Simple as it sounds, I am trying to perfect the pressure fan and I can't find a good resource for it. I have checked Giobbi's Card College (all volumes) and unless I've missed it, he covers a thumb fan and other variations but not the pressure fan. I am working with the LePaul Fan control which is my motivation to learn a great pressure fan. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated,
Alan

The Encyclopedia of Playing Card Flourishes and the Fanning Workshop in XB DVD.

J

Brad Burts Card Flourishes teaches it a great detail.

You don't really need a pressure fan. As long as you apply pressure to your fan with your thumb as the card is inserted you will have no problems. Trust me. Even though I can perform a perfect pressure fan it is not easy to close one-handed so the control is lost. In other words you get better control with a regular fan.

Hi Brokin6,
Thanks for the advice. I will continue to work on the control with the thumb fan, which so far has been going pretty well. Why do you think it is tough to do the one-handed close with the pressure fan? Is it because you end up with a larger spread of cards? Again, thanks for your input,
Alan

But the pressure fan comes in handy when dealing with more worn cards. Thumb fans look great, but may not always look evenly distributed if the cards are too worn. The pressure fan gives you a little more change on getting a decent looking fan with older or more used cards.
They are both good to know/use.

You NEED to know the pressure fan! It is the best there is! (IMO). You need it for dirty or worn cards, and trust me, it is not harder to do a one handed close with. If anything the thumb is a tad bit harder as the cards are in a tighter circle. But still, you should definatley learn the pressure fan. XB will tell you absolutley everything you will ever need to know about fanning, as well as some other great moves, you should definatley get it.

Hey alan, I am always glad to help and just to clarify I was refering to a regular fan not a thumb fan. I was saying that after performing a regular fan using the right index finger, not the thumb, all you have to do is apply pressure with the left thumb as the card is returned and you will have no problem controlling the card. I wasn't implying that you shouldn't learn the pressure fan but was offering another option if you don't get the pressure fan just right. Daryl showed his pressure fan when he lectured for my magic club recntly and the only real advise he had besides the machanics was a lot of practise. It has taken me quite a bit of time to learn the pressure fan but I rarely ever use it. Good luck and if you need any pointers on the exact mechanics P.M. me.

Practice makes perfect, but sometimes practice can mean failing. Does that sound right?

Whatever I do I get this awkwardly shaped fan when I try and do a pressure fan. When I see people do it, it flows very easy for them yet I can't do it. Perhaps I am not holding the pack in the right spot and am not putting pressure on the right spot when spreading them out. I also cannot do a LePaul spread. Both of those I find very challenging. I can do split fans, one handed fans, one handed shuffles up the wazoo but I can't do a lepaul spread or pressure fan. Anybody know any good dvds that teach these?

More trial and error and practise for pressure fan. Different hands different grips(slightly).

Joey, also keep in mind that the two pressure point for the LePaul spread are the muscle directly under the thumb, between the lower joint of the thumb and the wrist, on the left side of the deck and the extreme tips of the fingers on the right. It is a very nacky move but with practice you can nail it every time. a couple other points are that your cards will be bowed off center when doing the LePaul spread and you can vary (sp?) finger pressure ie. using the index finger makes the cards turn on an axis as in a fan. Have fun and good luck.