Avoid buying cola or root beer bottles that are dark brown in color, as you won’t be able to see the water level well enough.
Adding too much water will not allow enough room for it to move back down to the bottom of the bottle during your flip. Too little water will cause the bottle to not weigh enough and it will flip too fast.
If you want to use the floor instead, you can do so. Sit cross-legged on a hard, non-carpeted floor and place the bottle on the floor in front of you.
Your hand will look a bit like a claw if it’s in the right holding position.
Avoid moving your arm at all when flipping the bottle. The movement in the flip should be all from your wrist.
If your bottle doesn’t land correctly, this is one of the things you can try to adjust.
If your bottle doesn’t land properly, continue practicing. Sometimes it takes many tries to get it. You can also try troubleshooting your technique to be sure you’re doing everything correctly.
You can empty your bottle and try putting in a slightly different amount to see if that helps. For instance, if you put in 4. 5 fl oz (130 mL) the first time, try putting in 5 fl oz (150 mL) or 5. 5 fl oz (160 mL) the next time.
Practice the motion without holding the bottle to see if you’re doing it correctly. Keep your arm still and flip only your wrist from the start position, pointing down, to the letting-go position, with your fingers pointing up toward the sky.
When you finally get the bottle to land, try to simulate exactly when you let it go for your next tries.
