Juggling ring

Juggling rings, or simply "rings", are a popular prop used by jugglers, either on their own—usually in sets of three or more—or in combination with other props such as balls or clubs. The rings that are used by jugglers are typically about 30 cm in diameter and 3 mm thick.

Juggling rings are easier than clubs to juggle, but harder than balls due to size. However because of the professional appearance that the rings give for the level of difficulty they still remain a popular juggling item.

Use in Juggling

When juggled, rings are typically spun about their central axis. The resulting Gyroscopic Motion of the ring allows it to keep the same orientation after it is thrown. Finnigan, Dave, Dorothy, & Ben, "Juggling From Start to Star", p 79, Human Kinetics 2002. ISBN: 0736037500 ] This property is utilized by performers to achieve various visual effects. For example, a performer might intentionally juggle some rings with the broad side to the audience and some others with the edge to the audience.

As with balls and clubs, the most basic patterns of ring juggling are the cascade and fountain. In these patterns, the left and right hands alternate throwing rings at approximately the same height. More advanced ball and club tricks can also be performed with rings, but their unique shape and spinning abilities result in a different visual effect.

Several patterns and tricks are unique to rings. For example a ring oriented vertically can be caught and spun on a ring that is held horizontally. Rings can be spun along different axes resulting in a trick called "pancake flips." "Color change" involves rings colored differently on both sides, the performers catch the ring hand facing up and then throw the ring with the hand facing down, giving the appearance that the ring has changed. One of the most common tricks unique to rings is the "pull down." In this trick, usually used at the end of a performance routine, all of the rings are caught in order and pulled over the performers neck.

Because of their thinness, light weight, and relative ease of collecting, Rings are often used for juggling high numbers. Jugglers often wear gloves or other protection when juggling more than four rings as the thin cross-section and hard plastic can act like blades and lead to chaffing. Finnigan, Dave, Dorothy, & Ben, "Juggling From Start to Star", p 86, Human Kinetics 2002. ISBN: 0736037500 ]

In Passing

It is possible, but not the norm, to pass rings in basic patterns such as four count and solids; for example, in the Cirque du Soleil production Corteo, the jugglers passed with multiple rings. Juggling with rings may be easier than juggling with clubs because there are no flips, but this also means that the passing looks less impressive.

Records

The record for the most juggling rings juggled (where each prop is thrown and caught at least twice) is ten rings for forty-seven catches, by Anthony Gatto in 2001. [http://www.juggling.org/records/records.html JISCON Juggling Records.] ] The record for the most juggling rings flashed (where each prop is thrown and caught once) is thirteen, by Albert Lucas in 2002. [http://www.juggling.org/records/records.html JISCON Juggling Records.] ] The record for number of rings flashed is the highest verified record for number of juggling props flashed of any kind.

References