Charge

The charge is a fundamental trick that generates conical rotation by flicking two continuously holding fingers back and forth in opposite directions while also applying tiny but significant bending of the finger joints. In contrast to passes and arounds which have a rotational axis parallel to the fingers, the rotational axis of charges are close to being perpendicular.

When performed palm up, the normal spins clockwise and the reverse counterclockwise.

History

The trick had various names in the past such as 'fake sonic' (by Hideaki Kondoh), 'gyrating twirl' (by Patrick Szeto) and 'pen twirl'. Kam's name of 'charge' eventually became standard.

Variations

Twisted Sonic

A trick that has 1.5 rotations which combines a charge with a pass reverse. It is technically not a sonic despite the name.

Tipped

The tipped charge generates conical rotation only from the flicking on the fingers and therefore its rotational axis is parallel to the fingers. It cannot produce continuous rotations in a single direction as the structure of the bones would allow at most 1.0 rotations. Tipped charges are sometimes used to replace baseline charges in sonics and is especially common when using the thumb.

In-Out

In-Out charges are performed in a thumb slot and involves the change of the side of the finger that is holding onto the pen during execution of a charge. ‘In’ refers to the palm side while ‘Out refers to the back side and the manner by which the pen holding position charges is reflected in the name (a variation that transitions from ‘Out’ to ‘In’ is an ‘Out-In’ charge). It is hypothetically possible to use a pair of fingers without the thumb but it is almost never done due to the extreme flexibility required.

Wiped-out and curled

A charge performed with fingers curled in that can only be performed by holding the pen at its end in the wiped-out position (the COG is on the side the backhand).