It is quite natural to add clubs to a line. For each club you add, add one spin to someone's throw. Ten is usually done with the back person throwing long doubles. For eleven, have the front person throw doubles too. With twelve, the drop­backs should have an added spin and maybe the long throw can be a triple to provide yet more time. The person(s) throwing doubles or triples should start with the extra cIub(s).

 

The Box

The box makes an impressive juggling feat possible without much work. In this formation, two pairs of jugglers are passing independently except for the fact that their passes cross. Figure 4 shows a box in which jugglers A and B are exchanging passes and jugglers C and D are doing the same.

 

To avoid collisions, we just make sure that the two pairs of passers either (a) pass alternately so that pairs of clubs take turns going through the middle or (b) pass at exactly the same time. These are the alternating box and the simultaneous box. We'll assume that each pair of jugglers is passing six clubs, but similar boxes can also be executed with each pair passing seven or more clubs (at last summer's St. Louis festival, an 18­club box was demonstrated in the club passing workshop by Doubble Troubble and Happenstance).

 

The Alternating Box

The easiest rhythm for the alternating box has each pair passing a 4-count, but the pairs are out of phase so that when one is passing, the other is doing a right hand self. This is very easy, but still the two pairs have to keep juggling at the same speed or one will eventually catch up with the other. To start this box, simply use the rule above: the second pair should pass when the first pair is doing a right hand self.

 

A slightly harder alternating box has each pair passing a 2-count, but when one pair is passing, the other is doing a left self. There is less room for error here, but it is still not terribly hard. One way to start is to have the second pair start with two clubs in the left hand and begin with a left self when the first pair is passing.

 

A very hard alternating "box" is a pattern called entropy, which has three evenly spaced pairs (instead of two) passing through a common mid­point, each pair passing a 2-count (see Fig. 5). Here the pairs are out of phase by 2/3 of a count and the timing has to be very precise. Keep your throws somewhat inside to get through the middle as easily as possible. It takes six experienced passers with very good rhythm to pull this off successfully. One way to start entropy is to have one person in each of the second and third pairs start with four clubs (jugglers B and C in Fig. 5) so that only those two people have to time their starts carefully.

 

Another possibility with six people is to have each pair passing in a 3-ct, with successive pairs out of phase by one count (as in the four-person 2-count alternating box above). Again, keep the passes inside in these alternating boxes.

 

The Simultaneous Box

The simultaneous box has everyone in the box pattern passing at once. Can this possibly work? Yes! It does require precise timing. If you try this with four people who have never passed together before, it'll likely take a while before you all agree on a common speed - and it may never happen. Each of you will need to be prepared to adjust your speed. .

 

To avoid collisions, keep your passes outside in any simultaneous box. That means not only throwing to a point well outside your partner's shoulder, but throwing from a point about a foot outside your leg.

 

To keep everybody throwing at the same time on each pass, try the following useful trick. Each of you should watch the person on your right and throw at exactly the same time that person does. It's not hard to see that person while you continue passing with your partner, and it definitely helps keep the group's passes locked together in time.

Make sure that you all start at the same time.

 

You might find that a slow start helps you to do that. Try also to keep the passing speed slow, since it's generally easier to stay together at a slower speed because it allows for correcting slight errors better than a fast passing speed does.

 

Now, the reason that the simultaneous box works at all is that the clubs don't all go through the same point. In fact, with perfect timing, they simultaneously reach the four comers of a little square, about two to three feet on a side, in the middle of the box (see Fig. 6). Then each club travels along one side of the little square, getting out of the way of the club behind it while the club in front gets out of its way. If all the clubs reach the comers of the square at the same time, and if the square is big enough, then no col­lisions will occur. Making the throws wide (at the throw and at the catch) makes the little square bigger, and thus allows a bigger margin of error.