Juggling 4 Balls - The First Few Tricks Once You Have Mastered the Fountain

If you have mastered the 4 Ball Fountain in several directions (clockwise/anti-clockwise, sync/out-of-sync), then you are ready to try some basic 4 ball juggling tricks and this guide will help you to master them!

Under the Leg: Yes there is time to throw one under the leg! Practice with just two balls in one hand. Throw one extra high to give you plenty of time to raise your leg and throw the next ball underneath, then keep juggling! Practice with your weaker hand also. Once you have practiced this trick well enough, you shouldn't have to throw much higher than normal to keep this pattern going.

Columns / Splits: Throw a ball up from each hand, then shift both hands to the left a couple of inches, and throw the next two up in the air. Now go back and catch and throw the first two balls, and then move again to catch and throw the second lot... and keep going! It takes a lot of effort to make this one look effortless! You could also start with each hand throwing a ball at the right side of your body, and moving your hands swiftly to throw two balls on your left side, and moving very quickly between the two! Once they are all going up and down in their own columns, you could try slowly widening the gap!

4 Ball Half Shower: This trick looks harder than it actually is, so don't give up! You can start off by juggling this pattern synchronously (throwing a ball from each hand at the same time). Choose which direction you want the balls to go in, and at the same time, throw a ball high to one hand, and throw the ball low to the other hand. When both balls peak (which should be roughly the same time - this needs a bit of work), throw the next two balls in exactly the same way (the hand that threw a high ball, throws another high ball etc). Keep going, and remember to practice this trick in both directions!

Snake: Start with two balls in each hand. Throw one ball from your right hand, then two balls from your left hand in quick succession. Then throw two from your right hand in succession. (i.e. throw the one still in your hand, catch the first left, throw it, catch and hold the second left) Then two lefts, two rights, two lefts, etc. It's confusing at first, but the pattern looks really good!

Continuous Crosses: Hold two balls in each hand, and throw one from each hand to the opposite hand at the same time. You need to throw one ball slightly higher than the other ball or else they will collide. Treat the incoming balls as the first throw in a 4 ball fountain and keep juggling throwing in the occasional simultaneous cross. See if you can make every throw a simultaneous cross!

3 Ball Surprise: Hold 4 balls in your hand, but keep one held firmly at the back of your hand so that people think you only have 3 (I use my pinky and forefinger to clamp the ball in the palm of my hand)! Do some 3 ball juggling tricks, keeping the 4th ball hidden, then when you have caught another ball in the same hand, throw both up into the pattern, then clamp down on the 4th ball again, and go back to 3 ball tricks!

When you have learned all of these tricks, then the next best thing is to either do a Google search for further 4 ball tricks or consider learning to juggle 5 balls. 5 ball juggling involves doing the 3 ball cascade pattern, but with a lot more height, accuracy and speed!

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/6272663

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