Learning the Shower

General Tips

From watching many people trying to learn to shower I've noticed a few things. First, some people pass the ball from the left to the right. That is, the left hand physically places the ball into the right, instead of throwing it across. This works for 3, but as the number of balls gets higher (>4), it takes too much time to place each ball into the right hand. I suggest, from the start, learning to THROW the ball straight across and resist the temptation to pass it. I would recommend trying to increase the distance between your hands to perfect this throw.

The second thing I've noticed, is that most people tend not to throw high enough. I can't stress enough that learning to control a 20+ foot throw will help greatly for the higher numbers. If you can juggle 4 in a shower all with 20 foot throws it will much easier to learn 5.

The third thing applies to any juggling trick, PRACTICE! Even five minutes each day on a particular trick will decrease your learning time.

Specific Tips

3 Balls Start with one ball in your right hand. Throw this ball to the the left hand so that it peeks at a comfortable height (4-6 ft above your hands) and travels in a high arc. Now, start with one ball in each hand and throw the right one as before. As soon as it leaves your hand, throw the left hand ball straight across to your right hand. The balls should have switched hands. When you feel ready for 3, start with two in the right and one in the left. Throw the right two in quick succession in the same path as before. Quickly throw the left hand ball to your right hand. You should have one ball in your right hand with one ball near the top of the arc and the other about to hit your left hand. Now it's just a matter of getting in the groove and throwing each ball along it's path.

4 Balls Most books I've seen suggest starting with 3 in the right and 1 in the left. I start with 2 in each because it teaches you to toss those first 2 quickly so you have time to throw the other 2 over. The pattern is easy to guess, it's the same as before. Just throw a bit higher and a bit faster. Not what you wanted to hear is it? I'm afraid I don't know any sure-fire method for quickly learning 4, except for PRACTICE.

5 Balls Again, some books say 4 in the right and 1 in the left. Again, I say 3 in the right and 2 in the left. If you are serious about learning 5, I'll assume your 4 pattern is SOLID. I would recommend practicing 4 with fairly high throws, as I said in the general tips section. It will take a good amount of practice to juggle 5 consistently, perhaps more time than it took to learn 5 in the cascade. :-(

6 Balls I'm still in the practicing stage on this one. I can usually get 10-12 catches after some warming up. I start with 3 in each hand so those first 3 are thrown as fast and as high as possible while still maintaining control. If I can get those first 3 out the way I want them, the rest seem to come easily.

Learning the Shower / Juggling Information Service / help@juggling.org