This post has been updated for 2022.
Hoop dance is exploding in popularity because it enriches lives so much with just a simple circle. If you’ve ever browsed the glittery offerings of a professional hula hoop shop, you know that hoops come in a lot of shapes, colors, weights, sizes. It can get really confusing, really fast.
So, this article is a must read if you are interested in starting hula hooping.
What size hoop a beginner should use depends on several factors:
First of all, what kind of beginner do you want to be? Do you want to hoop around your waist only, or do you want to learn tricks? Do you want to learn tricks only on your body such as hooping around your shoulders, waist, and legs, or do you want to learn off-body tricks only using your hands?
Do you want to learn all of the above? What size hula hoop you should get depends on this question.
To hoop mainly on body, doing simple things like waist or shoulder hooping, you will need to start with a traditional beginner hoop, which weighs about a pound or so, and comes in a moderately thick tubing. It has grip tape for a little extra help keeping the hoop going and it’s big enough and heavy enough to learn on.
The most important attribute to a beginner hoop is its diameter, which needs to be big enough to feel comfortable hooping on your body. Therefore, the size of your body matters to help you determine what size beginner hoop to get, and there’s a chart you can look at here to help you figure that out.
To learn how to hoop off body, doing tricks with your hands, your hoop should be less big and heavy. I would recommend starting off with a 36″ 3/4″ hdpe hula hoop, which is a nice moderate size for beginners to learn tricks. The size is not dependent on your body size, so this is a versatile size that works for everyone.
Most people want to do both on and off- body styles of hooping, so I generally recommend starting with a few sizes of hoops. That’s why I offer my Go Getter Hula Hoop Starter Pack at a 50% discount when you sign up for my Six Week Beginner Hula Hoop Challenge.
I wrote this article to give you the simplest, most straightforward answer to what size hula hoop a beginner should use.
If you’re still not sure what kind of hula hooper you want to be, you can take my quiz to help you gain some clarity!
Take My Quiz: What Style of Hula Hooper Are You?
So glad you landed on my hoop blog today. Feel free to stay awhile and drop me a comment to introduce yourself 🙂