Forums > Help! > contact balls?

Posted: 22nd Jul 2003
just get a pretty solid juggling ball, or an orange for that matter.

Anything that's solid, smooth, round and heavier than air should be ok

"Switching between different kinds of chuu chuu sometimes gives this "urgh wtf?" effect because it's giving people the phi phenomenon."

Posted: 22nd Jul 2003
If there's a juggling suppliers nearby any medium or large 'stage ball' will work well for contact.

Acrylic balls look good but have the disadvantage of being easily scratched when dropped.

I've personally never tried a rubber dog ball, but other people have recomended them as a budget option.

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Posted: 22nd Jul 2003
Ive used rubber dog balls, make sure they are really dense and unbouncy as possible, the bouncy ones will bounce off your hand if you have a rought technique (I guess this would help you to smooth out your technique)

Lacross balls are also really good, as are wooden balls you can easily find at craft stores.

Personally I find heavier balls better for learning but not everyones the same.

Posted: 22nd Jul 2003
Thanks for the ideas guys!

However, I think he's got his heart set on an acrylic now everyone's a sucker for a new, shiny toy i guess!

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The pessimist fears this is true.

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Posted: 24th Jul 2003
The differences between acrylic and polycarb' are few and far between. Acrylic is slightly stonger (although both scratch fairly easily, it's much harder to chip an acrylic) and are "clearer". Polycarbs have a blue-y tinge to them if you place them on a white surface and also go a (rather funky if you ask me) cloudy colour under a UV light, whereas acrylic stay clear (which isn't great in a club).

If he's really learning, from absolute beginner - get 2 balls; a cheap juggling ball to practice the tricky stuff (butterflies, arm rolls etc.) and an acrylic/polycarb' to practice the isolations.

I'd also issue him a warning:
No matter how much he loves and looks after his acrylic - it WILL get scratched, and it'll be a sad day when it happens, but believe me - it will.
On the plus side, this gives you an excuse to buy a second and thus have a "practice" ball and a "performance" ball, and you can start on 2 ball stuff.

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Posted: 28th Jul 2003
I agree completely with Durbs, a contact ball will get scratched, it's only a matter of time.

I think this is a good thing though.
Once a ball has it's first scratch, it makes people much more likely to try new things with it - it doesn't matter so much if it gets scratched again.
At least that's what I found when I scratched mine

But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.

Posted: 17th Aug 2003
Ikea sell the perfect set of budget juggling balls for about £1.50. Cool

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