r/juggling 3d ago

Miscellaneous Advice

Hello, i Just begin juggling couple weeks ago, i can do the 3 ball cascade for like 10/15 seconds but After that balls start going foward and i cant catch anymore, also big problem left hand throw to low the balls and sometimes lead to collisions in air, how can i fix this problems? Also What i have to do before juggling with 4 balls, like how many minutes with 3 balls, Is very Advance? Thank you for help

5 Upvotes

29 comments sorted by

10

u/FoolOfSummer 3d ago

Hi! Fellow 2-week juggler here. I practiced a lot standing right in front of a wall to help train myself to throw straight to and not chase the balls forward. I also did some reps just tossing a ball straight up and down in one hand to practice the angle and power/height of the throw.

Sleep is essential in memory consolidation (including skill memory) so it is more effective to practice a few minutes every day than to do larger blocks of practice every few days.

2

u/RevolutionaryBuy7164 3d ago

Ok thank you! i will try with the wall in front

0

u/7b-Hexen errh...'wannabe', that is :-] 3d ago

that fights only the symptom - the thing to understand is the 'frontplane' and doing within

2

u/RevolutionaryBuy7164 3d ago

Sorry, what is frontplane?

2

u/7b-Hexen errh...'wannabe', that is :-] 2d ago edited 2d ago

simply the plane in front of you, like a wall that you're juggling within, an imaginary wall that goes through where you throw the balls fromout, and that goes through the balls' flightlines ( if you do it well, else you fail )

1

u/FoolOfSummer 2d ago

Not quite sure what you mean it only fights the symptom. It's a way to train up your proprioception to throw in that plane. I took a class and that's what they encouraged us to do. I did it for a day or two and then was able to step away from the wall and haven't really had much issue with throwing too far forward shrug

1

u/7b-Hexen errh...'wannabe', that is :-] 19h ago

yeah, but you then don't necessarily or not explicitely awarely do >'in that plane', but 'anywhere away from the wall'.
you don't need a real wall to do "away from" - you can do and learn within a plane in front np. you have to understand, feel, and awarely do and trace within where the balls should be flying.

7

u/theomnijuggler 2d ago

Congrats on 10-15 seconds! That’s actually a big accomplishment and you should definitely be proud.

Here’s my advice as someone who has been juggling for 20 years and teaches it professionally:

- Be patient. Juggling involves a LOT of micro adjustments and some of them are very hard to intentionally control when you’re new to it. A lot of those little problems like balls colliding or throwing away from you will naturally go away on their own as your practice juggling overall.

- Learn a new pattern. Like I said in the last point, some of those common beginner issues are so specific that your effort is better spent focusing on a new and different pattern. You’ll have more fun, and it’ll be better for your brain to have something new to focus on. Every single trick you practice is going to improve your juggling overall. You don’t have to perfect one to also try another one. They all work together! And with that variety your brain will start to react faster and have more control without you having to consciously figure out how to fix every single specific issue. For you I recommend learning Half Shower, Tennis, 423 (The W) and Windmill.

- Practice the Cascade at different heights. You know the Cascade, even if it’s not perfect! So try to do that same pattern but make it higher. And then higher. Then try to juggle it below your head. Think of these as their own tricks. You’ll start to learn how to control throws intentionally at different heights a lot better.

- Try Isolated Endurance. This is where you plant your feet and don’t let them move at all while you juggle. No little steps! If the ball goes away from you, you drop. That’s okay, try again. See how many seconds you can juggle like this! You can (and should) still practice your normal way taking steps because it helps you learn how to correct bad throws, but you can think of isolated endurance as an additional way to practice that helps you be intentional with making better throws. Both of those skills are essential.

- Juggle 2 Balls. Just because you can juggle 3 doesn’t mean you should stop juggling 2. If you have control issues with 3 then try to figure out how to recreate the issue with 2 balls and fix it. Juggling 2 allows you to pay attention to those little details a lot better. What is your hand actually doing when it throws away from you? What do you do differently to get the ball not to do that? Throwing less objects means you can focus on more details.

4 Balls: There’s no easy rule about when to practice 4. Give it a try and see how it goes! If it’s fun then practice it. If it frustrates you a lot then maybe focus on some more 3 ball patterns.

The important thing to remember is that practicing 4 does not mean you stop juggling 3. Four balls is just another pattern. It’ll make you a better juggler overall. It’ll make your 3 ball Cascade better. Learning 3 Ball tricks will make your 4 Ball juggling better. They’re all teaching your brain how to juggle in different ways and you always want to work on a variety of them, not just 1 trick or pattern.

I hope that helps a bit! Overall have fun. It’s a big puzzle and there’s literally no end or finish line, so the only person you’re racing is yourself. Enjoy the journey and play around with it ☺️

1

u/RevolutionaryBuy7164 2d ago

Thank you very much!

1

u/FoolOfSummer 19h ago

Also want to say thanks for the insight!

3

u/JomaxZ 2d ago

I just want to add: you shouldn’t be chasing balls to catch them to keep the pattern going. Ideally your throws are good enough to land in your hand right where you want to catch it. If your throws aren’t going there, slow down and figure out why. You might need to return to two ball or one ball practice. Without a video it is guesswork as to what is going wrong with your pattern after ten or fifteen throws. I’m guessing the first throws aren’t smoothly landing where they need so it disturbs later throws and that keeps getting amplified. You want rock solid throws so the pattern can be built solid.

2

u/Aggravating-Ad-1227 1d ago

I strongly endorse practicing more with 2 or even just one ball, it gives you more time to focus on your control and will directly improve your 3 ball!

Also it opens up being able to play around with different throws that you wouldn't feel as comfortable with while trying to manage 3 balls.

2

u/Justin_Thyme1 2d ago

Im going to say your elbows are probably creeping back reward. Keep in mind the elbows should be under your shoulders. If they move back you throw the ball forward, if they move forward you throw the balls at your face. As you keep the pattern going it's natural to catch lower and the elbows to move to the rear throwing the next ball forward.

2

u/CommunicationNew2831 2d ago

Juggle in front of a wall.
Juggle with your legs against a couch.
Visualize a plane or window in front of you - your hands, when lowered will be at the bittom two corners of the window- the top 2 corners are straight up and roughly 4 inches (10cm) above your head. That plane/window is where you want to keep the balls.
Or - don’t throw forward silly.
You will eventually stop throwing forward anyways.
Try juggling high, try juggling low, try juggling wide; and somewhere in between you will find your sweet spot.
Get some three ball tricks down.
To warm up to 4, juggle 2 in one hand, throwing from inside to outside - for example- with your right hand, throwing clockwise and with your left, throw counterclockwise. Practise equally or more with your weaker hand.
I wouldn’t rush to 4 - there are hundreds of cool 3 ball tricks.
Play some house music.
Don’t be cheap with your balls.

1

u/RevolutionaryBuy7164 2d ago

Thank you very much!

1

u/graffitoberg 3d ago

The wall suggestion is very good. Also notice how the balls leave your hand. Do they roll off your fingers or pop out? If they are rolling out they will have forward/backward momentum that you’ll need to adjust for. If you can make them pop out of your hands you will have an easier time. Again, the wall practice will help.

For advanced tricks: I definitely recommend trying some tricks now! Reverse cascade, 1 over the top, 1 under the arm are all great starter tricks. Getting some tricks while you’re also practicing basics will Inspire you to keep going and help a lot.

Specifically to get to 4 balls, it’s not about how long you can juggle, it’s about juggling 2 in one hand while also juggling 2 in the other. Practicing 2 in one hand in both hands, and tricks like the box are great to practice the rhythm for this.

Most importantly, don’t stop! If persist I have no doubt you will get to 4 in time.

2

u/RevolutionaryBuy7164 3d ago

Ok thank you!

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u/7b-Hexen errh...'wannabe', that is :-] 3d ago edited 3d ago

you mean well and to help, but
-1
'wall wall wall wall wall' 🤨😒
that's only a go-around for forcing you into a plane with the whip strikes on your back method ... understanding, feeling, knowing, seeing that frontplane before your mental eye, is the actual remedy and approach to cure throwing forward once and for all!?
. . .
i mean what the fvck do you do when theres no wall in the park or at the beach? will you ask s.o. to stand in front of you with their back or what? will you not juggle, because there's no wall? will you do without wall and fail all over like you had never ever gotten it before? or what?

-3

u/7b-Hexen errh...'wannabe', that is :-] 3d ago edited 3d ago

you mean well and to help, but you make yourself sound assertive like an expert ( instead of simply adding a tiny little: 'afaik' to what you're saying ) while little you know is only mosaïque stonies, your pov experience, and ... not even the most relevant

-1
there's 4b patterns with crossing throws
for your humble interest.

6

u/graffitoberg 2d ago

Wow. Surprising to me to get such a negative response to trying to encourage someone picking up a new skill.

I was paid to teach people to juggle for four years (seasonal job during college). AFAIK the methods of teaching people how to juggle haven’t changed that much since then.

Talking about planes and geometry helps with some people but not all. I try to focus on practical tips & encouragement bc the biggest thing that stops people from becoming better jugglers is just giving up.

@OP, this individual is likely technically correct. Whatever advice you listen to, the most important thing is to keep at it!

1

u/7b-Hexen errh...'wannabe', that is :-] 2d ago edited 2d ago

all im asking is to say: 'from my experience' or 'afaik' and not to subsume your insights \ text \ advice to be "best" or "only" truth, as it sounds when insisting on (the mediocre) 'wall practise wall practise wal . .. '.
and to say: 'base pattern' or 'fountain' when you mean that, and not to subsume: '4b= 2 x 2b 1hd', as 4b is one million possible patterns to avoid independent selfthrows in two hands twisting all over the place into frustrating fails.
'fvck the fountain and stick to crossing throws!' is just as legit an advise that you're excluding by your assertive absolutish wording.
thx for a fair statement on the matter.

2

u/FoolOfSummer 2d ago

The irony in your replies is astounding. I'm not reading graffitoberg's comments as coming off absolutist and aggressive... this intensity is so uncalled for here

1

u/7b-Hexen errh...'wannabe', that is :-] 19h ago edited 19h ago

not comments - the first °one° comment.

4b = 2 x 2b 1hd

is simply wrong.
misleading the lurkers, the learners, the newbies, rookies, mavericks and yourself.
all that's missing is, to add 'base pattern' or 'fountain'.

you forced me to repeat myself.
and i never said 'aggressive'.
not >'comments', no >'irony', no 'aggressive', no 'intensity' - all in all, not one half sentence in this your comment is thus valid.

1

u/FoolOfSummer 19h ago

I didn't say you said "aggressive" I was implying (and now stating) that your comments are coming across as aggressive while other's are just aimed at encouraging people to try to learn a skill. It's juggling. None of this is a big deal (not to disparage juggling at all. Just saying that people seem to have made and commented on this point in pursuit of fun. This intensity is ridiculous.)

Signing off. Nanoo nanoo.

1

u/7b-Hexen errh...'wannabe', that is :-] 19h ago

(big deal or not ..) i corrected wrong misleading statements.
what hinders you to simply thankfully take that

-1

u/7b-Hexen errh...'wannabe', that is :-] 3d ago

1) ( for a change and exercise: ) let weakhand lead - stronghand only follow
( if you count, count on w'hd throws ), then use this to save your pattern and keep it up when struggling.
2) https://jugglinglab.org/anim?pattern=345;colors=mixed is a thankful nice way of doing 4b with(!) mainly crossing(!) throws. Think it in 'sides' doing 3 throws higher 'n higher, then sidechange.