I’ve been joggling for many years and it has gotten fairly easy for me. All the hours of joggling have programmed my muscles to work automatically. 
Sometimes I don’t even notice that there a juggling balls in front of me.
But Saturday’s joggling work out with Jonas made me feel like a complete newbie joggler. Joggling rods is much more difficult for me. It was like starting from scratch. So, here are a few things I noticed that you might feel as a new joggler.
Biggest joggling challenges for a beginner
1. Looking at the juggling equipment. The number one problem is when you first start out, you’ll likely have to look at the juggling equipment. When I’m joggling bean bags I am able to look around and see what’s in front of me. As a new joggler, you’ll be looking at the equipment and only using your peripheral vision to see the path in front of you. This can be tricky so be sure to practice joggling on a known path so you don’t twist an ankle.
2. Drops Nothing is more frustrating than being an adept juggler but dropping juggling equipment in a simple 3-object cascade. But if you haven’t practiced juggling non-spherical things, you can’t expect to be good. And if you can’t easily juggle three bean bags, don’t be surprised when you drop. As a new joggler, practice on a wide path away from people who might get hurt if you drop.
3. Worrying about drops. Perhaps just as bad as dropping is the uneasiness you’ll feel when you worry about dropping. This is not something I do now when joggling bean bags but joggling sticks and pins is much more challenging for me. I think about dropping which increasing the probability that I will drop. If you want to get good at joggling you have to get to the point where you don’t worry about drops at all.
Joggling can be lots of fun but when you’re first starting out it can be frustrating. All I can say is stick with it and your brain and muscles will eventually catch up. I’m going to keep practicing with these joggling sticks until I get to the point that I can joggle them without looking. Hopefully, that won’t take too long.
Joggle on!
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You’ve described all that I’m dealing with perfectly. I have frequent drops, I’m still getting the hang of looking around, and I focus too much on the juggling balls. I’ve been juggling for over twenty years, but not in long continuous periods of time.
There is one other hazard and that is the risk of overtraining. I am not joggling my 5k this month because I’ve had tendinitis issues in the past and so am increasing my joggling time very slowly to give my arms plenty of time to build up the endurance. So far, so good. I’m thinking next fall I should be ready.
That’s great Elizabeth! I can’t wait to hear the report of your first joggling 5K. I’m fortunate in that in 15+ years of running I have not had a significant injury. It’s nothing I’ve done to prevent it. Just lucky I guess.
I’m a juggler from way back and recently I’ve taken up running again. Thinking of combining the two, I found your website. Great work!
I have a question for long distance jogglers: how do you deal with water (gatorade/snack/etc.) stations? Do you walk and stop juggling to drink? Work a bottle into a four object pattern?
I’m going to try it for the first time on my weekend run this weekend… Wish me luck!
Good luck Keith! Great to hear from you.
During a race, the typical thing to do is to stop juggling and running, take a drink, resume juggling, then start running again.
The rules of joggling are that you can’t advance without juggling.
I have tried doing a super high throw, grabbing a gulp of water and continuing on but this has proven difficult and a bit impractical during a race.
Keep us posted on your joggling adventures.