Juggling Form and Technique

I hate sloppy patterns. Unfortunately, they seem to be the pervading trend as seen in countless online videos produced by enthusiastic and instant jugglers. In my opinion, juggling is about aesthetics as much as it is about skill. Why someone would include the ugliest 9 ball flash in the world at the end of their video instead of a nice clean 6 ball trick is beyond me. Perhaps they enjoy boasting about their fluke 78 catch runs more than getting a consistent qualify. Maybe they are simply ignorant of how to juggle properly. Well, now those instants will have no excuse. I've compiled a list of good advice on proper form and technique. The list itself was from John Satriano's notes taken during a workshop lead by juggling coach Yuri Pozdniakov. I have made a few alterations along with some extra commentary (in italics).

Why practice good form and technique? There are several benefits. The first one I've already touched on: your patterns will look good. They will look clean, solid, and consistent. You will actually look like a good juggler. Second, your juggling will progress. Establishing a better juggling posture will improve all of your existing patterns and will help you learn new patterns faster than before. Last but not least, you will have better endurance. You will physically be able to achieve longer runs. Proper form and technique would not be very proper if it wasn't efficient, and efficiency means you are wasting as little energy as possible. Now let's get to it:

Juggling Form


1. Feet aligned, shoulder width apart. Toes are straight or pointed out slightly.
2. Balance should be even, with a little more weight on heels than toes. Do not lean or favor one side.
3. Knees are slightly bent.

These first three tips will help keep your throws from going too far forward or backward. Remember that all pure patterns (e.g. no body throws or other variations) are based on a two dimensional plane (notice how the balls in the juggling simulator picture are lined up perfectly when viewed from the side). So the closer you are to keeping your pattern in that plane, the better your pattern will look. This posture will also help you maintain mobility so you can move your body quickly to make corrections for those inevitable mistakes.

4. Back should be straight.
5. Shoulders hang loosely, align with your body and pulled back, not slumped forward.
6. Upper arms drop straight down from shoulders.

Not only will your patterns look better, but you'll look better too. Good body posture is a plus whether or not you're juggling, so work on maintaining it no matter what you're doing. A few neck and abdominal exercises will help, but you'll have to look up those are your own; that is beyond the scope of this article.

7. Elbows form 90 degree angle.
8. Palms face up.
9. Breathe. Relax.

I can't emphasize #9 enough. Juggling while tense isn't very efficient, you'll definitely fatigue easier. Oh, and while you're working on this, you may as well fix those other bad habits such as keeping your mouth wide open or biting your lip.

Juggling Technique
1. Throws and catches are made palm up.
2. Wrists are straight during throws. The throwing arm feels like a straight edge.

I always have trouble with this one. I tend to bend my wrists a bit when I juggle beanbags. I'm guessing that the less you involve your wrists, the better your chances are of not developing tendonitis or other bad things jugglers can get.

3. Cascade (crossing) throws are thrown from the belly button and caught just outside the opposite shoulder.
4. Fountain (self) throws are made from between the belly button and shoulder and caught just outside the same shoulder.

The fountain pattern is all about lots of scoop. Sure, you can cheat a 4 ball fountain without much scoop, but for higher numbers you definitely need it!

5. Aim each throw to land perfectly at the catching position.
6. Good throws are more important than good catches.

I think this is one of the most prevalent problems among juggling newbies. Their throws are all over the place, so they throw even faster to make wild reaches and catch their crummy throws only to toss them wildly again... it's a vicious cycle.

7. Forearms make big motions, wrists stay straight. Throws are high, slow and floaty.

Your juggling doesn't have to look like Kristian Wanvik's; I think dwell time (the amount of time a prop spends in a hand rather than in the air) is a personal preference.

8. Keep your hands low and throw from a low position.

Another common mistake usually done by beginners. Let gravity do its job and bring the props back down to you.

9. Do not let your body "bounce." Stand straight and still.
10. Do not reach up to make catches but "cushion" the catch and use that downward motion as the wind-up for your next throw.

I should point out that these practice notes are for ball and club juggling only.

11. For balls, let your hands form a scoop. Catch and throw from the center pocket.
12. For clubs, hold loosely but with your whole hand. Avoid "wristy" throws, and do not spin the club using your thumb. Catch and throw from the center of the handle, do not let the club slip down to the knob.
13. Breathe. Relax.


How to Apply
1. Break it down – practice only one or two of these tips at a time. If you start out trying to do all of them, you will only frustrate yourself.

2. Start simple - don't start putting these tips into practice while working on something difficult like a 9 ball flash. You'll be so focused on the trick that you'll regress back to your old posture. Start with something super simple like the 3 ball cascade and work your way up. If you have good form on a 3 ball cascade you should be able to do it blind!

3. Be patient - your new, clean 5 ball pattern might feel more difficult with your new body position, but it will eventually become easier. Old habits die hard, and it may take awhile for the new habits to develop. Remember, you are investing in good form for the long term benefits. It's quite the opposite from the practice of instant juggling. Keep plugging away and you will eventually see results.

4. Get feedback - find other people, preferably experienced jugglers, to critique your form. They will help you discover what needs work and what is already golden. You could always record your practices with a video camera if you have one; that way you can observe yourself and online jugglers can offer their criticism too.

5. Don't avoid corrections - even Vova catches the wrong end of a club once in awhile. None of us will ever have truly perfect patterns, that means the occasional correction is needed. You may appreciate Peter Bone's advice on corrections:

"Try correcting errors with the throw instead of trying to force it with the hands before the throw. So if a club goes too far forward, throw it from the position you catch it [in] even if that's the wrong position and the throw should automatically correct the error. That helps me with that problem anyway. This goes for any kind of error - correct errors with the throws so that the error is corrected on the next catch rather than forcing the correction with the hands straight away."

6. Observe - watch other jugglers that have good form. See how they throw, catch, and correct. Check out videos by Anthony Gatto, Vova Galchenko, Ivan Pecel, etc.

Thanks to John Satriano and Yuri Pozdniakov. Yuri, along with his students and Viktor Kee, will once again lead a technique workshop at the 2007 IJA festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

• John's original notes
• Andrew's list without commentary