True Box
Other Tutorials:
Michael Karas (demonstration)
The True Box (unofficial name),
also called Box with a Lid, is an extreme shape distortion of the regular
Box pattern in which one ball is caught and passed in the air to create a
rectangle (with the ball being manipulated at the corners of the shape).
Despite its bizarre appearence, the True Box actually has the same siteswap
as the normal Box, with some of the horizontal passes performed vertically
instead.
To learn the True Box, start with one ball in each hand.
Simultaneously throw both balls vertically, then quickly reach your dominant
hand over and grab the ball thrown from your non-dominant hand. If done
correctly, this ball should be caught before the other ball reaches its
peak. As that other ball descends, move your dominant back down and catch
it.
This aerial catch will likely feel very awkward at first, but
with practice you will eventually master the timing. To add in the next
throw, you are going to again start with one ball in each hand, and then
perform the same vertical throws and catches you did in previous step. This
time however, you are also going to throw the ball you caught in the air
over to the other side of your body. This will clear space for your dominant
hand to catch the other vertical ball. As the ball that was caught and then
thrown by your dominant hand reaches the other side of your body, bring your
non-dominant hand up and catch it.
Once again, practice this until you feel comfortable with the
throws. To add in the third ball, start with two balls in your non-dominant
hand and one ball in your dominant. Make the same throws and catches as in
the previous step, but this time make a vertical throw from your
non-dominant hand before using it to catch the ball in the air (this happens
after your dominant hand catches and then throws that same ball). As a
general rule, all vertical throws made in this pattern should be the same
height. As that last vertical throw reaches its peak and begins to descend
(your non-dominant hand should have just caught the ball in the air), you
are going to drop the ball from your non-dominant hand and then bring it
back down to catch the vertical throw.
The step described above contains all the throws and catches
performed in the air, which together make up the primary pattern. However,
to connect the various cycles, you will also need perform a normal
horizontal pass/vertical throw combination. To add this in, you are going to
repeat the process from the previous step, and then, as the ball that has
been in the air the entire time begins to finally descend toward your
dominant hand, you will make a vertical throw from your dominant hand. This
will clear space for that hand to catch the other ball. As the ball just
thrown begins to descend, you are going to make a horizontal pass from your
dominant hand and a vertical throw from your non-dominant hand (this throw
should be made close to the center of your body).
The animation above demonstrates one full cycle of the True
Box. To run the full pattern, just make another pair of simultaneous
vertical throws as that last throw from the previous cycle approaches your
non-dominant hand. The True Box is not an easy pattern, and will take time
to learn, especially if your goal is to create a clean rectanglular shape.
