juggling tutorial

3 Ball Cascade

In this tutorial you will be shown how to juggle three balls; the pattern you will be shown is called the cascade. It is probably the easiest three ball pattern to learn and serves as the basis for many tricks, for example, the reverse cascade, under-the-leg and chops.

The method used in this tutorial of breaking the move you wish to learn down into its simplest components, practicing each component seperately and then recombining them is also worth noting. Observe carefully how it is employed in this instance, and try to adopt a similar approach for learning any of the more advanced tricks you might wish to try after mastering the three ball cascade.

Step 0: Stance
Often overlooked by beginners, but nonetheless very important, is stance, or posture.

One of the most important aspects of juggling is timing, or rythym. It is very difficult to achieve a good rythym if you are at all tense, therefore the primary goal of a good posture (other than providing a solid base) is to induce in you a relaxed state. Here are a few pointers for achieving this; try them out and see what works for you:

• Maintain some flex in your knees, don't lock them.

• Keep your elbows down by your side and try to make your throws and catches using only your lower arms. (This will also force you to concentrate on making more accurate throws as it reduces the area of your catching zones. It also stops you from reaching up to catch the balls - a common error with beginners.)

• Make a conscious effort to relax your shoulders each time before you start juggling.

Although, once mastered, three balls can be juggled using just about any stance, I recommend that you try to get into good habits early on and really concentrate on developing a good posture. It will speed up the learning process tremendously and be a great advantage should you wish to move on to more advanced juggling.

Step 1: 1 Ball
Video 1: 1 Ball
Now, let's get started! Begin with a single ball and just practice throwing it back and forth from hand to hand. Try to throw from slightly closer to the centre-line of your body than where you make your catches - in juggling terminology, throw from the inside and catch on the outside. The ball should describe a figure eight pattern in the air.

Remember to check your posture every now and again and try and keep the motion nice and relaxed.

After a while try focusing only on the two peaks; resist the temptation to follow the ball with your eyes throughout the whole pattern. By seeing where the ball peaks and observing its motion in the top portion of its arc either side of the peak you should be able to judge where roughly it will land and make the catch using only your peripheral vision.

Another important point is to try and make the pattern as 2-dimensional as possible. In a perfect cascade the only variables should be height and width, not depth. Aim to keep the ball within the same plane just in front of and parallel to your body.

Step 2: Two Balls (The Exchange)
Video 2: The 2 Ball Exchange
Before going any further, now's a good time to establish which is your dominant hand. While practicing with one ball you may have noticed that you were more comfortable throwing and catching with one hand rather than the other. If not, go back and try step 1 again and see which hand you are better with. From now on this shall be referred to as your dominant hand, with the other being called the subordinate hand.

Take one ball in each hand. Employing the action practiced in step 1, throw the ball from your subordinate hand across to your dominant hand. As it reaches its peak and starts to fall throw the second ball from your dominant hand across to your subordinate hand, again employing the same action as practiced in step 1. After releasing the second ball catch the first one in your (now empty) dominant hand. Finally, see where the second ball peaks and catch it in your subordinate hand.

The move just explained is called the exchange - the ball that started in your left hand finishes in your right hand and vice versa. The actual point of exchange occurs just after the release of the second ball, where momentarily both balls are mid-air.

Once you can do it starting with your subordinate hand you should practice the same move starting with your dominant hand. The more you practice this step the easier you will find three balls. As a guide, try reaching the level where you can do it ten times in a row perfectly, starting with each hand, before you proceed.

Step 3: Holding Two In One Hand
The final thing to learn before you can juggle three is how to hold two balls in one hand. This will enable you to start and stop the pattern cleanly.

The usual method for holding two in one hand is to use your thumb, fore finger and index finger to hold one, and to grasp the second between your palm and remaining two end fingers.

A good way of practicing starting and stopping three balls is to repeat step 1, throwing one ball back and forth from hand to hand, while holding a ball in each hand (using your two end fingers and palm, as explained above).

Step 4: Juggling
Video 3: The 3 Ball Cascade
Now begins the process of re-building. In this, the final step, no new moves are shown, but rather I explain how to combine the moves learned in the preceeding steps to juggle the three ball cascade.

Take two balls in your dominant hand and one in your subordinate hand. Throw the ball on the fingertips of your dominate hand across to your subordinate hand. As it begins to fall throw the ball in your subordinate hand across to your dominant hand. As that one peaks throw the third ball, from your dominant hand, across to your subordinate hand, catch it and stop. Once you can do this - three throws and three catches - perfectly ten times in a row, move on to 4 catches. Keep increasing the number of catches by one each time you achieve the preceeding number of catches 10 times in a row perfectly. Carry advancing in this manner until you reach about 30 catches - by which time keeping the pattern going should be no big deal.

Note: by "perfectly" I mean with a nice even rythym, so the balls are all being thrown to the same height; and without having to move your feet, meaning that your throws are so accurate you are under complete control of the balls (as opposed to the balls being in control of you, with you having to chase them all over the room to avoid dropping).

Miscellany
Consolidating The Pattern
Once you're up to about 30 catches try the following to help consolidate your pattern:

• Vary the height and width of the pattern. (Note: when throwing high try to maintain your accuracy.)

• Move around. Walking forwards is easiest; you can also try moving backwards, rotating (both clock and anti-clockwise) and up and down - you can even try juggling while jogging, known as joggling!

• Look through the pattern, e.g., talk to a friend or watch the TV while juggling.

Don't practice in the same place all the time. Learn to juggle under different conditions: outside, with music, etc.

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