This article was one of the things i had in mind when i started this blog, i started it several times and then stopped because it didn't feel right to tell people what to do.
Now today Selina messaged me and told me that im lazy and that i maybe should write some more instead of posting Videos all the time. So lets get it started.
Disclaimer: All these Tips are mainly based on my personal experience.. I can't grand they will work for you but i believe they will. I suggest to try them out but don't try to force something that feels wrong because someone (me) told you.
Warming Up:
Unless you just woke up half an hour ago, ( in which case i suggest a two cup of coffee warm up routine) or have serious muscle soreness (in which case i suggest light stretching mainly of wrists, forearms, back, shoulders and neck) i don't recommend any warm up routine.
Just pick up the sticks and start playing any trick that feels comfortable for 5 to 10 Minutes.
Try to walk around and use tricks that involve steady but slow movements while doing that.
Structure:
Structure:
Especially when it comes to Toss Juggling there are people who use really strict structured practise schedule. There are points that speak for that especially when you want to improve few but difficult patterns and tricks. A well planned schedule will force you to do a lot of preparatory work, practising all single aspects of a trick on their own before putting them together und than slowly progress from that.
Also it can work well in forcing yourself to practise tricks you don't like to practise. But strictly structured programs never worked for me because i never had enough fun to enjoy my practise with them
So this is a Schedule i was using for quite some time and i made huge progress with (which means my 2 Devilstick and my 5 ball basics have been achieved with that schedule)
Song 1: 2 Devilstick Tricks
Song 2: Ball Juggling
Song 3: 1 Devilstick Tricks
repeat at least for one whole album
I made a lot of progress with that. One reason for that probably is that i forced myself to spend 20 min nearly everyday on my 3 main projects. If you want some science you need to check out this article on musical training that was recently discussed in severall juggling groups
Lately i moved a way from that system to a more free practise, the reason for that is propably that i started to practise rings and clubs as well as some multiprop stuff to.
Now i start with spreading all my juggling props wide around me (i feel like i work more creative in a chaotic environment, i once had some science to back that up but i cant find it anymore)
Then i pick up whatever i like and start practising anything i like.
The only “rules” i follow are
- never practise a single trick or a group of related trick for more than 5 minutes at once
- try to practise as much tricks as possible every practise session
- if a trick feels bad one day, try it a few times if its not going to go better, try again next week
- practise tricks that have a high priority for you at least twice each session. separate these sessions by at least 5 minutes of doing a completely different trick or even prop.
- have fun, if you aren't having fun you're not training efficiently.
- use more time one tricks you can do solidly than on tricks you can't do yet
Intensity:
There is one thing people often forget when they talk about training.
Obviously it is important how much time you spend training and we all know the more time you spend training the better you get.
But training does not equal training. If one is not focussed, thinking about other things, making breaks every other minute his training won't be as effective as the training of someone who is training like a mad man, running after every drop to recover as fast as possible and get another repetition out of his worthy time.
So here are some tips on how to train sticks more intensely
- always practise like someone is watching you (i know its a little bit paranoid but it psychs you up and is a good performance training too
- pick up all your drops as fast as possible with a certain amount of style (kick ups, immediately starting with a trick etc)
- listen to music
- drink coffee (i used to have scientific proof for that too)
- start with exhausting movements/tricks immediately after the warm up, once you start melting in sweat it's easier to keep up a high energy
Drops:
All i can say about drops is: try not to.
One of my first teachers told me that everytime i dropped i was doing another repetition of the wrong movement. If you try a trick for 10 times and you fail 9 of them then there is propably a easier exercise that will allow for faster progress without fucking up the pattern.
Wrist Pain:
I am not sure if this is practise related but if you have any wrist problems stop for at least a week. If they are really terrible take a bandage and but it around the hurting wrist. I dont know if its the pressure or the stabilisation effect but it works for me.
If its not better after a week are starts hurting after a week go and see a doctor.
Seriously enough awesome players have stopped Sticking due to wrist problems don't be one of them.
Strenght Training:
Strength Training is a great way to prevent yourself from injuries and i felt like it was slightly improving my sticking too.
There are several possible ways to do it.
Bodyweight Training:
I never did this before i started Circus School. The big plus is its free all you need is motivation and maybe a chin up bar. Make sure to do something for abs lower back and legs to and not only push ups and chin ups then im sure youll be able to profit from it
Barbell Training/ Fitness Studios
This is what i used to do from 16-18 and i believe it was key to me never suffering serious injurys. I started with doing the machine circle my studio suggests. later i moved to free weights. In the end my Trainingsprogramm would look like that
Session A
Squat 3 (sets) x 5 (repetitions)
Bench Press 3x5
Cable Row 3x5
Session B
Deadlift 3x5
Overhead Press 5x3
If you really want to go into this Bodybuilding/Weight Lifting Stuff yust make sure to read stuff in the internet. theres way more quality articles on strength training then on devilsticking in the internet so i am sure you will find something
Acrobatics:
It works and its Circus Style i only practise it for 3 weeks now and i'm not that good, but i might write something about that later
Cool Down:
Often i don't do any cool down except for smoking a cigarette (which i'm not recommending but hey thats how it is) If a muscle group or more feels sore or tighend up i use to stretch it a few hours later.
Also Stretching is a thing you should do. If you just want to be a good stickers all you have to do is wrist, forearm, back, shoulders and neck. If you want to move around a lot and have a healthy balanced body stretch every muscle from every angle. This topic is to complex for me to give you advice here so google it up or even better find someone who knows about it (dancers, acrobats, physiotherapists, yoga instructors and other hippies) and learn from him
There are definitly more things to say about the topic but they dont spring to my mind now so this is the end of the article. I hope you enjoyed it, feel free to aks further questions or comment.
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