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A while ago Peter Bone wrote about confidence as a major factor in juggling progress. Here's what he wrote:

"...It comes down to confidence. If you believe you can do something then eventually you'll be able to do it - given enough practice time. Anthony Gatto is as good as he is because he's insanely confident to the point where he actually thinks he's superhuman or something (seriously, he once said he sees things in slow motion). Some people never learn a trick despite practicing it a lot more than someone else who learnt it much quicker because at some level they don't think they can do it."

I definitely agree with that. You really don't have to be so delusional that you believe to see things in slow motion to be confident though. How's SEEING things in slow motion supposed to help one juggle anyway... but I digress.

You know how sometimes you run an X ball/club/ring pattern and everything is going fine, UNTIL you start thinking, "hmmmm, this has been a long run, I think I'm getting a little tired... and when I get tired my throws become inaccurate..."? Before you know it you make a horrible throw, everything collides, and you just stand there watching everything fall around you feeling like a complete douchebag. I know stuff like that happens to me a lot, when I start questioning my ability to do a certain move or run a certain pattern.

Confidence leaves the juggling to muscle memory, and makes sure your mind doesn't interrupt and screw things up. Nothing helps my juggling more than thoughts like, "the pattern's looking fine, everything's falling right into my hands, it seems easy, now all I gotta do is just keep doing what I'm doing now".

The problem is that it's hard to be confident in something you haven't done before. What I often do is try to break moves down to elements that I've done before. I have on multiple occasions tried to do something thinking of it one way and failing and then thinking of it in a different way and succeeding. That's even more true when working on combos.

Breaking moves down and learning the smallest components of them before trying the actual moves helps a lot with confidence. That way when you try to do the move you don't just chaotically throw stuff all over the place and hope it lands where you want it to land. Instead you know you can do all the components and all you need to do is put them together.

So don't think of it as whirlwind - think of it as a single, double, quad and three 360s with catches inbetween. Don't think of it as 97531 - think of it as one way the hell up there and a 7531 underneath. Don't think of it as (8x 6) - think of it as (6x 4) with 7.

Stuff like that helps me a lot with my juggling. Try applying that to yours, it might help you.

Comments

Vova.. i only say.. thank you!! that's what i need in this moment!

Posted by: Est | September 28, 2006 05:58 AM

Thx a lot ~ i will try more~

Posted by: Tony | September 28, 2006 10:25 AM

I've had a lot of thoughts about confidence and juggling. What you're describing seems to me like a paradigm, or a way of viewing your ability. People are restricted to their paradigms all the time. Basically, if you think you CAN'T do something, then in order to prove yourself right and make an accurate statement, your body will make bad throws just so you can say "I was right". If your paradigm shifts, and you really believe in yourself, then you can give the new trick you're trying an honest attempt.

Also, thinking things are impossible gives the same result as a negative paradigm. If I think Thomas Dietz is the only person who is able to do a certian trick, then subconsiously, my body will not allow me to complete the trick.

I have a link to a post I made in the JOG about four months ago that I want to send you. TTYL.

Posted by: Joe "PM4L" Showers | September 28, 2006 10:34 AM

Fo sho.
I love using that to my advantage. I have hit so many things way before i was ready for them, simply because i was a stupid little kid who didnt know what was hard. Unfortunately, as i started training more seriously, some of these things actually became harder as i became more aware of what was normal.

This is the main problem with instants. They see all these amazing things on video which may have taken the jugglers hours of trying 1 trick, to finally get it for the camera (e.g. Kris's 5 club split 720 on bxx) But they think that this juggler has such a trick solid, so they go to practice and try it thinking it's easy. Usually ending in them getting it very quickly.

I notice the confidence thing i my practice all the time. If i am having a bad time for one reason or another, and i expect everything to suck... it does. But whilst still in this bad mood, if i just tell myself 'this shit is easy' it usually becomes a lot more so.

So yeah, something is usually really easy until i realize it's quite hard, then suddenly i cant do it

Posted by: Norbi | September 28, 2006 10:57 AM

Wow. I love you, Vova.

Posted by: Katherine | September 28, 2006 01:03 PM

On the other hand, confidence is only going to get you so far. There ARE people that are just better than others. Everyone has their limitations. As much as I'd love to joggle a 2:10 marathon, I'm just not built that way. And really no level of practice or training or confidence will ever give me the genetic ability to achieve that goal.

It's a myth that people can do whatever they put their mind to. How much time is wasted by the hopeful singer who can't carry a tune? How much time is wasted by an untalented but determined juggler who wants to cascade 9 balls?

Learning to accept your limitations can be liberating. It allows you to focus on the things that you are good at. Find these and put all of your efforts towards them. You can't be anything that you want to be. But that doesn't mean you can't be great.

Posted by: Perry | September 28, 2006 10:02 PM

Confidence is very important, anybody who's had a "bad day" at practice knows that.

Another things which helps is visualization of what you're going to do before you do it. People in other sports do it all the time.

Posted by: Lars | September 29, 2006 09:37 AM

Perry, good observation. People CAN'T do anything they set their mind to, but when it comes to skill based talents, I think people can achieve a lot more than they think they can. If someone desperatley wants to learn a nine ball cascade, they will take the steps to learn one and if they aren't getting any closer to their goal, they aren't doing something right, such as drilling extensivley with five and seven balls, working out in the gym to build muscle and concentrating hard enough on their goal.

The people on American Idol who want to be the next big thing aren't dedicated, they're dilusional. They have no sense of where they rank in terms of singers. If they knew what the real deal was, they would try to find singing lessons and spend every waking moment of the day working toward their goal. They don't do that, though, and just believe they are good. That gets them nowhere.

Being confident and being cocky has a very thin boundary. What I think you're saying is the people who are cocky aren't inclined to learn as much as people who are confident and believe in themselves. I agree with that point (if that was in fact what you were trying to convey). When it comes to realistic goals, you just have to ask yourself if what you are working for is really worth the time and effort you should dedicate to learn it.

That's my two cents.

Posted by: Joe "PM4L" Showers | September 29, 2006 10:09 AM

I read a book once and there was a character (an assassin, I think) who used to chant to himself:

"Confident, cocky, lazy, dead."

That stuck with me, I think about it often.

Posted by: Luke | September 29, 2006 04:05 PM

Never cast dirt into that fountain of which you have sometime drunk... Jeremy

Posted by: Jeremy | November 21, 2006 10:11 PM