Tips

Acrylics do melt

Try not to leave your acrylics in the sun because they have a tendency to melt.

softballs and ducttape

Ive been learning on a softball with duct tape on the outside, it works great.

A little poor? Visit the Pet Store!

Something I found out early in Contact Juggling is... balls are expensive. At the local pet store you can pick up heavy rubber etc balls for really cheap and they work as great practice balls! It helps save ware and tear on your good balls and hey... sure the rubber ones are hard for palm spinning but if you drop them they will sometimes just bounce back up!

(P.S. Avoid buying the mint flavored ones unless you like minty hands. Heh heh)

Start out with something you don't care gets broken

I started out with a tennis ball filled with rice, it helps you learn the basics without ruining a good cj ball.

Lacrosse Balls

Cant afford a few acrylics? (i cant im only 13 :) Buy some Lacrosse Balls! They run for 2-5 dollars at your local sporting goods store. Theyre also good for juggling, and bounce juggling (great way to learn it) Dont buy like 4 though if your only planning on palmspinning them, there not that good for palmspinning.

Acrylics are hard and can break teeth

I just broke one tooth tossing a 4" acrylic behind the back and, obviously, catching it in a wrong place. Consider using silicones instead. The tradeoff is that they do more damage to your surroundings (as they can bounce surprisingly far away).

Avoid getting burned!

If your walking in the sun with your acrylics, keep it moving in your hands. I prefer moving it from my palm to my finger tips and back. It works your hand too, impresses people if you do it with style, and you avoid getting burned.

Learn "The Secret"

I believe there is a physically describable "secret" to doing any trick. The secret is the key to accomplishing the trick. What once seemed undecipherable will seem easily deciphered. Also, if you know the secret to a trick, it helps wih teaching. The secret will help even the slowest learner to learn a trick quickly and easily.

toss juggler crosses barrier to CJ...u can too!

i have spent several years working on three ball toss juggling, and in my search for something new, i kept finding videos of people who worked CJ into their regular juggling...that's why i'm here, trying to find something new to add to my juggling.
But u can all do the same thing...take a look at toss juggling (what clowns and cartoons do), and i guarantee u that it will give u new ideas.
Everything u look at or practice will give u a new way of looking at your art, and will contribute to your skills!

slow it down

the slower the better, if you try to do a lot of fancy tricks realy fast and the person watching is not a cjer then they will miss it just like someone that does not frequent chat rooms can't read all that fast scrolling text

When CJing crosslegged, KEEP A PILLOW IN YOUR LAP!!!

If you're a guy Cjer, dropping the ball crosslegged can hurt pretty badly!

your language

think of your cj like a new language . the choice of mooves u practice and use is your choice of words.fascinating outhers is only secundary , as long as u feel : yes , thats me ...

Get yoursself a "beat-up" ball.

Pure acrylics are incredibly resiliant. They can take a thrashing on pavement and will come out of a practice session on the sidewalk with a couple scratches and maybe a small chip or two. Once your acrylic has started losing its luster, maybe scratched a lot make it into your beat-up ball. You can use it when you have no soft ground for balls to land on and to give to people to play with. Being fully confident that no matter how far you throw the ball it will be OK is great when learning more flamboyant tricks. No fear allows for some crazy experimentation.

low=control

I find that in any of my juggling endeavors, practicing while kneeling or sitting helps get the basics under control so I use my arms and hands for control instead of moving my body all erratic after the ball. This also helps when dropping, ball is shorter distance away! Later the body is very important in advanced moves as well as the theatrical part of contact juggling, so don't grovel forever!

practice in places that please you

I am lucky to work at my sister's gym which has a gymnastics floor. It has beautiful blue fuzzy covering trimmed in red and is springboard flooring. Also there is high ceiling with bright lights. My ball sparkles, and looking out on flawless blue floor, I feel like I'm a proffessional on a handcrafted stage. I do much better and am more creative when I feel that good and comfortable in my surroundings. My apartment on the other hand doesn't inspire me as well.

Let people play with one of your beat up acrylics, you may discover new moves within their follies.

Every time someone asks to play with your balls just hand them your beatup ball, the one you practice over pavement with. Most of the time they will just fool with it a little and hand it back. But every now and then, in their attempts to do some cool moves, they will show you a move you never thought of. Try to learn from not only your own mistakes but theirs, too.

its all possibe ,,if your mind can physically do it ..the body will mentally follow!!!

every part of the body that you can turn into a flat plain.. the ball will roll .. which is every part...then if you add physical momentum i.e spin ..you can bend the laws of physics to create any trick that you desire !!

indecision high-lites choice .
symbol recognition allows for a voice.
the fact your being ,always mean your doing.
so ,the art of freeing ,is all in the viewing.

....remember that all tricks go multiple ways don't contend yourself with one direction or side ...one trick = at least eight if you apply the right thought ..

Find your own style not only for performance, but also practice!

If the book or vid tells you to practice or start this way, you don't have to do it. If your beggining to learn the trickin a different way don't change just because thats not how someone else learned. To each his own.

You can isolate anything.

I got this tip from Andrew Wilson. Pick up any object and try to isolate it. Any object or thing can be isolated. Try it. By practicing isolations of other objects it will make it easier to isolate a sphere. Also it may give you other props to use when you CJ.

Remember to BREATHE

Hands shake after a minute or two of performing to an audience? Probably not breathing. A good way to remember to breathe is, find your focus (for example when doing pyramid patterns I'm focusing on the top ball) and let that focus remind you to breathe. Practice breathing when say doing the dishes. Breath is the one autonomic system that anyone can control-- it's very powerful. P.S. Don't forget to blink either! ;)

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