This article contains affiliate links (see disclaimer for more information). At no extra cost to you, by clicking the links and purchasing, I receive a commition, this is an easy way to support this website. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Looking for ways to take your juggling sessions to the next level? Ever thought about recording your diabolo practice? It might sound strange, but trust me, it can make a huge difference. Being able to review your training helps you spot your strengths and weaknesses.
In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of recording your own diabolo practice :
- being your own teacher
- tracking progress and setting goals
- finding your style
- staying inspired and encouraged
and how it can help you to level up your overall performance.
Get A Notebook
Check this one on Amazon.
Keep a list of tricks you want to learn
Sometimes you get stuck. A particular trick can be a challenge to learn even if you have mastered the prerequisites for it. For some reason, you just can’t get it. It’s normal and will happen often.
We all have talent for certain types of tricks and struggle with others.
That’s why keeping a list of tricks to learn is useful. Then you won’t have to keep banging your head against the wall if you don’t want to, you can just switch tricks, learn another one or two or ten and maybe come back to the trick that got you stuck later.
There are so many diabolo tricks that you couldn’t learn them all, even if it were your full-time job. So don’t bother trying to learn tricks you don’t like, unless it’s a must-know to master another trick you love.
For example, I will never try the helicopter infinite suicide, because I find it ugly (my personal taste) and I don’t need it to learn the tricks I want to learn.
Some tricks are trendy and will sneak in your list of tricks to learn and you might waste time on them. Learn to spot them.
A good guideline is if you don’t like the look or the feel of a trick, just drop it and go on to the next. Diabolo is and should be fun!
Record what you did in your juggling sessions
I usually write the following in my juggling log
- Date: day of the week, month and year. Keeping it simple: Thu 27 oct 2023.
- Times: both when I started and when I finished and also the length of the session.
- Mood: on a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is almost euphoric and yearning to work on a new difficult trick, 1 is complete demotivation to even do a single trick that I’ve already mastered.
- Tricks: I write what I worked on and for how long.
- Comments: I add anything that wasn’t expected: trick less difficult to learn than I thought, better mood as the session goes, anything.
Remember, you will be building a training history which will allow you to pinpoint where you are improving and where you are struggling.
Let’s face it, juggling can be tough sometimes. We all have days when we drop all the time and feel like we’re not making any progress.
But don’t worry because you improve even on bad days and recording your juggling practice can be a great motivator. By watching your progress over time, you can see how far you’ve come and stay motivated to keep going. You can also use your journal to reflect on your performance and discover your style.
Everybody learns tricks at a different speed, but sometimes you can see a pattern.
For example, I used to think that I was a stick release kind of diaboloists because I love this category of tricks. But when I read my juggling journal, I saw that body tricks and combinations were what came more naturally to me ( I learn them faster than any other types of tricks). So now, I don’t get discouraged when I’m struggling to land a new stick release trick as they are one of the heardest types of tricks for me to learn. Maybe that’s why I love them so much !
Journaling is a great way to stay inspired and focused on your diabolo goals.
Writing down what you did and achieved in your sessions will help you track your progress and set realistic goals for yourself. You can see your progress over time and make adjustments to your sessions and trick list as needed.
Film Your Practice Sessions
I love my juggling sessions. I love creating, learning new tricks and combinations and simply messing around with my diabolos. But I mostly juggle by myself as I have no one around (I live in the middle of nowhere). So, how do I know what I am doing wrong if nobody can tell me? How do I know if a combo looks nice?
Because of this one thing: I film myself.
I just use my smartphone and a pile of books or my cigar boxes as a tripod. I use a decent memory card (a 1080p HD at 60 fps 1-hour session averages 6 GB and a 720p 1-hour session is about 1GB ) and make sure my battery is full or charging.
Below you will find a list of reasons why you will benefit from filming yourself.
It helps you analyze technique and form
Sometimes, it’s hard to see where we go wrong until we take a closer look. That’s where recording your diabolo sessions comes in. By watching yourself on video, you can analyze your technique and form in detail.
It’s like having your own personal coach!
This is especially helpful for learning new tricks where technique is key, you can compare your video with one of the trick well done and see what differences there are. Sometimes just spotting that you need to relax and lower your shoulders will unlock a trick you were stuck on for ages.
You can get feedback from fellow diabolo players and get useful advice
We all know that juggling with better diabolo players is the best way to improve. But what if you don’t have access to other great diaboloists on a daily basis? Well, that’s where recording your own diabolo practice helps again.
By sharing your sessions on r/diabolo or on this FB page, you can get specific feedback on your technique and performance. Your fellow jugglers can identify your mistakes, spot things you might have missed, and offer advice to help you nail the tricks you’re working on. It’s like having several personal diabolo coaches training you.
By sharing your videos with others, you can learn from each other’s strengths and weaknesses and offer and receive feedback and support. It’s a great way to improve together and build a great community.
You can record your creations and discover your style
Filming yourself helps you not “lose” any new idea or trick you might invent by accident and never experience the feeling of “WOW! That was awesome! But what in the world did I just do?”.
You can then rewatch the trick or combo, deconstruct it and re-learn your creation.
It also helps if you are creating a routine. While creating a routine I sometimes get lost in the music. I move how I feel fits the beat best. Sometimes I have the “perfect” feeling and if I didn’t film it, I wouldn’t be able to remember what I was doing. When you watch yourself juggle you can see through the eyes of a spectator in the audience and decide, what you would like to see on stage. This will make your performance so much better when you don’t have the opinion of another person, plus, you are probably your worst critic.
We often tend to work on things we have seen others do, which is a great and for some the only way to improve. Instagram and Youtube made this kind of diabolo research very easy and offer a lot of inspiration.
But is there a way to find your diabolo style?
At a juggling convention, someone (I can’t remember your name but I will forever be grateful!) once gave me the best tip to work on my style. I used to just stick tricks together that I learned from other jugglers mostly from videos but never really tried to find my own moves. So he challenged me to film myself « freestyling » where the focus was on experimenting with tricks, body moves and transitions I have never done before and follow my body not my head.
Let’s be honest, 99% of the material looked awful, but I discovered some combos and trick variations I have never seen anyone do. And because I filmed them I could watch what I did again as most of the time I don’t have a clue what I am doing.
Inspire others
Through filming yourself you can inspire other jugglers around the world!
We can learn from everyone. Even if you think your juggling skills aren’t great, there will be a diabolo enthusiast out there who would love to follow your journey.
Instagram or Youtube are great tools for connecting us all. A great trick looks nice in a picture, but a video will be even better and will motivate and inspire others.
So create, share and inspire!
Final Thoughts
By recording your training sessions, you not only benefit from self-analysis and improvement but also have the opportunity to inspire and motivate other diabolo players. Embrace technology and share your journey with a community of diabolo lovers.
If you’re interested in discovering more tips and insights about diabolo improvement, be sure to visit this page for additional resources.
