How to Do Cross Patterns in Juggling

Juggling is not only a fun hobby to master, but can also become a lucrative career if you have the right skills and marketing abilities. Once you have mastered the basics of juggling, branch out to incorporate more into your performance. One of these skills should be cross pattern juggling.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Master basic juggling. Use a set of balls that are just the right size to clasp firmly in your palm. Use an inward, circular motion to juggle them with one always being in the air and the other two either in your hands or just in or out of your grasp. Practice this until you are comfortable.

2. Use other juggling items with the basic juggling pattern. This could and should include juggling rings, scarves, and other small objects. It could really be anything. When you are just starting, stick to like-shaped items that are easy for you to catch and hold and are the same basic weight.

3. Add a ball to your routine. This involves more speed and accuracy as you will have to keep two balls in the air at all times. You will need to master this before attempting the cross pattern.

4. Juggle the four balls with a cascading pattern. The cascade pattern is done with the balls coming down in short intervals towards one side to create a cascading appearance. It's an incredibly fluid motion and needs to be practiced quite a bit to get the timing down.

5. Practice the cascade pattern on both hands alternately a couple of times to get comfortable with it. Add the cascade pattern in an alternating way between the hands. This creates a cross pattern and is also good for learning the timing for five balls without adding the fifth ball to the mix yet.