How to Juggle 3 Balls
Have you ever seen a juggler and thought, “I could never do that!”
Well today, I’m here to prove you wrong. My name is Jeremy Fein, and I’ve been helping show people that they can learn seemingly impossible juggling skills for over 20 years. In this article, I’ll take you through a step-by-step progression to learn the 3-ball cascade.
You’ll need 3 objects. If you have juggling balls, great. But if not, you can use tennis balls or even rolled up socks.
Step 1: Fail!
Pick up a ball, throw it in the air, and let it hit the floor. This will DEFINITELY be part of the learning process, and it’s okay. The sooner you can get comfortable dropping, the sooner you’ll be juggling!
Finding Your Height (1 ball)
In this video, you’ll learn the tradeoff between speed and height. If you throw too low, you’ll have to move your hands really fast. Too high? It will be hard to control the accuracy of your throws? We’ll aim for that sweet spot in the middle.
“Throw - Throw - Catch - Catch” (2 balls)
Take a deep breath, you’re about to juggle two objects! That’s pretty cool, in my book. You’ll start with one each hand, and your task is to get them to switch sides.
Good throws make for easy catches (3 balls)
When many people try to learn to juggle, they just grab a few objects and sling ‘em in the air. One problem with this strategy is that it’s REALLY hard to catch inconsistent throws. When one ball is higher than the others or the timing is off, juggling can get really messy. So we started with one and two balls to make sure you develop the control you need. Remember that if things start to feel hectic here. If you can make good throws, the catches will come.
Most people won’t pick juggling up right away. It’s tough! If you got just a little more comfortable with any of the three drills today, then you’ve made a lot of progress.
Of course, these three steps are just a glimpse of the full progression. We can add several steps in between to make sure you always know what to practice next.
If you’d appreciate more detail and guidance, I’d love to help: