3 ms·

In high school I was part of a 4-man juggling troupe. Mostly club passing. I always had to be able to see each throw at the top of its arc, but only out of the

In high school I was part of a 4-man juggling troupe. Mostly club passing. I always had to be able to see each throw at the top of its arc, but only out of the very corner of my eye. I didn't have to focus my eyes or pay attention, but the club or ball had to pass by some part of my visual field. I couldn't juggle blind, not even three balls. I'd even miss just one ball about a quarter of the time if I closed by eyes and threw it in a 18-inch arc. So muscle memory also involves your eyes.

c22 7y ago
I can juggle three balls with my eyes closed all day. I did have to work at it though. The epiphany came when I realized that my throws were much more critical than my catches. For several months I practiced keeping my catching hand completely stationary and landing my throws directly into it. This way I trained the muscle memory of the throwing hand to deliver an almost perfectly repeatable result. It's interesting that I can't reliably do 4 balls with my eyes closed because that's a different throw that I haven't specifically worked on. I can do 5 balls with my eyes closed about as well* as with them open (same throw as 3, but faster) Obviously sight plays a more critical role when passing, but I still posit it's the throw that counts. There was one clown I used to pass with who delivered perfect passes like every single time and I could always get away with crazier stuff while passing with him than I could do with other people. * Not that well