‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’ says something to all of us that we should not just get ourselves involved in doing hard work all the time. Some type of amusement and entertaining activities must be performed by all of us to get out of the tiredness. There are many types of entertainments like listening to music, sports, playing cards, indoor games, or juggling ball. The latter refers is an ancient art dating back to about four thousand years ago that originated in Egypt. Known as Dynamic Manipulation and Sphereplay; Contact Juggling refers to handling of single or multiple balls. An experienced juggler is capable of rolling, spinning, tossing and passing the ball back and forth. He or she is able to loop and bob it over the palms, fingertips and tops of his or her hands. Likewise the juggler can do so on the arms and other parts the body too.
Following simple tips can be helpful in entertaining the onlookers by acting as a three ball juggler –
- Cradle– Palm down with the hands since extended and touching by holding your favored hand out. Make a cradle for the ball by dipping the straightened middle finger down in gentle manners. Leave the ball on the fingers top adjacent to the second knuckle of the first, middle and ring fingers. Let it remain there for few minutes so that it gets used to in this very situation. Let your hand move around, up and down while the ball rests in a cradled position on its top. You will find the cradle on the hands tops and the ball may become accustomed in this specific position.
- Transfer –Let the ball remain in your open palm by holding it and set on the top fleshy part between the second and third knuckles. Allow the ball a gentle lifting up by keeping the fingers together and straight but not in tense position. Let your open hand pivot inwards under the ball to enable it to roll over the outer edge of the index finger and land in the cradle position on the hand top. Hold it for some time and rotate it back to the palm in the reverse pivoting motion and drop the hand plane back down if required. Repeat this practice till the time ball keeps on moving as little as possible while the hand keeps on moving under it. The next step under transfer is holding the ball in the open palm with the fingers together and moving towards ten o’clock (left) or two o’clock (right). Make use of your elbow for counterbalancing. This technique of transfer can be learnt by first cradling the ball in your front and arcing it out to the palm.
- Butterfly– This is just like the previous palm-to-cradle fingertips transfer action with the little difference that you should keep your elbow free for moving around for supporting the fluid motion. Be advised to lift the ball in a small inward curve. Remain slow for getting used to the move and watch it.
You can perform as a professional juggler by adhering to the above simple tips that are quite helpful in juggling ball.