Preface

Welcome to the Internet Juggling Database (IJDb). You may have arrived at this site because you are interested in juggling, or perhaps a search result or link caught your eye, or maybe you are just a bored office worker who whiles away the hours until home-time aimlessly surfing the net (when the boss isn't looking). If you have already explored some of this site, you may have seen some mind-boggling juggling tricks ... people juggling 9,10 or 11 balls, tricks that seem all but impossible. But I can tell you in all certainty that every juggling expert, no matter how gifted, started from the beginning, with 3 balls. I have been juggling for over 8 years, but I can still remember the first time I picked up 3 balls and tried juggling with them. Since then, I have taught many people to juggle, from 8 to 80 year olds. If you can learn to tie your shoe-laces or how to ride a bike, then you can learn to juggle!

The lessons:

This tutorial is split into five sections and they are as follows:

1. The throw
2. The exchange
3. The double-exchange
4. Juggling
5. What next?

It is very important that you take time to practice each step before going on to the next. If however you are impatient like me, you will try to rush through them as quickly as possible. This may work for you, although if you get stuck do not be afraid to back-track a lesson or two. The early lessons provide your foundations, make them solid and your progress will be strong.

Before we begin...

A few question that you might have at the moment:

What should I juggle?

Many people learn juggling with beanbags rather than balls. These are small, flexible cloth bags filled with seeds or plastic chips. Their biggest advantage over solid, round balls is that they do not roll away when you drop them. And believe me, you will drop them … all to often at first! You will probably find beanbags for sale in most toy shops and you can also order them from online juggling shops. However, you do not need any specialist equipment to juggle, any round-ish, hand-sized object will do. I learnt to juggle with apples and the women of Tonga (an island in the South Pacific) use tui-tui nuts!

Where should I juggle?

Anywhere ... At home, at work, while waiting for the bus, in the airport departures lounge. Whenever you have nothing better to do, whip out the juggling balls and have a little practice. Ignore the stares and jibes. You get used to them.

When should I juggle?

When you are learning to juggle, as with any new skill, it is probably best to keep your practice sessions short but frequent. This will hopefully stop you from getting to frustrated and keep your mind fresh. If you do get frustrated or annoyed, stop … go and do something else for a while. Only return to your practice when you feel relaxed and happy once more!

How should I juggle?

OK, it's time to move on to Lesson 1.