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How to Juggle 5 RingsTo learn 5 Ring Juggling, it is expected that you can already juggle a very good 3 Ring Cascade. It is not essential that you have learned 4 ring juggling as odd numbers of balls are juggled differently than even numbers, but there are several 3 & 4 ring tricks that can help you to learn 5 ring juggling, so it is advised to do so! |
The actual 5 Ring Cascade is the same pattern as the 3 Ring Cascade, only twice as high and twice as fast (approx)! This may sound like a very simple explanation, but in a cascade, the rings have to pass through the same central point, and therefore if your timing or accuracy is even slightly off, the rings are likely to collide!
How to hold 3 Rings in One Hand. There are many different techniques to holding 3 rings. Try experimenting with several different grips and trying to throw each ring cleanly up in the air to the opposite hand. My only suggestion is that you will need at least one finger (or thumb) separating each ring from the next so that you can get a good clean throw.
TOP TIP: The first 2 throws may be a lot more difficult than the other throws (because you don’t have as good a grip on the first ring especially compared to all the others), so it may be worth spending some time practicing holding all 5 rings, and just throwing the first ring from each hand smoothly.It is also possible to have one ring held upright on a stand beside one of your hands, so that it can be grabbed easily once the other 4 rings have been launched in the air!
3 Ring Tricks (to help you learn the 5 Ring Cascade)
| 3 Ring Cascade (High) | Practice throwing every ring to a 5 ring height (approximately twice the height of you 3 ring cascade) and work on making the height consistent with every throw. |
| Hands Down to Knees | Juggle a 3 ring cascade but bring your hand down to below your knees before throwing the ring high. |
| 3 Ring Flash | This trick will help you get used to the speed and the height of the 5 ring cascade! While doing a cascade, throw all 3 rings high, and then continue. |
| Flash With Handclaps | Do a 3 Ring flash (see above), and as soon as you have released the third ring, clap your hand once. Now try again but this time clap your hands twice before continuing. These 2 claps would represent the 4th and 5th rings being thrown in the cascade pattern, so it is a very useful trick. Try doing this trick continuously to get a feel for the rhythm and tempo of a 5 Ring pattern. |
4 Ring Tricks (to help you learn 5 Ring Cascade)!
| 4 Ring Half Shower | Start with 2 rings in each hand. Now throw one high from one hand and one a bit lower with the other hand (so that they don’t collide). When both rings peak, throw the next ring in each hand (same hand low, same hand high) and keep going (remember to practice the trick in both directions and see if you can manage to change direction during the trick! | |
| 4 Ring Snake | Start with two rings in each hand. Throw one ring from your favoured hand, then two rings from your weaker hand in quick succession. Then throw two from your favoured hand in succession. (i.e. throw the one still in your hand, catch the first left, throw it, catch and hold the second left) Then two lefts, two rights, two lefts, etc. It’s confusing at first, but the pattern looks really good! | |
| 4 Ring High Throws | Try throwing the rings higher. The aim is to get a regular tempo going and to make sure that the rings aren’t wobbling too much (if it does wobble, it takes up more space and is more likely to collide with another Ring! | |
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Some Useful Tips
| If the pattern gets too wide | This tends to happen when you don’t have enough time to bring the hands back towards the centre of your body to make your next throw. Throw a bit higher to give yourself extra time to return your hand to its proper throwing position. |
| If the pattern gets too narrow | This usually happens because the pattern is too high. Try to bring the pattern down just a little and spread the pattern out slowly (if you do it too quickly you may find that the rings collide!) |
| Improve your Accuracy | Throw the 5 rings and let them drop on the floor. Look at where they landed (before they roll away in random directions! They should have landed roughly in a clump of 2 near each other and 3 near each other (this would let you know how accurate your throws are). |
| Improve your Timing | Throw all 5 Rings and listen to them hitting the floor. There should be an even tempo of drops. If you can hear that the rings are hitting the ground at the same time or immediately after another, then you need to improve your timing and try again! |
| 5 Rings Flash | This is 5 throws followed by 5 catches. The 3 rings from your dominant hand should end up in your weaker hand, and the 2 rings are now across in your dominant hand. If any of your throws is consistently poor, this will help you to identify which of your first 5 throws it is and then you can spend time trying to improve it. |
| A Different Coloured Ring | Try using 4 Rings of the same colour and one ring of a different colour. This will help you to keep count of your pattern if you start by throwing the different coloured ball, then you know every time it is caught in a Cascade pattern, you have made another 5 catches! |
| I can manage “10+” throws and then can’t get any further! | Try a few 5 ring flashes (5 throws and 5 catches). Aim for accuracy, and get your timing improved. Now try to get 10 clean throws and catches and stop. If you can keep the first 10 throws and catches clean, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to keep going with a bit of practice! It may be helpful to stop trying to count the rings as this may be taking up too much of your thinking! |
You only need 3 repetitions of 5 rings to be classified as a 5 ring juggler (15 catches), so keep practicing.
When you are ready for learning some 5 Ring Tricks, you could work your way back through the tricks on my 3 Ring Juggling Page!
