This you will find quick work alike for eyes and hands, for, of course, the ball cannot be made to pass in a straight line from one hand to the other without giving it increased impetus and a considerable accession of speed. Gradually move your hands, at first closer to one another, and then farther apart. In fact, continue this exercise until your hands are as distant from each other as you can reach. This will be found excellent practice for the ‘[shower]’ at which we shall soon arrive. The Sixth Practice is
The Double Vertical Fall
(as shown in [Fig. 6]). You will now take a ball in each hand, and commence by throwing that in the right hand vertically (as in [Fig. 1]), then that in the left in the same manner, alternately. Before the first ball has descended into the right hand, throw the second into the air with the left, so that the two balls shall be constantly in motion. You will now find the advantage of being proficient in the single vertical fall, as otherwise, your attention being distracted from the one ball to the other, you would probably not be able to catch either. Now practise throwing both balls up together, keeping your hands about two feet apart, and taking care that neither ball goes higher than the other. As the last practice was good for the ‘shower’ so you will see that the present will prepare you for the ‘[fountain],’ the description of which will follow in due course. The Seventh Practice is termed
The Double Inside Fall.
This is a repetition of the Outside and Inside Fall, but is performed with two balls at the same time and with both hands. In this exercise great care must be taken to avoid a collision of the balls when they are in the act of passing. To ensure against such a calamity it is necessary that one ball—generally that from the right hand—should be projected slightly higher than the other (as in [Fig. 7]). This should be practised at various heights until something like perfect accuracy is arrived at, as all the following practices are founded, more or less, upon this very important exercise.
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
