Basics of Juggling
Juggling is one of those skills that just about anyone can learn how to do. I was able to teach
myself to juggle one summer while I was in high school, and I’ve been a much cooler person ever
since. Learning to juggle takes time and practice, but if you follow this guide, you’ll be a pro in
no time! So, whether you want to join the circus, impress your friends, or just occupy yourself
when you’re bored, this is the perfect place to start!
What YNeed
Three identical round objects
I learned to juggle with baseballs, but anything from tennis balls to golf balls will work just
as well. Make sure to use balls that are small enough that you can comfortably hold 2 of
them in one hand
An outdoor or open area
You may throw the balls fairly high when you are first learning, so an open area is best so
that a ceiling does not get in the way.
Patience
Juggling is a skill that takes time to get good at. You won’t be perfect at first, so understand
it will take time to build the muscle memory for it.
How to Juggle
1. Start by holding two of the balls in your dominant hand, and the other ball in your
non-dominant hand. Have your palms facing up.
2. With your dominant hand, throw one of the two balls up into the air. At this moment,
you’ll have one ball in each hand and one ball in mid-air.
3. Wait for the mid-air ball to reach its peak height.
4. As soon as the ball reaches its peak, throw the ball in your non-dominant hand up into the
air. At this moment you’ll have 1 ball in your dominant hand, 1 ball in mid-air that is
descending, and 1 ball in mid-air that is ascending.
5. Catch the first ball with your non-dominant hand. At this point, the second ball you
threw should be at or near its peak.
6. Once the second ball reaches its peak, throw the ball in your dominant hand up into the
air.
7. Catch the second ball with your dominant hand.
8. Repeat steps 3-7 until failure.
How to Practice Juggling
One of the hardest parts about learning to juggle is training your muscles to have the muscle
memory to do it. This will come with practice, but how exactly should you practice in order to
see the fastest results? Below, I’ve detailed a simple practice method that I used to learn to
juggle, and you give this method a try for yourself.
1. Start by holding two balls in your dominant hand, one in your non-dominant.
2. Throw 2 of the balls in a juggling pattern like what is described in the How to Juggle
section.
3. Catch both balls as they fall, then stop juggling.
4. Do this a few more times until you feel comfortable doing it.
5. Now add a third throw and catch, again remembering to follow the steps described in the
How to Juggle section. If you’re right-handed, this means you’ll throw the first ball up
with your right hand, then throw the second up with your left hand, then throw the third
up with your right hand, and vice versa if you’re left-handed.
6. Catch all three of the balls in succession, then stop juggling.
7. Again, do this a few more times until you feel you can do it consistently.
8. Add a fourth throw and catch to your juggling routine, again stopping after you catch all
the balls.
9. Again, repeat this until you can consistently throw and catch four balls in a juggling
pattern.
10. Continue adding one throw and catch to your juggling routine each time you can
consistently juggle at your given number of throws and catches. Once you can get 5
consistently, try 6. Once you can get 6 consistently, try 7 and so on and so forth
Once you can consistently do about 9 or 10 in a row, you should be able to continue the
juggling pattern for as long as possible.
Congratulations!
If you can reach the last step, you’ve learned to juggle and are one step closer to the circus! If
you’re still looking for a challenge, you can try learning some tricks, juggling different objects
(like pencils or silverware), or even adding a fourth ball.
