Cascade (juggling)

Cascade
Minimum prop #: 3
Difficulty: Cascade: 2/10,[1] 3[2] Reverse cascade: 4/10,[3] Tennis: 2/10,[4] Half-Shower: 3/10[5] (note: difficulty ratings are arbitrary and subject to change)
Siteswap: 3
Shannon: 12
Period: 1
Parity: odd
Notes: symmetrical, asynchronous
Ladder diagram
[6][7]
[8][9][10]
[11]
Three depictions of the path traveled by balls in the pattern. Down arrows on the outside lines = cascade, up arrows = reverse.

In toss juggling, a cascade is the simplest juggling pattern achievable with an odd number of props. The simplest juggling pattern is the three-ball cascade,[12][13] This is therefore the first pattern that most jugglers learn. However, although the shower requires more speed and precision, "some people find that the movement comes naturally to them," and it may be the pattern learned first.[14] "Balls or other props follow a horizontal figure-eight [or hourglass figure] pattern above the hands."[15] In siteswap, each throw in a cascade is notated using the number of balls; thus a three ball cascade is "3".

In the cascade, an object is always thrown from a position near the body's midline in an arc passing underneath the preceding throw and toward the other side of the body, where it is caught and transported again toward the body's midline for the next throw. As a result, the balls travel along the figure-eight path that is characteristic of the cascade.

— [12]

"In the cascade...the crossing of the balls between the hands demands that one hand catches at the same rate that the other hand throws [synchronization]. The hands also take turns [coupled oscillation]..."[9]

  1. ^ "Cascade". LibraryofJuggling.com. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  2. ^ Beever, Ben (2001). "Siteswap Ben's Guide to Juggling Patterns", p.24, JugglingEdge.com. BenBeever.com at the Wayback Machine (archived August 10, 2015).
  3. ^ "Reverse Cascade". LibraryofJuggling.com. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  4. ^ "Juggler's Tennis". LibraryofJuggling.com. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  5. ^ "Half-Shower". LibraryofJuggling.com. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  6. ^ Beever (2001), p.4.
  7. ^ "Cascade", Solipsys.co.UK.
  8. ^ Darbyshire, Lydia; ed. (1993). Juggling, p.10-3. Siddall, Jeremy; illustrations. Courage. ISBN 1-56138-224-8.
  9. ^ a b Beek, Peter J. and Lewbel, Arthur (1995). "The Science of Juggling Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine", Scientific American.
  10. ^ Besmehn, Bobby (1994). Juggling Step-by-Step, p.30. Sterling. ISBN 0-8069-0815-7.
  11. ^ Darbyshire (1993), p.29. Crossed-arm variation of the reverse-cascade.
  12. ^ a b Bernstein, Nicholai A. (1996). Dexterity and Its Development, p.379. ISBN 9781410603357.
  13. ^ "The 3 Ball Cascade", Tunbridge Wells Juggling Club (TWJC). Accessed July 9, 2014. "The cascade is the simplest three ball juggling pattern."
  14. ^ Darbyshire (1993), p.15.
  15. ^ Crego, Robert (2003). Sports and Games of the 18th and 19th Centuries, p.19. ISBN 9780313316104.