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Comment by okwhateverdude | Hacker News Reader

I picked up juggling after doing a management training class that included a one hour lesson with a professional juggler. I had never tried before then and couldn't quite make it work within that one hour group lesson. But they gave us a set of balls to take home and over a weekend I got the juggling to click.

For me the trick was to stop thinking about it and to just let go. Our built-in parabolic trajectory prediction is magical, just need to throw the balls consistently enough for that prediction to become automatic.

I just fuck around with three balls and it is mostly to help me keep sanity if I am working somewhere with shit CI that takes forever. I was aware that there was a proper pedagogy and nomenclature, but never bothered to learn it. Really surprised to see my "repertoire" is all of the Level 2 and some Level 3 listed on this site.

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> For me the trick was to stop thinking about it and to just let go.

Indeed. From "Juggling for the Complete Klutz" by Cassidy and Rimbeaux:

> Step 1: The Drop

> Throw all three bags into the air and, making no effort to catch any of them, let them all hit the ground. This is an example of The Drop. I do it all the time and so will you, but it'sgood to familiarize yourself with the moves early on.

> Practice the drop until the novelty wears off.

Learning to juggle is really about learning to fail, repeatedly and publicly, and still have a smile on your face.

The advanced version: it's not necessary to let them hit the ground. Stand over a bed or couch, so to pick them up, at least you only have to bend down to waist level.

My favorite version: juggle while standing in a swimming pool! Use an object that floats, like wiffle balls, and a missed catch just stays there floating right in front of you.

Have you tried juggling upside-down underwater with the floatables? Basically impossible, lots of fun.

> The advanced version: it's not necessary to let them hit the ground. Stand over a bed or couch, so to pick them up, at least you only have to bend down to waist level.

lol, this is exactly what I did when I started because of the annoyance of bending down. Then I incorporated it into a fitness goal and did proper squats to pick them up. Now, I mostly will just pause and reset if I have a weird catch to avoid the next throw that would end up on the floor.

> My favorite version: juggle while standing in a swimming pool! Use an object that floats, like wiffle balls, and a missed catch just stays there floating right in front of you.

This is a great idea. Next time I go swimming I'll have to bring some balls that float.

Somehow that reminds me of the secret of learning to fly in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is (IIRC) to fall to the ground and miss.

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