five balls

[Juggalicious]

How do I practice five balls- just keep doing it with five - or should I practice four balls in a crossing pattern... I know the pattern I just have to get down accuracy - I will get this by the end of spring

Juggalicious

[Jim]

I flashed five over and over again for about 4 months. Five throws, five catches. 20 minutes a day for 4 months.

Then I started doing about 15 catches. I was stuck at a record 30 catches for about a month or two. Then one day it just clicked and I could do 50.

Overall, it took about 6 months to get to 50 catches. It took me a year to get to 100 catches consistently.

The best practice when you're starting is flashing over and over and over. Don't juggle til you drop or you'll be practicing dropping. Throw 5 and catch 5 until you can do it 50 times in a row. Then your ready for 10 catches.

It's like the Karate Kid. You've got to get the basics mastered. If you master the start and finish without dropping, the middle (actual juggling) will take care of itself.

Jim

[Evan Young]

It took me over a year just to get from a five ball flash to 10 catches.
I do think the 4 ball crossing pattern will help. There is some other 4 ball paterns that help. 5551(?) Keep on working with 5 though.
Just juggle lots, and work on stuff you can't do yet.

[jugglermatt1]

Make a cradle with your fingers and catch the balls there , and not in the palms of your hand .Remember to breathe, I usually breathe in when I throw .And relax , you wont be able to , but try .

[Tom B]

When I was learning 5 balls, I found that making sure that my 3 up flash was SOLID helped me the most. Its the same rythem, speed, and height as 5 balls.

Tom

[Mark Wessels]

Hey,

I cant reaaly juggle five but i can well enough to pretend. One thing that helped me was to stop for a while. Really, when I started again a few weeks later I had a whole new aditude towards the whole thing. I had been working too hard and not enjoying it. Also, try varying how high you throw. This REALLY helped me, low helps with speed high helps with accuracy. Good luck. Enjoy it.

Mark

[Steven Ragatz]

Here are some exercises for learning five:

Cascade three high with a fast pace. (Fast pace means that you don't hold the ball very long in the hand. Imagine taking a picture of yourself juggling. At any moment the photo of you juggling with a fast pace should show either one or no props in your hands.)

Three ball chase (R-R-R-L-L-L...)

Four ball crossing in a cascade (R-L-R-L-L-R-L-R...) - also referred to as "five with a hole"

Three in one hand fountain (practice each hand, not just your favorite)

Keep your elbows under your shoulders and let the pattern be shoulder-width. About two feet above eye level is a good starting height. As Jim suggests, work on short clean runs. Initially, just a flash, but after you begin to consistently get comfortable with that, you can add throws.

Five is a tough trick, but typically the learning curve is measured in months, rather than years, so with steady practice, you should start to see progress quickly.

Steven Ragatz

[scot]

It's easy and you can learn it in 3 months time. You just have to be driven to get it. I worked constantly at it. I'd alternate finishing clean and finishing messy. It was just what I felt like at the time. Work on it twice a day. Once at the middle of the day and once before bed. You'll dream about it.

The main thing is do what it takes to keep practicing. Practice stacks and splits or whatever you want just so you're still working with the balls. I practice the "wrong" way because I'm impatient. I just work on it hardcore until I get it. When I work on other things, I get distracted.

Scot