Under the Leg
Quick Look:
- Prerequisites: Force Bounce Cascade
- Number of Balls: 3
- Last Modified: 9/29/20
This page covers:
Under the Leg is a simple trick and always gets a big reaction from an audience, so it’s definitely one you should learn. As the name implies, the trick involves throwing a ball underneath your leg and back into the pattern. For this trick, I’m not including any illustrations since I cannot draw in 3D. However, these detailed instructions should give you all the information you need to know!
Step 1: One Ball
First, you need to work on the under-the-leg throw itself. Hold one ball in your RH. Move your arm backwards and lift your right leg up at the same time. Do a normal Force Bounce throw so that the ball bounces into your LH.
You should not try to keep your leg completely straight. Mine has a slight bend in it when I do this trick. Also, as soon as the under-the-leg ball clears my leg, I move my leg in a circular motion (clockwise when it’s the right leg; counterclockwise when it’s the left leg).
Practice this throw until it feels comfortable, then learn how to throw starting from your LH. Once you have it down on both sides, move on to step 2.
Step 2: Two-Ball Exchange
Now, we’re going to practice the two-ball exchange with under-the-leg throws. There are two ways that you must practice the two-ball exchange.
First, practice doing the under-the-leg throw from your RH followed by a normal Force Bounce from your LH.
Next, practice throwing the normal Force Bounce from your LH followed by an under-the-leg throw from your RH.
Once you have both of these exchanges solid, practice them using under-the-leg throws on your left side and normal Force Bounces from your right side. Then, move on to step three.
Step 3: Three Balls
You almost have this trick down! Pick up three balls and begin doing a normal Force Bounce Cascade. When you feel comfortable, do one under-the-leg throw from your RH. Then keep juggling a normal Force Bounce Cascade. Practice this several times until it feels easy.
Next, do an under-the-leg throw for every third ball. Throwing every third ball is my favorite way to perform this trick. “Every third ball” means that you’re only going to throw under-the-leg for one ball. If you have balls that are different colors, pick a color. (Let's use red for an example.) You’ll always throw the red ball under the leg, and you’ll never throw any of the others under the leg.
To practice doing every third ball, first you want to start with just two throws. That is, you should do the following: begin juggling a normal Force Bounce cascade; do an under-the-leg throw for the red ball; do two more normal throws; throw an under-the-leg throw for the red ball; continue juggling a normal Force Bounce cascade. Once two throws feel comfortable, do three, then four, and so on.
Another way to do Under the Leg is to all normal throws on one side and all under-the-leg throws on the other side. This leads to a really cool effect but can be tricky to maintain because you have to balance on your other leg. To practice this trick, first try two under-the-leg throws in a row. Once that feels solid, do three throws in a row, then four, etc. I can do about six under-the-leg throws in a row before I start to lose my balance.
That’s it! Go wow audiences with this simple crowd-favorite.