Club juggling

Learn to JUGGLE 3 CLUBS - Beginner Tutorial

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

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), and was originally done with Indian clubs, which were very heavy exercise/martial arts equipment made from wood and shaped similarly to modern juggling clubs.

Edward Van Wyck started making the first commercially available juggling clubs in 1895. Van Wyck clubs were made of wood, but were hollow and decorated with foil, making them lighter than Indian clubs. The first hollow plastic clubs were part of a children’s juggling set made in the late 1950s. The first multi-piece plastic juggling clubs were made in 1964 by Jay Green. His clubs were also the first to feature flex cushioning on the handle, and foam knobs and end caps.

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. The Juggling Information Service Committee on Numbers Juggling (JISCON) recognizes sticks as a type of club that may be used for numbers records.

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

3 clubs

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3 club tricks by Andreas Polimenis

DeWitt Cook was the first person to juggle 3 clubs, in the 1870s. 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. 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 5 hours, 12 minutes, and 53 seconds by Kotaro Minami. John McPeak formerly held the Guinness World Record for the longest time juggling: 6 hours, using 3 clubs.

4 clubs

5 tricks with 4 clubs

4 club tricks by Josh Horton

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

5 clubs

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. Until 1984, there were only two divisions in the IJA Numbers Championships - 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. The WJF overall championship includes a 5 club freestyle competition (best trick contest; held since 2004). 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). The world record for 5 club juggling is 53 minutes and 21 seconds by Thomas Dietz. Thomas claims to have done 5 clubs for 1 hour and 25 minutes.

6 clubs

Anthony Gatto 6 Clubs

6 club sequence by Anthony Gatto

Pat McGreevey was the first person credited with juggling 6 clubs (4 in one hand and 2 in the other). 6 is now the minimum number of clubs used in the IJA's numbers endurance competition, 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. The WJF overall championship currently includes a 6 club freestyle competition (first held in 2008). The 6 club juggling world record is 7 minutes and 38 seconds by Anthony Gatto.^(video)

7 clubs

Thirty 7 Club Tricks

7 club tricks by Spencer Androli

John Breen is the first person recorded as having juggled 7 clubs, around 1910. (He could do about 70 catches. Long before that, an ancient Chinese juggler is credited with juggling 7 swords.) The first person to juggle 7 clubs in the IJA's numbers endurance competition was Anthony Gatto in 1986. 7 is the minimum number of clubs used in the WJF's numbers endurance competition, and the highest number of clubs that have been qualified in any of the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA and the WJF. The WJF overall championship also includes a 7 club freestyle competition (first held in 2008), and until 2015 it also included 7 club isolated endurance (an endurance contest with competitors standing on chairs to allow only accurate, controlled patterns). The world record for 7 clubs is 4 minutes and 24 seconds by Anthony Gatto.

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

• Anthony Gatto - 1075 catches^(video)
• Vova Galchenko - 300 catches^(video)
• Kaito Tanioka - 260 catches^(video)
• Spencer Androli - 237 catches^(video)
• Kento Tanioka - 210 catches^(video)
• Dominik Harant - 168 catches;^(video)
• Christian Hauschild - 163 catches;^(video) 200 catches^(claim)
• Jonah Botvinick-Greenhouse - 155 catches^(video)
• Eivind Dragsjø - 142 catches^(video)
• Jack Denger - 137 catches;^(video) 145 catches^(claim)
• Willy Colombaioni - 118 catches in quads;^(video) 154 catches^(claim)
• Moritz Rosner - 115 catches;^(video) 122 catches^(claim)
• Masahiro Takahashi - 112 catches^(video)
• Joe Fisher - 111 catches;^(video) 138 catches^(claim)
• Jon Brady - 111 catches^(video)
• Mathias Ramfelt - 109 catches^(video)
• Haavard Hvidsten - 107 catches;^(video) 187 catches^(claim)
• Thomas Dietz - 105 catches^(video)
• Kenny Cheung - 103 catches^(video)
• Matthes Speidel - 103 catches^(video)
• Delaney Bayles - 101 catches^(video)
• Wes Peden - 100 catches;^(video) 110 catches^(claim)

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

• Toby Walker - 170 catches^(claim)
• Manuel Mitasch - about 135 catches^(claim)
• Stephan Gruss - about 120 catches^(claim)
• Christof Buch - 118 catches^(claim)
• Ben Thompson - 115 catches^(claim)
• Onni Toivonen - 101 catches^(claim)
• Claudius Specht^(claim)
• Kristian Wanvik - 100 throws^(claim)

Tricks that have been done with 7 clubs include:

• Singles - qualified^(video)
• Club balance - qualified^(video)
• 867 - 3 rounds to a qualify^(video)
• 966 - 3 rounds to a qualify^(video)
• (8x,6)* - qualified^(video)
• db97531 - 1 round to a qualify^(video)
• Backcrosses - flashed^(video)
• Body throws - flashed^(video)
• 7 up 360 - qualified^(video)
• 5 up 180 - qualified^(video)

8 clubs

Anthony Gatto 8 Clubs World Record Edit

Anthony Gatto qualifying 8 clubs

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 and the WJF, which require a qualifying run. The following jugglers have all done at least a flash of 8 clubs on video:

• Anthony Gatto was the first person to flash 8 clubs, in 1991,^(video) and the first person to qualify 8 clubs, in 2006.^(video) He claims to have done 8 clubs for 21 catches.
• Nikolai Gerasimov - onstage^(video)
• Jason Garfield^(video)
• Willy Colombaioni became the second person to qualify 8 clubs on video in 2015, tying the world record of 16 catches. He has also flashed 8 clubs onstage.^(video)
• Ben Thompson has flashed 8 clubs on video and claims to have done 16 catches.
• Daniel Eaker^(video)
• Toby Walker - video shows about 11 catches
• Rudolf Janeček - onstage^(video)
• Emil Dahl - onstage^{(video at 0:52)}
• Iver Tronstad^(video)
• Eivind Dragsjø - 12 catches^(video)
• Kenny Cheung^(video)
• Rudolf Levitskiy - 9 catches^(video)
• Takuya Suzuki^(video)
• Gustaf Rosell^(video)
• Caio Stevanovich^(video)
• Jack Denger - 12 catches^(video)
• Kaito Tanioka - 12 catches^(video)
• Spencer Androli become the third person to qualify 8 clubs on video in 2022, and was the first to qualify it in a 97 pattern.
• Moritz Rosner was the fourth person to qualify 8 clubs on video (in 2023), also in the 97 pattern. He set the current world record about a month later, with a run of 18 catches.^(video)
• Stefan Brancel^(video)
• Johan Juslin^(video)
• Haavard Hvidsten^(video)
• Cristobal Pino^(video)
• Aramis Gonzalez^(video)
• Dominik Harant^(video)
• Florian Lange^(video)

Other jugglers reported to have flashed 8 clubs:

• Darin Marriott^(claim)
• Chris Fowler - 9 catches^(claim)
• Yuliya Gerasimov^(claim)
• Niels Duinker^(claim)
• Scott Sorensen^(claim)
• Thomas Dietz^(claim)
• Onni Toivonen^(claim)
• Manuel Mitasch^(claim)
• Kristian Wanvik^(claim)
• Luke Davies^(claim)

Other jugglers who have done 8 similar objects:

• Shimon ben Gamaliel - torches^(claim)
• Enrico Rastelli - sticks^(claim)
• Luke Jay - sticks^(claim)
• Jian Ping Qian - badminton rackets^(video)
• Chris Fowler - 10 catches with sticks^(claim)
• David Cain - sticks onstage^(video)
• Bruce Tiemann - sticks^(claim)
• Scott Sorensen - sticks^(claim)
• Françoise Rochais - 10 catches with batons^(claim)
• Glenn Folco - rackets^(video)

Patterns and tricks that have been done with 8 clubs:

• Asynch quads (video)
• Synch quads (video)
• Asynch triples (video)
• Synch triples (video)
• 97 (video)
• 978 (video)
• 99999991 (video)
• Isolation (video)
• Club balance (video)
• Pole balance (video)
• Rola bola (video)
• Scissor catches (video)
• Columns (video)
• Flat fronts (video)
• Duplexes (video)

9 clubs

9 club world record

9 club world record by Eivind Dragsjø

Bruce Tiemann was the first person to flash 9 sticks, in 1996.^(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 Kaito Tanioka flashed 9 clubs in 2023.^(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

• Club juggling category on Juggle Wiki
• Club juggling world records

• Sticks
• Batons
• Canes

• Ball juggling
• Ring juggling