Relf's Rubensteins

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TWJ Club (text-based)

     Relf's Rubensteins is a three ball pattern which, as its strange name might suggest, can be thought of as a combination of Relf's Revenge and Rubenstein's Revenge. However, I think the trick can be better conceptualized as Romeo's Revenge spliced onto the end of Rubenstein's Revenge, as the last throw and arm flourish are essentially identical to Romeo's Revenge, while bearing a much weaker resemblance to Relf's Revenge. With this in mind, it would be wise for you to already be comfortable with Rubenstein's Revenge and Romeo's Revenge before attempting this pattern.

   To begin learning Relf's Rubensteins, start with two balls in your dominant hand and one ball in your non-dominant hand. Cross your dominant hand underneath your non-dominant hand, and then make a vertical under-the-arm throw from dominant hand. As you do this you are also going to begin uncrossing and then recrossing your arms The first ball should be descending just as you complete the recrossing, so you will then make an under-the-arm throw from your non-dominant hand back toward the non-dominant side of your body, clearing space for your non-dominant hand to catch the first ball. You will then swing your dominant hand (which should at this point be crossed over your non-dominant hand) under, around, and then above the thrown ball. So far this has all been identical to Rubenstein's Revenge. However, instead of claw catching the ball in the air you are going to follow it with your dominant hand as the ball descends. You will then make a second under-the-arm throw—vertical this time—from your non-dominant hand, clearing space for the hand to catch the first ball it threw (the ball your dominant hand is following). You will then catch the last ball with your dominant hand.
    Practice this on both sides. The ending of the step above should feel very similar to Romeo's Revenge, and so for the next step you are going to directly transition into Romeo's Revenge by making a throw from your dominant hand (the hand that was following the ball) toward the center of your body and then claw-catching the ball just thrown under-the-arm by your non-dominant hand. You will then continue the downward motion of the claw catch and recross your dominant hand over your non-dominant hand. As the ball thrown by your dominant hand begins to descend you will make another vertical under-the-arm throw from your non-dominant hand, clearing space for it to catch the descending ball. You will then catch the last ball with your dominant hand.
    Once again, practice this on both sides. Notice how the last throw is a mirror image of the first throw—to continue the pattern, simply uncross and recross your hands as if juggling Rubenstein's Revenge and then repeat the same throws and catches you did before, except with your hands reversed. Relf's Rubensteins is a very graceful pattern when preformed smoothly, and its rarity makes the trick surprising even for other jugglers.