The Internet Juggling Database


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Learn to Juggle 3 Balls

Colin E. - 23rd September, 2003.
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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.

Juggling Animations

Throughout this tutorial you will be assisted by our 2-dimensional juggling friend on the right, who is currently juggling three balls - the final aim of this tutorial. These were all created with the excellent "JuggleAnim Java Juggling Simulator" which was written by Jack Boyce. Consequently, you will need to have a Java enabled browser to view this tutorial in its entirety.

If you want to see some of the other pattern this fantastic simulator is capabale of, I suggest you have a play in JuggleWiki - the interactive juggling playground!

Java disabled. Cannot display animation.

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.


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3rd Aug 2008
Great Juggling 101 Course...
I taught myself how to juggle using a can of three tennis balls and a puppy who just loved to fetch. Between classes (I was doing the college thing at the time), I spent 2-3 hours a day practicing.

I actually started from Step 2, which helped me place the props in the proper area and helped me learn the flow of juggling (though I see now where Step 1 could help with the throw placement).

I'm sure someone else has mentioned this, but I've found that setting goals (once you move up to real, three-ball juggling) helped me immensely. When I was just starting out, hitting a twenty-catch mark was something miraculous.

I'd celebrate, then work on twenty-five catches and continue on until, within a week, I hit my very first 1000 catch mark.

Since then, I juggle whenever I see three uniform objects. I really can't help myself.

I've also taught many others the craft by giving them a minute lesson on Step 2. I've found that, if people can grasp that basic step (and not cheat or freak out), then they can teach themselves to juggle within days, at least, on a rudimentary level.

I'm excited that I found this site, and I shall be perusing it starting immediately.
18th Nov 2008
Re: Great Juggling 101 Course...
i was actually doing the cheating way until i read step3.now i got it but i just cant get step 4
22nd Oct 2008
Re: Great Juggling 101 Course...
Thank you for the lessons of juggling. I am really appreciated with the work u have shown in this page with the pictures. thank you for one and all.
5th Oct 2008
Re: Great Juggling 101 Course...
my maths teacher was the 2nd person to juggle 12 balls apparently!
19th Apr 2009
Re: Great Juggling 101 Course...
whats your teacher called?

ps. have you ever seen him/her juggle
25th Jun 2009
Re: Great Juggling 101 Course...
It can only have been Ben Beever (or Mr Beever)
12th Oct 2008
Re: Great Juggling 101 Course...
i could at 6 tell you teacher
22nd Sep 2008
Re: Great Juggling 101 Course...
heyyy
11th Jun 2009
ned better help
have to say they work but i cant read that much so u should put a vidow on the site
31st May 2009
Gracias
Gracias por el tutorial...esta bastante bueno para tener unas muy buenas bases...yo ya se hacer malabares, pero creo que las buenas bases nunca las tuve por lo tanto, me cuesta realizar algunos trucos de mayor dificultad...gracias!
20th Nov 2008
omg i need help
i have so given up....we are learning how to juggle in drama class and i cant seem to get it....what can you guys suggest
30th May 2009
Re: omg i need help
I used youtube, just type in how to juggle 3 balls, or what ever you are trying to juggle. That and my teacher taught me.
19th Apr 2009
Re: omg i need help
Can you juggle five solidly? any tips while learning?
12th Apr 2009
Re: omg i need help
just keep trying. you might also want to search other websites that have vidos to explain better.
21st Dec 2008
Re: omg i need help
just keep on trying. what I did was go on you tube and look for vidios about juggling
19th Apr 2009
Re: omg i need help
when i learnt to juggle i found it helpful to say right, left in time with my throws, i als bobed up and down to get extra height without substituting accuracy.
12th Mar 2006
Ball type
I've just started learning to juggle. So far, I've been using tennis balls. Will this work, or should I be starting with a more official juggling ball?
30th May 2009
Re: Ball type
I just started yesterday, I've already gotten the hand of it thanx to my art teacher in school. But I just started practicing an hour ago and i find that a roll of sucks, 3 of them, are quite easy to juggle with, they dont bounce, easy to catch, etc, etc.
13th Mar 2006
Re: Ball type
Tennis balls will work, if you dont mind spending hours chasing them around the house. Although I have been juggling for less than a year, I find that beanbags are easiest to learn with, dont throw them away for other bouncy balls after you learn to juggle, they come in handy for learning tricks.
23rd Jun 2006
Re: Ball type
I find that if you start with juggling balls it is easier so that you dont have to change, or if you mix them, so say you started with tennis balls you got to two tennis balls and one juggling ball, then to two juggling balls and one tennis ball and eventually move on to three juggling balls
15th Jan 2009
Прикольно
Действительно ценно для начинающих. Спасибо.
11th May 2009
Thanks
Hi thanks so much for the juggling lessons i have improved heaps and heaps i can do the double ball now and hopefully get better so i can unicycle and juggle at the same time. All i have to do is learn to juggle. Thanks again anyway!!!!!
22nd Mar 2009
Great
Hey, it's great tutorial. I suddenly came up with the idea of juggling while watching a boring show on TV. I googled and found this site. After about 3 hours I barely say that I'm already juggling. Yes, only double and triple exchange, but i'm juggling :) It's great. I'll keep on practice, especially tosses. Thanks for the tutorial guys, it rocks!
10th Mar 2009
thank U
Спасибо. Уроки написаны очень доступно, и анимированный друг помог)) Жонглируем потихоньку xD

Thank You =)
26th Feb 2009
need help do u
if any of you have any problems on juggling i can help i almost masterd every trick iv been juggling for 4 years now so yea email me
5th Mar 2009
Re: need help do u
I keep throwing the ball in my left hand forward. Any tips?
26th Feb 2009
Re: need help do u
Je travaille avec des sacs d'haricot journaliers - voir Bean Bag Bazaar et le you' ; le ll reçoivent le message. I' ; le VE non jamais pu jongler - je pense I' ; le ll lui donnent un projectile cependant!
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