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Popular Forms of Juggling
Solo Juggling
Balls
Contact Juggling
Instead of throwing balls, rolling them over the hands and body. Usually “crystal” balls are used. There are two distinct forms.
A. Rolling one or two balls all over the hands and arms.
B. Controlling three to eight balls, revolving them in stacks in the palms of the hands.
Both forms use the idea of "isolation". The impression is given of one ball being fixed in space and the jugggler, or the other balls, moving around this stationary ball.
Numbers Juggling
Always try to juggle one more ball, or try to get one more catch. Most people try to beat their own records though some are only interested in beating world records. There is no set number that “Numbers Juggling” starts as it depends on the skill of the juggler or the size of ball being juggled. Even so, the overriding thought of numbers jugglers is that they’ll be happy when they are able to juggle the next number or make the extra catch.
Pattern Juggling
Juggle as many mathematically generated patterns as possible. Siteswap jugglers focus on aesthetic variations but also the longest patterns, the most complex patterns or the patterns with the highest throws.
Trick Juggling
Jugglers learn or make up as many tricks as they can and link them together in unique sequences. Usually the juggler focuses on: body throws, tricks with crossing arms, multiplexes, carrying balls through patterns and different types of catching. Typically three, four or five balls are juggled. The juggler is generally stationary and only uses their hands.
Full Body Juggling
Awareness that the whole body can be used for controlling or influencing the balls, including catches with the head, arms, back, legs and feet. A full body juggler may also be influenced by forms of dance and won’t stay still for very long, opting to move their feet, their stance, their posture and their orientation. There may be influences from contact juggling but most of the skills are based on throwing and catching.
Technical Juggling
Concentrating on usually four to seven balls, a technical juggler will work on a set number of traditional tricks, not straying far from a basic skill set, pushing them to the highest limits of their juggling capability. These skills are typically pirouettes, juggling above the head, backcrosses and a few other types of body throws. Also juggling with a balance or head bounce.
Football Juggling
Juggling footballs, basketballs, water polo balls or volley balls. The most classic skills are spinning balls, stacking spinning balls, bouncing balls on the head, shoulder, feet or floor. Elements of contact juggling are often mixed in, rolling the larger balls around the body.
Bounce Juggling
Using silicone or rubber balls, the balls are allowed to bounce off a hard surface, typically the floor, before catching again. There are a few distinct tricks with bouncing balls, mixing up different rhythms, speeds and types of throws, but most popular is numbers bouncing.
Rings
Numbers Jugglers
Rings lend themselves well to numbers juggling. They are easier to catch than balls and don’t collide as much as clubs. If they didn’t hurt jugglers so much they would be even more popular.
Trick Jugglers
Few people use rings to make up new tricks. Usually a juggler will just do tricks they have learnt with balls or clubs but happen to use rings instead. Even so, making up and juggling tricks unique to rings is becoming more popular.
Technical Jugglers
Concentrating on five to seven rings. Again, mainly pirouettes, juggling above the head, backcrosses and invariably collecting all the rings over the head at the end.
Clubs
Club Swinging
Two clubs are swung about the body in different patterns, speeds, directions, planes and phases. Sometimes the clubs are thrown but are usually held all the time.
Numbers Juggling
Most jugglers consider five clubs as the start of numbers clubs juggling. Due to clubs being much larger and heavier than balls, numbers club juggling is much, much harder and not so popular.
Trick Juggling
Lots of tricks are unique to clubs. The size and shape opens up possibilities with balances, rolls, flourishes, swings, slapbacks, wrong end catches and more. Most tricks are done with the juggler standing still and mostly using the hands and head.
Technical Juggling
Technical juggling focuses on three to five clubs. The set skills are pirouettes, juggling above the head, backcrosses, shoulder throws, and kickups. Also juggling with a balance or head bounce.
Multiple Person Juggling
Sharing
Two jugglers stand side by side and juggle patterns that usually one person will do on their own, juggling the pattern in roughly equal halves. This can range from side by side numbers passing to very complex arm weaving patterns with only three balls. Sharing is most popular with balls.
Stealing
One person juggles a regular pattern. The other person steals all of the props and keeps the pattern going without a pause. Patterns can be stolen from in front, behind, above, below or from the side. This form of juggling is most popular with clubs and balls.
Takeouts
Instead of stealing the whole pattern, one juggler can steal a single prop form another juggler and replace it with another prop, or the same prop a few beats later. This form of juggling is most popular with clubs and balls.
Passing
Two or more jugglers share a juggling pattern between them, usually facing each other. Passing has lots of forms, usually practiced with clubs.
Numbers
Popular with clubs, rings and bouncing balls, but not with balls. A team of two jugglers who work hard together can often juggle more than twice as many clubs between them as each can juggle alone. Very few people do anything but numbers passing with rings and bouncers.
Tricks
Usually two jugglers concentrating on the unique trick opportunities presented while passing clubs. This is often based on a single pattern, like 6 club 2 count or 4 count, and the tricks are thrown within the regular beats. The basic throws are things like tomahawks, shoulder throws, flats, early and late doubles, multiplexes, etc. Also solo club juggling tricks can be mixed in between the passes.
Groups
Typically there is one feeder (who passes to everyone else) and two or more feedees (who only pass with a feeder). Popular formations are a triangle, Y, line, box and star. The juggling patterns are normally quite simple with complexity being added by jugglers turning or walking around within the group, changing from feedee to feeder and back again.
Patterns
Keeping things interesting by working out ever more complex series of passes, selves, holds and zips, set over varying number of beats, repeated by each juggler. The most basic patterns are like pass-self-self-self. At the other end are patterns with four jugglers each doing something like pass-zip-self-pass-pass-self-zip-pass, and all out of phase with each other. Of course, they also must know whom they are passing to on each beat. Jugglers are usually stationary in patterns passing.
Technical
Based on the traditional skill set mentioned in the club section. Usually passing six to nine clubs either face to face or back-to-back. Technical passing is very difficult so sequences usually have to be choreographed in advance for the tricks to work, unlike regular passing tricks.