to stretch out your wrists after you throw cards, and to loosen them up before. To do this, get down on your knees and put your palms flat on the ground, curling your wrists around so your fingers are pointing back at yourself. Stretch out your wrists by bringing your butt toward the ground and keeping your palms flat. [5] X Research source
