juggling terms glossary
Cascade The basic juggling pattern for an odd number of objects in which the hands throw alternately; the objects cross, i.e., the right hand throws are caught in the left hand and vice versa; and in which a thrown object travels along a trajectory that goes underneath the incoming object, i.e., the throws are made from closer to the centre of the pattern than the catches.
Club One of the three basic props (see image, right).
Sometimes called skittles, batons, or pins by the non-juggler.
Flash This term either indicates a run of N catches with N objects (e.g., 9 catches with 9 balls) or the act of throwing all the objects being juggled in rapid succession so they are all airborn at the same time. (Note: the more correct term for the latter is high flash.)
Flat Club juggling term: a throw where the club doesn't spin at all, but rather remains horizontal throughout the course of its flight.
Fountain The basic juggling pattern for an even number of objects in which half the total number of props are juggled seperately in each hand in outward circles. For example, a 6 ball fountain consists of juggling 3 balls in each hand at the same time, throwing from near the mid-line of your body and catching on the outside. There are two ways of doing this: you can either alternate the throws (giving the same right, left, right, left, ... rythym as the cascade), or throw the objects in pairs. The former is known as an async, or off-sync fountain and the latter as a on-sync fountain.
Multiplex The throwing of two or more objects from one hand at the same time.
Shower Basic juggling pattern in which one hand is used for all the throwing and the other hand for catching and passing to the throwing hand. (Note: the 2-ball version is the pattern often gets in the way of learning to juggle 3 balls.)
Qualify Primarily a numbers juggling term meaning a run of 2N catches with N objects, e.g., 14 catches with 7 clubs. (Note: for numbers juggling the usual method of determining the length of a run is to count only the number of catches until the first drop occurs - the logic behind this being that for the juggling of N objects as soon as the first drop occurs you are no longer juggling N objects, but, rather, N-1 objects, and so any subsequent catches shouldn't count towards the total number of catches for an N object run.)