The Feed: Outs and Ins

A handy bit of knowledge to have is how to jump into or out of a juggling pattern, such as a feed, without disturbing the flow of the pattern. A common trick is simply to say "In!" or "Out!" or "Hup!" when you want to change the pattern. Of course, the folks you're juggling with have to know what the possibilities are that you might intend, so that they can react properly, but here are some suggestions.

First, with three people in a feed (one feeder and two feedees), either of the feedees can leave the pattern by saying "Out!" on a pass. The next pass is unaffected, going as usual between the other two jugglers, so they don't have to react terribly quickly to adjust the pattern. Starting with that pass, however, they can simply switch into a 2-ct (every one) or a 4­ct (every other), depending on local convention. Let's assume for now that they go into a 4-ct.

Now, the juggler who left the feed can come back in at any of four different places and a feed will resume: on the left or right of either of the two other jugglers. So the "out" juggler simply picks one of those places (and perhaps an interesting way to get there) and then calls "In!" at the right time. For now, just assume you go straight forward and turn around, changing feeders as a result - see Fig. 1, where "M" represents the moving juggler.

If you're going into a 4-ct, call "In!" at the time of a R-hand self by the two remaining passers (assuming they're passing R handed). This again allows the next R hand throw to be unaffected by the call, in this case being a pass between the two continuing passers. The next R hand after that, however, is a pass between the juggler who called "In!" and the person opposite, who now proceeds to feed normally.

For going into a 2-ct, the timing of the "In!" is the same. Since there is no R­hand self in a 2-d, the call comes on a pass. The next R-hand throw is not changed, as usual, and the R after that is the caller's first pass in the resumed feed. So you always yell "In!" on the second R hand throw before you want to make your first R hand pass. That's 4 counts before you're really in (a count is one L- or R-hand throw).

Going Out in Style

When you go out, instead of going straight forward and turning around to change feeders, you can just move to the other side of your neighbor feedee and keep the same feeder. Or you can go beyond that position over next to the old feeder to come back in. The easy routes in both of these cases go behind one of your partners. For more of a challenge, try going in front, right through the pattern, to get to the new position.

Because you leave the pattern on a pass, when you are going out you have to catch your partner's last pass to you. You don't have to keep juggling at that point. Often you want to get to the next spot as quickly as possible, and that usually entails just catching the final pass and holding the three clubs as you move.

With a bigger feed, it's fun to call "Out!" from one end and run down to do an "In!" on the other end (Fig. 2). Or move to the feeder's side for a double feed.

Quick Outs and Ins

 The calling of "Out!" is to alert your juggling partners to the fact that something is changing that they must adjust to, although not necessarily super quickly. You can, however,  just agree that anyone who moves from one position and immediately is ready in a new position is "out" and instantly back "in," eliminating the need for the explicit calls. With this agreement, we get quick outs and ins. Let's see what it's like with three people in a feed.

Upon making a pass, a feedee goes straight forward, catches the incoming pass short, and turns around quickly, ready to pass to the new feeder. The sequence of passes exchanged is this: (1) moving feedee and original feeder; (2) still feedee and original feeder; (3) moving feedee (now on the other side) and still feedee (who is the new feeder). See the passes numbered 1 to 3 in Fig. 1.

When doing this quick out and in, start moving immediately after your initial pass. As you move forward, put the club from your L hand into your R hand (Ieaving two clubs in your R). Catch the original feeder's pass in your L hand while you continue forward. As soon as you catch that pass, turn quickly by pivoting on your L foot and then step back on your R, with your R hand back ready to pass. Make your pass as you see the new feeder passing to you.

A fast variation is for only one person to move, doing a quick out and in with each pass made, first on one side of the pattern, then on the other, then back on the first side, and so on. In this case you're rapidly alternating between the two parts of Fig. 1, with the 4-pass cycle indicated by passes numbered 1 to 4 in that figure. This is great exercise, as is the combination below with all three (or more) people moving when­ever possible.

The Wheel

In a feed of any number of people, if every person does the above-described quick out and in whenever possible, we get a pattern called the wheel. The basic rule in the wheel is that each person feeds all the other people once and then runs to the other side with a quick out and in. Usually we do this with the feeds moving from left to right, but right to left gives the same sort of effect.

We'll start the wheel in a multiple feed formation, with half the people side by side in one row facing the other half in the other row, as in a complete feed. If there are an odd number of people, the extra person is placed at the left end (from own view) of either row.