I'm learning to juggle!

[UniTyler]

Well, I'm learning to juggle three balls! I just picked up some from a toy store and have been practicing for a few days. I can do about 2 or 3 full ball "circulations." Do any jugglers on here have any tips?

[mucRider]

Practice, practice, practice.... Gee, that's just like unicycle learning instructions.

It sounds like you are starting to get the hang of it. Like unicycling, juggling will get better with practice. I taught myself to juggle balls when I was in college about 30 years ago. This past December, I learned how to juggle clubs. A couple weeks ago I bought some rings. Now I want some juggling knives.....

I don't really have any tips other than, if you are using bouncey balls, stand over your bed so when you drop a ball, the ball does not go bouncing and rolling away. The soft "beanbag" balls are good because they don't bounce.

People say juggling is good exercise. I think some of the exercise comes from chasing the balls around the room when you drop them on the floor. :)

Have fun.

[James_Potter]

Just praaactice, a lot. Try to see what's making you drop them, and try to do something different every time. Like if one hand is tossing a little bit higher than the other, or a little bit further, then try to level them out. that is a pretty common mistake for beginners....
good luck!

[chosen]

if you got balls- make sure they just dont collide in the air. heck if itsw anything- i did three glasses and two of them hit and broke and there was like 10 million pieces all over the place.

peacock

[halfbike]

Learn to stand still while you juggle. Juggle by a wall, facing it. So if the balls to go to far away they hit and don't get away. Remember don't walk forward while you juggle(It's crappy skill).

[Jethro]

I also have been inspired to learn to juggle. My oldest son (age 10) and I went out today and bought some juggling balls for each of us.

[JJuggle]

Originally posted by Jethro
I also have been inspired to learn to juggle. My oldest son (age 10) and I went out today and bought some juggling balls for each of us. An excellent thing to do.

What kind of balls did you get? I only ask because I'm looking forward to disagreeing with tomblackwood about them.

[Jethro]

Originally posted by JJuggle
What kind of balls did you get?

Not sure. They are squarish bean bag type things that came in a tube of three.

[GILD]

Originally posted by Jethro
Not sure. They are squarish bean bag type things that came in a tube of three. sounds like Klutz (http://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&q=klutz+beanbags&meta=) beanbags Originally posted by mucRider
Now I want some juggling knives..... get the Mr Babache (http://www.firetoys.co.uk/cgi-bin/acatalog/Juggling_Knives.html) ones
fine looking knives and half the price of the (traditionally overpriced) Dubes

[mucRider]

Originally posted by GILD
get the Mr Babache (http://www.firetoys.co.uk/cgi-bin/acatalog/Juggling_Knives.html) ones
fine looking knives and half the price of the (traditionally overpriced) Dubes

Thanks for the knife link. I am surprised at the difference in weight. I will give this some serious thought. The Dubes are expensive.

[GILD]

i've got the Flares and even at 308g, they're pretty hefty
i don't know what Dube were thinking

why do u particularly want knives?
are u a performing juggler and/or planning to be?

[mucRider]

Originally posted by GILD

why do u particularly want knives?
are u a performing juggler and/or planning to be?
I know somebody who juggles fire clubs. I just want to be different. I guess instead of catching my hair on fire, I can poke my eye out. ;)

Have you juggled knives? Are they particularly dangerous? I know the edges of the blades are not sharp but the tip looks like it could do some damage.

[rob.northcott]

I don't claim to be a very good juggler (I can only do three things at a time, but I can to balls, clubs <well actually sink plungers> or rings, or a mixture). But for what it's worth...

I found it much easier to learn with beanbags, mainly because you can get away with some pretty crappy catches before they bounce out of your hand. With hard "stage balls" you have to be much cleaner with your catches.

I personally found juggling (meaning simple jugging three balls) much easier to pick up than unicycling, which I seem to be slower than average at. Perhaps it was because I learnt juggling when I was much younger.

Good luck with the juggling anyway!

Oh, and if you decide to try with some rings don't do it with no shoes on - they hurt when they land on your foot :(

Rob

[GILD]

Originally posted by mucRider
Have you juggled knives? Are they particularly dangerous? I know the edges of the blades are not sharp but the tip looks like it could do some damage. if u drop the point on your foot from some dizzy height, yeah, it'll leave a mark
apart from that, they're about as dangerous as wire coathangers
and have about the same eye-gouging capabillity as a sharpened plunger
yes, they can hurt, but so can the back end of a T-spoon
which is what i will kick if they cover another joplin song

jay gilligan does a renegade show bit with knives where he catches each and every knife on the wrong end
it looks really funny

[Jethro]

Originally posted by GILD
[B]sounds like Klutz (http://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&q=klutz+beanbags&meta=) beanbags

I checked and they are made my Higgins Bros.

[GILD]

Originally posted by Jethro
I checked and they are made my Higgins Bros. aah, them (http://www.higginsbrothers.com/)

nice stuff
i did a corporate juggling workshop a while ago and they said that they didn't need any balls as they would provide their own and i was a slightly apprehensive
when i got there, they ripped out this big box filled with those green boxed sets of juggling balls
it was quite a surprise

[Jethro]

^Yes, the picture on that website is the exact package.

In other news, I have been trying to practice while on the phone and while watching TV for a little while last night. The instructions suggested starting with one ball and working on tossing it into the other hand; then moving to 2 balls. I have that down. But that third ball is a butt-kicker.

I know it will come with practice. But I will gladly heed any advice that any of you choose to give.

[JJuggle]

Originally posted by Jethro
But I will gladly heed any advice that any of you choose to give. Don't let your head rotate while you're practicing.

And believe in yourself. I would recommend several rereadings of "The Little Engine That Could".

[Jethro]

Originally posted by JJuggle
I would recommend several rereadings of "The Little Engine That Could". [/B]
Won't that take away from my practice time?

[JJuggle]

Originally posted by Jethro
Won't that take away from my practice time? It doesn't seem to bother you that this takes away from your practice time.

[Jethro]

Originally posted by JJuggle
It doesn't seem to bother you that this takes away from your practice time.
I come here for inspiration. You may not know it, Raphael, but you are the wind beneath my wings.

Just let me put on my Bette Midler wig and some high heels and I will sing you a song:

Did you ever know that you're my hero?
You're everything I wish I could be
I could fly higher than an eagle
For you are the wind beneath my wings.

Did I ever tell you you're my hero?
You're everything, everything I wish I could be
Oh, and I, I could fly higher than an eagle
For you are the wind beneath my wings
Cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

Oh, the wind beneath my wings.
You, you, you, you are the wind beneath my wings
Fly, fly, fly away, you let me fly so high
Oh, you, you, you, the wind beneath my wings
Oh, you, you, you, the wind beneath my wings.

Fly, fly, fly high against the sky
So high I almost touch the sky
Thank you, thank you
Thank God for you, the wind beneath my wings.

[JJuggle]

Originally posted by Jethro
I come here for inspiration. You may not know it, Raphael, but you are the wind beneath my wings.

Just let me put on my Bette Midler wig and some high heels and I will sing you a song:

Did you ever know that you're my hero?
You're everything I wish I could be
I could fly higher than an eagle
For you are the wind beneath my wings.

Did I ever tell you you're my hero?
You're everything, everything I wish I could be
Oh, and I, I could fly higher than an eagle
For you are the wind beneath my wings
Cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

Oh, the wind beneath my wings.
You, you, you, you are the wind beneath my wings
Fly, fly, fly away, you let me fly so high
Oh, you, you, you, the wind beneath my wings
Oh, you, you, you, the wind beneath my wings.

Fly, fly, fly high against the sky
So high I almost touch the sky
Thank you, thank you
Thank God for you, the wind beneath my wings. Since all in all I still relate to Midler from her raunchy 70s days, does the line "Buddy get off my back" ring a bell, I find this post seriously disturbing.

Thanks. ;)

[GILD]

Originally posted by Jethro
But I will gladly heed any advice that any of you choose to give. from the KLUTZ book...
"...stand with your feet shoulderwidth apart, knees slightly bent, elbows by your side, perhaps grinning slightly..."

u need three things to make a juggling pattern work
time, space and motion

the time(ing) of the three ball cascade is not, as one might expect, a waltz time but a march

go back to one ball for a moment and watch as u throw it in it's gentle arc
it reaches it's zenith and seems to hang about just for a moment before dropping back down
when it gets to that hanging moment, clap your hands
now don't just chuck it in the air and smack your paws together
watch it and wait for it
clap,... clap,... clap...
see?, there's plenty of time

to ensure the space, make sure that u throw the 'scoop-toss' kind of throw from in front of your belly button, out to the side of your body
the distance from where u throw from (yoru belly button) to where u catch, should be about the length of your forearm

make sure u keep your hands down
your throws should come from just about elbow height (bellybutton height) and should top out slightly higher than eye level
getting the throws from both hands to consistently get to the same height is crucial and initially rather tricky

now, let's get some motion going
pick up that second ball
throw the first one, when it reaches that hanging moment, throw the second one
from the center, out to the side
the two balls tracing a big multiplication sign in the air in front of u
don't rush the second ball
(ref the 'smacking your paws together' comment above)
wait for it
count it out
one,...two,...one,...two...
make sure u start with alternate hands
throw from the left first, respond with the right
now throw from the right first and respond with the left

now grab that third ball
take two balls in one hand
one ball in the other
the 'two-ball' hand will throw first
when that ball reaches the hanging moment, throw the second and catch the first
as the second ball reaches it's hanging moment, throw the third and catch the second
now catch the third
now go
here (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=255776&highlight=pat#post255776)
(put the ball down before u try that)
that was a 'jugg'
and once u've reached the stage where u can do continuous 'juggs', u r said to be 'jugging'
now u may want to ask yourself "what's the difference betwenn 'jugging' and 'juggling'?" and someone will point out that the only difference is the 'L' and u'll ask "Why the 'L'?" and i'll say "Why the 'L' not?" and since u've gone that far, u might as well just not stop after the third ball and just keep going and be a juggler

on your way to a juggling convention

Click Here (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27878&perpage=1&pagenumber=1) If This Was Helpfull To You

[Denali]

Originally posted by GILD
u need three things.....time, space and motion

Ummm...We still talking about juggling, right??

[GILD]

what makes u think i did a juggling workshop with a bunch of engineers?

[Denali]

That wouldn't be a good thing, would it??? Einstein would squeeze all the fun out of juggling...

[GILD]

juggling's always had a sense of the magikal about it
and one that not even engineers can squeeze out
i doubt if einstein would've tried
he strikes me as a kewlish guy

[JJuggle]

Originally posted by Denali
That wouldn't be a good thing, would it??? Einstein would squeeze all the fun out of juggling... One of the founding members of the International Jugglers Assn and the Unicycling Society of America was Claude Shannon, the father of information theory. He was at Bell Labs for many years and was known among other things for unicycling through the halls here sometimes while juggling. Word is that in addition to being a genius he was quite a bit of fun.

[cheech]

Tyler, get some lacrosse balls they are great for bounce juggling as well.Learn everything with both hands.Work on one hand columm tricks(2 in each hand). Those bean balls you have are nice cause they dont roll but they are kinda light. Also work on the 3 ball fountian.