Juggling: Five ball flashes (unsolicited advice)

As some of you may recall, I have been (for several years, intermittently) learning to juggle. I can do some basic three ball tricks, and am now reasonably adept at 4 balls (various patterns). Over the last few weeks I have been doing the drills that help you get to five (short version – you have to throw higher, while maintaining accuracy, and do it a bit quicker).

This note is for my future self, when I have forgotten the struggle and want to pass on some “top” tips.

I am still at the stage of “flashes” (though getting better). A “flash” is when you throw the balls up and then catch them, in the order and places you are supposed to.

So, to keep track of which throws are going wrong (and if the throw goes wrong, the catch either goes wrong or is harder than it should be and you are NOT going to be able to get a pattern going) what I am doing is this – three different coloured balls (red, “white” (cough, cough) and blue) in my right (dominant) hand and two orange ones in my left.

For a five ball flash you throw from your dominant hand (though obviously I will have to practice from the non-dominant too!). I am throwing white first, red “second” and blue “third” (and throwing the two orange ones between the white-and-the-red and the red-and-the-blue, thus the scare quotes). A successful throw is always to the same height and point above your opposite shoulder, before gravity does its thing. If you get it wrong, you end up having to reach for the catch, and that just throws you out – you won’t be able to throw the ball up again and therefore you won’t be juggling.

What this careful colour scheme enables me to see is which throws are going awry (usually to far out in front and too far to my left, from my right hand.) I can then, at least for a bit, rein this in and get a semi-respectable flash going. It seems mostly to be the second (red) ball.

When I switch to leading with my non-dominant hand, I’ll be doing the same colours – white, red and blue…

Today, for the first time, I tried to throw up again, from my left (unsuccessful, but not by much).

Wasn’t this absolutely fascinating?

(the drills matter, btw – juggling is such an IRRITATING metaphor for life, about speed and precision being essential for ‘success.’ Oh well.)

Oh, and when I can juggle 5 (i.e. two lots of throws and catches with 5) you will know about it. No humble-bragging, just straight up bragging.