From: mccaugha@hydra2a.cs.utk.edu (William Douglas ( Doug ) - The Juggler ( me ) McCaughan)
Newsgroups: rec.juggling
Subject: Re: club question.
Date: 17 Apr 92 03:34:33 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept, University of Tennesee, Knoxville
Distribution: world
Reply-To: mccaugha@hydra2a.cs.utk.edu (William Douglas ( Doug ) - The Juggler ( me ) McCaughan)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hydra2a.cs.utk.edu

In article <42899@teda.Teradyne.COM>, jeffy@teda.Teradyne.COM (Jeffrey Youngstrom) writes:
|> How do you stop?

When I teach juggling, I usually state that it often looks better (to the
common Joe) to do some simply juggling a finish with a bit of a flash rather
than do some fancy trick and drop your equipment.

To stop with the clubs, I would suggest that when you are ready, throw one
club high (you will now have a club in your right hand and one in your left),
simply bring your hands together and place the two clubs in one hand, then
catch the club that was thrown high in your empty hand. 

Did that make sense?  You can even incorporate a piruette (sp?) [spin] into
this and it looks pretty good. It finishes your "act" by stating, "I have
everything under control."

|> I've gotten so I can cascade three clubs for a while without bonking my
|> head or my toes, but if I want to stop intentionally in a controlled
|> manner, I invariably smash a finger when club number three falls into
|> a hand that's already holding club number two.  Either that, or it
|> bounces off club number two and lands somewhere in a thorn bush.

Cut down the bush.

|> So, which fingers do you use to hold club number two when you stop it,
|> and which fingers do you use to catch club number three when it comes
|> to join its buddy?

If you take this approach, in the hand that will end up "catching" two clubs,
you will want to catch them in a hold similar to the one you used for starting
the clubs.

|> Actually, if you can figure out how to describe it, tell me how you
|> start too.  I've been starting with one club held by my pinkie, ring
|> finger, and middle finger, and reaching around the handle of that club
|> to swing the other with thumb and forefinger. (so if I dropped the
|> starting club, and touched the tip of my forefinger to the tip of my
|> thumb, they'd make a circle around the handle of the other club) 
|> Does that sound reasonable?

This sounds reasonable. About all that can be said here is to do what is most
comfortable. In our little circle of UT Jugglers, we have a deal of disagreement
to the "proper" way to hold the clubs when starting (this contraversy always
arises when teaching someone how to do clubs). Basically, do what works for you
(and do not hesitate to experiment a bit).

|> My fingers thank you for any advice.
|> 
|> jeffy
|> --
|> Jeffrey Youngstrom   jeffy@eda.teradyne.com or ...!{decwrl,sun}!teda!jeffy
|> Teradyne EDA  West  |  5155 Old Ironsides Drive  |  Santa Clara, CA  95054
|>     If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

-- 
...doug <mccaugha@cs.utk.edu> USA    | The past 22 years have been a |
                                     | helluva trip, but honestly, I |
                                     | am ready to come down now...  |