Juggling club
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This article focuses on one aspect of toss juggling. For a more general discussion of juggling, see the main article: Juggling, and for Club Swinging see: Indian clubs
Juggling clubs, or simply "Clubs" are a popular prop used by jugglers, either on their own—usually in sets of three or more—or in combination with other props such as balls or rings. A typical club is in the range of 50 to 70 cm (about 2 feet) long, is slim at the 'handle' and is weighted at the wider end. The definition of a club is somewhat ambiguous; sticks or rods are allowed under the current Juggling Information Service (JIS) rules for juggling world records[1].
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[edit] Basic juggling
The most basic pattern of club juggling, as in ball juggling, is the cascade. Clubs are thrown from alternate hands; each passes underneath the other clubs and is caught in the opposite hand to the one from which it was thrown. At its simplest, each club rotates once per throw, the handle moving down and away from the throwing hand at first. However, double and triple spins are frequently performed, allowing the club to be thrown higher for more advanced patterns and to allow tricks such as pirouettes to be performed underneath.
It is also possible to throw "flats", which mean pushing the handle up as the club is thrown to prevent it spinning at all. Taken further, "reverse" throws can be thrown, causing the club to rotate in the opposite direction to normal. Although much more difficult, five-club cascades on reverse double-spins have been performed.
[edit] Passing
Clubs are the object of choice for passing between jugglers. Juggling clubs are much larger than balls, so they require less accuracy to catch when thrown by another person.
When making a pass to another juggler, the club usually completes one-half extra rotation than a self throw. This is because a passed club rotates in the opposite direction from a self throw. In passing clubs, the club rotates in the opposite direction as a rolling wheel. For a reverse throw the club rotates the same direction as a rolling wheel -- rolling in the same direction -- would rotate, such that the handle comes down into the catcher's upturned hand. In a 'normal' throw the hand catches the club with the hand turned palm downwards. This is opposite of the way a club is caught when thrown to oneself.
Beginning club passing is generally done with six clubs between two jugglers, each passing every fourth beat. The passes are made from one juggler's right hand to the other juggler's left hand, so the clubs travel perpendicular to both jugglers. This basic pattern is called four count or every-others. The four-count (pass - two - three - four, pass - two - three - four, pass - two - three - four) is well suited to juggling to music.
More advanced club passing can involve more objects, more jugglers and more intricate patterns. A notation for describing club passing patterns, called causal notation was developed by Martin Frost of the Stanford Juggling Research Institute.
[edit] Tricks
Most ball-juggling tricks can be performed with clubs, though they are generally more difficult because of the size of the clubs and because of the extra complexity added by their rotation. However, for tricks involving juggling a basic cascade under other constraints, such as while unicycling or blindfolded, club juggling is actually easier, given the lower accuracy required to make each catch.
[edit] Records
The world record for most clubs juggled (i.e., longest time or most catches with each club at minimum being thrown and caught at least twice without dropping) is seven clubs for 2 minutes 49 seconds, achieved by Anthony Gatto in 2005. The record for most clubs flashed (i.e., each club thrown and caught only once) is nine clubs, achieved by Bruce Tiemann in 1996 and since equalled by Scott Sorensen in 1997 and Chris Fowler in 2003.
[edit] Use in Rhythmic Gymnastics
Fundamental elements of a clubs routine in Rhythmic Gymnastics include mills and small circles, asymmetric movements, throwing and catching. The gymnast must show use of the clubs in both hands and in one hand.
