Okay! I'm calling BS on this record!
"800 catches 1 ball cascade with a head balance on a rola bola behind the back blind with crossed arms+
Video if wanted" by Ethan on 2015-08-10
Video wanted! Until I see a video, i'm callin BS!!
Seems reasonable to me. 1 ball cascade just means passing the ball from one hand to the other. We don't know what he's balancing on his head, but balancing a club whilst on a rola-bola isn't too difficult if you can do both reasonably well. I'd prefer to see a video of 54 catches of 'true' 5 ball box or continuous 5 ball under the leg throws for a qualify.
Interesting that you should say rola-bola plus a club balance is relatively easy. It’s something I’ve consistently struggled with and was wondering how easy it actually was. I’ve only ever seen Tiff do it solidly (+5 balls) so assumed it was fairly difficult.
Admittedly I’ve not spent long on it but when I practice I find balances beyond 10 seconds or so tricky, so I’d be mighty impressed with a run long enough for Ethan’s 800 throws. My rola-bola skills aren’t amazing but I can hold a solid 5b cascade on there and I work on balance a lot. Should this be something I can do already? Wonder why I find it so tricky…..
On the subject of Ethan’s records, I’d actually love that they were all genuine as I love watching boundaries in juggling being pushed. They do seem inconsistent though – 3b reverse record (video posted and WR celebrated greatly) vs 9b reverse record (videoed but no video posted and no celebration of WR) seems especially odd. Please Ethan upload some of the exceptional runs you’re recording here and prove us doubters wrong :)
Stephen Meschke - - Parent #
I can balance a club and rola-bola reasonably well, but I can't do both at the same time. To combine the two skills takes another third skill.
Daniel Simu - - Parent #
I can balance a club on a rola bola for indefinite time, with hardly any specific training.
I did work hard on my club balancing skills in the past...
The margin of error that is allowed is just a lot smaller on a rola bola than on the floor, but it is fairly easy (for me) to automate the rolabola balancing and fully focus on the club balance.
That's interesting to know. I'm clearly doing something wrong and that something is almost certainly my unstable rola bola-ing and too much focus on keeping that solid. Will see if I can do any better tonight.
You may be too dependent on visual feedback for the rola-bola. Try working on doing the rola-bola with your eyes closed.
Is a clue for enduring on a rola-bola maybe to slighty wiggle from side to side instead of trying to stand still on a middle?
Daniel Simu - - Parent #
Standing as still as possible helps for the balance.
Little Paul - - Parent #
I found it's not so much about "standing still" it's about allowing the rolabola to move underneath you without your upper body moving with it. Picture your hips as the pivot point with the rolabola "swinging" beneath you like a pendulum.
I've not worked on this one for about 15 years (blimey! where did that time go?) but I found it helped to think about which bit of your body you use to correct which part of the trick.
For the rolabola, the balance is driven by (in order of importance) hips, knees, toes. Get your rolabola technique to a point where your upper body doesn't need to play much part in maintaining it.
For a face balance, corrections are done by (in order of importance) neck, shoulders, torso. Get your face balance to a point where your lower body doesn't need to play much part in it.
This is useful because it allows each muscle group to control the item nearest them. For example, your arms don't need to be involved in staying balanced on a rolabola. If you're using your arms to stay balanced you're also using your shoulders - and that limits your necks ability to correct the face balance.
Peters advice about closing your eyes is good (it's surprising how many visual cues you use without realising), and I also found "standing on a rolabola with your head back staring straight up" to be a useful exercise as well.
You should also work on keeping your hands on your hips, keeping your upper body steady and vamping the board back and forth. The rolabola is a dynamic balance, not a point balance. Don't treat it as one :)
"Hips as pivot point" + "steady upper body" profoundly makes sense to me. Thanks for that essence of rola-bola brought to the point!
it's surprising how many visual cues you use without realising
Yep, I remember watching a show as a kid that explained this point, they had a tightrope walker demonstrate their skill with a short routine, then put her on another tightrope that she couldn't seem to even stand on. Afterwards they then revealed that they had two stage hands gently moving the scenery back & forth which was disorienting enough to distract a professional tight rope walker.
Now I enjoy standing at the end of a tight rope that someone is walking on & swaying slightly.
lukeburrage - - Parent #
One day I'll share the video of me falling off a rola bola on stage and knocking myself out. I was on a cruise ship, the sea was rough, but nothing in the theatre moved in relation to the stage.
Thanks, that appears to be really useful advice. It's something I've not thought of doing before but after just 10 minutes has had a noticeable beneficial effect on subsequent attempts at rb+bal. Rb blind also went from being almost impossible to quite easy in the space of that 10 minutes.
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