ContactJuggling.org

Hope I post this in the right forum. I saw other ball issues here so...

I have a couple of heavy practice balls from oddballs.co.uk (Juggle Dream). I like everything about them except the stickiness. I mean, they are SO sticky it's incredible. This is supposed to help newbies, but for this newbie it has the opposite effect. Works much better when I've dropped the ball a couple of times and it has rolled under my bed picking up dust... But it's no fun using a dusty and less shiny ball.

Are there any heavy not bouncy balls that are not sticky? I've ordered Mr B's heavy contact ball, I'm hoping it's less sticky but don't really expect it to be.

Actually, I'm just now trying a nicer way to get rid of the stickiness. Oil the ball. I used coconut oil. It's semi solid in room temperature, has no odour or a faint coconut smell depending on brand. It's colorless and doesn't stain and it isn't very slippery.

I'll post my procedure if someone wants to try.

Clean the ball and let it dry properly.
Take the tiniest amount of coconut oil on you fingertip and draw a couple of lines with it on the ball.
"Massage" the ball between your palms to spread the oil evenly and thinly. The body heat will make the oil more fluid, so keep at it a while.
Give the ball little wipe with a clean cloth, don't rub. Any excess oil will rub into the skin off your hands and make them smooth, so no biggie.

For me this seems to works. The ball feels like a normal ball, not oily and it's shinier than ever. My fingers can slide along the ball without sticking. Yes, squeeze-up works fine. Since this is the first day I'm oiling my balls (hey - I don't mean that as you read it!) I don't know how long it sticks. Neither do I know if the oil harms the plastic in the long run, but I wouldn't think so. It ain't rubber, me thinks, but plastic.

That was incredibly stupid of me. Of course the oil wore off too quick. But it was nice while it lasted.

there are acrylic balls, just get yourself a practice acrylic ball

Nuh, don't want to break anything. Just want a harmless rubber or plastic ball.

Try a 100mm play contact stageball from neon husky. They're the least "tacky" stageballs I found.http://www.neonhusky.com/JShop/product.php/521/113

Thanks. If the Mr Babache balls turn out to be too sticky too I'll try Play. Boy, I'll have a lot of balls.

Robbert, I had actually already ordered a 80 mm cheapish acrylic with the Mr B balls, but that was mostly because I'm curious about how they feel. I'll use it for isolation practice, but for anything else it's still plastic for me or I'll break my toes and windows. Windows are expensive. Don't know about toes.

Babache are lighter and tackier than Play. At least mine is.

It's the heavy one, 100 mm, supposed to weigh 300 g. I also ordered Mr B's body rolling ball. I'm doing this in style.

You sure have a great forum here. I'm trawling the old threads collecting tips.

Got 'em!

Though I should give a little review, but please note I'm an absolute beginner, so take no notice of what I say when it comes to what's good and what's bad. I think I can judge things like stickiness and squishiness though and maybe it helps another new buyer.

OK. I started out with one 80 and one 100 mm Juggle Dream practice ball from oddballs.co.uk. That's what I've been using so far. I believe those are the ones you call "oddballs"? Those are the two larger ones in the top left group in the picture (sorry for the poor quality of that, reading lamp all light I had available).

The rest are the ones I got today. Top right is Mr B heavy contact ball and the body rolling ball, Jea9 I think it's called. I also got the smallest 70 mm Juggling Dream practice ball (with the others, top left). I'm planning to get some rather young kids I know hooked this summer, so I need a ball for every hand. And I also wanted to complete my collection. Couldn't resist an 80 mm acrylic. I understand the oddballs ones perhaps aren't the best around given the relatively low price, but neither am I and I see no fault with it. On the contrary, it's awesome! I'm in love already. To finish off, three ordinary thuds. I've read it helps to learn a little of that too and I've always wanted to anyway.

So, the Mr B contact ball is considerably less tacky than the Juggle Dream ones. But it's also more squishy and the surface doesn't feel as smooth.

The body rolling ball is nice and big, fun to play with. Stickiness about the same as the smaller Mr B, but it's much, much softer and compresses easily when you grab it. I think I'm going to like it, but the dream would be a more rigid ball with a thicker skin. It's 300 g, but I think it could use a little more due to it's large size. It fells lighter than the 100 mm when it's actually heavier, feels a little flimsy maybe in my unexperienced hands, but I'm sure I'll overcome that.

Lastly, the small one from Juggle Dream. This is odd! It's not at all as tacky as the larger ones. It feels like my old balls when they've gotten nice and dusty. Could this really differ from ball to ball? Maybe my first balls were from an odd batch, because they feel as if I have molasses on my hands when they are clean.

As said, hope this helps another newbie choose.

Oooh, pretty balls.

The Jea9 is indeed a softer ball. I had a chance to play around with Eca's over the weekend, and found it a fantastic ball for bodyrolling. You'll have a blast with it, I assure you.

As to why we say the tacky contact balls are better for beginners: the tackiness enforces proper technique for isolations, as well as providing a better grip surface for all sorts of body rolls.

An example would be learning to do squeeze-ups. While the isolation appears to be someone squeezing at the ball, it's really a controlled roll across the surface of your fingers, one at a time, until it comes to rest atop your fist. Learning this with a tacky stage ball is harder, but it ensures that you'll be doing the technique properly, instead of sliding a ball across your flesh.

Balls will get less sticky as dust, dead skin, and various other debris builds up across the surface of the ball. A quick wash with soap and water will fix that, though as you've found, some people prefer the feel.

Be sure to also check out the peachfuzz-finish balls by Mr Babache. They've got that smoother, less tacky finish you're looking for.

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I KNOW. I'm all titillated.



I think so too. I notice already that i manage to get the inner elbow stall easier. Like 2 of 10 instead of 1 of 10.



I can understand that point. So I should embrace the tackiness...



Thanks for the tip. I saw them somewhere. I'll search. I'm going to try the heavy Play ball too. Maybe I can get them both from the same place. Balls aren't that costly, except those you don't like of course, but shipping is killing me.

Just so you know I'm not mad as a bat. I've missed playing with balls for decades since I can no longer do the things I used to (racket sports, mainly tennis). That maybe explains my ball buying frenzy now that I've found something I can play at, something I also find trains parts of my body I need to train, motor skills in my hands is where I notice most improvement in everyday life. I've waited enough, now I want all balls at once and I Shall Have Them! I suck of course, and probably always will, but I'd say I find the learning and playing more rewarding than most people, so I don't care if I suck. I get a tiny little bit better every day and that's all I want.