Hi Simon,
I'm just starting out learning card sleights and I'm having trouble with what seems like it shouldn't be difficult: springing or streaming the cards from one hand to the other. Any suggestions on working this move?

Dear Card Worker,
Springing the cards from hand to hand is one of those visuals that normal people immediately associate with a magician. It is nicely showy and displays a confident skill with a deck of cards.

It is described in many books including "Expert Card Technique" by Hugard and Braue. This book has been re-printed in a very inexpensive form by Dover Publications and really is a book you should get if you wish to become a top notch card person.

It is also on the Jeff McBride videos. Jeff is a very good teacher and the technique is very clearly shown along with, as a bonus, a whole slew of other flourishes.

One tip. When practicing, do so over a bed. Everybody drops the cards a lot at first and by practising this way you don't have to bend over so far to pick them up! Even though it will seem to be very tough at first, keep at it. It really is much easier to do than it first appears. In fact I taught a friend how to do this in under a day and she doesn't handle cards at all well.

As a bonus, when you have learned to spring the cards from hand to hand you will be well on your way to learning a good Pressure Fan - another hallmark sign of a card expert.
Best, Simon