Got Five Minutes Spare? Learn to Juggle 3 Balls!

Learn To Juggle – It Has So Much To Offer

Is learning to juggle the ideal quick hobby to help you de-stress?

Do you come home from work, sink into the sofa, and feel the excess energy of the day slip away from you? Are you looking for interesting new hobbies, but don’t know where to begin? Do you have a free five minutes and an interest in learning something a little different? If so, then keep reading. In five minutes’ time you will have the skills to dazzle your friends with the best party trick, ever!

Surely Juggling takes longer than 5 Minutes to Learn?

Not entirely. Ever heard the expression “a minute to learn and a lifetime to master”? Juggling is like that. It’s also a little choosey about who it lets master it. Some people will never get past the basics. Others will be juggling six balls before they know it. On the plus side, it has plenty of benefits for your brain, including better visual and motor processing, and increased growth of new brain cells. So if you have five minutes free this is a really good way to spend them!

We can teach you the basics in five minutes but it is only practice that will make you skilled. In other words; we can show you the way… but only you can walk the path. Before we begin, let’s make sure you have everything.

What you will need:

• Three round objects of similar size and weight, preferably juggling balls but anything will do. If you want to discourage yourself from making a mistake use onions. Once your bedroom smells like onion for long enough you suddenly get real good, real fast!
• Enough space to juggle in. Now, you probably think the two-metre squared of free floor space in the living room is enough, right? It’s not. Your onions are going to smash into the ceiling, possibly hit your spouse on the nose, and probably smash your TV. Going outside is best.
• Energy – it sounds daft but make sure you have something to eat beforehand and that you have a bottle of water. It is more energetic than it looks. For the first couple of minutes, you are going to be chasing dropped balls.

 

Now that we have all the ingredients together, let’s get stuck in!

Learning to Juggle in 5 – a Step-by-Step Guide

Follow these instructions and in five minutes you will be able to keep three balls in the air at once!

Step 1 of learning to juggle – The single toss

Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart and your weight balanced a little forward towards the balls of your feet. Leaning backward will make you throw either too high or behind you. A straight throw is the key to a successful juggle.

Hold only one of your three onions. With your good hand, practice tossing and catching the ball straight up and down. It does not need to be high. Aim for your chin height.

When you feel comfortable tossing the ball and catching it, toss the ball, clap your hands once, then catch it.

When you feel comfortable with one clap, clap twice.

Each clap represents another ball being thrown, even though we are only tossing one at the moment. Once you can throw one ball and clap twice, then catch it, and you can do this comfortably with both hands– move on to step two.

Step 2 of learning to juggle – One ball: two hands

Next, practise throwing the ball across your chest, from one hand into the other and back again. When this feels natural add in a clap in between. Again, progress to two claps.

Imagine you have a rectangle in front of you. This rectangle runs under your chin, down your arms and back across your body. When we juggle, we throw each ball into the opposite corner of that rectangle then it drops down to be caught. In essence, your onions are going to form the shape of a bowtie across the front of your body when they are all in the air.

Step 3 of learning to juggle – Throw, throw, catch, catch

Throw, throw, catch, catch, is the rhythm we use to juggle two balls. Once you have mastered one ball you can now replace one of your claps with the second ball. So we:

Throw – throw ball one towards the opposing corner of the imaginary rectangle.

Throw – throw ball two when ball one reaches the highest point of its arc.

Catch – catch ball one just after ball two has left our hands.

Catch – catch ball two.

Then we repeat this process until it sticks… expect to chase onions all over your garden for a minute or two. You already know what’s coming next, don’t you?

Step 4 of learning to juggle – Throw, throw, CLAP, catch, catch!

Once that second ball has left your hands, you have a split-second window where, in a minute, you are going to add in ball three. You know what to do… Add in that clap and you will be able to add in ball three.

Step 5 of learning to juggle – Replace the CLAP with ball 3!

At this point, the throw, throw, catch, catch rhythm is going to turn into one continuous loop. It is a good method to learn with but once all three balls are in the air you are going to develop your own rhythm.

If you throw the balls higher you don’t need to move as fast, but the balls are harder to control.

If you throw them gently, close to your chest, they will be controlled but fast.

If you have made it this far then congratulations! Practice this for your next few free five minute breaks and you will be a master in no time… or eventually.

Too Difficult?

If you struggled with the three balls then don’t worry. We know a way you can still dazzle your friends by only using two. One-handed juggling is very much easier because it only requires your one good hand.

Hold two balls in one hand. Toss the first and catch it a few times. Next, go back to ‘throw, throw, catch, catch’. You don’t need to throw the balls in a circle. In fact, you can throw them at parallel lines to each other and this is actually a juggling trick called “Two-in-One Columns”. You might not be a juggling genius – but if you can pull this one off then you can wing it enough to impress even the most particular of circus performers.

Rounding Up

Juggling isn’t for everyone – but five minutes spare is! We have all sorts of ideas for things you can do with your spare five minutes today, tomorrow, and every other day! If you enjoyed this 5 minute guide to juggling please share it around, if not; then try another skill. You will find something for everyone nestled in our pages. We apologise if they smell slightly of onion.

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