Juggling

Barbara J. Feldman

Juggling entered our house last year, when my son got a set of three balls as a present. This year he added a set of juggling sticks to his collection. I've learned that the world's best jugglers can keep a pattern going with as many as ten balls at once and that Ancient Egyptian tomb paintings show people juggling. Juggling develops hand-eye coordination and keeps the kids amused for hours. Give it a try!

How to Devil Stick

4 stars

Devil sticks are a set of three sticks: two control sticks (one for each hand) and one colorful master stick. Their name comes from the Greek word 'devil' which means to throw across. It is not known exactly when devil sticks were invented, but they were used for juggling in China at least two hundred years ago. This Web site will give you a good introduction to devil sticks, starting with the basic tick-tock movement, and then introducing flips, the propellor spin and the helicopter spin. Devil sticks have gained in popularity this last year, and can be found at most toy stores.

How to Juggle Three Balls

3 stars

These illustrated instructions start with a one ball exercise. Throw the ball in an arc from hand to hand about eye level. The pattern will be an arc, not a circle. Then you'll move onto a two ball exercise, and then onto three ball juggling. At the bottom of the page, you'll find corrections to some common problems such as moving forward as you juggle, or the balls hitting each other.

Introduction to Juggling

3 stars

This site was built as a Java demonstration, rather than as a comprehensive juggling tutorial. If you have a Java-enhanced browser, you will see a continuous animation of two hands tossing a single ball, then two balls and at last three balls. The text is not as instructive as the other juggling sites I reviewed, but the application of Java animation makes it worth a visit.

Juggling Information Service

5 stars

This is the grand-daddy of all juggling sites, with comprehensive coverage of all aspects of juggling. From their home page, you can delve into Juggling Help, Club Meetings, Juggler's Home Pages, Juggling in the Media, Juggler's Mall (for buying equipment) and more. For the beginner, I'd suggest starting at the Juggling Help pages, which is a combination of original material and pointers to other juggling sites on the Web. Outstanding!