I think it helps when you are learning at first to have something besides just your left arm to support the hoop and keep it from drooping away from you while you quilt. When I started out I would put a wooden TV tray in front of my chair and sat where the tray would sort of catch the weight of the hoop and support it to give my arm a little freedom to maneuver. After a while, I was able to do it without the tray. Unfortunately, this is something you have to find your own "feel" with. If you are still having trouble with the rocking motion, it's perfectly okay to do the stick and stab method, which is basically one stitch at a time, for a bit. I was in the middle of a group of older veteran quilters when I first tried my hand at quilting. I had no clue what to do, no one offered any help and I was too shy to ask and too embarrassed to let them see I didn't have a clue. So I did one stitch at a time. After a session or two of this, I was getting impatient and eager to "get on with it," and the rocking method started to feel more do-able when I tried it again. Each session just got a little easier, and it will for you, too. Sometimes I think we just try to hard in the beginning. It takes practice and we just have to let it evolve. Didn't mean to write a book; hope this helps in some way.