Russian Juggling Balls
Russian Juggling Balls
Renegade Juggling offers seven different kinds of Russian balls. These balls are made with a hollow shell partly filled with sand, millet or micro glass beads. The filling goes to the bottom of the ball when caught (the “Russian effect”), giving the ball a lower center of gravity. This makes the ball easier to balance or to catch in some situations, like a neck or foot catch.
We have a range of balls with varying amounts of Russian Effect. The highest effect is achieved if the ball has a very light shell coupled with a heavy dense filling. Lighter shells are made of polyethylene and the heavier shells are made of PVC. A secondary factor is how fast the filling moves to the bottom of the ball. Glass beads or sand move fastest followed by millet and then the slowest is liquid silicone. The products are listed from the highest Russian effect to the lowest.
- Premium Russian balls are made with a very light shell with sand filling. They are the highest Russian effect ball.
- Fill yourself Russian balls have a light shell and are sold empty so you can add/try any filling you like and seal the ball with a removable silicone plug.
- Play SRX is made with the thinnest PVC shell and filled with millet. This ball has a very soft shell.
- Renegade glass is made with a medium thickness PVC shell and filled with micro glass beads. It has a high Russian effect for a medium thickness ball shell.
- Play hybrid balls are made with a medium-thickness PVC shell. Filled with millet, they are medium-effect Russian balls.
- Play Sil-X and Sil-X light balls have a medium or light PVC shell filled with liquid silicone. They come in both an opaque shell or a clear shell, filled with colored liquid silicone, with lower Russian effect.
- Renegade glass large Russian balls are made with large thick PVC shell, filled with micro-glass beads. This relatively heavy shell produces a reduced Russian effect.
- Henrys HIX Russain ball made with a TPU plastic shell that is highly durable.
Pro tips ( advanced and intermediate juggler)
With so many kinds of Russian balls made, it is hard to say what is the best kind or best way to make them. If you have gotten used to a non-Russian type of ball over many years, changing to a Russian ball will take some time to get accustomed to. In this case, a lighter Russian-effect ball like the Play hybrid may be a preferred option over high Russian-effect balls like the Radfactor premium balls. Even advanced jugglers argue whether a Russian ball has any advantage over a non-Russian ball for toss juggling. The main factor is what type of ball you are accustomed to. Your confidence level will always be higher (less drops) with the type of ball you have used the longest. Changing to another type of ball will take some adjustment time.