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Learning
to Juggle

        These lessons are from  http://www.strongsoccer.com/Kingdrills/homeplay.htm
    

Keys:

  • Initially practice juggling on pavement so that you can play the bounce and keep the ball moving. Learning to softly touch a bouncing ball is almost as important as a juggle touch and teaches the same movements.
     
  • Use the shoelace or instep part of the foot for most foot touches. Use the soft, fleshy part of the thigh for thigh juggles. Stay away from the knee.

        Learning to juggle is not easy!
        There are not many "shortcuts". It can be very frustrating to new players and they just want to quit trying. Take it slow with lots of encouragement for everything. Many times they will begin to show significant gains but seem to lose all of those gains the following practice. Go slow. The time and effort it takes a player to progress from 2 touches to 4 touches may well be the same as from 20 to 40 juggles later on. Work in games like "juggle-horse" to keep it interesting.

 
  • Start with a decent but expendable ball that you can use on pavement and not mind the scuffs. You may find that if you under-inflate it just a tiny bit, it will allow for more control. Repeat all the skills with both feet.
     
  • Hold the ball out in front of you with both hands and drop it onto the pavement for a bounce. After the bounce, tap the ball back up to your hands with the shoelace or instep part your foot. Catch the ball and repeat several times with each foot. We need to learn how to describe these movements so the teacher can lead some beginning jugglers through these skills. (I would call this a "bounce-foot-catch".)
     
  • Now, drop the ball for a bounce, tap it softly up towards your hands but let it fall back to the pavement for another bounce. Then tap it up to your hands for a catch. (I would call this a "bounce-foot-bounce-foot-catch".) Repeat this several times, again with both feet.
     
  • Next we will drop the ball directly to the foot for a tap back to the hands for a catch. (This is a "foot-catch")
     
  • Now drop the ball to the foot for a tap but let it bounce, then use the foot to tap it up to the hands for a catch. (This is a "foot-bounce-foot-catch".)
     
  • Keep adding on touches and bounces alternating a foot touch with a bounce and ending with a catch. It's important to end with a catch to maintain control.
     
  • Finally drop the ball for a bounce and tap it up with the foot but before it bounces try to tap it up again for a catch. ( This is a "bounce-foot-foot-catch".) This is the beginning of "real" juggling! This is a big step. If it seems too difficult for the player, do not hesitate to back up and work on the 1 touch exercises again with bounces in between.
     
  • Continue to try different variations of bouncing and 2 foot touches. Don't try to go to 3 consecutive foot juggles too soon. Getting from 2 juggles to 3 is a very big step as well. Instead try to link lots of 2 juggles together with bounces. Try a bounce-foot-foot-bounce-foot-foot-catch. Later on link together a several of these 2 touch juggles with a bounce between each one. In fact, see how long you can keep it going with 2 touches and then a bounce. Have a contest.
     
  • It may not be the first day, but eventually you are ready to go for 3 juggles. Warm-up with single touches and work up to 2 touches linked together with bounces, just as I have described above. Then try a bounce followed by 3 foot juggles and a catch. (This is a bounce-foot-foot-foot-catch.) Encourage alternating feet during the 3 touch juggle. Once they get the hang of this, start using bounces to link together more 3 and 2 touch.
     
  • You can drop the ball directly to the foot without a bounce, to start the juggle, once they begin to develop some control.
     
  • Approach thigh touches and head touches the same way, but wait until they have some control with their feet so they can "dig" it up for a catch at the end. Also they will often find the thigh touches easier and tend to overwork them thus neglecting the feet. Start with a thigh-bounce-foot-catch combo and then keep adding on. Try a thigh-thigh-bounce-foot-catch and then a thigh-thigh-foot-foot-catch and now

 

       World Records For Ball Juggling with Feet, Legs and Head.

       All records are achieved without the ball touching the ground! World Records article courtesy of: Recordholders.org
  • Soccer ball control
    Nikolai Kutsenko (UKR) juggled a regulation soccer ball for 24:30 hrs nonstop with feet, legs and head, without the ball ever touching the ground.
    RECORD STATISTICS
     
  • Soccer ball control, female
    Milene Domingues (BRA), 55,187 times in 9:06 hrs, in 1997
     
  • Soccer ball control in a sitting position
    Tomas Lundman (SWE): 1:27:48 on 1 Feb 2001
     
  • Walking while keeping up a soccer ball
    Ricardo Silva Neves (BRA) covered 721 km (448 mi) in June 1992. He arrived in Brasilia after travelling for 12 days.
     
  • Walking while keeping up a soccer ball, team record
    A team from Aubigny (FRA) covered 113 km (70 mi 400 yd) in 11:32 hrs.
     
  • Walking while heading a soccer ball
    Agim Agushi (Kosovo) covered 15.356 km (9 mi 857 yd) in 3:12:39 hrs on 27 Oct 2002 in Munich (Germany)
     
  • Running marathon while keeping up a soccer ball
    Dr. Jan Skorkovský (TCH) covered 42.195 km 26 mi 385 yd for the Prague City Marathon on 8 July 1990 in 7:18:55 hrs.
     
  • Running half marathon while keeping up a soccer ball
    Uno Lindström (SWE): 2:55:49 hrs on 10 August 1985.
     
  • Running 100 m while keeping up a soccer ball
    Manfred Wagner (SUI): 15.9 sec on 14 July 1996 at the 2nd Rekord-Klub SAXONIA record festival in Flensburg
     
  • Running 200 m while keeping up a soccer ball: ABrahan Munoz (USA) 40.26 sec on 29 Oct 2000 in Wheaton College, Illinois, USA
     
  • Running 1000 m while keeping up a soccer ball
    Josef Lochman (TCH): 5:03 min in 1986 in Valasské Mezirící
     
  • Running 1 hour while keeping up a soccer ball
    Josef Lochman (TCH): 8680 m (5 mi 693 yd) in 1986 in Valasské Mezirící
     
  • Speed juggling
    Ferdie Adoboe (USA): 136 touches (kicks) in 30 seconds and 262 touches in one minute, both achieved on 22 Jan 1999 in Tucson (USA). In 2002, Kurt Rothenfluh (SUI) demonstrated speed juggling for two minutes in a TV show. He was offically measured with 615 touches in two minutes, but the counting method was not accurate. However, the supposed correct result (about 570) would still surpass the records mentioned above.
     
  • Speed juggling, female
    123 by Tasha-Nicole Terani (USA) on 22 Febr 2003
    DETAILS
     
  • Heading a soccer ball
    Goderdzi Makharadze (GEO): 8:12:25 hrs, at the Boris Paichadze National Stadium Tbilisi, on 26 May 1996
     
  • Heading a soccer ball, doubles passing
    P. Kubecka and M. Vítek (TCH): 3455 times, in 1972 in Brno
     
  • Heading a soccer ball, 30 sec speed record
    Jacek Roszkowski (POL): 173 times, on 23 July 1993 in Gdansk
     
  • Keeping a soccer ball airborne while climbing up a ladder
    Paul Sahli (SUI): 109 steps, 25 May 2002 in Aarau
     
  • Running up and down stairs while juggling a soccer ball with feet and head
    ABrahan Munoz (USA) 2754 steps walking upstairs as well as downstairs in 1:19 hrs on 28 December 2002 in Morelia, Mich.
     
  • Running up and down stairs while heading a soccer ball
    Agim Agushi (Kosovo) 1920 steps walking upstairs,1860 steps walking downstairs in 1:12:41 hrs on 2 August 2002 in the PTK Building in Prishtina
     
  • Balancing, not juggling, a soccer ball on the head
    Adalberto Sanchez (Mexico): 2:00 hrs, 21 Dec 2002 in Morelia Mich DETAILS
     
  • Balancing, not juggling, a soccer ball on a foot
    ABrahan Munoz (USA), 13:36 min, on 3 August 2001 in Carpentersville DETAILS
 
   

Created: 12/20/99
Last Updated: 08/05/03


Since February 24, 1999
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  Web Administrator    Ken Gamble
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