Clubs (rhythmic gymnastics)

Juggling clubs are a prop used by jugglers. Juggling clubs are often simply called clubs by jugglers and sometimes are referred to as pins or batons by non-jugglers. Clubs are one of the three most popular props used by jugglers; the others being balls and rings.

A typical club is in the range of 50 centimetres (20 in) long, weighs between 200 and 300 grams (7.1 and 10.6 oz), is slim at the "handle" end, and has its center of balance nearer the wider "body" end. The definition of a club is somewhat ambiguous; sticks or rods are allowed under the current Juggling Information Service rules for juggling world records.

A juggling club's shape is similar to a bowling pin's and an Indian club's. Modern juggling clubs are, however, distinct from these objects because they differ in the materials they are made of, the way they are constructed, their weight and weight distribution, and are therefore not usually interchangeable.

Juggling clubs are manufactured from different materials and construction methods and can therefore be divided into a number of broad types.

Early 20th century clubs were made entirely of wood: they had solid handles with large bodies which were hollowed to reduce weight. This style of club was manufactured by Edward Van Wyck and Harry Lind and are most often called American style juggling clubs because of their size and shape. In Europe, juggling clubs were constructed using solid cork bodies with wood handles or were very thin profiled solid wood clubs which were actually more stick-like in their construction.

With the invention of various plastics constructing juggling clubs was made easier and mass production of a variety of club sizes, shapes, weights and colours began.

One-piece plastic clubs are constructed as a single plastic moulded prop. The handle and body are therefore made from the same material and the club is hollow. One-piece clubs are very durable and are cheaper than composite or multi-piece clubs to make and buy. Despite these virtues, one-piece clubs are less popular among jugglers than multi-piece ones because the handles do not have any give making them occasionally more painful to catch.

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Wikipedia