Getting Started - with the Faro Shuffle
If you're one of these new learners who is a bit impatient and doesn't like to read, feel free to skip forward to watch the CLIPS linked below.
It seems to me that almost every tip, trick, grip, hold or knack you'll hear about the faro shuffle is geared towards the same basic outcome - getting the weave started properly. You'll sometimes hear that once you learn it you'll wonder what all the fuss was about, and that's because it works almost automatically... once you learn to get the weave started properly. If you start in the right position, there is no resistance. Anyone can teach you the specific grips, finger positions etc. that they use or prefer, but show me two different people faro'ing perfectly well and you'll see two different techniques, grips, etc. The SECRET to perfecting a faro shuffle isn't holding the deck in a particular way, but finding your way to a position where you can feel what the two halves want to do, are "trying" to do. That's the "feel" or "knack" you've heard people mention. Start your practice right there! In particular, take a close look at, and think about, HOW two jigsaw puzzle pieces fit together - you wouldn't push two round ends into each other and expect the pieces to fit together. Or think about how two sides of a ZIP weave together. The two halves need to be aligned... but off-set to weave without friction. In a faro shuffle, each pair of opposite cards shouldn't be pressing into each other, but instead need to be ALIGNED SLIGHTLY ABOVE AND BELOW EACH OTHER. Thinking of the two halves as a mirror image is not quite right, the mirrored image needs to be mis-aligned slightly - by one step or increment, so that the cards can weave between each other. Regardless of your grips and finger positions, every technique depends on a good starting position where the two squared halves are aligned, in the correct starting position, and will weave automatically, given just the slightest bend and roll of the wrists. Sure, if you’re just beginning to learn,... easier said than done. Your fingers become thumb
s and wayward cards are trying to escape all over the place. But understanding that there is something that you're seeking to feel, that will indicate the right place to start, is important. You'll know when you feel it.
In the following clip, I've outlined one of the KEY concepts to getting the faro shuffle started - specifically, HOW THE TWO HALVES NEED TO SIT AGAINST EACH OTHER.
THE KEY TO GETTING THE WEAVE STARTED PROPERLY - PACKET POSITIONS
The next CLIP below shows the same things from the reverse angle or viewpoint. From this angle it's also easier to see the finger positioning idea that keeps the weave going once it gets started, through to the very last card. Just like boxing the packets at the edges with your fingers, applying pressure from top and bottom keeps the weave tight (one for one - single cards) and prevents two or more cards from one packet breaking the perfect weave. Admittedly, the technique I use to apply pressure from below using my pinky finger, is specific to the way I hold the two halves for a faro shuffle, and so it's unlikely you'll use it in the exact same way - same fingers etc., but perhaps you'll be able to apply the same idea, with whichever grips and positions you already use.
APPLYING PRESSURE FROM BENEATH (AND ABOVE, SIDE, FRONT & BACK)
All the techniques are about keeping control of each half and feeling for that starting position where resistance gives way to an effortless weave.
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