Making Time for a Trick

Sometimes you may wish to do a trick that takes a little more time than is normally available in a cascade, for example the Flourish - a trick in which the club is caught and spun round the fingers of your hand before being released. In a normal cascade juggled on single spins it is very hard to complete the flourish in the time available between throws.

One possible solution to this problem is to alter the pattern of throws so that the right hand has more time to complete the flourish. This can be achieved by making a left hand throw straight up and down using one or, more usually, two spins as shown in the ladder diagram below:

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Another method that doesn't gain you quite as much time, but which has the advantage of maintaining the cascade pattern, is to make one or two of the throws which precede the flourish higher than normal, either by using doubles or high slow singles.

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For most tricks high singles are sufficient, and using this method is a good way of learning how to put tricks into a cascade. Often only a small height increase, maybe 6-8 inches, is required. It should be stressed that making extra time in this way is an aid for the learning stages only, and once you can do the trick in this way you should try to speed it up so that you can do it without disturbing the rhythm of the cascade, the ability to do this is essential if you intend to do the trick 2 or 3 times in a row, rather than just once.