Juggling is a skill which looks impressive, yet is surprisingly easy to learn.
If you put your mind to it and practice hard, you can learn to juggle quite well
in a day. Within a week of practice you can be just about ready to busk.
This manual is divided into 4 parts: The Introduction (what you are reading);
Juggling Techniques (the main part, how to juggle); and two supplementary chapters, Making some juggling balls and A few juggling tricks, which will teach you how
to do those things.
2. JUGGLING TECHNIQUES
To begin to learn to juggle, you require at least three balls. Tennis balls are
quite OK, although they are a bit large and can be quite frustrating to a novice
because they roll and bounce a long way when you drop them. For more information,
have a look at Chapter 4 - Making some juggling balls.
After you have aquired or made your balls, put two of them aside and begin to
practice with one. One of the myths of people who do not know how to juggle is
that the way it is done is in a circular fashion, ie
/----------\
| |
I |
| V
H <------ H
H are the hands, the lines trace the path of the balls, with arrows. Try juggling
like this, and you will quickly see that it is near impossible. To learn to juggle properly, think not of a circle but a square:
_____
|\ /|
| \ / |
| \/ |
| / \ |
| / \|
|/____\
H H
That is the pattern for correct juggling. It will become clearer as we go along
but for the moment just keep it in mind.
Anyway, at this time we have one ball in our hand. Begin by practicing the correct throw. Start with your right (or left, whichever you feel more comfortable with) and throw it up and to your left. The perfect throw goes up to about your neck and then comes straight down into your other hand, ie:
|\ -------Neck line
| \
| \
| \
H H
Pracitice this starting from both hands, until all of your throws are roughly the same. Now, add a second ball. The trick is to throw the second ball just as the first ball reaches its peak, like such
|\ <--Throw second ball here.
| \
| \
| \
H H
The pattern you should here now is throw-throw catch-catch. This is pretty easy. Now, for the final element, instead of throw-throw catch-catch, before the second throw lands, throw your third ball. So, as it finally goes, the pattern is throw-throw-catch-throw catch-throw catch-throw catch-throw and so on. On your first try you will stuff up, but keep trying and you will soon (within minutes) be able to do it at least for a few throws.From there, it is just a matter of gradual practice and improvement.
3. MAKING SOME JUGGLING BALLS
This section explains how to make some good juggling balls. For these you will need six balloons and a bag of rice or birdseed. These balls are good for several reasons:
1. They are small, but not too small. When you juggle, you tend not to look at the balls landing as much as you do at the directions they are going in the air. This means that if you are using something like an orange, you don't have much room for error. These smaller balls are much easier to catch in that respect.
2. The don't bounce - this makes them easier to catch, and means they don't go as far when you drop them.
3. They are a good weight, for their size. Again, this makes them easier to catch, and stops them from drifting in the wind.
Now, how to make them:
1. Using a balloon, and some sort of funnel, fill the balloon with rice. Push it in so it strectches the balloon into a good circular shape.
2. Cut off the tube part of the balloon.
3. Cut another balloon about one quarter of the way into the circular part. Using this, cover the top of the other balloon. This will hold easily.
4. Do this twice more, to make three balls.
Note: the balls look best if they are all the same colour.
4. SOME JUGGLING TRICKS
Here are a few juggling tricks. You can invent your own, but here are a few to get you started.
1. One handed juggle - this can be used either during the juggle or as a tricky start. Hold two balls in one hand and the other ball in the other, throw the first ball up, then the second ball, then catch the first ball, then throw the first ball, and so on. When you wish to finish the trick, throw one of the balls slightly towards the other hand. When it reaches its peak, throw the single ball in the other hand towards the other and juggle as normal.
2. Throw in start - Get somebody to throw you a ball in to start. The trick is to throw one of your balls to the other hand just BEFORE you catch the ball that has been thrown in.
3. High throw - In the middle of your juggling, suddenly throw one ball up very high. Hold on to the other balls, one in each hand, until the ball is about to land. Then throw one of the balls towards the other hand and catch the ball, then continue to juggle as usual.
Keep practicing, and you'll eventually be able to juggle like a pro. Look out for my next text file, which will deal with juggling four balls. I can't do this yet, but as soon as I can I'll tell you about it.
