When you are just starting off, stay low and take it easy. You want to begin your first class by juggling with knives and balls of fire. Instead, you want to pick objects that are lightweight, easy to juggle and have a great hand feel.
The rule of thumb when looking for juggling objects is to find things that do not bounce or jiggle much. Soft tennis balls are of course the most common go-to juggling starters. However, if you want to take the cheaper way out, you can opt for beanbags that you can DIY at home, or even bags filled with sand or pennies!
Listen, you are not competing in the Olympics this Saturday, okay? Juggling is very fun and exciting, but it also requires a bit of skills in terms of stability, balance and speed. All of which takes a lot of time and practice.
So take it easy and take your time getting the hang of the whole thing. Balls will fall here and there… .a lot, in fact, But that's fine. You are learning! However, we recommend that you practice somewhere a little open and spacious with high ceiling. You could also of course practice outdoors. Within a few days into it, you will be able to understand and control a lot of things like the positioning of your feet, hands, the speed, and reflexes and so on. Take it slow.
Scooping is basically a routine of hand movement. You sway and dip your hands a little lower and before tossing the ball out of the other hand, and then do the same thing on the other hand again. The arc of your scoop should not exceed the eye level and you should have a smooth, swaying movement going on. Try scooping without any balls or bags first.
1 ball, 2 ball, 3 ball!
And then finally comes the slow and steady addition of your juggling balls into the scooping movement. You, of course, want to begin with just 1 ball. Although it isn't juggling per se if there's only 1 ball, but this is just for transition into the 2nd ball.
Then, throw in the second ball. And this is where the REAL juggling begins. Toss one ball, and when it reaches the top of its arc, toss the other ball to the other hand. Do not transition into adding any more balls until you can perfectly juggle between the 2 balls. Practice and take your time to master this step until it becomes a piece of cake. And then finally, throw in the 3rd ball and continue with the same principle before adding in any throw balls.
With the 3-ball juggling now mastered, you now want to move on to a new juggling basic, the over-the-top technique.
This technique is the same thing as scooping, but the exception that you will be doing in with just one hand in the opposite direction. The over-the-top principle has you scooping under and then releasing the ball, you catch it. And then you scoop to the outside and throw it over. This process is definitely a tad bit more challenging, so take your time learning it thoroughly. If you mastered this, you are already juggling. Congratulations! Try adding in a 4th or 5th ball, if you like.
Juggling takes heaps of practice and patience. So trying your hand at it once in a while won't do anything. Instead, we recommend that you practice juggling in small sessions every day. And with the basics and handwork taken care of, you will be juggling like a pro in no time. Good luck!