Behind the Back Juggling Trick

Video Transcript

"EMIL LAMPRECHT: One of the favorite Body Throws in the juggling community is Behind the Back, otherwise known as the Backcross. Now, it's also, for me, one of the more difficult ones. It took me a very long time to get backcrosses down, but if you practice it correctly and in a structured way, you can usually catch on pretty quick. Now, I should point out that learning it with clubs is considerably different than learning it with balls because of where your hand has to go along your back. Now, with balls, your hand has to travel a very long way over, making it difficult, speed-wise, for your hand to get back and forth. It also means the throw has to be just right. Otherwise, you're going to be throwing back over towards the same hand or way off in the other direction. The other key element is to throw it over your shoulder and out over your shoulder, not over your head. If it comes up over your head, you're probably not going to see it in time to catch it. So, like all Body Throws, start with one, good posture, strong stance, don't shift your weight when you're throwing, and just practice Behind the Back throws. Now, it's very difficult not to move around but the second you start leaning and shifting your body to accommodate the path of the ball, it takes longer for your hand to get back to where it needs to be to catch the next throw. So you'll see, when juggling three, if I move around a lot, it's almost impossible to do them constantly because of how much movement there is. So the key element is to practice first, one at a time, obviously, in pattern. With a strong stance, good posture, and the rest of it, get it down so you can eventually do a Juggler's Tennis version. And then, starting with just two throws at a time, try everies. Don't swing your hips, don't move your shoulders around. You will need to throw the ball pretty high over your shoulder to have enough time to recover from it. Once you get two down, try starting with the other hand, which is harder, as you can see, and then eventually work your way up to every throw. Now, you'll often find problems like the one I just had, which is where, because I'm rushing, I tend to throw the ball as I'm retracting my hand, which makes it come towards my head and kind of catch it with the same hand, almost. You want to give yourself enough time so you don't have to do that. The other problem that I just had is that I throw straight up and not far enough forward. This usually comes from having my hand too far in the center of my back, so to throw around my back, it goes straight up instead of out and over. Make sure to bring your hand all the way over. It's very difficult to get the speed down for this trick, but once you do, it'll start to make sense. A lot of practice, a lot of determination, and you have yourself Backcrosses, which is a great trick."