Introduction to hurrys
Reminder:
The context is that of patterns that can be put into classic siteswap
notation, in which one's hands throw one after the other.
Hurry: definitionA hurry comes about when a club (or ball) is thrown one count sooner than normal. |
Consequences, examples, and other aspects of the problem:
- The simplest example (in solo juggling) is the following:
In a 3-club cascade, throw a single from the RH to the RH (in other words, go into a round of two in one hand, in singles). In classic siteswap notation, you would throw a double (3333 423 33). Throwing a single makes the club come down one count sooner and forces you to throw one count sooner. - Often (but not always), it's because a club arrives one count sooner (coming as a pass or a self) that one must throw one count sooner.
- Often (but not always), this means someone will have to throw twice in a row from the same hand. Right-Right-Left-Left-Right... This property (which applies quite often) is sometimes given as a definition; however, it is neither necessary nor sufficient.
- There exists a notation in which you simply add a star after the number
which signifies a hurry throw. Going back to the first example: when
the double is changed to a single, 333 423 333 becomes: 33 3x 3*
333.
The 2 gets skipped, and the 4 is replaced by a 3x (a 3 followed by an x to specify that it doesn't cross). The star indicates that there is a hurry, and therefore that it's the same hand that threw the 3x.
All that was to give you an idea of the principle; to be able to go on to discover
your own passing patterns.
In passing, to create a hurry (we will later see how to get out of them using
various passes), one throws a crossing pass which otherwise should have been
straight pass (or vice versa).
Let's take a classic 4-count, for example:
![]() |
Classic 4-count: |
![]() |
With a hurry on the last pass: < 3px 3 3 3 | 3p 3* 3 3 > |
The bottom juggler makes their last pass a crossing single (in blue, R to R). The hurry (in red) comes from the fact that the top juggler makes a pass with their right hand at the same time. They must free their right hand right afterward in order to receive the crossing pass. It's easy to see that the alternation between Right and Left (RLRLRL) is broken--we have RLRL RR LRLR.
Thus we can create new patterns based upon most classic patterns; all that needs to happen is for one juggler to cross all his passes that he previously threw straight across. The two jugglers can then continue on with the same rhythm. In the example above, the top juggler starts a 4-count left-handed cycle after the hurry.
Continuous 4-count with a hurry: <3px 3 3 3 3px 3* 3 3 | 3p 3* 3 3 3p 3
3 3>

Thus we get a pattern with one juggler who crosses all their passes (in blue).
The two jugglers alternate 2 cycles of left-handed 4-count and then 2 cycles
of right-handed 4-count. The hurry (in red) switches from one juggler
to the other.
3-count with a hurry (Jim's 3-count): <3px 3 3 3px 3* 3 | 3p 3* 3 3p 3 3 >
So that's how we get new patterns! Consult the hurry section on the rhythms
page to see more.
See also Martin's Madness, which uses
a hand-across to alter the basic pattern.
This is only a modest introduction. Those who would like more in-depth explanations of hurries (definition, mathematical aspect, etc.) can look at Christophe's article on the subject. For applications, see also the following pages: self hurries, pass hurries.

