The 8 Best Juggling Clubs

For anyone ready to move on from balls, the Zeekio Pegasus set is the simplest buy: three matching clubs in one box. Each has a tough plastic body over a stiff inner rod, a wrapped handle with a little give, and rubber ends that soften a dropped club's landing. The bodies shrug off scuffs, and Zeekio sells the club singly for passing. It's a bit heavy for a modern club, which tires the wrist sooner.

Ask a juggling group what its members throw, and the answer is often the Henrys Delphin. Made in Germany, it has a medium spin that many juggling groups treat as their standard, so it feels familiar when you pass with others. Henrys sells spare tops and knobs, which means a worn club gets fixed, not tossed. This version is all white, with white knobs and tops. It comes one at a time, so you'll need to order three.

A low-cost way to learn the three-club pattern, the Duncan 3850JG pack molds each club from one piece of tough plastic, so nothing can work loose or snap apart when it smacks the floor. Black grip tape wraps the handle, and the round knob keeps a club from sliding out of your hand. The hard handle is less kind to fingers than a cushioned one, and the box carries a small-parts warning for young children.

Kids who can already keep three balls going should look at the Zeekio Pixie, a junior set about half the weight of a full-size club. Each one has a colored body, a shiny wrapped handle and a black rubber knob, built the same way as adult clubs, so skills carry straight over to bigger ones later. Zeekio rates it from age 12. Adults with big hands will find the handle cramped.

The ribbed body on the Henrys Loop Grip Training club gives your fingers something to hold when a throw comes back the wrong way and you catch the fat end. That helps with tricks where you grab a club by its body or bounce it off your arm. The handle and knob are white, and the body comes in several bright colors. It's sold singly, and the ridged look says practice gear, not stage club.

Fans of the juggler Taylor Tries, who posts juggling videos online, can throw the Zeekio Taylor Tries signature set she helped design. The red, silver and blue bodies are hard, scuff-resistant plastic, and the handles flex a little over an inner rod for softer catches. Zeekio describes them as slightly lighter than its standard club, which suits quick tricks, and a drawstring bag holds all three. Few people have reported on the set so far.

With metallic silver stripes over a colored body, the Henrys Classic is made to catch stage lights. It's a full-length club with a slim body and a wrapped handle, a shape that spins quickly and suits fast, many-club patterns. White knobs and tops finish the look. Like other Henrys clubs, it's sold one at a time, and there's little owner feedback on this model yet, so it's a choice for jugglers who already know the brand.

Shows after dark call for something like the Zeekio LED set, which lights each club from inside in a range of colors. A small wireless remote changes the color, the flashing pattern, the speed and the brightness, and a charger comes in the box. The power button and charging port sit in the bottom end. Each club needs charging before a show, and the set costs several times as much as plain clubs.