Shower (juggling) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Shower

Minimum prop #: 3

Difficulty: 5/10, 4.2 (note: difficulty ratings are arbitrary and subject to change)

Siteswap: 51 or (4x,2x)

Shannon: 6

Period: 2

Parity: even or odd

Notes: asymmetrical, synchronous or asynchronous

Ladder diagram for asynchronous (51) and synchronous (4x,2x) shower

The shower is a cool juggling pattern for 3 or more objects, like balls or bean bags. In this trick, the objects move in a circular path. It's a classic move in toss juggling.

Imagine throwing a ball high from one hand to the other. At the same time, your other hand quickly passes a ball back low. This creates a continuous circle of objects flying through the air. The animation shows how it looks with three balls.

You often see the shower pattern in cartoons when someone is juggling. It looks like the perfect juggling trick! However, in real life, the cascade pattern is actually more common for jugglers. If you keep changing the direction of the shower, you can even create another trick called the box pattern.

There are two main ways to do the shower:

• Synchronous shower: Both hands throw their balls at the exact same time.
• Asynchronous shower: The throws happen at different times.

A trick called the half-shower is similar to the shower. It's great for making you stronger and improving your coordination. Another cool variation is the Statue of Liberty. For this trick, one hand throws the object high over your head.

How Difficult is the Shower Juggling Pattern?

Paths traveled by balls in the shower and half-shower patterns.

One neat thing about the shower pattern is that it doesn't change much when you add more objects. The objects just keep following each other in circles. For example, a four-ball shower looks exactly like a three-ball shower. You just need to throw the balls higher or faster. This is different from a cascade pattern. If you add an extra ball to a cascade, it often turns into a fountain pattern instead.

The easiest shower is with two balls. Many people might even call this "juggling." If you ask someone to juggle with two objects, they might throw one up, pass the other across, and catch the first. If they keep doing this, it's a two-ball shower! However, most jugglers define "toss juggling" as handling more objects than you have hands. So, a two-object shower isn't usually considered "toss juggling."

For beginners, a three-ball shower is much harder than a three-ball cascade. This is because the throws are high, fast, and not symmetrical. But once you learn it, it's easy to keep doing for a long time. You can also combine it with other cool tricks. Some people find the movements of the shower come naturally to them, even though it's more complex than the cascade.