How to make: Russian style juggling balls

[seckssells]

uugh the end of the video made me trip ... mushroom style

[theVinceVega76]

Excellent video! Big money saver.

[DrJowenz]

Stop juggling better than me!!!!! AAARGGHHHH

[justjongkees]

@DrJowenz I know, awful :s

[brienzee]

Does anyone have a cup measurement of salt for the balls? I don't have a scale, and since everyone is using salt, I'm sure someone measured the volume instead of weight. Thanks guys.

[JugglingTricks]

@brienzee One thing to try is measure the salt with a standard 1.5 ounce shotglass. Start with two or three shotglasses full and see how you like the weight, add more if desired. If I remember correctly 3 shotglasses of salt is about 100 grams probably...

[JugglingTricksNTips]

do they bounce?

[bloonmaster]

you can only buy them in sets of like 10 million at once. how do you get single play pit balls?

[lolmanhonk]

wich tricks did you in the end of the video??

[erc110591]

in soviet russia, balls juggle you!

[jml716]

Which brand of play pit balls did you use when making this video? The online reviews of some regular play pit balls say that they get crushed or dented too easily. I found some "crush-proof" balls online, but I'm wondering if they would be too hard to cut. Which ones do you recommend?

[JugglingTricks]

@jml716 I don't remember which brand I used in this video, but they weren't that great... I have since switched to INTEX brand and they are very durable. Search "Intex play pit balls" on ebay and you'll find some good deals.

[wujekbeatz]

Watching this high is so funny hahaha

[Nesko1995]

Orrrr you can just take 3 apples and joggle them aroung

[PaintingHeartsBLACK]

i don't know why but I've taken an intimidate liking to you^^

[simondiablo180697]

you look like thegoheads you talk like thegoheads your name is also steve as thegoheads WIRED! :D

[drumersrule]

i found a pack of 100 balls for $12 and a 5 pound bag of sand for $6 at Toys R Us. In one night my brother and I made almost 50 juggling balls. I love these balls better than my 3 month old dube beanbags. THESE BALLS ARE BETTER THAN DUBE!! Also I used a funnel and it made it a lot easier. Thanks a lot.

[forcesnoir]

This might just be me being anal ,but I hate the noise these balls make when juggling them. Do you think a finer grain sand would cut down the noise level?

[JugglingTricks]

@forcesnoir A finer grain sand might make less noise, but any filling that is too light or fine or powdery will cause intense wobbling when the balls are thrown. Some of the "real" russian jugglers use balls like this, and when thrown perfectly the wobble is not a problem, but the average hobby juggler (including myself) doesn't know shit about making perfect throws. Many people use a dense, coarse grain sand, which makes balance tricks easier but is much louder than salt. I prefer salt.

[mitchel129]

The russian style balls I made a long time ago have a much better feeling than the balls I made recently (although I filled all of them with the same salt). Maybe the salt becomes thinner after a while? Any one else who made this experience?

[JugglingTricks]

@mitchel129 Yes, the salt does break down after a while. From my experience it does not have any effect on the overall juggle-ability of the balls though.

[ksjuggles]

where did you buy your scale at?

[JugglingTricks]

@ksjuggles  Wal-Mart.

[pikahufter]

I tried to make these but it failed at the guegun part, it seems my glue gun just melts my balls and only increasess the size of the hole =(

Any advice?

[JugglingTricks]

@pikahufter Perhaps your glue gun is too hot. If there is not a way to adjust the temperature, you might need a new (lower temp) glue gun... or maybe you're just not being careful enough... I've melted quite a few balls too, it takes practice to get the perfect touch.

[joeddox]

In Russia, balls juggle you!

[ErnestoJuggler]

Hey! I`ve just made my Russian balls and they are awesome!

thanks for the tutorial, it really helped me

[hat42via]

DUDE NICE WARP EFFECT AT THE ENDD!!!!!

[Ezechielpitau]

so what's the advantage of these over normal juggling balls?^^

[JugglingTricks]

@Ezechielpitau go to the forums at jugglingcentral (dot) com and read my posts about it there. (my screen name there is thegoheads)

[Ezechielpitau]

@JugglingTricks:

wow, sounds convincing, especially the balancing, never thought of that. Why don't you add the advantages somewhere in the info? I've seen one or two other guys here ask why they would want them...

So yeah, I think I'll give it a try and build myself a couple of those soon... Let's see how that works out :)

[yauka123]

why not buy juggling balls, its not so expencive a pack of 3 bean bags goes for 6£ or something... i usaly use mmx plus balls and i would recomend them to all jugglers if you have some skillz otherways just buy beanbags.. homemade balls never becomes that good

[MadMike10000]

i did this with tennis balls and it worked great!!

[ltsjack]

When I use my glue gun the glue seems to get so hot it kind of melts the flap and sometimes poors into the ball :/ This all makes me seal them by making a lid out of the glue but it's really hard to make them airtight and usally when I make the "lid" air bubbles come out of the ball and swell up the not yet dried glue :S

HELP!?!?!??!

[JugglingTricks]

@ltsjack Various types of glue guns heat up to different temperatures, that might be the problem. Maybe try to find out the temp of your gun and buy one that heats to a lower temp? And to eliminate air bubbles while gluing, poke a very small pinhole somewhere on the ball before gluing. Hope that helps!

[ltsjack]

@JugglingTricks Would you glue the pinhole afterwars aswell or what?

[JugglingTricks]

@ltsjack You can if you want to, but if the pinhole is small enough it won't be necessary. I leave a small pinhole in all of the balls I juggle/sell to make sure there is no pressure difference with changes of temperature and/or elevation.

[ltsjack]

@JugglingTricks But wouldn't you acsidentally squeeze the air out of the balls? o.o maybe not, what would you use for pin holes anyways? Seeing as I neighter work in a hospital or am a heroin addict I don't really have needles lying around...

[JugglingTricks]

@ltsjack Use a sewing needle or a very small safety pin or something... And unless you purposely try to squeeze air out of the balls, it will not be a problem.

[ltsjack]

@JugglingTricks Oh, right... I forgot about sewingneedles o.O Lol, Thanks for all the great answers, hopefully my next set of russians will be better :)

[shaneyLG]

wat can i do instead of hot glue? will superglue work

[JugglingTricks]

@shaneyLG I've tried many types of glue, hot glue works the best. Superglue won't hold for very long. Try cutting a straight slit in the seam to fill the ball, then wrap electrical tape around it. This is very quick and easy and will hold pretty well.

[lordjack567]

Where might one find big balls ( other than my pants)

[JugglingTricks]

@lordjack567 Hmmm.. a testical joke... how original.

[JugglingTricks]

@katana1426

"how many times are you going to say "BALLS""

many more times than I will ever say TESTICALS!

[OkbaACA]

I tried to make 5, so i put sugar instead of salt in my balls and glued them with hot glue and I thought they were sealed. I started juggling 4 and 5 balls but then i noticed there were pieces of sugar on the ground. How can I prevent this from happening again?I really like russian balls

[JugglingTricks]

@OkbaACA You might just need more practice with the sealing process. I had to make several sets of balls before I was able to get the hot glue seal just right.

[5bJuggla]

ok, Toys R Us Here I Come

[MrKoolTrix]

I've got them! (the small ones.)

[TheCosmicOwl]

Where did you get the smaller ones? 

[JugglingTricks]

@TheCosmicOwl from Toys'R'us.

[6michal6]

How long do these last???

[JugglingTricks]

@6michal6 It depends on the brand of playpit balls you use, and how hard you juggle with them. A good quality playpit ball used only for light juggling around the house will probably last forever. I am fairly hard on my props, and I had a set last about a year before one of them split at the seam...

[kawakazi29]

I think this video is worth watching just for the joke he makes at the end.

[StraightupSEXY07]

sexy sexy sexy sexy sexy sexy sexy sexy sexy sexy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[JugglingTricks]

@StraightupSEXY07 hell yeah I am!

[StraightupSEXY07]

wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[wvb93]

are these good balls to learn with?

[PebkaSkeemo]

I guess making a flap in the side would be a good idea. Haha, I was cutting a little plus sign, and sticking the cup in there.. Haha. These balls work great. Thanks for the tutorial.

[thegooderpaulo]

Thanks for all of the videos now i need to practice more.

[CanadianKnex]

I use these, they're my favorite kind of ball, much better than the store-bought ones I have. I get my play pit balls from toys'r'us and walmart, they sell them for about $10 per 50.

[skidjesper]

Please do a windmill tutorial!

[jamescoutry24]

is it weird at all having the salt shaking around in there?? Im guessing that they would be a little bit on the heavy side if they were filled up all the way with salt, but what about filling them up all the way with something a little less dense??

[JugglingTricks]

@jamescoutry24 some people think the sound and feel of russian balls is weird at first, but you should get used to it quickly.. Best to just buy a box of about 100 and experiment with different weights and fillers.

[1juggler8]

So, you still like these betters than beanbags? Thanks, it will help me decide what to get next :)

[JugglingTricks]

@1juggler8 Yes, I like these better than beanbags. Many people think russian balls feel weird at first, but many people will eventually prefer them over beanbags.

[MrSliday]

I love all your videos...i'm going to make some balls, too....THANK YOU STEVE

[Juggler1097]

Nice tutorial! BTW, one of my friends uses Russians extensively and I've noticed that the color on a set he's used for a while has faded and doesn't look so good. Is this what happens with all Russians?

[JugglingTricks]

it all depends on what type of balls they are.. most cheap play pit balls are glossy at first, but after lots of use the color may dull a bit..

[JugglingTricks]

I would not recommend the "freezer" method mentioned below by jernqvist. It will help the balls to not seem 'deflated' when juggling in colder temperatures, but it becomes more difficult to seal the balls with hot glue while they are cold and while the air inside them is cold. A better solution is to poke a VERY small hole anywhere on the ball. The sand/salt will not leak out and the air pressure inside will stay regulated in any temperature or elevation.

[Eiki7]

hmm can I find those balls in toy stores?

[JugglingTricks]

sometimes.. I found a huge bag (250ct) of the 65mm balls in a Toys'R'Us store for a good price. I suppose it depends on where you live and what toy store you go to... probably better to order them on the internet...

[jernqvist]

No need to cut a hole that large, I use a needle and then widen the hole with a pencil. Cuts naturally grow at the edges. I also but the balls in the freezer before sealing, this way the balls wont squash if you happen to be juggling in a slightly cooler place than where you sealed the balls.

[JugglingTricks]

I mass-produced hundreds of these balls in a short period of time. At first, I was making very small holes, but I became frustrated with the amount of time I spent filling each ball... Even with a normal funnel or homemade paper funnel, it took too long.. I really should have purchased a specialty funnel, haha..

[JugglingTricks]

Obviously, a very small hole would be best. However, my balls with smaller holes have stayed sealed just the same as my sets of balls with larger holes, even after several months of heavy use. After a bit of practice, it is quite easy to permanently seal a hole of any size, especially if it is cut as a "half-moon flap."

[silverback7734]

Wow a new (and legal) use for electronic scales.

I think I am going to make some of these. They are much prettier than the russian style balls I make. I would guess that mine are more durable,

but I have to play with envirotech to make them shiny. I like the no nasty chemical approach. btw. you can roll a funnel out of paper. Nice video. keep up the good work.

[Cilloquial]

I just made a set but the play pit balls I used are pretty squishy and fragile.

Any suggestions?

[JugglingTricks]

@Cilloquial sorry for the late reply..

to answer your questions:

perhaps you purchased low quality play-pit balls. Try ordering from a different vendor.. I have ordered from several vendors on e-bay, but I really don't remember who they were anymore so I don't think I can offer suggestions..

And the advantage of using electrical tape (rather than clear tape) is that elec. tape is much more durable. I hope that helps.

[Cilloquial]

Hmm...Even so, aren't the high-quality pit balls still a little easy to indent due to their thin shell?

I haven't tried them personally so I wouln't be sure.

[JugglingTricks]

yes, any homemade russians using playpit balls will indent slightly.. this might bother some people, but you get used to it. The indents should immediately pop out on their own, unless the ball is not sealed properly..

also, different temps or elevations may cause the balls to dent more easily..

[Cilloquial]

Is there any advantage of using electrical tape over normal clear tape?

[tomazzin]

Absolutely fantastic!

[Cilloquial]

Do they have a dead drop?

[TriWaZe]

im assuming the balls need to bought in like groups of 100 or more =/

[JugglingTricks]

yeah, but it's best to get about 100 of them anyway. That way you have balls to practice with before you make the "keeper" sets... and you can have lots of extras to give to your friends!

[karlakooljugglyng]

SO RELAXED!!

[MrJugglr]

Thanks a lot for this video! i just got my play pit balls in the mail today! video coming soon =]

Thanks again.

Josh

[beck232608]

so I just made some of these and they're so much fun to juggle! The only problem I had was with removing the excess glue. My dad and I were making them and it seemed like we either burned them or didn't get them hot enough because the glue wouldn't really smooth but was still kinda hard. do you have any more tips on using a lighter to remove the extra glue?

[thegoheads]

it might be the type of glue.. I've used a couple different brands of glue sticks, and the last batch of glue sticks I bought didn't react well to the lighter at all! weird... it's quite tricky to make the seal look almost invisible, but I've become better at it with a lot of practice.

You can always do the 'electrical tape method' mentioned in the description box. It works just fine and is super quick and easy..

[beck232608]

i think i'm just gonna save some money and have my 9 year old cousin steal me some play pit balls from the mcdonalds play ground. i might look like a creeper if i'm just lurkin' around the play ground at mcdonalds.

[benwetenhall]

These balls are really good to juggle. If you fill completely fill the larger ones they make good contact or power balls!

[collumww]

Very nicely done. Clear and concise explanation. Thanks for putting this together.

[max1916251080]

Is it nerdy that when he said they come in 80mm or 3.14 inches i said pie inches? haha probably .

[deadmanstory5]

i bought a hot glue gun and made a set of them. i've been using them since july but this set is simply awesome! thank you very much for giving me the idea of using hot glue Steve!

[TheKaffeefahrt]

...

I got 8cm ones and filled them with millet, but only 80 grams each, because that's noticeably less than the half of the ball filled, so they feel right (millet is not as heavy as sand or salt and 120g of it fill more than one half of the ball). I guess I will try some sand with the next set, so the balls will be heavier. But today I only had millet at hand and I'm happy with my millet balls, doing all kind of fancy catches with various limbs now... ;)

[TheKaffeefahrt]

Awesome!

I finally got me some today and just tested them and I gotta say I'm high right now... ;) The way you do them here worked perfectly for me. These balls are absolute fantastic. I can only recommend everyone to test them.

[mlmstar1]

чето я не понял про русских.... они что на выдумки хитры?

[LZNico]

I was waiting so bad for this tutorial. I'm goin to make thousands of those balls right now, thank's for the help steve...

[dendabest]

nice vid :) Thanks a lot :)

[MrJugglr]

may i ask how many of these play pit balls you buy at once? i have been looking and can only find like 500 balls lol... and i think that may be a bit over kill.

[thegoheads]

The 500 packs are easier to come by, but yeah, overkill... and like $100 too!

There are 100 packs out there... but the last box of 100 I found took me about 30min of searching around online to find it.

or you can just go steal some from a playground at Mcdonalds or something... but you didn't hear that from me...

[MrJugglr]

Haha the Mcdonalds idea works for me haha or ill buy a 100 pack off ebay i found for like 10 bucks... But thanks for the help and the idea. Can't wait to try them!

[ltsjack]

@thegoheads I'm seriusly considering doing that o.o

I mean I only need like 7 anyways and I don't feel like buying hundreds of them.... Like McDonalds cares anyway, right? But maybe it will look weird if there's a teenager standing by the pit shoving balls into a backpack... hmmm.

[DumbAndLethal]

@thegoheads sneaky little devil, you!

[eMretsiM]

Nice! I'll have to try making a set sometime.

[jugglerjohnny]

Awesome! Looks very easy to make! Luckily my sister has like 20 of these, I dunno why.

[aaronthejuggler]

thanks! This is exactly how i make him except i dont wait for the hot glue to dry before using the lighter and removing the bumpy glue

[saltzjoe10]

I've made these before, but no longer have them. Need to make some more soon.

[Draitube]

I enjoyed that cheers! I have some play pit balls already, but no glue gun, so I'll have to make do some other way... Some smooth 3 balls at the end by the way :P

[oliverstrand007]

thanks man. yes, this was informative and entertaining

[casperov]

i've noticed this as well. i commute between two cities at different elevations, and as a result i have resorted to just leaving a needle puncture in every ball i make. anyway, thanks for posting!

[Draitube]

Wouldn't that leak?

[casperov]

nope, the hole is big enough to let the pressure equalize, but not big enough to let any sand out.

[casperov]

i've tried using salt before when i didn't have access to sand. it wasn't heavy enough for me, so i had to use more which made the ball lose a bit more of its "russian" qualities. i use the 65mm balls so i don't know if it's less noticeable with the larger ball. i like the way you seal them, i'll try that with my next set. and about your comment in the description about pressure changes, ack, character limit...continued on next post.

[thegoheads]

I have one set that I made using the proper type of sand... but salt is just so much easier to find, and cheaper! Still, my set with the sand seems to be more "magical" than any of the sets made with salt. Maybe it's all in my mind, hahahahaaaaa.

I never thought of just leaving an un-sealed pinhole in each ball! If I used a small enough pin the salt shouldn't leak out. I think I will try that! I hate when the balls feel deflated.

[mataasi]

haha great!:D and that ending was funny;D

[Willi77]

nice =) i waited for this one

thanks