All right, this is my first essay. It isn't the longest thing ever, but oh well. It is non-magic related, so maybe it should be in the Off-Topic section, but I wanted to help the beginning jugglers here.

How to start

Buy a copy of The Complete Juggler. It comes with free scarves. If you have never juggled before, start learning to juggle scarves. That section is right in the beginning of the book. Learn some tricks, and then move on to juggling balls.

What juggling balls to get

The best juggling balls are the $35+ (each) silicon balls. If you are that serious about juggling, and you have the money, get them.

I don?t recommend getting the silicon balls right away. Instead get lacrosse balls. They are cheap, and are VERY similar to the lacrosse balls.

If you have absolutely NO money, cut slits in tennis balls and drop in 25-40 pennies. These will not bounce when you drop them, which is good for the beginning juggler.

Other books and videos

Juggling 101 (DVD)
Complete Teach Yourself Juggling (Video)
Beyond the Cascade (Book)
Ball Juggling Encyclopedia (Book)

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask questions.

-PJH

You think silicon balls are the best for regular juggling? Because I thought those were for bounce juggling. Most people use beanbags/fergies or a cloth ball filled with little beads.

If you have the pennies to do this then you can't have NO money...

I got juggling for the complete Klutz, and I juggle very nicely. Also, bean bags are best for learning, they dont hurt as much when they hit you on the head.

I think Hacky sacks are good for juggling and i think tennis balls are fine

Tennis balls can bounce out of your hand, so I recomend filling them with rice, or pennies.

Silicon is good for bounce juggling, and I think they are the best for regular juggling. That's just my opinion.



Good point. Didn't think about that.

A couple weeks ago I got the DVD "Do you Want to Learn Juggling: From Beginner to Pro" by Will Roya and its a fantastic DVD. There is a lot to learn on it.

I used to be really good at Yo-Yo ing and used to win competitions every year, At the time the world record wa 28 tricks in a minute and had the be from the official book , I pulled off 20 in a minute even though the judge only counted 19 so I was doing good, Everyone aroudn town used to ask me if I had a yo-yo on me kindo f like now when they ask about my magic...I learned to juggle thereafter but always kept to three ball juggling and made up a few of my own tricks....I'm really interested in learning 4+ ball juggling as I can never get down the circle like motion of that juggling, Is there anything that is particularly helpful in learning this type of juggling and also juggling pins or swords?

For juggling 4 you do 2 in each hand
so what I would practice is getting really good with your bad hand doing 2 in a clockwise or counter clockwise motion (whichever feels right, it differs for both my hands) then what you need to do is practice that seperately and have your hands on different sides of your nose so they arent flying to the middle.

Then once you have that practiced a lot try all four like you would with 3 except keep the 2 in each hand, just keep them going in rapid succession

now what the balls are going to want to do is go to the other hand because they are so used to 3 ball juggling, if this doesnt happen to you then great, if this does then all you need to do is just notice when you are throwing it to the middle and just practice a lot

it took me awhile but now i can do 4 and i learned it on my own knowing only that you had to do 2 in each hand

as for books or dvds i have no clue, but this should keep you busy until someone else finds something or you find something

good luck

Tennis balls are too bouncy. Silicon balls are quite expensive ($30 per ball) and are what most professionals have. I would start with beanbags. Make sure they are large, and squishy. Nothing worse than having really hard beanbag balls. These are relatively cheap too.($7 per ball).

This is also good, since a lot of people try juggling, and then realize that they don't like it ot can't do it and get frustrated and stop. in that case, it's better to have used 21 bucks instead of 90.

If your really shory of money fill baloons with flour that works but practise outside incase they burst but thats unlikly.


Dan

I would suggest getting these. They are about the best quality bean bag there is. They feel great. I know the guy who makes them, he is very kind and helpful. You are able to customize by color, weight, amount of fill, type of fill, and size. You can also choose between ultrasuede, moleskin, and ultraleather.

http://www.gballz.com/

That's why we're putting the pennies in them. It weighs them down, and when you drop it, as everyone does, it won't roll away.

I just came back to this forum and was really happy to see this Juggling section, especially with my essay stickied. It really surprised me!

all i had was tennis balls. and eventually i was able to TEACH MYSELF to juggle. that's right men! i taught myself!!!! OWNED!