Newsgroups: rec.juggling
Path: news.cs.indiana.edu!mips!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wupost!gumby!destroyer!terminator!gomez!mph
From: mph@gomez.physics.lsa.umich.edu (Marc Hertlein)
Subject: More finger juggling with pencils
Message-ID: <1992Jul18.012201.28919@terminator.cc.umich.edu>
Sender: root@terminator.cc.umich.edu (to poke or dig about)
Organization: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
References: <1992Jul10.144314.1545@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu> <1992Jul17.031010.12387@cc.uow.edu.au> <1992Jul18.002149.27530@terminator.cc.umich.edu>
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 92 01:22:01 GMT
Lines: 57

  I know of about 3 basic ways to do pencil twirling.

  First, a warning: The problem with doing it, is that it is extremely
addicting. If you have a job that requires a lot of interaction with people at
office desks or such, better don't try to learn it. Playing around with
pencils can drive other people crazy, and it can be loud and annoying when
a pencil drops repeatedly.  The reason I say this is that I have caught myself
absentmindedly twirling a pencil when I better hadn't.

  Anyway, here goes. The best pencil to use for practice I think is a long
unsharpened wooden one. Anything with a pocket clip on it makes it much harder.

1) Air spinning
  This is closest to real juggling, sort of resembles club throwing (actually,
  not really). Holding one end of the pencil with three fingertips, press down
  with your index finger, flicking the pencil up in the air. Catch after N
  number of turns.
  I can't do this well, but I have seen people doing repeatedly doing full
  spins at amazing speeds, without dropping the pencil.
2) Spinning over the thumb
  Hold the hand with the palm 45 degrees up (sort of like this: /  ) and hold
  the pencil horizontally left to right ( - ) with thumb and middle finger,
  at the eraser end, maybe using the index finger to stabilize initially.
  Then sort of push middle finger and thumb crosswise such that the pencil
  moves counterclockwise, while getting the index finger out of the way.
  ( This is for the right hand ). Get momentum and push the not-eraser end
  over the thumb using the middle finger such that the pencil rotates over the
  thumb, and then lands on the other side between thumb and index finger,
  after 270 to 360 deg rotation.
  Backwards is much harder initially, it involves pushing in the opposite way
  with the index finger, with the middle finger initially supporting.
  This trick can only be done with the pencil spinning moreless horizontally.
3) Between the fingers
  This is probably related to baton twirling, or the drumstick twirling that so
  many drummers seem to have perfected to impress the masses.
  This twirling is relatively stable and can be done in almost any hand
  position.
  One version is twirling in place (just like drumstick twirling), holding
  the pencil between index and middle finger and moving the fingers so that the
  pencil rotates in place, in almost the same plane as the hand. Towards the
  thumb is easiest, I think.
  The other version, rolling from finger to finger, is really hard to describe.
  Starting between ring and middle finger, the pencil rotates in the plane
  of the palm towards the thumb. As the outside tip comes up, put the middle
  finger forward so that the tip rolls over it. It's sort of like temporarily
  holding the pencil between index and ring (!) finger with the middle finger
  tucked out of the way. Then the inside end of the pencil rolls over the
  middle finger and the pencil ends up between middle and index finger.
  This can also be done backwards, and from the last two fingers all the
  way up.

Whew! I hope someone reads this, because it was really hard to describe.
These are the only ones I know, and variations are hard to come up with.
Let me know if you know any other ways. And again, heed the warning :-)

							Marc
				(mph@gomez.physics.lsa.umich.edu)