Hello everyone. I joined this forum looking for help on 4 ball juggling as I'm a beginner juggler. Could you give me some tips, as whenever I juggle 4 balls the two fountains keep swaying away from the center of my body, and start to become uneven. Thank you in advance!
I am not a ball juggler. I learned 4 balls first in columns before I changed to fountains. I guess it is another challenge, but I found it easier to learn a pattern where I throw straigt up and have no circular movement. With the energy you put into that circular movement I guess your balls get thrown further out because you want to throw them around the other from the inside to the outside. So you might have to throw a bit higher, which is also difficult to throw precisely. Therefore you might first learn colums to learn to throw straight. They might appear to be more hectic because you will throw less high and move your hands not in a round pattern but on a line and therefore faster. Maybe you could try that.
Synchronous, that I mention below, feel not so appealing but also help if you want to learn four clubs as you see the different heights of the clubs and the different speeds that they turn. So you can observe 1 particular thing that you want to even out. After being able to catch 4 clubs synchronously with 20 catches my asynchronous pattern reached 100 catches.
Perhaps some ball jugglers could also answer, as I am a diabolo player.
What helped me learn to juggle 4 balls was:
* 3 ball exercises
** juggling 4 2 3 (the W pattern) with 3 balls
** juggling 2 in 1 hand holding a third ball in the other hand. When I get insecure I threw 1 ball over to the other side and do 2 in 1 hand on the other side while holding the other ball in the hand I started with.
* 4 balls
** juggling columns not fountains
** juggling synchronous to see if I throw the same height on both sides
** juggling 4 balls asynchronous
** juggling fountains as my columns got secure (100 catches)
* general advice
** stopping when the pattern gets unstable and starting from new
** making pauses (juggle for 3 mins, doing nothing for 3 mins, thinking about what I did for 3 mins, repeat)
** 15-20 minutes a day is enough
Have fun juggling!
When I try to practice I just end up feeling very down and just give up. How can I practice 4 ball juggling? I feel like my brain has officially associated the prospect of juggling with stress.
A classic piece of advice that sounds facetious but isn't: remember to breathe. People often hold their breath without realising they're doing it. Try to remember to breathe in after 10 catches or so, then out after another 10, etc.
A common problem 4-ball learners have is that the pattern tends towards the middle, causing collisions. It sounds like you have the opposite problem. Perhaps your arm-scoops are too accentuated? Try a few runs concentrating on making your scoops wider or thinner, and seeing what difference that makes.
Good luck!
A good advice would be to practice with friends or other jugglers. Everybody struggles in the beginning of learning a new thing. Having people around even if they are training a completely different thing helps me being inspired and motivated. A friend of mine does play hoop and playing diabolo when she is training next to me just makes the session so much more fun.
You do not have to learn a new skill in a short time. Try to have short training sessions regularly than long sessions. You will see your progress. 15 Minutes a day should be enough.
If you can throw and catch 4 times (called a flash) cleanly is much better for an ending of a training session than having 8 (called a qualify for four balls) throws where you struggle to catch them and have a lot of body movement to being able to handle it. So try to end your session with a good run.
Hope that helps. Great that you come out and ask for advice! Welcome to the community.
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