Repeat this exercise a few times, placing a club in the balance from the cascade without trying to catch the double. Then start speeding up the placement until you can finish in time to catch the falling double. The extra height of the double is what gives you time to make the set - balance before the double comes down.

 

The entire sequence is this: (1) throw a double spin from the right hand, (2) place the left hand club on the right hand club, and (3) catch the double spin in the left hand while maintaining the balance in the right hand. After catching the double, keep your eye on the top of the balanced club. Now maybe reverse things and try the set - balance on a club in your left hand instead of the right; set it up by throwing a double from the left.

 

Actually, you can do the set - balance after throwing just a single instead of a double. But you may like to make use of the illusion that the higher double (or triple, etc.) provides because it distracts the audience from the setting of one club on another. They may think you caught it there.

 

Peel Offs

For a smooth trick involving just set-balances, try some peel offs. Start with a cIub-on-club balance in your right hand as in Fig. 2 and hold a third club in your left. Let the balanced club start to fall to the right as you lift the club out from under it and place that club in a balance on the club in your left hand. Then quickly return with your right hand to catch the falling club. The hard part is maintaining the 'new bal­ance (by keeping part of your attention on it) while you catch the other club.

 

Now repeat in mirror image: let the balance from the left fall to the left as you raise the left hand, put the club into a balance on the right hand club, and hurry back and catch the falling club in your left hand. You can repeat as fast as you want for a nice effect of a balance constantly getting out of hand. (Peel off's are shown in a display sequence on page 35 of Juggler's World, Vol. 41, No.3.)

 

The Hard (But Fun) Way:

The Catch-Balance

A more challenging way to get into the club balance is with the catch-balance, i n which you throw a club from a regular cascade and catch it on another club in a balance.

 

There are two ways to make the throw: with a regular spin and with a reverse spin. Each of these is preferred by some people, probably because that happens to be the way they learned it. So try them both and see which works better for you. We'll assume you're going to do the catch on a club in your right hand. To catch on a club in the left, just reverse left and right in the descriptions below.

First the regular-spin throw: while juggling three clubs, throw a slow-spinning club with the left hand. It should spin only three-quarters of the way around so that it can land on its fat end on the thick part of the club in your right hand (Fig. 3). We'll describe the catch in a moment.

 

Next the reverse-spin throw: during a regular cascade, throw a reverse flip into the middle of your pattern from your left hand. It should again spin three-quarters around, this time so that it can land on the knob. We'll talk about the reverse-spin toss shortly. With both the regular-spin and the reverse-spin, you can actually catch the spinning club with the same hand that threw it or with the other hand. If you catch the club with the same hand that threw it, you get a fairly fast trick that isn't too hard to learn, partly because both parts of it can be executed with your dominant hand. You may find, however, that this trick is easier to learn if the throw is from one hand to the other (say, throwing from left to right, for right handers) - this version is less rushed.

 

The following suggestions apply no matter which of these variations you're doing. First, remember to underspin your throw (slow spin). Also adjust the angle of the club so that it is pointing straight forward from you as you throw it, instead of angled out to the side.

 

To catch in a balance, always watch the club end that is going to land. As the club is falling, bring your catching club up near the end that's coming down and follow that end downward with your club as you make the catch. This lets you absorb some of the shock of the landing. Immediately after the catch, shift your attention to the top of the newly caught club so that you can maintain the balance easily.