- "Cross" redirects here. For the other basic crossing pattern, see "Cascade".
The wimpy pattern is one of the four basic patterns in solo juggling (cascade, asynch fountain, synch fountain, and wimpy), and can be done with any even number of objects. Both hands throw at the same time, and each object is thrown at an angle, moving across from one hand to the other. All the objects are thrown to about the same height.
Bruce Tiemann named the basic synch crossing pattern the "wimpy pattern" mainly because he thought that was a good description of how it looks, but it's also generally considered easier than the standard fountain pattern for juggling high even numbers of balls. Collisions can be avoided by throwing slightly higher with one hand, by throwing with one hand farther forward than the other, by making the throws not quite synchronous, or by just aiming to try to make the balls collide. The wimpy pattern with rings or clubs is more difficult than a fountain because those props are too big to easily avoid collisions. It's easier to do a reverse wimpy pattern with the rings or clubs turned sideways than to do a wimpy pattern with normal inside throws with those props.
A wimpy pattern is written in siteswap notation as two of the same even number, inside parentheses and separated with a comma, with an "x" after each number. The wimpy pattern is the most common way to juggle an even number of props in bounce juggling and in one-sided overhead throws.
The highest number of objects that have been qualified (at least twice as many catches as objects) in the wimpy pattern is 10 balls (for both toss juggling and bounce juggling), and the highest number of objects that have been flashed (same number of throws and catches as objects) in the wimpy pattern is 12 balls (for both toss juggling and bounce juggling).
10 balls - 30 catches (wimpy)
10 ball wimpy pattern by Alex Barron
Learn to JUGGLE 6 BALLS - "wimpy" Juggling Tutorial
6 ball wimpy tutorial
Is A Four Club Wimpy Possible?
Siteswap exercises[]
You can use these exercises to practice the same kind of throws that are done in wimpy patterns, before you learn the full pattern.
Some of the siteswaps listed below are shortened to leave out parts where you’re not doing anything. Click on them to see animations of the exercises.
You should practice doing these starting with your right hand and with your left hand, so that you will be ready to learn the full symmetrical pattern.
4 ball wimpy pattern:
Exercises to prepare for (4x,4x):
- 1 ball 4x
- 2 ball (4x,4x)
- 2 ball (4x,0)(4x,0)*
- 3 ball (4x,4x)(4x,0)*
6 ball wimpy pattern:
Exercises to prepare for (6x,6x):
- 1 ball 6x
- 2 ball (6x,6x)
- 2 ball (6x,0)(6x,0)*
- 3 ball (6x,6x)(6x,0)*
- 4 ball (6x,6x)
- 3 ball (6x,0)(6x,0)(6x,0)*
- 4 ball (6x,6x)(6x,6x)
- 5 ball (6x,6x)(6x,2)*
- 5 ball (6x,6x)(6x,6x)(6x,0)*
Alternative names[]
- Synch crossing pattern
- Crossing pattern
- Cross pattern
- Cross
Names that do not specify that the throws are both synchronous and crossing are ambiguous, since there are two kinds of basic patterns with synchronous throws and two kinds of basic patterns with crossing throws. "Synch crossing pattern" is also ambiguous, since it could refer to either the wimpy pattern (where the throws from both hands are approximately the same height) or a synchronous halfshower pattern where one hand throws higher than the other, such as (6x,4x).