The 441 juggling trick

Video Transcript

"EMIL LAMPRECHT: The first trick I'm going to show you in this series is called 4-4-1--as in siteswap terms--or straight-straight-vamp. Now, the vamp is just a simple exchange from hand to hand. Instead of throwing the ball, you're going to more pass it from one hand to the other, like so. Now, I'm exaggerating, obviously, so you can see what it's like. It helps to be able to do this very quickly and even with some distance, eventually. Now for starters, just close your eyes and just pass the ball back and forth and get it very fast. Eventually, you will start to feel where the ball is and can gather some distance. Now, I don't expect you to be doing it this well straight off but you eventually want to be able to do it in all sorts of places without ever having to see it. The throw doesn't have to be more than a few inches, but being able to throw it quickly like that will generate a lot of speed for when you're rushing the catch or the throws. Now, the pattern itself, 4-4-1, comes out of things like these pattern stalls and other tricks that I showed you in the last series. If you can do this, 4-4-1 is just doing two fours and then a vamp underneath it. If you're not using siteswaps, they're just straight throws as you would do two on one hand. Start with one rotation of the pattern at a time, get it down in your right hand, and then you get it down in your left hand. Now, because the pattern itself is three throws long, you can do it continuously like most other tricks. In this case, it helps to be good at two in each hand, so this is something you may want to practice in preparing for this trick. But it's a fun little trick and can lead to various other things."