Stepping Back

I’ve been juggling a lot this year. Mostly with clubs in an effort to accomplish my goal of learning 5 clubs before 2022 ends. Unfortunately, even though I’ve made a lot of progress, I’ve recently developed some pain in my wrists, especially my left wrist. It’s not severe but it’s gotten to the point that my wrists tend to hurt even when I’m not juggling. As such, I’ve decided to step back from juggling for a while. I’ll still do some light 3 ball juggling each day but that’ll be it for at least a week. That’ll give my wrists time to rest and heal, and then I’ll see where they’re at. I hope that’s all there is to it. If I’ve simply been practicing too much and it’s finally caught up with me, then some time off will do the trick.

Knowing when to take a step back is an important skill to have in the pursuit of any goal. With physical skills, it’s important for the recovery of the body. If I kept juggling as usual despite the pain, I might end up doing permanent damage to my wrists, perhaps to the point of not being able to juggle at all. I would hate that. If I take some time away from serious practice to heal, then once I get back to my normal routine, I’ll be able to keep juggling without pain or other issues. It’s important to do this with other skills and hobbies as well, not just the physical ones. Sometimes you need a break from learning lots of new information or attempting to figure out difficult puzzles. With mental accomplishments, the progress is often made during times of rest when the mind is at ease. That’s when the subconscious can do the difficult work of piecing things together.

All that being said, I dislike taking steps back. I’d rather continue practicing as I have been, especially since I’ve made a lot of progress as of late and I hate the thought of losing ground. Plus I’m used to seeing a lot of people push through pain to accomplish incredible things. However, they often end up paying for it later, especially if they’re competing in sports that tear up their bodies; sometimes their bodies get damaged to the point that they can no longer do what they once loved, even as a hobby.

My wrist pain makes me feel less inclined to juggle. In addition to being unpleasant and making it harder to juggle, the pain makes me feel more tired, both when I’m juggling and when I’m not. Juggling is also less enjoyable lately because of the pain. All of that is helping me take time off. Depending on how I feel at the end of the week, I’ll decide how to proceed. Either way, I won’t be going back full speed to the serious practice; I’ll slowly increase my activity and see how that feels each step of the way. I might even change my normal practice routine. Maybe spending more time with 3 clubs and less time working on 5 is the answer. I was already doing a lot of 3 club drills to help me with 5 clubs. That improved my juggling a lot so that may become my new routine.

I’m not looking to compete in technical juggling competitions, break world records, or make juggling my primary means of income. I juggle because I love it and I want to continue loving it and having fun with it for as long as I can. So I don’t need to practice as much or as intensely as people who do want to compete, break records, or be full-time professional jugglers. That makes it easier to step back and take time to rest as needed.

To make progress, sometimes you have to temporarily move backwards. What works at one time doesn’t always work at another time and sometimes you have to change things up. Whether that’s extra rest, a total break, or just doing things a little differently without changing the overall activity level. This step back could end up taking me several steps forward. Whenever I’ve taken long breaks from serious juggling, I’ve always had fun getting back into it. Despite the time it takes to recover lost skill, it’s always been more enjoyable and fresh when I’ve been away from it for a while. It feels more like a fun hobby than a chore and I’m hoping it’ll be the same this time. I’ll let you know how it goes soon.