Tips

Learn from mistakes

Don't just make the same mistakes over and over again, learn each time you fail at some new move. Listen to your body: each muscle records what went wrong at the time of your mistake, and you can learn from it once you learn how. Also, if you have some weird mistake that looks kind of cool, fly with it! Turn a mistake into a new move.

Get a Signature Move

Once you get used to the basics of CJ, get a signature move, a move that just screams. . . .YOU! My signature move is the "Spined" Tandem Butterfly. A signature move is just a nifty little way of making yourself known.

Before CJing, stretch...your ENTIRE body.

Nothing is worse than getting a leg cramp in the middle of a CJ routine. Be sure to stretch all of the major muscle groups in your body, and be sure to stretch ALL of your arm, not just your wrist/fingers (even if you only palmspin!).

Both Hands, Both Ways

"Remember, if you can only do a trick with one hand, you are literally half the juggler you think you are!"

Make Learning easier. Big to small for rolls. Small to big for spins.

You should always practice with the ball you are going to perform with. Unfortunately it may be very difficult to start out with that ball doing certain tricks. I recomend that you use small balls to spin with then increase the size as you get better. For ball rolls I recommend the opposite. Start with large balls, basketball, then go to smaller balls, mini basketballs. Until one day you can perform with what you practice with.

Nothing is impossible

Whatever you set your mind ondoing, you will find a way to make it possible. I have seen lots of people saying a simple CJ move is impossible. And as a CJer you sometime get the feeling something is impossible, we have proved on numerous occasions this is not so. If enough effort is put you will find a way.

Stay loose

Even after stretching, ones body may tend to tighten up after a while of Cj'ing (especially when learning new moves). One way to overcome it is to smile, even chuckle as you CJ and it will greatly loosen you up. Act like you are on dope. Maybe even dance a little jig. Best to do when nobody else is around

Constantly be aware of your surroundings.

Whenever your preforming, keep in mind that no matter how good you are. Those little gremlin mess ups, can enter your act and cause a ball to take a little unexpected path. Always know what is around you and how far they are in case you need to recover. There isn't any worse feeling than messing up, and hitting the face of the little kid who snuck in close to get a better view, all within the same 10 seconds.

Make a Ball-stand with an old CD

That's right, just take any old CD you have lying around, and use the hold in the middle to hold your acrylic. This looks really nice if you have a lot of mini-CDs in an interesting pattern.

Go out and meet other contactjugglers at all costs.

The best information and ideas you get from fellow CJ-ers. As you look to ONE new move he/she created, the your brain will instantly see four other possebiletys out of that one new move. You show those four possebiletys back to the origionator and the possebiletys will expand again with a factor four.

Kneel in front of your bed to learn the butterfly

Learning the butterfly is a hard task, constantly bending over to pick up the ball when it flew away, and flincing each time as you hear the ball bang to (hopefully) the floor. A simple solution is to go and kneel (on both knees) at the side of your bed and practice above the bed.

Get in "The Zone"

There is one area of your mind when juggling that is the most productive, and unfortunatly, not many people get there. It's called "The zone". You'll know when you get there, because it will just be you and the ball, 1 on 1, or 1 on 8, depending on your style, but nothing else will matter, and time will fly like rocket.

Make a Ball-Stand with a simple piece of rope.

place a ball on the ground, and arrange six others of the same size around it in a circle so they are all touching. now tie a rope circle so when it is laid on the balls, it encompasses the tops of all the balls, but is not so loose it can be pushed down over the group. Now place that loop somewhere and arrange the seven balls into it so they are still. Now you can place three on top of those seven, and another one on top

Get out there and do it!

The best cure for stage fright, is to just Contact Juggle anyplace you are. A mall, a park, walkin down the street. This is a great way to overcome fear of performing in front of crowds.

Brush your teeth with the other hand-- no really.

As you go through your daily routine of life, challenge yourself to do mundane tasks with the other hand. You'd be surprised how hard it is to brush your teeth for example or comb your hair or shave (not recommended for beginners). Use this exercise to build new connections with your "weak" hand and essentially balance your body from square one. I believe everyone's ambidextrous, we've all just been conditioned to hold the remote control with one hand.

videotape your contact juggling routines.

When preparing a performance it is important to remember that contact juggling is about audience perception. Essentially the contact juggler is trying to create an illusion, a weighless ball with a life of it's own that seems to float around the performers body. One of the best ways to evaluate how successful you are in creating this illusion is to videotape yourself.

Practice with different sizes and different weights of balls

I believe that it is important to vary the size and weight of the balls you practice with. For instance, if you are trying to put together a routine with a 3" acrylic, try the same routine with a 2.5" ball. You should find that the 2.5" ball is somewhat harder to manipulate. If you continue to practice diligently however, you will improve with the 2.5" ball. Once you have done this for a while, a few weeks, switch back and try the same routine with the 3" ball, and it should be much smoother.

Want to spin 2? Practice 3.

If you want to smooth out your palmspins, try moving them up a level. You'll find that if you practice harder tricks, your easier ones will smooth out naturally.

If you can Hold 3 you can spin 3

Palmspinning tip... I have heard so many people say to me "Oh I could never do that" or "My hands are too small for that" The most simple, basic, easiest rule to remember is this tip.

Warm Up

Make Sure to warm up before you start to CJ it will protect your body for the long term.

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