ContactJuggling.org

Hi all. When practicing in a mirror it looks like my spinning palm iso is pretty steady with one major exception. I notice that the small bumps and ridges on my palm make the ball jiggle up and down a little bit... so while the large scale "mechanics" of the move are smooth and make people look twice, it's quite frustrating to see the little up-down jiggles.

Is it just a case of doing so much practice that my body learns to compensate for these natural geometries on the palm? Or am I doing something wrong (not holding my hand flat enough perhaps)?

Tips and advice much appreciated!

(P.s. I'm using a 76mm sil-x ball, don't know if that has anything to do with it...)

OcT

sil-x doesn't come in 76mm- you mean 78mm. and they aren't the easiest thing to do clean standard isolations with.
3"acrylics, 100mm stage, and 100mm acrylics are what i learned palm circle isolations with. so i guess i would recomend one of those

I did spend many months probably an hour a day just to get near perfect palm circles. I think you have to be kinda obsessive to get them really tight. and i could have probably done that with virtually any ball... the 100mm size probably helps compensate for some error. :shrug:

so what i am saying is- a clean palm circle is something like a sign of "I have practiced this trick F loads" they do take time to slowly smooth... and individually dissect every moment of and polish to the highest standard you can achieve.

It is THE trick.

for me it's like the quintessential move in contact. it teaches all the virtues a contact juggler needs

It's all in your head. By identifying and focussing on the wobble, you are now looking for it. in looking for it, you subconsciously make it happen. You are your own worst enemy! Learn to switch your brain off and just do it.

as soon as you can properly visualise the ball still, it will be. believe it's stuck in space, and it is.

Hold your hand flat, and wide, like an invisible string pulling out at your fingertips. SLOW DOWN. make the ball's circular pathway around your hand as big as possible. recreate the same size pathway with your hand instead of the ball. It's a good idea to practice the palm circle without isolation too, or rather, with complete body isolation. don't move what you don't need to. learn the size of the circle. Learn what 'level' feels like.

Relax your shoulders. be still. If you are not still, when can the new movement begin, and how can you practice control?

How and why do (or even is) not matter. When and where is all that's important.

I say only 50% is in the mind... of a trained practitioner.

I dunno what you are saying about using visualization, alone, to convince yourself of a strong isolation will ever replace good and thoughtful practice. (This theory should be easy to test, all you will have to do is test it on some people who have been practicing visualization on a daily basis for years, or at least claim to have good visualization skills. If their palm circle is immediately amazing, then it surely is all in the mind.)

By focusing on the wobble you are identifying it. It is there after all. I think confrontation might be a better way to deal with the bumps rather than pretending the aren't there. Give your subconscious more credit than that. It knows much more about your surroundings than you do consciously. It is not there to sabotage your isolations. And you consciously being mindful of your mistakes, may or may not subconsciously make them happen. It is not a given.
At some point, once you tire of the bump in your palm circles, you have to address it. this type of practice is imo essential to eventually cleaning them up.

You will see things by being slow, this allows all your mistakes to surface. and all the short comings and flaws in your tech are shown clearly. Being fast is a natural way to cover your mistakes. there is a feeling/sensation when I do this. A little part of me isn't confidant with the technique and it basically bodges the technique in attempt to hide that fact> perpetuating a bad habit until i make time to break it. It's an indicator that I need to address something there.

Your hand may physically need to change. either what it is doing, or at higher levels, through sheer practice the shape, contour, and dexterity will develop. I think contemplation on each moment- particularly identifying what is happening, why, and figuring out how to achieve the thing you visualize. And importantly, relaxing into it and simply be mindful of the things you have worked out that you need to be doing. After a while that will be the way you do it. Hopefully, in time, completing the manifestation of your visualization.

Great advice. I am working on doing it painfully slowly and I think I may already have detected some improvement. Cheers!