Toss (juggling)

Toss juggling is the form of juggling which is most recognisable as 'juggling'. Toss juggling can be used as: a performing art, a sport, a form of exercise, as meditation, a recreational pursuit or hobby.

In toss juggling, objects — such as balls, bean bags, rings, clubs, etc. — are thrown or tossed into the air and caught. Toss juggling is a form of object manipulation.

'Toss juggling' has a number of basic principles and patterns. Most of the more complex patterns are variations of the basic ones and all toss juggling must conform to these basic principles.

Toss juggling is, according to most sources, the throwing and catching of objects, where there are more objects than there are hands (or sometimes other parts of the body) doing the throwing and catching. Three balls thrown and caught between two hands is toss juggling, as there are more balls than hands. Two balls between two hands would not be considered toss juggling, as the number of balls and hands is equal.

There are three basic patterns in toss juggling with many variations, some exceedingly complex, that are based on these basic patterns.

The shower is the most commonly depicted pattern in pictures and illustrations of jugglers (although often wildly exaggerated). The objects juggled follow a circular pattern with one hand doing higher throws and the other passing or doing low throws to the first hand. This pattern can be used to juggle an odd number or even number of objects. In siteswap notation, a three object shower would be called 51.

The cascade pattern is often the first pattern taught to beginner jugglers. The objects juggled follow a horizontal figure of eight pattern with each hand throwing the object to the same height when the previous throw has reached it peak. This pattern is most commonly used to juggle an odd number of objects. In siteswap notation, a three object cascade would be called 3.

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