Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Juggling?

K

katie ta achoo

Blogger emeritus
Original poster
May 2, 2005
9,166
5
I want to learn how to juggle.
I think juggling is pretty much the coolest thing EVER. :)

I'm going to try to learn by watching and following along with this video.

I tried it earlier with some socks but I was less than successful. :eek:

Should I use actual balls or beanbags so they don't roll everywhere the 3brazillion times I'm going to drop them?

Anyone have any advice? How hard was it to learn to juggle?

Thanks! :)
 
I think bean bags are the prop of choice. Don't start with swards....I mean swords:) :p
 
I know how to juggle. Highly overrated. The best way to learn is just practice, practice, practice. My tool of choice were tennis balls.
 
spicyapple said:
I know how to juggle. Highly overrated. The best way to learn is just practice, practice, practice. My tool of choice were tennis balls.
Click to expand...

Should I start with them, though? They'd be bouncing and flying about the house, as I'm cursing them and chasing the balls.
Would it be too much of a tactile shock to go from beanbag to tennis ball?
 
You can juggle while standing over a couch, or if you're outside, above sand or grass. Depending on what your "specialty" would be, tennis balls are easier to hold and throw.
 
I heard its easier to start with 2 balls, then move to 3 when you have 2 mastered. I don't know how to juggle though, so take the advice with a grain of salt.
 
Learning to juggle isn't hard, it's just a bit of practice.

That's a good teaching video, now if only I could juggle 7 rings like that guy my kids would be really impressed.
 
Have fun, you little juggling monkey. (Great video.)

I prefer tennis balls too. Lots of practice with 2 balls is the key to doing 3 balls. Notice that you don't have to throw the balls very high, and they each pass in front of your face on the way up. The most common mistake is throwing them too hard and too far to the side.

Something useful that they don't show you in the video: learn to catch one ball in a hand that is already holding a ball. You tuck the first ball down into your lower palm so you fingertips can catch the second ball. You'll need to be able to do that in order to STOP juggling 3 balls; that's what lets you do 2 tosses with 3 balls, stopping, and repeating, as shown in the video, before you move on to 3 tosses with 3 balls; 4 tosses with 3 balls, and eventually continuing tosses without stopping. If you can't stop without dropping the balls, you'll be chasing them all over the place and that makes it much less fun to practice.
 
I think bean bags are the best for practice. The main skill in juggling is the throwing not catching, so you might as well use something that is easy to catch. After you master those it is straightforward to use tennis balls.

It is great fun, but I haven't done it for many years. The difficulty rises very rapidly with more balls. I got the hang of 3 and 4, but 5 I could never do for more than about 20 seconds.

Clubs (skittles?) are great fun too - particularly with double spins. Also if you can find a partner, you can try club passing. Each person juggles three clubs and periodically throws one to the other.
 
Just don't try juggling with boules. They're heavy and it hurts when you drop one on your foot :eek:
 
If you ever get a chance to see Cirque du Soleil, go see it! :)

There is one juggler who juggles hats while riding a unicycle around in a circle on stage. What makes it more amazing is that the hats are like boomerangs and he is throwing them out and over the heads of the audience, juggling 6 - 8 hats at a time.
 
You can probably learn a basic 3 ball cascade in a weekend or less. Start with one ball and learn to throw it acurately both ways. Then add another. Finally add the third. Then you can start learning tricks...
 
"With your toungue in your mouth" :D

I can juggle three balls (including boules :cool: ). Juggling is easy. Really. Juggling continuously for 10 minutes on the same spot is not. That video is very good. The key is your mind. I remember going ice skating years back for the first time. Of course I fell over all the time. But at sometime during that session, or maybe the next, I realized that the reason I was falling over was because I was tense. Rigid, more like. I made a conscious mental effort to relax and not give a damn if I fell over. And guess what. I didn't fall over at all. Of course I was only skating slowly around the outside, but literally I didn't fall over. It's the same with juggling. Free your mind...

With juggling I started with three balls, not two. First one throw. Sorted. Then two. Like that you don't have to get tense about dropping it because you have a close target. Keep calm all the time. And one thing to remember: throw up through the centre. Three. Four. And soon you can break out and keep the rhythm going. It's a mental thing because at first you're counting the throws and just one extra is a big event, but after a while you stop counting and settle into the rhythm. But you have to force yourself not to count. At some stage there's like a leap of faith.

After all that, though, if you're like me, once you've mastered it you'll stop doing it :eek:
 
Doctor Q said:
Something useful .... If you can't stop without dropping the balls, you'll be chasing them all over the place and that makes it much less fun to practice.
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks! I did wonder about stopping without just dropping them all :)

My brother says that juggling is overrated and I should rather learn to play the spoons.

We'll see who is right when I'm juggling balls of cash from all my juggling. or something.
 
I know how to juggle. I prefer tennis balls, but you should learn/practice with light cloths that almost float. Semi-wadded up grocery bags work as well. You just need to get 3 going real slow so you can get the hand motions down, and then the rest is easy.
 
ITASOR said:
I know how to juggle. I prefer tennis balls, but you should learn/practice with light cloths that almost float. Semi-wadded up grocery bags work as well. You just need to get 3 going real slow so you can get the hand motions down, and then the rest is easy.
Click to expand...

see, I tried with some light socks and they were flinging everywhere. I don't think there was enough weight in them? :confused:

Looks like I need to stop by the store on the way home to get some tennis balls :)
 
Koosh balls are great. They're practically un-droppable.

koosh.jpg
 
Very nice juggling, scem0!

I like to juggle Koosh balls. Unfortunately, the three I have are three different sizes, so it's a bit harder to juggle them than 3 items the same size -- bowling balls, flaming torches, running chainsaws, ice cream cones, angry pit bulls, etc.

Has anybody tried juggling water balloons?
 
Doctor Q said:
Very nice juggling, scem0!
Click to expand...

*bows with grandeur*

Thank ya' Q!

Doctor Q said:
Has anybody tried juggling water balloons?
Click to expand...

Not water balloons, but I have juggled knives (butter knives!), flaming torches (yes, on fire :)), clubs, rings, lots of different fruits, and combinations of objects.

You'd be very surprised. Clubs are one of the easiest things to juggle in a standard cascade. They aren't a good place to start, but once you reach a certain skill level they are super easy.

Believe it or not, I have a lot more trouble juggling scarves than clubs. They are unpredictable and way too light. They also get caught on your hands and they move so slow that it actually make it harder on me. 3 bean bag juggling balls is the easiest thing for me to juggle followed by clubs/torches when it comes to a simple cascade.

e
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back