Lizzie Fletcher has been hooping since 2012. She has owned 19 hoops since she first started hooping; now Fletcher owns exactly 9 hoops. Her whole collection of hoops has probably cost her about $450 but has made some money by selling hoops to friends. Fletcher’s favorite hoop is her neon yellow hoop because it is always her “go-to” hoop. Her favorite part about hooping is getting lost in the moment and just going with the flow. She also has described kids yelling to their moms, amazed by how good she hoops which makes her laugh. She learns new tricks by seeing lots of “hoop groups” on Facebook where she sees different videos. The trick, escalator, took her awhile to finally master.

“A boyfriend of mine at the time, all of his friends hooped and at first I was really intimidated by it all,” Fletcher said. “Every time they would offer it to me to try it out, I would decline because I thought I would look really silly considering I couldn’t even hoop around my waist. I bought myself a hoop a month later and didn’t put it down until I mastered a few tricks, so I guess I was inspired by the intimidation to try something new.”

Hooping, known as hoop dancing, is expressed as an art and a sport. Basically it is hula hooping combined with dance. Hoopers perform at festivals; some performances range from being very theatrical to simply just standing in one place. Hooping can either be made up as the hooper goes or be practiced in a studio. Some hoopers have started from hooping in their backyard, all the way to owning their own hooping businesses. A lot of businesses usually teach more of an exercise related class with weighted hoops.