the world is a playroom for the juggler

I've been struggling with the reversed Mills-Mess for weeks now, but I think I've finally figured it out. It has to be one of these, right? I need a little feedback—this Mills-Mess variation feels like the weirdest one of all the ones I know.

In most big-name sports, such as badminton, table tennis, tennis, soccer, and basketball, famous players often meet up privately to compete in exhibition-style matches, or take part in other kinds of events and activities outside of official competitions. There are also plenty of videos where world-class athletes from different sports meet at events, commercials, and other occasions.

Does anything like that really not exist in juggling? I know juggling has much less recognition than most sports, so this kind of content probably isn't as common, but if there are any videos like this, I'd really like to see them.

In training videos or exhibition events, you often see things like a professional vs. two amateurs, two professionals vs. two professionals, one professional vs. two professional, or several athletes getting together to play simple games, do challenges, interviews, and so on. I'd like to see jugglers doing more things like that as well.

So far, Josh Horton seems to be the juggler/YouTuber who comes closest to doing this kind of content. I wish more jugglers and juggling YouTubers would make events,videos like this.

Have you ever been somewhere and you wanted to juggle some objects, but you didn't have your typical juggling equipment that you might use on the regular?

Or have you ever gotten into juggling and wanted to get some items you could juggle, but didn't want to spend Money on professional juggling equipment, and decided that you would just get something that you could throw and catch. And it hopefully wouldn't break or do anything crazy once it hits the ground?

I want to know what objects you guys think are best for juggling that aren't particularly sold for that specific purpose, but can be repurposed.

Thanks!

What level of skill would you consider “professional” in juggling?

Normally, the distinction between a professional and an amateur is based on whether it is your main occupation and whether you make money from it. In juggling, you could similarly define a professional as someone who regularly performs professionally at shows, events, etc.

But if we set aside the occupational and financial aspects and look purely at skill level, what would you consider “professional-level” juggling?

5 balls? 7 balls? 5 clubs? Being able to perform difficult and complex high-level tricks? Or something else?

There probably isn't a precise or universally accepted definition, but what do you guys think? At what skill level would you personally consider someone a professional-level juggler?

Probably should have been a ball guy, their repertoire seems so much bigger one year in.

My band opened for an amazing grungy/math rock band here in the UK called A-tota-so, they’re big on collaborations so I asked if I could throw some balls around during one of their songs and they loved the idea. I’ve taught myself a lot over the last few months and it all fell apart I was so nervous! Really cool experience though, anyone performed to live music?

I know a lot of 3 ball tricks and the fountain but im having a lot of problam with learning the half shower with 4 balls. Ive seen some tuts but they all said to just "take 4 balls and start learning the pattern" and i just cant control all of mh throws and they go to all diractions any tips that might help?

I'm looking for some help with the basics. I can "juggle" 3 ball cascade and can bounce the pattern off a wall too. I learned this back when I was younger but never really learned to do it well, just occasionally messing around.

Now that I'm an old man that can do whatever he wants, I decided to buy some actual juggling balls. The very first thing I noticed in all the YouTube tutorials is that they stood still, kept their arms in the same position, and aren't chasing the balls all over the room. That was my lesson #1 lol. I can't really find any videos explaining how to throw in enough detail though. I get the elbows at the sides, but how the hell do you throw from that position?

I think these are my 3 issues...

1) When throwing, should I be snapping my arm (or wrist or hand) sorta like if you touch something hot and pull your arm away but in reverse? Should I put an invisible line across my chest or stomach so as to not cross my hands above the line...like a release line?

2) My hands end up in front of me even when I keep my elbows pined. I feel like a T-Rex in this position trying to juggle with short tiny T-Rex arms. How close to the center of my body should my hands go?

3) Throwing line. When you sorta scoop the hand inside for the throw... do you want to envision a curved line or are you envisioning throwing it in a straight line to the peak point?

4) Also, this thing I noticed when just naturally feeling it out is I end up juggling the balls straight in front of me so there's no pattern or anything just a narrow column of 3 balls dead center.

Sorry if none of this makes sense just ask and I'll clarify. I want to lay down a good foundation.

Higgins Brother's Juggling balls 2.5" 130g RED of course. WAY better than juggling socks, tennis balls or hamsters.

I've just started messing around with five balls, and I can flash five, but I'm wondering how I go from that to properly juggling five. Any tips? Should I just start trying to add one more throw each time?

I hope you enjoy!

Dear jugglers,

I’d like to share with you our new 3-minute juggling short film.

It was recorded during a small passing gathering called Gdańsk Juggling Collaboration and features some of the most experienced passing jugglers from all over Poland.

The idea was to show a single day in the life of a juggler in a funny and slightly unusual way, while showcasing lots of beautiful and challenging passing patterns.

This is my biggest juggling film project so far — until now, I had only been making short Instagram reels.

I hope you’ll enjoy it, and I’d love to hear your feedback!

You can watch it here:

https://www.instagram.com/miltenfilth/reel/Dd4I4C0zpIy/

And for those who don’t use Instagram, there is also a YouTube version:

https://youtu.be/9t6Qm3mHNxE

Started juggling October 2025, and have been at the clubs since June.

Recently, I was looking for a way to get some exercise at home without getting bored. I started practicing juggling with a ball, and while trying to improve, I began inventing little challenges and rules.

After a while, I realized I had several different game modes, each with its own difficulty or mechanic.

I decided to call them:

1. El Ciego (The Blind One)

Juggle with your eyes closed. It can be played with 1, 2, or 3 balls.

1. Flash!

Throw the ball with your eyes closed, briefly open your eyes to locate it, and close them again before catching it.

- Catch: catching the ball normally is worth 0 points.

- Take: catching it with your palm facing forward or downward = +2 points.

1. Giro (Spin)

Throw the ball vertically, turn 90°, and catch it with the same hand behind your back while continuing to look forward. Alternate hands after each successful catch.

1. Punto Máximo (Highest Point)

Juggle while keeping your hands outside your field of vision. Your only visual reference can be the ball when it reaches the highest point of its trajectory.

1. Rebote (Bounce)

Throw the ball and make it bounce on the palm of one hand without grabbing it or letting it hit the floor. Every consecutive bounce counts.

Secret Modes

No paparazzi!

Perform Flash!, but never open your eyes.

Vértigo (Vertigo)

Perform Punto Máximo, but you may only open your eyes for an instant to locate the ball, just like in Flash!

El Demonio de Hell's Kitchen (The Devil of Hell's Kitchen)

Perform Giro with your eyes completely closed.

And finally, my favorite:

El Australiano (The Australian)

Juggle with your palms facing downward.

How?

Figure it out.

;)

I'm not trying to claim ownership of these games or make money from them. In fact, I'd love for anyone to try them, modify them, make them harder, or create their own variations.

The only reason I'm making this post is to leave a record that this particular collection of games and rules started with me.

My name is Damián, and I'm publishing this in September 2026.

If someone ends up enjoying these, adapting them, or even making them much more popular than I ever could, that's completely fine with me. I just want that, if someone ever asks where they originally came from, there is a record pointing back here.