Warming Up by Steven Ragatz

Visualization and Juggling by Steven Ragatz

Numbers Training by Steven Ragatz

Throw height and rate by Steven Ragatz

Kickups is one of those tricks that is very prop specific. Certain clubs, pants, and shoes, do them better than others. Your problems may not be technique based, so look for something with long handles and sticky, foam knobs. Experiment with the clothing elements, because they will play a very important roll in this trick.

Flex the toes and flex foot out, and raise the heel straight up the shoulder plane. Keep your knee under your butt. Don't swing the upper leg out. Push the knee over your toes before tossing the club with your foot. Think of it as more of a trap, rather than a kick. Once the club is trapped in the ankle, driving your toes up to the ceiling causes the handle to flip off of the inside of the leg.

Learn how to be able to hold a club in the correct position on the foot, and keep it suspended above the floor. Just training that position will help you to gain enough control to do them on every throw. Then, try tossing a club and trapping it in the air with your foot. If you can suspend it there, then you know you are on the right track.

You might try "American" kickups, where the legs are crossed, and the club is dropped, not spun, in-between. Step away from the kicking foot, and lift the club to the opposite side. Again, drive the flexed toes to the ceiling and allow the club to flip off of the outside of the leg. It is not a fast as the "European" kickups, but it is very stable because you can adjust the club position by trapping it between the legs. You can also do this one with clubs that don't do the other kickups well.

Steve