purely by accident, i ran across this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZmmOdnljG4
i've always wanted to learn how to juggle and now i have the time and opportunity to do so.
anyone on the forum juggle? if so, do you have any tips to offer to a beginner?
i'm beginning my training with a baseball, which seems to be just a little larger and heaver than a "pro" ball. i quickly found that practicing over grass instead of the driveway leads to FAR less chasing of the constantly dropped ball.
no wind to fly? now i'll have another option that keeps my mind and body just as busy as kiting does. (probably a lot more, actually)
like rev-ing, it'll be a continual addition and perfection of skills. i'm looking forward to this journey.
tom

Nice! I learned to juggle in college back in the late 70's. While I didn't have that fancy video to follow I did more or less follow that build. I used lacrosse balls on grass. Tennis balls were too light IMO. The balls the Champ was using in the video do look ideal in terms of weight, size, and (lack of) bounciness but buying something official like that is your call not mine.

I progressed to about five different 3-ball juggles but never went higher in ball count.

Good luck1

one of my high school diver girls mentioned lacrosse balls, so i looked up their specs. same weight as a baseball (about 145 grams) but 9 or 10mm smaller. those will fit her smaller hand better. at 6'1", my hands are big enough to handle baseballs, and i had 3 sitting around, so that math worked out for me.
if i had to buy 3, though, lacrosse balls cost about half of what a baseball does, and i may get some of those if i ever start throwing more than 3 balls.
the girl has turned this into a contest to see who "gets it" soonest, which is a great motivator for both of us to practice.
i will probably have to go with the Pro-type of ball (they do not roll) when i'm coaching on a pool deck and juggling because OF COURSE the only direction the balls will roll when i drop them will be into the pool.
a couple of great tips that i read were 1 - practice over a bed, to limit dropped ball travel. and 2 - (tennis balls are a good size but bounce all over and are definitely too light) poke a slit in a tennis ball and put as many pennies as needed into it to get the weight you desire. the slit already kills some bounce, but the pennies kill the bounce completely and stop it from rolling.

You're over thinking it... 3 bean bags (like these) or hacky sacks and you're good to go. The extra grip when you're doing 2 in one hand is super helpful, and when you drop, they don't roll away. Tennis balls are too light to start out with. Chain saws are a good motivator.

an hour ago i ordered a set of MMX plus balls for 31 bucks. easily justified when i considered how much i've spent on kites... i just got a mail saying that they have been shipped already. gotta love that.
i ABSOLUTELY do intend to juggle chainsaws. however, there's a twist - i'll practice the throw and let my neighbor practice the catch.
"lefty" will be his name. (soon)
this lady has put together a very watchable beginner video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCYDZDlcO6g

I juggled quite a bit as a clown.. Use to do an orange, an apple and a tennis ball.. I'd eat the Apple.. and try to bite the tennis ball for a comedic ending.

Bags I could flash 5 but not for long. I have a book somewhere with the most popular 3 and 5 object patterns. Let me locate it and I'll try to give you the name.

My favorite juggling work is Michael Moschen's Triangle Juggling..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjHoedoSUXY

i think my brain just broke. mr. riff, this is incredible! thanks for sharing.
tom

I've had juggling on my bucket list for two decades now. Covid hit and I dug out the balls and gave it a serious, daily effort. I think my best got to seven catches and then life got busy again on me. I'll keep at it.

i only did it for a few minutes a day since last monday. yesterday i accomplished 3-ball catches from both hands. this was a LOT sooner than i thought i'd get them. they weren't pretty, but they were legit. i had planned on taking a longer, slower path, but once i got the basic pattern down with one and two balls, throwing 3 was much easier than i thought it would be.
ok, now here's a fun reason to juggle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VQNxaNz1J4
(toilet plungers, for crying out loud !!!)
i watched every beginner juggling video on youtube that i could find. the multiple ways of explanation, though saying basically the same thing, were what did it for me.
now i can go back to the longer, slower path and get things right.
tom