Juggling ball input

Off-topic
1

Hello Guys and Gals,

Been a long time since I last spoke on here, about 4 years it seems from my stats.

But now I want some input from the jugglers on here. I’m currently making Ultraleather 8 Panel Juggling balls and selling them on my website and would like to know what you look for in a juggling ball. Whether it be shape, size, weight. Whatever it is, I would love your input.

Heres a picture of what I’m currently up to:

Heres my website if you want to get an idea of what I’m currently sellig: www.jugglerstore.co.uk

Oh and don’t worry, I’m still riding my unicycle from time to time, might even have some pictures to upload in the near future. :smiley:

2

Looks like a great quality product. Best of luck with your sales.

3

Looks like a good ball.

Why the additional panels?
I’ve always thought the seams to be the weakest point on a juggling ball. Aren’t you introducing more potential points of failure?
And what is the trade-off? Do they keep their shape better/longer?

Do you make larger balls as well?
More softball size rather than tennisball size?

4

Hey Gild,

The current pattern I’m using gives the ball a really round shape, I would say pretty much perfectly circular. I am still experimenting with different patterns, such as a 6 panel and a 4 panel, and these will be added to the site later once I’ve got it perfected. I can assure you that although it has 8 panels it is very strong, I’m using thread that they use with parachutes and have done a lot of stress testing. The ultraleather material is also very strong, barely wears out and can be cleaned unlike all fabrics.

I can make the balls pretty much any size any weight, fully customisable.

Check out my site to see whats currently on offer:
www.jugglerstore.co.uk

Any questions give me a shout.

5

Thanx for getting back to me.

I do need to remotivate myself to get 5 balls solid before I die.

When that happens, I’ll give you a shout.

6

Haha, no worries. The idea originally I made these were to be able to juggle 5, and I would say I’ve got it solid now.

Thanks for your input! :slight_smile:

James

7

I’ve used the same 8 panel design when making juggling balls. Made some using Bull Denim, filled with bird seed. They went everywhere with me and after 10 years they eventually saw the end of their days when a mouse thought it would be a great idea to try eat the 10-year-old bird seed. Took it as a sign that I needed some new balls … made some more :wink:

8

new balls are almost always bad

I started out with plain tennis balls, that was what the guy I learned from used. Then I met a better juggler, who used lacross balls, so I switched to them. Then I came up with penny balls, these were tennis balls with a small slit in them, to insert 16 pennies.

Now I was cooking with gas, working on 4 in one hand and performing a 6 ball shower. Still I had my doubts. Some of the better jugglers I knew were big fans of leather bean bags. Easier to catch was the story. The weighted tennis ball thing didn’t really catch on so much. My old buddy from San Fran Sunday juggling group (huge in golden gate park in the 80’s), adopted weighted tennis balls also, Tony Duncan, only he used dimes (said it was more useful to be stuck somewhere with dimes). I was very proud as I watched him set the new 7 ball record at the convention. Anthony was 7 years old or so then. 20 + seconds in the 7 ball competition was a big deal then.

I bought 9 really nice custom leather balls, and liked them. but they fell into gutters and also got saggier with age. I am not saying leather balls are crap, Sarafian could juggle 8 like superman, and he used off white saggy leather balls. I am just saying that I went back to weighted tennis balls myself, for several reasons. Most importantly, I switched to weighting them with air gun bb’s. I could always get a new set. They were optic yellow, always the exact same size, weight and feel.

Many times I found myself juggling under poor light, around thieving dogs, next to hungry gutters. I lost or gave away several hundred balls in the course of these adventures. Other jugglers would often not juggle with me, fearing the loss of their harder to replace ball. Yet practice is all that makes a ball worth holding to begin with. If you are afraid to lose the ball, and keep it in the bag, you pay the ultimate price, air time. No ball can be worth that.

I never quite gave up hope of finding a better ball. As Anthony rose to stardom, I bought a set of his balls, but they sucked for me. I kinda am of the opinion that for jugglers in general, or at least for me, change is bad.

I feel the same about shoes. I only wear Converse chuck high tops. New pair to go out on town, and slightly worn to juggle with. Just like the weighted tennis balls, it is not that they are better, just that I have learned what they are, and can buy an exact replacement anywhere. Different sucks for juggling. All change is bad. Different feels different and when hundreds of people are watching and I have to pull it off live… I want the old stuff that feels and works reliably the same as it did before.

So, in general, I dislike custom balls, no matter how well made and no matter what other jugglers have done with them. It gets real out there when you are not that other juggler, you must be you and pull it off.

9

Never use lacrosse balls to juggle, I play lacrosse and they hurt. two collided in front of my face, hurt a lot.

10

I’m still mastering my 4 ball fountain. But I like tennis ball size or a bit smaller but kind of loose. A friend’s wife made his, 12 pannel corduroy softball sized, loosely filled w/ bird seed (I think he said 3/4 cup) and some sand to up the weight a bit and 3 drops of oil each to collect the dust in the ball. I’d guess 130g total. That, shrunk down would be perfect for me.

11

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12

I think you better ask on a juggler forum, though expect you already did.
I also think it differs from person to person. But I expect that durability is as important as comfort. Others care about a certain weight. Personally; looking at the picture I doubt if these will break or not.
But, they look very nice!
Wishing you success with the store, which is for juggling articles probably easier than for unicycle items.