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Club juggling

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Clubs are roughly cylindrical objects,[1] usually around 20 inches long, with a slim handle end and a center of balance nearer the wider "body" end.[2]

Club juggling originated in the 1870s (though jugglers had already been using other linear props such as sticks, torches, and knives for thousands of years).[3] The first clubs used for juggling were Indian clubs,[4] which were wooden clubs used for arm-swinging exercises, and were usually very heavy.

Edward Van Wyck started making the first commercially available clubs made specifically for juggling in 1895. Van Wyck clubs were made of wood, but their hollow three-piece design made them lighter than any kind of Indian club (including hollow "exhibition clubs"), and also more consistently well-balanced and more consistently sturdy than Indian clubs.[4][5][6][7] The first hollow plastic clubs were part of a children’s juggling set made in the late 1950s.[8] The now-standard design for juggling clubs, consisting of a wooden dowel, a plastic shell, a cushioned handle, and a foam knob and end cap, was created by Jay Green in 1964.[9]

Clubs are normally thrown so that they rotate at least once while in the air, with the top of the club rotating toward the juggler. Higher throws are usually done with more rotations, but the rotation speed can be controlled with the wrist to change the number of rotations per throw. It is also possible to throw flats, making the clubs stay horizontal in the air without spinning at all, or reverse spins, where the clubs rotate in the opposite direction.

The basic pattern for any number of clubs is normally done with each throw rotating half as many times as the number of clubs being juggled, rounding down for odd numbers: 3 clubs are done with single rotations, 4 and 5 are done with doubles, 6 and 7 are done with triples, 8 and 9 are done with quads. Any higher or lower number of rotations is usually considered a more difficult trick.

Clubs are more difficult to juggle than balls or rings. Sticks are harder to run than normal clubs, but easier for flashing high numbers.[10] The Juggling Information Service Committee on Numbers Juggling (JISCON) recognizes sticks as a type of club that may be used for numbers records.[11]

The highest number of clubs that have been qualified (at least twice as many catches as objects) is 8,[12] and the highest number of clubs that have been flashed (same number of throws and catches as objects) is 9.[13]

Learn_to_JUGGLE_3_CLUBS_-_Beginner_Tutorial

Learn to JUGGLE 3 CLUBS - Beginner Tutorial

3 clubs[]

Vadv765choq

Vadv765choq

3 club tricks by Andreas Polimenis

DeWitt Cook was the first person to juggle 3 clubs, in the 1870s.[4] He juggled heavy wooden Indian clubs, normally used for arm-swinging exercises. 3 is currently the minimum number of clubs allowed in WJF competitions in any skill division, beginner through advanced. Before 2015, the WJF overall championship included two competitions specifically for 3 clubs: 360s (most 3 up 360s in 1 minute), and freestyle.[14] At first the 3 club freestyle competition was a "best trick" contest like the other freestyle competitions, but in 2008 it was changed to the 1 minute routine format originally used for the WJF freestyle competitions. The world record for the longest 3 club endurance run with publicly available video evidence is 6 hours, 11 minutes, and 27 seconds by Andrew Romanenko.

Video: 3 club juggling tutorial

4 clubs[]

5_tricks_with_4_clubs

5 tricks with 4 clubs

4 club tricks by Josh Horton

Charles Hoey was the first person to juggle 4 clubs.[15] The world record for 4 club juggling is 2 hours, 7 minutes, and 17 seconds by Caio Stevanovich.(video)

Video: 4 club juggling tutorial

5 clubs[]

5_club_360s_World_Record_yet_again

5 club 360s World Record yet again

5 club 1 minute 360s world record by Vova Galchenko

Ben Mowatt Jr. was the first person to juggle 5 clubs.[16] Until 1984, the IJA Numbers Championships usually had no more than two divisions - one for 7 objects (competitors could use either 7 balls or 7 rings in the same division) and one for 5 clubs. Since 1984, the IJA has had competitions with a separate division for each prop, where competitors are scored higher for juggling higher numbers.[17] The WJF overall championship includes a 5 club freestyle competition (best trick contest; held since 2004).[14] Before 2015, the overall championship also included a 5 club 360s competition (most 5 up 360s in 1 minute), and a 5 club backcross isolated endurance competition (endurance contest with competitors standing on chairs to allow only accurate, controlled patterns).[18] The world record for 5 club juggling is 53 minutes and 21 seconds by Thomas Dietz.[12] Thomas claims to have done 5 clubs for 1 hour and 25 minutes.

Video: 5 club juggling tutorial

6 clubs[]

Anthony_Gatto_6_Clubs

Anthony Gatto 6 Clubs

6 club sequence by Anthony Gatto

Pat McGreevey was the first person credited with juggling 6 clubs (he did 4 in one hand and 2 in the other).[15] 6 is now the minimum number of clubs used in the IJA's numbers endurance competition,[19] and was also the minimum number of clubs used in the WJF's numbers endurance competition until 2006. Since 2007 the WJF club endurance competition has started with 7 clubs.[14] The WJF overall championship currently includes a 6 club freestyle competition[14] (first held in 2008).[18] The 6 club juggling world record is 7 minutes and 38 seconds by Anthony Gatto.[12](video)

Video: 6 club juggling tutorial

7 clubs[]

Thirty_7_Club_Tricks

Thirty 7 Club Tricks

7 club tricks by Spencer Androli

John Breen is the first person recorded as having juggled 7 clubs, around 1910.[16] He could do about 70 catches.[15] (John P. Thomas was also working on 7 clubs a few years earlier, but it's unclear whether he actually caught all seven.[20] Long before that, an ancient Chinese juggler is credited with juggling 7 swords.)[21] The first person to juggle 7 clubs in the IJA's numbers endurance competition was Anthony Gatto in 1986.[17] He won the competition at the age of 13 with a run of 44 catches, which was also the first qualifying run of 7 clubs recorded on video.[22][23] 7 is the minimum number of clubs used in the WJF's numbers endurance competition,[14] and the highest number of clubs that have been qualified in any of the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA[24] and the WJF. The WJF overall championship also includes a 7 club freestyle competition (first held in 2008),[14] and until 2015 it also included 7 club isolated endurance (an endurance contest with competitors standing on chairs to allow only accurate, controlled patterns).[18] The world record for 7 clubs is 4 minutes and 24 seconds by Anthony Gatto.[12]

The following people have juggled 7 clubs for at least 100 catches on video:

Other jugglers reported to have done at least 100 catches of 7 clubs:

Tricks that have been done with 7 clubs include:

8 clubs[]

8_Club_Juggling_Compilation

8 Club Juggling Compilation

8 club patterns and tricks by Moritz Rosner

8 is the highest number of clubs that have been performed onstage. No one has successfully juggled 8 clubs in the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA[24] and the WJF, which require a qualifying run. The following jugglers have all done at least a flash of 8 clubs on video:

Other jugglers reported to have flashed 8 clubs:

Other jugglers who have done 8 similar objects:

Patterns and tricks that have been done with 8 clubs include:

9 clubs[]

9_club_world_record

9 club world record

9 club world record by Eivind Dragsjø

Bruce Tiemann was the first person to flash 9 sticks, in 1996.[12](video) The 9 stick record has since been equaled by Scott Sorensen in 1997,(video) Chris Fowler in 2003,(video) and Daniel Eaker in 2009.(video) Chris Fowler claims to have done 9 sticks for 11 catches.

Willy Colombaioni claims to have first flashed 9 clubs in 2002, at age 17. Ben Thompson also claims to have flashed 9 clubs before anyone did it with publicly available video evidence, but he chose not to share a video because it was too sloppy. Emil Dahl was the first person to flash 9 clubs with publicly available video evidence, in 2013. In 2015, Willy Colombaioni flashed 9 clubs on video, using a holster to hold the last club. He later did 10 catches with 9.(video) Ben Thompson also flashed 9 clubs on video in 2015. Eivind Dragsjø broke the 9 club world record in 2016 with 11 catches.(video) Moritz Rosner flashed 9 clubs in 2021,(video) and later did 10 catches.(video) Kaito Tanioka flashed 9 clubs in 2023.(video) Kellin Quinn flashed 9 clubs in 2025,(video) and tied Eivind's record of 11 catches in 2026.(video) Eivind Dragsjø set the current world record in 2026, with a run of 13 catches.(video) Kento Tanioka has flashed 9 clubs in triplexes.(video)

10 clubs[]

Albert Lucas claims to have flashed 10 wooden clubs. The closest attempt at a 10 club flash anyone has done on video so far is 9 catches by Willy Colombaioni, using holsters to hold the last two clubs.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ↑ http://www.juggling.org/records/rules.html
  2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juggling_club
  3. ↑ https://www.juggle.org/pre-club-juggling-with-linear-props/
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 http://ezine.juggle.org/2014/01/31/the-development-of-the-juggling-club-part-1/
  5. ↑ http://historicaljugglingprops.com/innovative-and-rare-juggling-clubs-1895-1969/
  6. ↑ https://indianclubs.com.au/indian-clubs/indian-clubs-history/indian-clubs-v-juggling-pins/
  7. ↑ https://dev.juggle.org/history/archives/jugmags/39-2/39-2,p54.htm
  8. ↑ http://ezine.juggle.org/2014/02/16/the-development-of-the-juggling-club-part-2/
  9. ↑ http://ezine.juggle.org/2014/02/24/the-development-of-the-juggling-club-part-3/
  10. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjy3gHyrFDo&lc=72qknyRXhy1chl3_-mn7TSgxgXjY_ocG9FT5LIFTVW8
  11. ↑ http://www.juggling.org/records/FAQ.html
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 http://www.juggling.org/records/records.html
  13. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juggling_world_records
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 https://www.thewjf.com/aoc/
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 http://www.juggling.org/jb/jb20.html
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 http://ezine.juggle.org/2014/11/20/juggling-firsts-part-two-clubs-sticks-rackets/
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 http://www.juggle.org/ija/championships/
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 http://www.thewjf.com/allevents.php
  19. ↑ http://www.juggle.org/ija/championships/files/2015/04/NumbersRules2015.pdf
  20. ↑ https://www.juggle.org/the-history-of-7-club-juggling/
  21. ↑ http://www.juggling.org/help/numbers/records/clubs-07.html
  22. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1078504258887475/permalink/1603635836374312/?comment_id=1604315599639669
  23. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/groups/JugglingHome/posts/3676371959254060/?comment_id=3676376985920224&reply_comment_id=3676378239253432
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 http://www.juggle.org/ija/championships/numbers-records/
  25. ↑ http://www.juggling.org/jw/90/1/guinness.html
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