Quick Skills: Juggling

What’s this? Quick skills are small challenges that are rewarding and once mastered you’ll have forever. You can add them to your arsenal of awesome in as little as five minutes.

Skill Juggling.
Time to Learn 15 minutes.
Equipment 3 round objects (oranges are good).

Start with 2 balls, one in each hand. Throw the right (if you’re a south paw, just switch right and left) over to your left so that it reaches you eye level in the middle. When it’s at its apex, throw the left one in an arc underneath to your right. Catch with your left, catch with your right. Throw, throw, catch, catch. Once that feels comfortable, lead with your left hand first. That is the basic motion.

Add the third ball starting in your right hand, and string together an extra catch. When the 2nd ball from your left reaches its apex, throw the 3rd one in your right hand. Just try to get to 3 catches. Then 4. Once you’ve worked your way up to 8 catches, you get your certificate.

If you are after more detail, there’s no shortage of intro material around the internet.

Protips

• Keep your hands relaxed and throw from the hips
• Throw “out to in”, forming a figure eight pattern
• If you end up moving forward to catch your throws, try throwing backwards slightly (this seems really obvious, but it’s a common mistake)

Who’s better?

Click here if you do not see an embedded video

We found some beets in the kitchen. Not ideal—balls with tails aren’t weighted so well. Still, real life is never ideal. This was totally unrehearsed, as to not unfaily bias the results. I lose points for lack of confidence, but regain some for sledging at the end. It’s quite clear however that I delegate to Jared at parties.

Winner: Jared.

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