Shower (juggling)
A shower is a juggling pattern for 2 or more objects, most commonly balls or bean bags, where objects are thrown in a circular motion. Balls are thrown high from one hand to the other while the other hand passes the ball back horizontally. The animation depicts a 3-ball version. Siteswap notation for shower patterns is (2n-1)1, where n is the number of objects juggled. (i.e. 31 for 2 balls, 51 for 3 balls, 71 for 4 balls, etc...) The circular motion of the balls is commonly represented in cartoons as the archetypical juggling pattern, somewhat at odds with reality, where the cascade is more common. By constantly reversing the direction, the box pattern can be formed.
There are two different types of shower : synchronous shower, where both hands throw their ball at the same time and asynchronous shower.
Difficulty
One attraction of the shower pattern is that it does not change with increasing numbers of props. The four-ball pattern is exactly the same as the three-ball pattern, except that the balls are thrown higher or faster. This is unlike a cascade pattern for odd numbers of props, which must be juggled as a fountain if another prop is added.
The easiest shower is the two-ball shower, although some jugglers may consider that it is not juggling at all. If given two balls and told to juggle, the average person is likely to throw one in the air, pass across the other, and catch the first in the other hand. Performed continuously, this is a two-ball shower.
A three-ball shower is significantly more difficult for a beginner than a three-ball cascade, due to the height, speed, and asymmetry of the two throws. However, once mastered it is easy to perform for long periods, or to combine with other tricks.
Four- and five-ball showers are possible and frequently mastered by jugglers at an intermediate or advanced level. Showers with more props are rarely achieved by anyone other than professionals or seriously committed individuals.
According to the Juggling Records Database of unofficial juggling records, the record with 6 balls is 280 catches by Benjamin Thomas, and with 7 and 8 the records are 80 and 32 catches respectively, both held by Bruce Sarafian. In order to make completing the shower seem easier in difficulty it is best to learn the three-ball cascade first.
External links
- JuggleWiki "Terminology" page on Shower pattern.
