Juggling balls.

[juggle508]

Hello all. Its me again. With another question bout juggling equipment.

What type of balls do you juggle with? Im looking for a set of good juggling balls but CHEAP. The cheapest I found are like 9 apiece. Thats alot cause i want a set of 5 or 6. Any suggestions on what to get? What do yall juggle with? All help would be nice.

KH.

[Spudman]

I use klutz juggling bags, but they came with a book. They work really well, they don't bounce (they are cind of cube shaped bean bags) so they are really easy to catch.

Try klutz.com and I'm pretty sure you can order the bean bags seperately for cheap. I can't go there, because flash is required and that's against my religion.

[tomblackwood]

Originally Posted by juggle508

Im looking for a set of good juggling balls but CHEAP.

If you want good juggling balls, you generally won't find them CHEAP.

I prefer the 4-panel, standard size "Squosh" beanbags by Dube. They are extremely uniform in size, shape, and filling, and very high quality manufacturing. At $8.50 each, they're slightly less than the $9 you mention. There are plenty of knock-offs that look the same and are cheaper, but when you're ordering 5 or 6 of them, you'll find lots of variation in stuffing or sewing, or worse yet, they'll be consistent but consistently BAD.

Go to the website below, click Online Store, click Beanbags, click Squash (page bottom), then shop for color combos.

http://www.dube.com

There are definitely some even higher quality bags out there, but generally small company made and very pricey. I think the Dube's have the best price/performance for a quality bag.

[juggle508]

Well i guess this idea is down the tubes lol. Ok heres another question....What balls are good for juggling that aren't juggling balls? Im using raquetballs right now and they are WAY too light. Any thoughts?

[Spudman]

Water baloons?

[tomblackwood]

Originally Posted by juggle508

Well i guess this idea is down the tubes lol. Ok heres another question....What balls are good for juggling that aren't juggling balls?

Not sure I can help much there...I fall into the "if you're gonna do it, do it with the right equipment" school of thought.

You might get some tennis balls, make a small slice in each, fill with some sand or pebbles, then stretch a balloon or something over it to keep it sealed.

Or you could throw down a nod to Demosthenes, and learn to juggle with rocks. That way when you move to real balls, you'll already have an edge.

[Seager]

Here is how you make cheap, good, juggling balls. We make these for our club to hand out to learners, and we used them for numbers and other such things. They can be VERY good if made with care.

You need:
Birdseed (wild or thistle - never done thistle though)
a bag of balloons
plastic baggies (normal, not ziplock)

For one ball:
Cut the neck off of three balloons.
Fill plastic baggie with bird seed to about the correct size. (handful)
wrap baggie around but don't tie it.
Stretch the balloons around the bag of seed one after another, making sure the holes don't all line up.

That's it. You don't get any cheaper.

[john_childs]

I like the tennis ball thing that Tom describes. I have a set of tennis balls like that for juggling and they work well. I filled mine with sand which makes them on the heavy side. You could use dried beans or sunflower seeds or whatever else you can get to adjust the weight.

Cut a small slit. Fill them up. Tape them up with good tape. Then juggle. I haven't tried the idea of stretching a balloon over them. I think that would be mostly for looks because once they're taped up with good tape they hold up well.

[Chrashing]

Borders book store had a beginners juggling set: 3 scarfs, 3 bean balls and book for about $9 at the local store recently.

[MERCYME]

www.gballz.com they are good ultrasuede you will love. They will last you forever, so its a better deal to get these for 10 dollars, then getting balls for 5 a piece that you will have to replace in a year. (if you do buy them tell him danny sent ya)

If you want non-beanbag balls go with pinkies they are good, thats what Anthony Gatto uses and he goes out flashing 10 balls.

But I think you will be a lot more happy with beanbags in the long run.

[Wheel Rider]

Originally Posted by juggle508

Well i guess this idea is down the tubes lol. Ok heres another question....What balls are good for juggling that aren't juggling balls? Im using raquetballs right now and they are WAY too light. Any thoughts?

Lacrosse balls. They are about the size of tennis balls but are heavier and not as bouncy as racquetballs. I think I paid about $5 each for lacrosse balls. (Don't take that quote to the bank though. They were not too expensive or would not have bought them.)

[Wheel Rider]

Originally Posted by juggle508

Well i guess this idea is down the tubes lol. Ok heres another question....What balls are good for juggling that aren't juggling balls? Im using raquetballs right now and they are WAY too light. Any thoughts?

This is a follow-up. You can order lacrosse balls at Stickhead Lacrosse.
http://store.stickheadlacrosse.com/balls.html
They come in a variety of colors at about $2 to $3 per ball. I like to juggle with lacrosse balls because they are a bit heavy.

[phlegm]

I also have old tennis balls for juggling. I filled each with about 50 pennies. I cut a single slit just big enough to force a penny through, and I don't have to tape anything.

[juggle508]

I think I might go with the lacrosse balls. I could probably find some at a sports store. Then again i might just buy them online. Anyone else use them?

[tomblackwood]

Originally Posted by juggle508

I think I might go with the lacrosse balls. Anyone else use them?

What will your main focus be? If it is not either bounce juggling or trying to combine bounce and standard juggling, then DON'T get lacrosse balls. If, for example, you're wanting to learn a standard 5 or 6 ball pattern, you will be all about drops for quite some time. Combine that with lacrosse balls, and you'll also be all about chasing your drops. Better to have them stay where they fall until you're so good they rarely fall.

And I know you're on a price thing here, but consider this as well: if you're getting into bounce juggling, you'll get a better bounce from Oddballs than you will from lacross balls. They're a bit more, but have a noticeably higher return. I had a chance to drop these side-by-side at Portland a couple weeks ago, and it was confirmed.

You can see both types...lacrosse and Oddballs...at this link:
http://www.seriousjuggling.com/Balls_Bounce.htm