The rola-bola is also known as bongo board, teeter board or just spelled slightly different eg rolla bolla. It consists of a cylinder and a board (usually wooden) - you place the board on the cylinder, and then rock and roll side to side to try and stay balanced!

It’s a bit like a one-man seesaw! Once you learn the rola-bola, you will need to combine it with some other tricks such as club juggling or plate spinning.

Some safety issues before we begin!

First Moves - Standard Balance, Stop and Start

• Feet should be equal distance apart from the middle of the board. This makes sure your weight is as equally distributed across the whole board as possible. 
• Your knees should remain bent  at all times!
• Keeping your back straight, helps you to keep the centre of gravity over the cylinder. 
• Eyes straight ahead helps to make sure you are not staring down at the board which can put you off balance. It may help to focus on a point at eye level in the distance.

A standard balance is where you stand on the board with one foot at each end. The next step is to shift your weight so the board balances on top of the cylinder. You can use a support to help you get into position (such as a chair, wall, bannister etc).

From here, you try to keep the board from moving, and especially stop the ends from touching the ground on either side! Please note that the aim isn’t to remain still on the board, but to gently rock from side to side. Try to increase the amount of time you stay balanced until it becomes really easy. They try rocking the board faster!

HOW TO STOP: From a standard balance position, and keeping a light contact with your support, let the board move to one side. Placing all your weight on that foot (the farthest foot from the cylinder), the end of the board should touch the floor gently. Do this as slowly as possible as there is no point in  crashing the board to the ground! Attempt this move until you able to do it without holding on to any support. If you find that the board crashes to the ground, then it means that you haven’t shifted your weight properly.

HOW TO START:  It does seem a bit silly teaching you how to start after I have taught you how to stop, but these tricks are worth learning in this order as you needed to learn how to balance first of all! From the stop position (one end of the board on the ground), slowly shift your weight back over to the other foot. This will edge the board slowly up the cylinder. You will soon begin to feel yourself tipping over the cylinder, at which point you need to shift your weight over the centre of the board once again!

Having Problems?

Once you have mastered the standard balance, play about with your posture (so that you can get used to recovering your balance from all sorts of positions!) This will also help you to quickly master many more tricks...

First Set of Tricks To Learn

What Props Could I use while I am on the Rola Bola?

If you are already a juggler, then consider using whatever props you already use. Balls and clubs are relatively easy. Poi and Diabolo aren’t quite as straightforward! For my rola-bola routine, I use 2 Juggling Knives and a chicken!

For any props you intend to use, be sure that you have practiced with them plenty of times without using the rola-bola. You won’t be able to move forwards and backwards to catch props, so your juggling must be smooth! Obviously certain tricks are not possible on the rola-bola (under the leg for example – unless you keep both legs on the ground and do an “albert throw”!) Likewise, certain tricks which require very quick sharp movements (such as chops) may be best avoided as they could knock you off balance. Swinging poi is the equivalent of patting your head and rubbing your stomach as you try to swing props in one direction and roll yourself the other way, so it may be best avoided also!

Advanced Tricks

Club Rolling and Pickups on Rola-Bola

My favourite rola-bola trick involves club rolling.  I place 3 clubs in front of the rola-bola and by pushing them lightly (which involves lowering my body so I can touch the clubs on the ground, and reaching forward, so I am a bit off balance), I can make them revolve around the cylinder and back to their starting point. You have to make sure that your board stays far enough off the ground in order that the clubs can roll the whole way round! For further information on club rolling, please visit my Club Rolling Tricks Page.

Picking up props from the ground: An entertaining trick which builds on the squat/crouch trick from earlier is to pick up your props from the ground, one at a time! When performing, make this trick look really difficult by wobbling the board and looking as if you are about to fall off, but it should be easy if you can lower yourself!
 

Some Other Props to Balance yourself on!