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2torial #0418:
Learn2 Juggle
(Three Balls)
(Continued)
 Arc
your tosses
We've got a little more single-ball work to do before
the fancy stuff. This warrants a step of its own because
you'll be mastering a new skill: tossing a ball back
and forth from one hand to the other. Sure, you can
probably do that right now, but you'll need to streamline
your technique for juggling.
Take the ball and toss it up in the air, as in the
previous step. Only this time angle your hand slightly--just
enough to send it sailing not in a straight up-and-down
path, but in a gentle arc to your other hand. While
practicing this, keep these thoughts in mind:
- The key word is "toss." You're NOT throwing
the ball at your other hand, you're letting its arc
spread so that its launching and landing are two different
points. Toss it no harder or softer than you did in
Step 2 and keep your hand and arm motions as vertical
as before. You'll find just the slightest angling
of the hands is all it takes for ball's path to stretch
out so that it travels to the territory of your other
hand. We repeat: don't throw, just toss up with a
slight angle.
- Trust in the apogee. Focus your attention
on the ball when it hits the point of apogee: that's
how you'll know exactly where the ball is going to
land. It's like this: the arc of a ball is a perfect
curve, and the path taken to get to apogee is ALWAYS
mirrored, in exact reverse order, by the remainder
of the arc. What comes down equals what goes up.
That means the behavior of the ball in reaching
its apogee is a preview of what's going to happen
next. If a ball hits apogee at a sharp angle two
feet away from the throwing hand, that means it'll
come down at an equally sharp angle four feet from
the point of origin. Catching it is simply a matter
of positioning your hand.
You'll note that the gentler the arc, the less
pronounced the apogee--because it doesn't have to
reverse direction, the ball doesn't seem to stop
in midair at any point. But you'll still know it
instinctively: it's when the ball's flight stops
being upward and starts being downward.
- Use your peripheral vision. This simple fact
of physics--the first part of the arc is the exact
opposite of the last part--is at the heart of many
of the impressive aspects of juggling. It's why jugglers
seem to snatch balls out of midair, without even looking.
They don't need to see where it's going, because they
know where it's been.
It's easier than it seems. Try this experiment:
cast your eyes upwards, in the general area where
most of the apogees seem to occur. Pick a spot on
the ceiling and keep your eyes there. Try not to
move your head, just trusting to peripheral vision
and your sense of apogee.
Now toss and catch your ball, without looking at
either hand. You probably won't get it at first,
but with a little practice you'll find you can watch
the ball sail through your field of vision and adjust
your catching hand accordingly. Just fight the temptation
to track the ball through its complete arc, and
trust in your hand's innate sense of position. After
all, isn't this just a variation on what baseball
outfielders do? They get a sense of the ball's arc,
then place their mitts underneath while still looking
skyward.
- Practice in both directions. You've probably
been favoring one hand throughout your practice, and
why not? You've only needed one up 'til now. But juggling
is a bi-directional activity, and you'll be tossing
and catching equally with both hands. It doesn't matter
which hand you use to start your toss/catch routine,
but now's the time to even out the flow. Keep the
one bag shuttling back and forth as much as possible.
To get comfortable with this motion (and to strengthen
your peripheral vision), just look casually around
the room while you're doing it..
Once you get the hang of this, it's time to move on
to some actual juggling!
 Step 4
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