I was recently on a trip to Seattle (explaining my lack of posts[even though I never posted that much {but I posted even less during my vacation}]).
There was a juggling festival there, and I was inspired. I can already juggle three balls, but the guys passing clubs behind backs and under legs was cool, so I decided to try clubs. My parents wouldn’t let me get good ones, like the $20-$40, so I got three crappy $4 ones. My first question is, how can you make them heavier? The guy there said something about wrapping the handles with tennis rachet grip tape, but wouldn’t you want the big end heavier?
As well as learning clubs, does anyone have tips for five balls? I want to learn that. I can do a three ball flash perfectly now, but when I try five balls it totally falls apart. I know generally how it works, but I can’t get it. Any help would be appreciated.
And I was curious when I heard some people talking about Fish Clubs, and Pirhana clubs. What the heck are these? I don’t know any of the juggling lingo yet. LOL
I dont know alot about clubs but I do know a little about juggling. I have been juggling for a year or so and I can do four balls for twelve or so throws before everything goes to pot. I would suggest looking at the IDJB they have some good toturials and stuff, but dont expect to learn five balls in less than a year or so, at least thats what Ive read.
Alex
Solomente me dos centavos. 
I have just started working on 5 balls myself.
This is the initial tips from my local juggling club:
- Practice juggling 3 balls as high as you can.
- Practice a “snake” with 3 balls (where you start with two throws on one side followed by a slightly lower throw from the opposit side, then keep it going- it makes more sense when you see it demonstrated, sorry
I still can’t do it right).
Perhaps JJuggle will have some better tips.
Making clubs heavier
A friend of mine had some clubs once which where just a thin clubshaped plastic shell and too light to juggle outside if there was any wind at all.
What she did was to cut a hole in the top of the big end of the clubs and put a wooden rod through it into the handle.
I’m not sure how she made the rod stay in place and how she closed it all up afterwards. It was all covered in colored electrical tape, so maybe that was it.
I don’t know if those clubs are similar to the 4$ clubs in question and I don’t know how well the clubs held up afterwards. I imagine the plastic in the clubs would be more likely to break when the clubs are made heavier.
The clubs where definately better afterwards and pretty well balanced too.
Morten
Re: Juggling Festival
in a strange way, they actually did u a favor
once u can juggle those things, u’ll be able to juggle ANYTHING
yes and no
wrapping grip tape around the handles will change the balance of the clubs
it will also make them quite a bit easier on the hands
inserting the wooden rod will improve them quite a bit
u’ll need quite a thick rod so u can use screws and washers to keep it in place
make sure the rod can take the screw without splitting at the ends
practise practise practise
being able to juggle your three cascade really high and accurately will help
doing high three ball flashes will also help
make sure u practise them starting in both hands as your off-hand will cause the most problems with low and inaccurate throws
if u can find three fairly heavy objects (like tennis balls filled with small coins) and train with those, it will help build the strength for the high, accurate throws u need to do five
u need to juggle at the correct height
jugglers argue about the ‘correct’ height the way we talk about a 20 or a 24 to learn on
if u juggle really high, u have more time to make corrections
slightly misdirected throws will go futher out-of-pattern
lower throws are easier to keep accurate but leaves u very little time for corrections
my best advice is to stand on tip-toe and reach your hand over your head as high as u can
throw to that height
once u ‘get’ the pattern, u can adjust the height to suit yourself
practise starting with both hands
this is very irritating yet crucial
as in the three ball cascade, focus on the preceding ball and the point where it crosses in front of u
make sure that your next throw goes to the exact same place
once u ‘see the picture’, it will come to u in no time
occasionally, pick up 7 balls and try a flash with seven
(u know u r going to want to learn seven as soon as u get five so u might as well start early;) )
after a couple of attempts at 7, go back to 5 and u’ll suddenly realise that it’s not nearly as manically fast as it seemed at first
practise over a bed/table/couch
that way u wont have to bend down to pick up the balls everytime
and lets face it, before u r able to juggle 5 balls, u get to be EXTREEEMELY good at picking up 5 balls
radical fish are the ONLY clubs to juggle with!
guard against the corruption of your mind by the henry pirrouette crowd, they are weird!
i’m just starting out trying five balls while idling
i’m getting nowhere, fast
keep us posted
juggle!
i’m addicted to juggling i wander round my house juggling and get in everyones way! yesturday i juggling wiht 3 socks and today i juggled with tipex, a rubber and a stapler (maybe the stapler wasn’t such a good idea…)
I don’t think I’m going to put wooden rods in it. Because if I accidentally ruin it, then I have two clubs with nowhere near me to get a new one.
I seriously need to work on throwing the balls the correct height. When I do the three ball flash at five ball height, I feel myself throw them in even rhythm but I hear them come down at the wrong timing. Does anyone ave tips for that?
kewl
just wrapping the handles with the tape will improve them allready
make sure u throw the three balls up to five-ball height and then clap your hands before u start catching them
that way, u r creating the time to throw the next two before u start catching the first one
good luck
five balls in under a year
i have been juggling for under a year…8 months or so… i can do 10 or so catches with 5 balls and am improving every day… it is possible to learn 5 balls in under a year you just have to apply yourself and practice alot. what worked for me was the snake but i started with all 3 in one hand. this got me used to the throwing of 3 balls from one hand. you can also practice 3 balls in one hand that is very good too.
LOL.
I learned five balls in about five months. I can easily qualify seven with only a couple months of practice.
Anthony gatto learned five balls in about a month. I didn’t work on three in one hand at all. It just came natural after being able to do five balls. So did the four ball shower.