The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Hula Hoop
What Size Hula Hoop Do I need? What is the best hoop size for me? How do I choose the right Hula Hoop?
These are far and away our most frequently asked hoop questions.
It's really helpful if you can try a hoop out in person. A local hoop jam or class is a great way to have a go with a few hoops and see what works for you BUT this isn’t always possible. If you aren’t able to find a local hoop group or don’t want to wait or just aren’t ready for classes, don’t worry. We can help you work out the hoop you need to buy right now.
There are a few factors to think about when deciding on a hoop. Where you are on your hoop journey, your body type and what you want a hoop for are the main things that influence the hoop decision making process. Where a range of sizes is suggested, if you haven’t tried a hoop in person, we’d say bigger is better!
At the end of the day everyone will have their own personal preference on hoop size. We have a decade and a half of hooping and hoop making experience and have made thousands of hula hoops for happy hoopers. We've used that knowledge to make you some handy guides to help you decide. If you’re the type of person that wants to jump to the recipe rather than read a whole blog post (me) we put them at the start.
If you want more details on how to make a decision and what the different tubing sizes mean because you still didn’t decide, (also me), there’s more info under all the charts.
Our hoops are measured in outside diameter (outside edge to outside edge).
If you don’t work in imperial (inches) and want it in metric (cm) Check our Conversion chart and order the closest size or tell us the size you want in checkout notes.
What size Beginner Hoop do I need?
Your first hula hoop. Great for starting out, learning to hoop on your waist, chest, shoulders or a perfect step down if you’ve been using a super heavy weighted hoop.
Think you figured out what hoop you need? Go our Beginner Hula Hoop collection and choose your colour.
Want to know the ins and outs of why that hoop works for you. Keep reading!
What size Polypro Hoop do I need?
Ready to move. You’re confident with your beginner hooping and ready to learn some tricks. You want a lightweight hula hoop that is easier on wrists and arms and easier to move with but still want a big enough hoop to on body hoop with.
Ready to get your first polypro? Check our huge Coloured Polypro Hoop range here. Need more info? Check below.
What Polypro Hoop do I need for doing tricks?
Ready to progress. You are falling deep down the rabbit hole of hula hooping. You want a high performance smaller faster polypro to do some of the flippy cool tricks you saw on Instagram and you might want two of them to start doing some double/twin hooping. We are definitely getting into personal choice territory, but this is a good guide for where to start!
We have a MASSIVE range of colours and sizes in our Taped Polypro and Coloured Polypro hoop collections. You know what you want so go buy your hoop!
What size hoop is best for Multi Hooping?
Ready to circus. You’ve got your single hoop core hooping dialled in on waist, knees and chest it’s time to add another hula hoop or 2 or 3 or more. You need a hoop that is big enough to comfortably hoop on body but not so heavy that hooping with more than one is too much work!
Made a decision and ready to drill hoop splits? Check out our Goldilocks hoop collection here.
What Hula Hoop is best for kids?
Ready to grow! Our lightweight durable polypro hoops are fantastic for helping your tiny humans start or progress their hula hooping. Fun bright colours are perfect for kids and way better than the disposable hoops you find in the shops. All our hoops are push button collapsible (so we can ship them) so they do have small parts and children will require supervision.
Sorted from the hoop size charts? Great. If you need more info here it comes.
Everything you need to know about buying a hula hoop.
Does Hoop Size matter? Yes, it does but maybe not as much as you think.
If you’re just starting out don’t fret too much about the exact size you need down to the last inch. What you need to know is that a bigger hoop is easier to learn with.
Kids hoops from discount shops and supermarkets are for little kids they are too small and light and make it difficult to learn to hula hoop. You need an adult size hoop for your adult size frame.
The larger and heavier the hoop the slower it rotates and the more of its own momentum it has. The slower rotation gives you more time to make adjustments with your body and keep the hoop spinning. Check the guide and if unsure go for the biggest size. Downsizing your hoop is pretty easy (check our how to) making it bigger, not so much!
What if my body proportions are unique? Everyone is different that’s why we offer range on our hoop guides. A good rule of thumb to double check you’re in the right area is to measure from your belly button and add 2-3 inches for a beginner hoop or subtract a couple of inches for a lighter polypro. Combine this with your body type and it may help you narrow things down on the charts.
If you are choosing an off body tricks hoop check the length of your arm from fingertips to shoulder and use that to help you make your decision. A hoop that fits in that space allows a bit more wiggle room for some tricks (you can always work round a bigger hoop though!)
What about the different tubing types?
Beginner hoops:
Made from MDPE (medium density polyethylene) they have a natural great weight for learning to hula hoop or hoop fitness workouts and come in 20mm or 25mm diameter tubing or our extra chunky fitness hula hoops.
If you know your aim is heading for tricks and hoopdance or you have a movement background then veer towards the 20mm.
If your aim is a workout or you have no sports/dance/movement background then 25mm is a great starting point.
Weights range from 350gms for a 36 inch 20mm beginner hoop to 1.2kg for a 44inch fitness hoop. The weight of a hoop fluctuates depending how much tape the hoop has but hoop weight estimates are HERE.
Polypro Hoops:
We offer 3 types of polypro hoop tubing: 16mm, 17.5mm (goldilocks) and 19mm.
16mm (5/8ths) – Skinny polypro perfect for twin hooping, off body flow and those who like small fast hoops. Thinner tubing is a little more flexible especially at larger sizes making it more responsive.
17.5mm Goldilocks (11/16ths) –This tubing is just right. 17.5mm BUT with a thicker inner wall than other polypros to give it more weight. Great for multihooping and transitioning from beginner to lighter weight hoops. Still thin enough to fit in your hand but the extra weight really helps with on body.
19mm (3/4s) – Regular polypro tubing great as your first polypro for off and on body and my favourite for balances and rolls.
Gloss and Glitter tubing - We carry a GORGEOUS range of gloss and stardust (glitter) polypro tubing from Hoopologie. It comes in 16mm and 19mm the tubing size is the same but this formulated to visually pop. The tubing is shinier and has a slightly more tactile, grippier feel. It’s bouncier and more responsive but this makes the tubing a little more fragile. We recommend that you take a little more care with this tubing and would suggest maybe normal coloured polypro for your first time.
Want to know how much polypro hoops weigh? We love a good chart, it’s HERE.
What else do I need to know about hoop sizing?
Don’t get too hung up on it. Your hoop needs will shift the longer you hula hoop. Even if you outgrow a hoop we find that you often go back to it to learn new things. Everybody’s body is different, the hoop you see your favourite instagrammer using may not be the right size for you and your body. It’s really rare that the problem with doing a hoop trick is down to hoop size rather than down to practise so persevere and don’t forget downsizing is pretty easy (see here).
Most importantly hoops are for HAVING FUN so don't worry too much, make the choice, buy the hoop and have a great time.