Mills mess

Mills mess is a trick invented by Steve Mills. The pattern is a repeating sequence of three different kinds of throws:

7b mills attempt

7 ball Mills mess by Daniel Eaker

• The first throw is an outside throw. The next catch made by the hand making this throw should be done with that arm crossed over the other arm.
• The second throw is made under the arm, and the arms stay crossed so that the next catch made by that hand is also done under the arm.
• The third throw is made starting with the arms crossed, uncrossing them while throwing with the hand that's on top. This prop, when thrown with the right hand, goes over the top of the pattern from left to right. The next catch made by the hand making this throw should be done with the arms uncrossed.

These three throws are done starting with the right hand and the left hand alternately.

Unless this trick is combined with a siteswap, in a Mills mess pattern with an odd number of objects the objects are always thrown with one hand and caught with the other hand, and in a pattern with an even number of objects each object is always thrown and caught with the same hand. Because all the throws are made on the outside of the pattern, it's easier to transition into Mills mess from a reverse cascade or fountain than from the basic pattern.

3 ball Mills mess

4 ball Mills mess

5 ball Mills mess

 

Three Ball Mills Mess Tutorial

3 ball Mills mess tutorial

Juggling Tutorial 4 ball Mills' Mess - part I

4 ball Mills mess tutorial (part 1, part 2, part 3)

World records

Mills mess records with publicly available video evidence:

• 3 ball Mills mess: 1 hour, 5 minutes, and 37 seconds by Luka Tchernia in 2016 (video)
• 5 ball Mills mess: 10 minutes and 43 seconds by Thomas Dietz in 2009 (video)
• 6 ball Mills mess: 146 catches by Josiah Jones in 2007 (video)
• 7 ball Mills mess: 21 catches by Bar Mualem in 2013 (video)

• 4 ring Mills mess: 1 minute and 32 seconds by Marc Schneider in 2015 (video)
• 5 ring Mills mess: 38 catches by Kip Hunt in 2014 (video)

• 3 club Mills mess: 26 minutes by Kip Hunt in 2014 (video)
• 4 club Mills mess: 2 minutes and 25 seconds by Ameron Rosvall in 2015 (video)
• 5 club Mills mess: 79 catches by Toby Walker in 2008 (video)
• 6 club Mills mess: 12 catches by Toby Walker in 2011 (video)

Unverified claims:

• 3 ball Mills mess: 1 hour, 6 minutes, and 33 seconds by Tamás Kozári in 2009 (claim)
• 3 ball Mills mess: 2 hours and 30 minutes by Luka Tchernia in 2016 (claim)
• 4 ball Mills mess: 12 minutes and 20 seconds by Ameron Rosvall in 2007 (claim)
• 6 ball Mills mess: 850 catches by Josiah Jones (claim)
• 7 ball Mills mess: 21 catches by Nick Thomas in 2013 (claim)
• 7 ball Mills mess: 24 catches by Josiah Jones in 2007 (claim)
• 8 ball Mills mess: 12 catches by Nick Thomas (claim)
• 9 ball Mills mess: 11 catches by Nick Thomas (claim)

Alternative names

• Mills
• Mess
• Alternating cross-armed pattern
• Pretzel

Variations

Flo's mess After the under-the-arm throw, you uncross your arms and do an outside throw instead of doing a cross-armed throw.

Half mess Three throws of Mills mess followed by another outside throw so you start from the same side each time you repeat the pattern.

Reverse Mills mess For 3 balls, this is the same as a normal Mills mess except the under the arm throw is made on the inside of the pattern, going up in between the other two balls.

Reverse Mills Mess (In Time) Juggling Tutorial 27

Reverse Mills mess tutorial

• Mike's mess (522 Mills mess with the 5 under the arm)
• Burke's barrage (423 Mills mess with the 4 under the arm)
• Luke's lobotomy (similar to 504 Mills mess with the 4 under the arm)
• Rubenstein's revenge (similar to a Mills mess where both cross-armed throws are made under the arm)
• Eric's extension
• Boston mess
• Overhead Mills mess
• Mills mess siteswaps (examples below)

531 mess with the 5 under the arm	531 mess with the 3 under the arm	531 mess with the 1 under the arm
633 mess with the 6 under the arm	633 mess with the first 3 under the arm	633 mess with the second 3 under the arm
645 mess with the 6 under the arm	645 mess with the 4 under the arm	645 mess with the 5 under the arm