I have been juggling for nearly 3 years. What began as a fun novelty has grown into a fantastic hobby. My colleagues at Dunelm have become accustomed to seeing my practice after work and any surprised looks have been replaced with knowing smiles. I’ve met some fantastic people through juggling, witnessed some unbelievable talents and made some close friends. I’m thankful for not only the connections that have formed, but the lessons I have learnt along the way. In this post, I will share my 5 greatest juggling learnings.

Juggling Builds Resilience

Learning to juggle does not happen overnight. There will be dozens, maybe hundreds of drops before any resemblance of a 3-ball cascade pattern begins to emerge. For anyone starting out, their throws can be rushed and uncontrolled; the high speed of release induced by a sense of fear or excitement. With practice, beginners start to find a more comfortable rhythm, a 1, 2, 3, catch, catch, catch, and with those first three catches, they are hooked. A first taste of success: it is easy to believe that the art of juggling is almost mastered! Progress may continue for a while, though beginners may be plagued by mid-air collisions, seemingly through no fault of their own. After anywhere between an hour and a couple of weeks, a smoother pattern is stabilised, and the juggler can be proud of their new skill. The patience exercised through the series of drops and collisions has paid off.

A similar journey is followed before each new ball can be added the pattern or before each new trick can be called upon for a routine. I learnt to juggle a rudimentary 3 ball cascade within a week, to keep 4 balls aloft took a couple of months, and a stable 5 ball cascade was nearly a year in the making. Near daily practice, with an underlying background of drops was a valuable lesson in the importance of a resilient attitude towards achievement. I am grateful for my patience, which breeds a mutual respect when meeting other 5 ball jugglers. We each know that the other has been on a similar journey of practice, patience and persistence.

Breaking down Goals

Often the end goal may seem a bit of a handful. In my case, targeting 9 ball juggling, this handful is very relatable. With 5 balls in the right hand, and 4 balls in the left, the balls must be thrown individually up to a height of several metres. Each throw must be made accurate to within an angular error of no more than a couple of degrees and the throws must be made at a rate of between 4 and 5 per second. Then the balls must be caught in order as they descend, once again catching 5 in one hand and 4 in the other, the hands filling up almost as quickly as they were emptied.

To be successful, one doesn’t simply pick up 9 balls, find a high enough ceiling and hope for the best! One would begin with a single ball, building the mechanics of a throw into muscle memory. Another useful drill is to juggle 3 balls with throws that rise higher and higher each time until they reach the height required to throw another 8 hypothetical balls underneath. Through experience, a basic understanding of site swap, or by talking to other jugglers, a difficulty hierarchy of juggling patterns can be established, dependencies drawn and ultimately a road map to whatever goal you wish to achieve. When broken down into these manageable steps, the process becomes much clearer and the juggler becomes more realistic with their expectations.

Progress definitely isn’t Linear

I have found regular practice to be a great contributor to my progress. In the past few months, I have seen correlation in time spent juggling and progress made. As a side note, I think that as competency increases, as does the importance of more frequent practice. However, Juggling has taught me, rather frustratingly, that improvements do not often follow a linear relationship against time. Fruitful periods of progress can end sharply, followed with weeks or months of stagnation. The skills and techniques may be secured, but personal bests remain memories of previous sessions.

On days where practice isn’t going so well, I have found it helpful to take it easier and accept that today isn’t a day for record breaking. If I’ve been sleeping well and am not physically, then it’s normally a state of mind. I use these times to sure up technique or work on easier tricks which I may routinely pass by in a usual practice session.  

Progress Crushes Self-doubt

At the times described above, where all momentum seems to have been lost and progress stalled, we can feel most inclined to throw in the towel, to quit and to retreat to an easier pursuit. A minor adjustment of technique or shift of focus can lead to a great run when least expected. This break through absolutely crushes one’s self-doubt and restores faith in yourself and your journey towards your goals. All these moments serve to feed motivation in later sessions. The sessions where everything goes better than before are the very best. Reminiscent of when 3 balls are caught successfully for the first time, each new marker reached gives a boost incrementally better than the previous. An awareness and appreciation of these moments gives me even more confidence when I experience these feelings in other parts of my life.

Learning happens best while having fun

There is no factor more important in the success of learning than enjoyment for the subject material. My progress in juggling would not have happened without the drive to return to practice regardless of drops, year-round. It’s not a job. As with any hobby, it needs to be enjoyed in order to be continued willingly. The enjoyment takes different forms. It may be the social element of meeting with friends to practice, it may be the creativity of inventing a variation of a tick, or it may be the performance breakthrough moments which keep the juggler coming back time and time again.

For me, juggling is both a relaxer and a revitaliser. Warming up with 3 and 4 balls is a calming period at the end of a working day. Seeing 5, 6, 7 or more balls aloft later in my practice gives me great energy. A combination of these sensations is my enjoyment factor and the reason I keep on juggling.

Have you learnt to juggle? Can you relate to these lessons? I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time,

Scott