Fig. 2 shows the causal diagram for passing seven doubles right handed (a 7­club 2-count). Fig. 3 shows one causal line from Fig. 2 so that we can easily see the possible special throws that the first juggler could make instead of the normal

initial double. We've labeled each arrow with the number of spins which the particular throw involves (the selves are singles and the passes are doubles). The two dotted lines show potential special throws which bypass one or more hands along the causal line. Each dotted line is labeled with the number of spins that it would need, which you see is the sum of the spins in the normal route along the causal line. For instance, a late right-to-right is a triple, and you can throw a quint right-to­left self (but be careful).

 

Fig. 4 shows more possible special throws in the 7 -club 2-count, these from the first juggler's left hand. Again each dot­ted line is labeled with the sum of the spins of the replaced arrows in its segment. The early left-to-left pass replaces a single left self and a double right hand pass, so the early left is a triple. A left-to-right quad pass is also possible. You can find even higher special throws by simply extending the diagram and bypassing as many hands as you like with a throw - just stay on the same causal line.

Technical Details

Here, for the record, are a couple of fine points about the preciseness of our above rule for lone special throws.

 

First, a so-called single spin pass really spins about 1-1/3 times because it is released underhanded when it just past knob up but is caught knob down. Doubles spin about 2-1/3 times for the same reason. A self, however, really spins 1 time.

What does this tell us? That a special double that replaces both a self (1 spin) and a single pass (1-1/3 spins) should spin 2-1/3 times,. which fortunately is exactly what a double pass does.

 

On the other hand, a double that replaces two single passes (1-1/3 each) should spin 2-2/3 times to land at the right time, but that is a bit overspun. The most likely such double is the double self in 1­counts and other patterns with lots of passes from both hands. A double self really spins only 2 times but it has to do it in the time it normally takes to spin 2-2/3 times, so the double self has to be higher and spin a little slower than a double pass.

 

Now, for higher throws like triples and quads, air resistance more significantly slows down the spin of the club, which means that you would have to put more spin than normal on such a throw. However, triples and quads are generally released later (higher) and caught a little underspun (approximately perpendicular to the line of descent), so the extra 1/3 spin is no longer really there. The result is that air resistance and the lack of the need for 1/3 extra spin tend to cancel each other out for these high throws.

 

Finally, when we were summing up the time taken to make a sequence of throws, we just counted the total spins. This does not take into account the amount of time that each hand is empty after it throws but before it catches. This is actually over­lapped air time for the incoming and out­going throws, so we should subtract this time from the time the special throw should take spinning. That helps you a little for very high throws that skip two or more hands, but it's a small adjustment.

 

By the way, because a normal self is 1/3 spin less than a pass, selves are inherently faster than single passes. In certain patterns where people have different numbers of selves, such as in a feed or especially in a 1­count typewriter feed, this difference in speed can easily cause feedees who don't pay attention to get ahead of the feeder's pace.

 

These slight changes to the total spin time simply force you to do what you need to do anyway: adjust the height and spin of your throws so that they come in on time right-side up. But if you're wondering why you seem to have to throw your doubles higher (or to juggle faster) in one pattern than in another, this may give you the clue you need. Any throw can be speeded up or slowed down a little when needed to keep in sync, and keeping in sync is one of the main duties of passers in a pattern.

 

Forced Responses

Now I want to switch to a related topic, that of forced responses. A forced response is a change from the normal behavior of one or more hands that is forced as a result of a change in behavior of other hand(s).

 

An example of a forced response is what happens when you pass a late double to your partner. A late right-to-right skips past your partner's left hand and thus forces that left to pause in order to keep the pattern healthy.

 

Another forced response in a 6-club 2­count occurs if you are throwing continuous early doubles (left to left) and suddenly your partner throws a late double to your right hand. If you want to continue throwing left doubles, you have to hand a club across from your right to your left (as if doing a left-handed 3-club shower). If your partner continues with late doubles, you have to continue handing clubs across to your left.

 

Responding to forcing throws can be a mental challenge. Of course, the degree of challenge varies. Catching the late double is easy - unless you've never seen one before! The above hand-across is quite differ­ent, mostly because it is not very common.

 

Forced Extra Passes

Next I want to describe a class of passing site swaps I've developed in which one juggler forces the other not just to pause but ac­tually to pass back an extra club. Invariably what happens here is that the first juggler makes an extra pass, which if not allowed for, would land at the same time as some other club. The recipient therefore generally has to turn a normal self into an extra pass to get rid of an extra club before the extra pass lands. The forced pass is probably the most challenging forced response.

 

Here's an example.  Suppose you're passing a 6-club 2-count right handed. There's a fairly common combination that works without any forced passes. One juggler throws a R-to-R double followed immediately by a L-to-L double. Many people, especially when learning this combination, have acciden­tally reversed the order of the doubles, only to find that that doesn't seem to work. At least, that's what the recipient of the re­versed doubles usually says.

 

But it turns out that the recipient can save the pattern by making one extra left­hand pass back, immediately after the second double is thrown. This is a case of a forced pass. To finish saving the pattern, the first juggler, after throwing the second double, has to hand a club from left hand to right, because the right hand will be empty. Fig. 5 shows the causal diagram for this sequence. Note that we indicate the club handed across with a reverse pointing arrow. This arrow points (back) at the hand that is empty. Basically, the empty hand forces the hand across.