441 Mills Mess

Other Tutorials:

Guillaume Riesen (video)

     The 441 Mills Mess is a variation of Mills Mess done with the 441 siteswap, meaning each ball is thrown and caught by the same hand, and a horizontal pass is done every two throws. When performed properly, the 441 Mills Mess looks superficially similar to the regular Mills Mess, except for the quick exchange of a ball between hands.

    To learn the 441 Mills Mess, start with one ball in each hand. Cross your dominant hand underneath your non-dominant hand, and then make a vertical throw from your dominant hand. As that ball reaches its peak, make a vertical throw from your non-dominant hand, and then uncross and recross your arms in the opposite configuration, catching the first ball with your dominant hand, now on top, and the second ball with your non-dominant hand. Notice that the balls did not switch hands.
    As shown, practice this on both sides. To add in the third ball, you are going to start with two balls in your dominant hand and one ball in your non-dominant. Cross your dominant hand underneath your non-dominant hand, and then make a vertical throw from your dominant hand followed by a vertical throw from your non-dominant hand (as done in the previous step). As you uncross your arms, make a horizontal pass from your dominant hand to your non-dominant hand, and then recross your arms and catch the two vertical balls in the same manner as the previous step.
    As shown, practice this on both sides. To run the full 441 Mills Mess, simply make another vertical throw as the second ball approaches your non-dominant hand. That will clear space for you to catch the second ball, which will then be used for the horizontal pass after you make another vertical throw from your dominant hand. The 441 Mills Mess looks best when the vertical throws mirror the throws done in the normal Mills Mess, so make sure to angle the vertical throws toward the center of your body.