Frostbite

Other Tutorials:

Andrew Olson (demonstration)

     Frostbite is a three ball pattern similar to the Kraken in that it features an intriguing rhythm, crossed-arm throws, and clawed catches. The ball paths in this pattern are particularly interesting to observe, as each ball follows the same jerky Reverse Infinity path, with three loops on each side before switching over to mirror the path on the other side. The difficulty level of this pattern is about the same as that of the Kraken and other common mess variations like Romeo's Revenge, although Frostbite's somewhat more complex siteswap and coordinated arm motions may make it slightly more challenging to understand and learn.

    To get started with learning Frostbite, start with a base pattern of siteswap 44133 with the 4s as outside columns and otherwise vanilla. It may be easier to think of this as 34413, or even 33441.


   Once you are reasonably comfortable with this siteswap, throw the second 4 a little bit higher than the first, so that it begins to look like 4612233. Catch the second 3 as high as possible, and continue raising your hand to catch the first 4 higher than normal. This exercise will prepare you for the precise spatial requirements of the pattern.



    The next step is to introduce the crossed-arm movements. Repeat the initial 3441 throws of the pattern, catching the first 4 high as in the previous exercise and carrying it across your body so that the second 4 falls in front of your forearm as it is crossing, in the space recently vacated. It will be helpful to throw the second 4 as more of an inward reverse cascade throw to give yourself some extra space. The 1 throw is essentially an angled drop. Learn this simple loop from both sides.

    Finally, add a continuation of two 3 throws at the end of the previous exercise. The first 3 is an underarm 3 from your low crossed arm on the opposite side of your body. The second 3 is a simple vertical toss from your high crossed arm. Catch the first of these 3 throw as a claw catch after throwing the second 3. The second 3 can be caught normally.
    Learn this from both sides. At this point it should be relatively apparent how to connect the two sides into a seamless pattern, and you will soon have acquired a severe and hopefully very enjoyable case of juggler's Frostbite.

Tutorial created and submitted by Andrew Olson.