Mills mess

Mills mess is a trick invented by Steve Mills. The pattern is a repeating sequence of three different kinds of throws:

7b mills attempt

7 ball Mills mess by Daniel Eaker

• The first throw is an outside throw. The next catch made by the hand making this throw should be done with that arm crossed over the other arm.
• The second throw is made under the arm, and the arms stay crossed so that the next catch made by that hand is also done under the arm.
• The third throw is made starting with the arms crossed, uncrossing them while throwing with the hand that's on top. This prop, when thrown with the right hand, goes over the top of the pattern from left to right. The next catch made by the hand making this throw should be done with the arms uncrossed.

These three throws are done starting with the right hand and the left hand alternately.

Unless this trick is combined with a siteswap, in a Mills mess pattern with an odd number of objects the objects are always thrown with one hand and caught with the other hand, and in a pattern with an even number of objects each object is always thrown and caught with the same hand. Because all the throws are made on the outside of the pattern, it's easier to transition into Mills mess from a reverse cascade or fountain than from the basic pattern.

3 ball Mills mess

4 ball Mills mess

5 ball Mills mess

 

Learn to juggle MILLS MESS - Intermediate Juggling Tutorial

3 ball Mills mess tutorial

How to juggle 4 BALL MILLS MESS - Advanced Juggling Tutorial

4 ball Mills mess tutorial

World records

Mills mess records with publicly available video evidence:

• 4 ball Mills mess: 21 minutes and 22 seconds by Dominik Braun in 2018 (video)
• 5 ball Mills mess: 9 minutes and 39 seconds by Illya Azarov in 2024 (video)
• 6 ball Mills mess: 1 minute and 26 seconds by Adolfo Almonacid in 2020 (video)
• 7 ball Mills mess: 22 catches by Michael Pearce in 2018 (video)

• 4 ring Mills mess: 1 minute and 31 seconds by Marc Schneider in 2015 (video)
• 5 ring Mills mess: 39 catches by Kip Hunt in 2014 (video)
• 6 ring Mills mess: 8 catches by Kenshin Tomie in 2021 (video)

• 3 club Mills mess: 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 50 seconds by Ameron Rosvall in 2021 (video)
• 4 club Mills mess: 6 minutes and 27 seconds by Andreas Polimenis in 2022 (video)
• 5 club Mills mess: 97 catches by Nicolas Fuentes in 2024 (video)
• 6 club Mills mess: 12 catches by Nicolas Fuentes in 2024 (video)

Records with insufficient video evidence:

• 4 ball Mills mess: 22 minutes and 58 seconds by Patrick Quin in 2018 (video no longer available)
• 5 ball Mills mess: 10 minutes and 43 seconds by Thomas Dietz in 2009 (part of the video is sped up)

Unverified claims:

• 6 ball Mills mess: 850 catches by Josiah Jones (claim)
• 7 ball Mills mess: 24 catches by Josiah Jones in 2007 (claim)
• 8 ball Mills mess: 12 catches by Nick Thomas (claim)
• 9 ball Mills mess: 11 catches by Nick Thomas (claim)

Alternative names

• Mills
• Mess
• Alternating cross-armed pattern
• Pretzel
• Double Lubman

Variations

Flo's mess After the under-the-arm throw, you uncross your arms and do an outside throw instead of doing a cross-armed throw.

Half mess or single Lubman Three throws of Mills mess followed by another outside throw so you start from the same side each time you repeat the pattern.

Reverse Mills mess For 3 balls, this is the same as a normal Mills mess except the under the arm throw is made on the inside of the pattern, going up in between the other two balls.

Reverse Mills Mess (In Time) Juggling Tutorial 27

Reverse Mills mess tutorial

• Mike's mess (522 Mills mess with the 5 under the arm)
• Burke's barrage (423 Mills mess with the 4 under the arm)
• Luke's lobotomy (similar to 504 Mills mess with the 4 under the arm)
• Rubenstein's revenge (similar to a Mills mess where both cross-armed throws are made under the arm)
• Eric's extension
• Boston mess
• Overhead Mills mess
• Mills mess siteswaps (examples below)

531 mess with the 5 under the arm	531 mess with the 3 under the arm	531 mess with the 1 under the arm
633 mess with the 6 under the arm	633 mess with the first 3 under the arm	633 mess with the second 3 under the arm
645 mess with the 6 under the arm	645 mess with the 4 under the arm	645 mess with the 5 under the arm