I have found that my hobbies help me relax, feel good about myself and channel some of my creativity. A hobby can be anything you are interested in doing or learning about. It is something you can do by yourself or share with others. The most important thing is that you have fun with your hobby. I spent countless hours playing with the basketball and learning to juggle different things. Below are some helpful pointers on how to spin a basketball on your finger and how to juggle. Good luck and have fun learning. Spinning a Basketball on your Finger Spinning a basketball on your finger is fun and really not that hard, because the ball pretty much will balance itself if spinning fast enough. So the first step must be, learning to get a fast level spin on the ball. The direction of the spin does not matter. Hold a ball with one hand close to your chest and the other hand on the ball away from your chest. The hand closest to your chest should have its’ thumb pointing down and the hand away from your chest should have its’ thumb up. Put some pressure on the ball and pull your elbow back and snap your wrist. That method should put a lot of spin on the ball. The height of the toss should be just above the eyes. At the point the ball reaches the top of its’ rise; place your finger in the middle before it starts to coming back down. Your finger should be making contact with the ball about eye height. As the ball starts coming down, bring your finger down with it gradually. This will make for a smooth landing of the ball on your finger. Stop lowering your finger when it gets to chest height. Keep on practicing this over and over and you will get it. The ball spinning fast is the key. Get a hard spin and then worry about a smooth landing later. If the ball isn’t rotating fast, getting it to balance on your finger will be extremely difficult. Remember, it is the small simple things we learn and master that make the hard things look simple. Don’t be afraid to just practice the spin over and over without trying to get the ball on your finger. Take it one step at a time and learning will become a Piece of Cake. The above method is how I learned and I think it took me two months before I could keep the ball on my finger for any length of time. I have since developed an easier method and put all my proven secrets on a 30-minute "How to Spin a Basketball" DVD. These techniques and my exclusive "Easy Spin" Ball will have you spinning in hours vs. months. (BUY NOW)! You will not only learn to spin, but how to keep the ball going! Good luck and have fun with your new hobby. Once you learn, please send me a picture showing off your skills to jim@jimbasketballjones.com . Learning to Juggle three balls I was in 9th grade when I finally taught myself how to juggle. A friend of mine at Troy Jr. High School in Avon Lake, Ohio, could juggle and I wanted to learn. I watched him and studied the pattern and just started to practice as much as I could. As I practiced, I noticed my weak hand, left, was just horrible. My left hand wasn’t as strong as my right, so the ball would be tossed low and away from my body. To make matters worse, catching with my left hand was very difficult. So I decided to work my left hand more than my right. I always started with my left hand, therefore guaranteeing me that my left hand would get more tosses than my right. I also noticed that the balls I was using were spending more time on the floor than in my hand. For some reason at an early age, I understood the idea that I was only improving when I was doing what I was trying to learn. I surely wasn’t trying to learn how to pick up a ball off the floor. If I could eliminate all that wasted time, I would learn more every time I practiced. It didn’t take long for me to figure out a solution to all the wasted time picking up the balls from the ground. I started practicing over a bed. When the ball fell, they would land on the bed and I could immediately pick them up and start tossing them again. Wow, that method worked great. So let’s get started....We already know that it is going to take time to learn and we want to work our weak hand more than our strong hand and wasted time is unproductive time. Get the three balls you want to learn with and place two in your weakest hand and one in the other hand. The cascade pattern to juggling looks like the number 8 turned sideways. You will toss one ball from the hand with two balls. That ball should pass across your face and peak around head height above the opposite shoulder. Once the ball starts to cross your face, you will start to toss a ball from the other hand. That ball should be leaving your hand when the first ball starts to peak. I call this first step, Up / Under. You toss one ball up to the other hand and the other hand tosses a ball under the first ball. Great, at this time we have one ball in our weak hand and two balls in the air. Not a problem!!!! The first ball is starting to come down from its’ peak just outside your shoulder of your strong hand. Great, just slide your strong hand over and down to catch the ball. The second ball tossed is now starting to peak towards your weak hand. That means what? That means your weak hand should toss a ball (remember, your weak hand started with two balls in it) UNDER it. Once it tosses the ball under the second ball tossed, your weak hand should slide over and down to catch the ball coming down. Now a ball is in the air going towards your strong hand. Your strong had says, GREAT, I will toss this ball I have in my hand back to the weak hand and go catch the ball landing on the outside. The pattern is never ending; you keep tossing one ball from one hand to the other hand. It is that simple....Well not that simple, you do have to spend hours practicing so your brain can work out the mechanics. Once your brain starts to learn the coordination, the timing and pattern, you will be juggling with ease. Remember, we all learn over time. If you keep practicing your time will come. Don’t quit!!!!! I hope the above pointers help you learn to juggle. I am a visual learner, so it is always helpful for me to "see" what someone is teaching. I have made a 30-minute DVD on "How to Juggle". This video will break things down step by step and give you methods to practice throwing and catching. It will also tackle the normal problems people incur while trying to learn to juggle. The video comes with three juggling balls and is the best tool I know of to learn to juggle. (Buy Now)! Good luck with juggling, it is a great hobby and great for coordination. (It also helps kids with Learning Disabilities strengthen the pathways from each hemisphere of the brain, therefore improving kids ability to learn).