3 Ball Quick
tips
For
the do it yourselfers:
Do
it like this:
Crossing
pattern or
'8'
pattern is good
Not like
this :
Circle pattern
BAD!
Trying to learn the circle
pattern, while very easy with 2 is very difficult with 3.
If you've done 2 in a circle,
then breaking this pattern may be your most difficult task.
You do not want to hand any
balls across the bottom, if you want to learn 3.
(If you read
my bio closely you may notice I was inspired to learn in 3rd grade, but did
not actually learn until age 11. The reason: I was learning to do 3 in
a circle pattern.)
Basic 3 balls:
Get 3 balls, the weight of a lacrosse ball, solid dog ball, or the like. Or Make your own balls.
-Hold your hands
similar to how you hold a tray. Palms up.
This is the basic
position. Ideally you don't move too far from this 'tray' position when
you juggle.
Practice the following
until it's easy and then some:
Start with one
ball and practice making good throws from hand to hand, with hands in 'tray'
position
-Each throw should
go about 6 inches higher than your the head.
-From your right
hand, the throw should go up, cross in front of your face, and peak just
to the left side of your head, 6" above it
-From your left
hand the throw should go up, cross in front of your face, and peak just
to the right side of your head, 6" above it
-The ball should
land in the opposite hand without moving too far from the 'tray' position.
- Ideally the entire process
[throw-ball flying-&catch] takes place on one plane, travelling
right up against an imagined wall right in front of you.
Each throw you
make when you juggle will be exactly like these throws so practice it well.
For 2 balls:
-Hold one in
each hand.
-Throw the right
hand ball first, exactly like the throw just practiced.
-Wait until you
see it just start to come down
Then throw the
left hand ball up just like the practice throws.
-Try to make
each hand throw the balls the same hight (6" higher than your head)
-Don't worry
about catching them at this stage. If it's easy, catch them. If not,
then let them fall.
-Most important
is to be making good throws, in the proper timing. (wait till you see the
first ball just start to come down before making the second throw)
-Each throw should
be crossing in front of your nose
-When you make
the throws right, the hands will remain very close to the 'tray' position
when throwing and catching.
-Also learn to
do this starting with the left hand.
-Once one ball
is in the air, you can think of the second throw as an 'exchange'.
The ball in the air is exchanged for the ball in the hand. They trade
places.
Troubleshooting
with 2:
If the 2nd throw
goes away from you:
This genrally
means you are focused too much on catching the incoming ball, and as you
make the throw you are also moving your hand towards the catch. This pushes
the throw too far forward.
-To correct this
you must concentrate only on the throws, even if it means dropping the
catches.
-You May also
want to try purposely not catching, so as to really concentrate on the
throws. Strange as it may seem, this really helps many people.
-Try standing
facing a wall, with the wall about 3" in front of your hands in tray position
To do 3 balls:
-Hold 2 in your
right hand, and one in your left hand, tray position.
-Throw one of
the right hand balls up.
-When it starts
to come down towards the left, do the 'exchange', throwing the left hand
ball.
-When that one
starts to come down to the right, do the 'exchange on that side.
-When that one
starts to come down to the left, do the exchange on that side... continue
ad infinitum.
Tips and troubleshooting:
-Balls going
away from you or you find you are walking forwards- see 2 ball tips
Also you can
try standing in front of a bed to practice. This stops you from moving
forward, and makes picking up balls a bit easier.
Can't make the
3rd throw: practice throwing 3 without catching anyof them. If you
have 3 balls in your hands to start with there is no reason not to make
at least 3 throws.
Don't rush. Wait until you see each ball in the air start to come down before you make the next throw.
Make all the throws 6" higher than your head. This will give you a good amount of time to focus on each throw.
Don't get into the rhythm of it. By this I mean keep the focus very immediate. Relate this throw only to the proper timing for this throw, waiting till you actually see the previous throw start to come down before making this throw. It has nothing to do with the rhythm of previous throws or catches. It has nothing to do with your ideas of what 'juggling rhythm' is.
Find nearby jugglers.
Jugglers tend to be fairly friendly and welcoming towards beginners.
Visit www.juggling.org
for jugglers meetings near you.
Joining
the 'International Jugglers Association' (IJA) will get you magazines, and a
nice roster of jugglers around the world.
This page
was created by Funny Frank and to check out his awsome site simply
click on the
juggler.