How to Spin a Pencil Around Your Middle Finger

Co-authored by Hannah Madden

Last Updated: March 14, 2023 References

Sure, you might already know a few people who can spin a pencil around their thumbs. You might even be able to do it yourself, but here's something that will make you stand out in the thumb spinning crowd: spinning a pencil vertically around your middle finger. Let the "oohs" and "aahs" commence!

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Executing the Spin

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Hold the pencil between your middle and ring finger. Start by holding the top 1/3 of the pencil, leaving the majority of the pencil dangling behind your fingers. Place the tip on your pointer finger, the midsection resting on the tip of your middle finger, and your thumb on top between those 2 fingers.^{[1]
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- Keep your hand relaxed and loose so the pencil can move easily between your fingers.
- The pencil might feel like it's dangling by the tips of your fingers, but that’s okay. It'll feel a little precarious, but that's how the pencil's going to get around and around.
- Professionally, this trick is called the “Middle Around.”
2
Stiffen your ring finger, shooting it in toward your palm. Keeping the pencil dangling, thrust your ring finger in towards your palm to push the pencil around. This is where the initial force comes from for your spin, so don’t hold back!^{[2]
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- Keep your middle finger held stiff so that the pencil can spin around it.
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3
Keep your thumb and pointer finger out of the way. In order for the pencil to move all the way around your middle finger, it needs a clear path. Keep your thumb and pointer finger held straight out and stiff so that they don’t interfere with your spin.^{[3]
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- This can be a little tricky at first. If you’re consistently hitting your thumb or pointer finger, really focus on keeping those out of the way as you do the trick.
- Practice spinning the pencil around your middle finger without catching it a few times. Let it fall on a table in front of you just so you can get the motion down.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Catching the Pencil

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Extend your ring finger out to catch the pencil. As the pencil does its full turn around your middle finger, quickly bring your ring finger out in front of it to stop it. This can be hard to do at first, so don’t worry if it takes you a while to get the hang of it.^{[4]
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- Start thinking about pushing your ring finger outwards from the moment you start the trick. That way, it won’t catch you off-guard.
2
Pinch the pencil in between your middle finger and ring finger. In order to stop the pencil’s motion, clamp down with your extended ring finger and your middle finger. Ideally, this will stop the pencil and catch it in between your 2 fingers, leaving it open for another spin.^{[5]
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- Again, catching the pencil is the hardest part of the spin. Don’t worry if you have to try it a few dozen times before you get the hang of it.
3
Roll the pencil onto your ring finger or end the trick. You can either put the pencil down to stop spinning it, or you can thrust your pinkie finger out to push the pencil up and around your ring finger. You can spin the pencil endlessly this way if you want to, stopping only when you get tired of it or you need to use your pencil.^{[6]
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- Spinning a pencil around your ring finger is one of the hardest spins to do because keeping your ring finger stiff is pretty hard.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Perfecting Your Technique

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Start out slow. As you're learning to do this, start out as if you're doing it in slow motion. Guide the pencil around your middle finger as much as you have to – it'll help you see the basics of it. Then, as you get better and better, start speeding up. It just takes practice and time.^{[7]
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- If you need to, you can guide the pencil around your finger with your thumb until you get enough force to push it around all the way.
2
Experiment with different pens and pencils. Sometimes a certain weight or length of pen or pencil just doesn't mesh with your spinning style. If the one you're working with currently is difficult to do, try a different one. You may be surprised that it had more to do with your tool and less to do with you.^{[8]
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- Pencils are long and spindly and that can make it difficult for spinning. You may want to switch to a pen that's shorter and a little beefier.
3
Try a double spin. Once you have the hang of this, try starting the pencil in between your pinky and ring finger. Using the same steps, spin the pencil around your ring finger and catch it between your middle and ring fingers. You will now be set up to spin it around your middle finger – the double spin will give it a cool effect. You can even spin your pencil from the pinky/ring finger to the middle/pointer finger!^{[9]
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- Learning how to perform this trick backwards (from index/middle slot to the middle/ring slot) is a good idea too, because you can then perform this trick back-and forth continuously. This is then called the "Middle Around Harmonic."
4
Add in different finger spins. The middle finger spin looks awesome, but you can impress your friends even more by moving from finger to finger. Once you catch the pencil at the end of the spin, keep it held tightly in between your middle and ring finger to set up for the next spin. Then, push your pinkie forwards to spin it around your ring finger. Once you catch that spin, you can spin the pencil up and over your middle finger again, then move to your index finger or even your thumb.^{[10]
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- The middle finger spin is great for class time because you catch it at the end, so your pencil won’t go flying. Spinning it around your thumb can be risky in a school setting, since there’s a potential for it to fling off your hands.

Community Q&A
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Question

When you spin a pencil, should it rotate clockwise or counterclockwise?

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When you do your first spin around the middle finger, the pencil will spin clockwise. After that, you can either spin it back around counterclockwise or keep going down your fingers in a clockwise motion.

Warnings

If you decide to do this with a pen, be sure to keep the cap on. Ink from some pens tends to fling from the pen during the spin.

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If the pencil flies into the air while spinning, it may hit someone around you as well as yourself.

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