A nice thing about site swaps is that the average of the throw numbers is the number of objects. In all of the site swaps we'll describe here, for instance, the average is 4, since we're talking about the passer doing the 1-count as a 4-cIub pattern.

 

Let me say that the first doubles you ever receive in a 1-count may be surprising, but you can fairly easily get used to such doubles. Just remember not to pass if you don't get a club from your partner.

 

Now for some of the site swaps. We'll as­sume that you'll do these continuously ­ you start over repeating the sequence as soon as you finish it. First, note that doing the basic 53 continuously with the 5 being a right returns you both to right-hand-only passing, so even someone who has never passed left handed can do 53 and say they've done a 1-count site swap. If you add a normal single after each 53, you get 534 (double, self, single), which has a very nice feel to it and is balanced right and left when done continuously.

 

Try 633 (triple, self, self), which is very easy since the receiver has two pauses in a row between passes and the 633 thrower has lots of selves. Another fairly easy balanced sequence is 55514 (you can add or remove a 4 from the end of any sequence here). 55550 is basically a 7-cIub 1-count with a hole (one person throwing straight singles and one diagonal doubles). A surprising pattern to receive is 642.

 

For the 1-count, Fig. 3 shows site swaps up 10 length five and up to triples in height. Many, many longer sequences exist.

 

 

For a variation any time you want, instead of throwing a 4 as a normal single to your partner, throw it straight up as a double self (right to right or left to left). The timing is the same, so either type of 4 works.

 

In general both jugglers can do site swaps at will, although you may sometimes end up with a hole where you wanted a club to throw.

 

13-Club Feed Weave

Here's a 13-club pattern which is a not­too-difficult extension of the normal fun 12-club Feed Weave (described in the Summer 1991 Juggler's Workshop). In the Feed Weave, one person feeds three people in a normal back and forth fashion except that the three people are weaving themselves through the three different feedee positions. Each feedee goes forward after passing in the middle and backwards after passing on either side and does a 6-count while walking in this figure eight. As you get to each new position, you exchange clubs with the feeder. Fig. 4 shows the route that the feedees walk (almost run when going forward through the middle).

If you're comfortable at both the 12-club Feed Weave and the 10-club feed (doubles), you can combine them to get the 13­club Feed Weave. All the passes are doubles and, as in the 10-club feed, each feedee responds with a double to the feeder one count after the feeder throws a double to that feedee. The feedees, how­ever, keep moving just like in the 12-club Feed Weave.

 

The important thing in the 13-club pattern is for the feeder to lead the feedees more than you would in the 12-club pattern (because doubles come down later than singles would and hence the feedee has moved further). The doubles from the feeder to the side positions should be very long and lead the feedees a little towards the middle. The feeder's passes to the middle need to be extremely short (but still doubles).

 

The feeder's passes to the left are thrown over the right shoulder of the person coming through the middle. That's the pass we start with. That first feedee responds by passing a double one count later and immediately moving back and to the left to catch the feeder's long first pass while heading for the middle feedee position.

 

The feeder's next double is very short and a little inside to the middle person, who responds one count later with a double and by moving forward and to the right.

 

Then the feeder throws a long double to the right, about over the left ear of the third feedee, who responds with a pass while being forced back and to the right to catch the feeder's pass and to head for the middle.

 

Finally the feeder throws a very short double to the first feedee who is now mov­ing forward through the middle. This pass should be way outside, leading the feedee toward the next position on that side. After this pass the feeder starts over, with the feedees all in new positions.

 

The numbered arrows in Fig. 4 indicate where the four passes in the feeder's cycle should go. The feedees need to allow for their own momentum when passing their doubles to the feeder. Keep those doubles high.

 

Complete 3-Count Star

This is a fun pattern that I created a few years ago, and although it takes a group of five pretty good passers and some work, it is exciting to accomplish. It is fairly easy to describe, at least, and it takes only three clubs per person.

 

The formation is a normal star of five people equally spaced. Each person does a 3-count and feeds the other four people in a typewriter feed from left to right and then starts over. See Fig. 5, which shows one person's four passes. As in a normal 3­count, you alternate passes from the right and left hands: passes 1 and 3 are from the right, whereas 2 and 4 are from the left.