I remember watching a TV show one day in tenth grade, where a character was shown juggling. It was a young girl, my own age, and I remember thinking, this should be easy to do. I didn't realize at the time that you could probably just look it up online, so I had to develop my own technique for doing it.
It's pretty easy really. Essentially, you just replicate the motions first, and make sure you are comfortable with the sequence, without actually throwing more than one ball at a time. This is so that you get instinctive about when and where the ball is supposed to go, and when and where it should land. Then you try the sequence with upto two balls in the air at any time. You get comfy with two flawless exchanges. Then get comfy with three. Once you get comfy with three exchanges, it's only a matter of concentration for getting more than that.
Everyone usually gets pretty good at doing two balls with two hands. Two balls with one hand needs a little more work. I'm pretty comfy with that, and can do them with either hand, even switching between hands. Interestingly, I learnt how to work three balls, before I did two balls. I practiced with tennis balls, simply because I had a whole load of them lying uselessly about the house.
The position of the balls in your hand, and where you catch and throw them, is important. Suppose you have two balls in one hand. Both balls lie on your palm, one in "front", between your thumb, index finger and middle finger, and the other at the "back", between your ring and little fingers and the ball of the thumb. The position is important, because when you throw a ball, you throw it from the back position and receive it at the front. I haven't tried doing it the other way around, because this feels more natural. My guess is that's because I can control the motion of the ball when I'm throwing it better that way, ie I can control the amount of force with which I throw it.
For two balls, it goes like this.
I have two balls in one hand and I want to juggle them, with that one hand, which, believe me, is not as easy as one may think at first. The motion should go like this. I throw one ball, and before I catch it, I have to throw the other. Then I catch the first ball, and throw it again, before I catch the second ball. This exchange must repeat continuously and slowly, and the balls shouldn't hit each other when I throw them. This is why I throw them a little sideways, so that the overall trajectory of the balls turns out a little oval in shape.
Throw the back ball, and catch it in the front position, in the same hand. This is one exchange. This means that you have to throw the ball just high enough that you have time to shift the ball in your hand to the back position. Too little force means not enough time to shift the ball, too much means the ball will fly off and land somewhere out of your reach. Once that is done, try two exchanges. That means, instead of just shifting the front ball to the back in your hand, throw it - with the same level of force that you threw the first ball. After you throw it, you would catch the first ball, when you do, shift it immediately to the back, and then catch the second one in front.
Then try three exchanges. If you get that straight, try three exchanges again, sideways throwing this time. I found sideways throwing more comfortable, because I get a better idea of the balls' trajectory, since it is in a plane normal to my line of vision. One could in theory continue throwing the balls back and front, but since that happens in a plane significantly away from the normal to my line of vision, my estimate of the force with which to throw the balls soon goes awry. Other people may have different experiences, I haven't checked.
If you get three exchanges comfortably, try going for more. If you got it with one hand, do it with the other. Then try switching from one hand to the other, maybe after about ten exchanges in each hand. It gets super easy with time, once one has the throwing motion down pat.
For three balls, it goes like this.
You'll have two balls in one hand and one ball in the other. The same rules of back and front position apply. The rule simply is: throw the ball in the back position from the hand with two balls. Throw the ball in the other hand before you catch the incoming ball in the front position. Once you catch a ball, shift it to the back position, ready to throw again.
To practice, go like this. Throw the back ball to the other hand, shift the single ball to the back and catch the incoming ball in front. Now the original single ball would be at the back, so throw that to the other hand, and catch it in front. These are single exchanges; you start with two balls in one hand, and you land up with two balls in the other hand. Next, try double exchanges. Throw the back ball to the other hand, throw the single ball in the other hand, catch the first ball in front, catch the second ball in front. You started with two balls in one hand; you'll land up with two balls in the same hand. Then, try triple exchanges. You get the logic. Once you get triple exchanges, concentration and practice lead the way to multiple more, till you don't have the concept of exchanges ringing in your head anymore.
It's that easy. I haven't tried four or more balls. If anyone does, please tell me the sequence.
No comments:
Post a Comment