Undoubtedly you have seen circus performers with amazing talents.
When I refer to the man with three balls, I'm not talking about
the freak show. I'm talking about juggling! I can't imagine what
else you could have been thinking of... Juggling is one of the
most entertaining hobbies that I am aware of. You can juggle almost
any time and any place. It is a great active stress reliever,
because it is almost impossible to be stressed out when you are
juggling. When you become a very good juggler, it becomes so second
nature that you can juggle without even thinking about it. Or
you can learn new tricks that will challenge you for a lifetime.
I first started juggling when my uncle bought me some juggling
balls for Christmas. Honestly, it was one of the best gifts I
ever received. Within minutes, I was juggling and trying tricks.
I had a great time experimenting and learning new things.
This whole time I was improving my hand-eye coordination, but
it was not like exercise or performing drills, because it was
so fun.
To start off with, you will need three balls of equal size and
weight. Tennis balls work pretty well, although specialty juggling
balls work even better because they do not bounce and fly away
from you.
To start, simply take one ball in each hand and toss one
of them to the other hand. Right before you catch it, toss the
other one. Continue to work on this, till it feels smooth and
natural. Next, switch hands and do the same thing starting on
the other side.
See Video 1 to view this
first step.
Once you are smooth on both sides, alternate hands. So you start
with your left toss, toss right, catch right, catch left. Then
toss right, toss left, catch left, catch right, etc.
See Video 2 to view this
step.
Next, take three balls and do as you did before. This
time, before catching the second you will toss the extra ball
that is in your starting hand. (By the way, you will always start
from the hand that is holding the most balls.) Once you have this
down on both sides, then you have essentially learned the cascading
pattern of three ball juggling. From here, you try to progress
to three tosses, then four, five, etc. Eventually it will become
so automatic that you never miss.
Video 3- Juggling
Now that you have the basics down, there are an infinite number
of variations you can try.
Low juggling: Simply toss the balls very low. You have
to be very nimble to do this. You can go even lower if you bounce
them off your chest. You can also do blind juggling (eyes closed)
if you bounce them off your chest.
High juggling: Toss the balls very high. This quickly
becomes a test of your throwing accuracy. It is important to learn
if you ever want to juggle big stuff like basketballs.
Under the leg: With this one, you lift your leg and then
toss the ball with your hand underneath your leg. You can also
do under the leg catches. An even tougher variation is to toss
from under one leg and then catch under the other leg. A higher
toss helps on this one, but accuracy above all is the key.
Behind the back: Tossing one from behind your back is
a fun trick. You must toss it to the same side, which is a bit
odd. Behind the back catches are also a lot of fun. First, you
must be able to toss a ball up and over your head and then catch
it behind your back. Once you can do this, try to integrate it
into your juggling passes.
Under the leg/behind the back: Similar to the variation
I mentioned above, you now toss the ball from under your leg and
catch it behind your back.
Tyler Hass is the publisher of Power Athletes Magazine
and a multi-sport athlete. After playing college tennis, he is
now focused on being in shape for anything. He recently founded
Power Athletes, LLC and manufactures the Power Rings. He can be
reached at
.
