Dave Leech came up to Danny Harrison & I one night & showed us this trick, "Wow! What's it called?" we said. "Oh nothing, I don't believe in all this naming tricks after yourself. I think all that is quite sad really." That comment led to the naming of Relf's Factory, Relf's Revenge, Relf's Revenge 6 & Relf's Rubensteins. We named the trick for him. At the time when this trick was invented (circa 3 PG*) Dave said that it is a very nice UV trick. I recently asked Dave for a refresher course in this trick & he couldn't remember what it was.
* Pre Globall
Take two balls & hold both in the same hand, one between the thumb, fore & middle fingers & the other between the ring & little fingers & the butt of your thumb. Make an outside scoop & throw the ball held in the base of your hand in an arc over to the other side but keep hold of the one between your fingertips. After releasing the ball don't stop the movement of your hand. In one smooth movement continue the scoop up & over the pattern in an arc. The carried ball should follow the path of the thrown ball & remain a couple of inches above it at all times. Finish by catching the thrown ball with the other hand & holding the carried ball directly above it.
Now throw the ball in the lower hand as a low cascade throw back to the other side underneath the hand above it. Make this second throw lower than the first. With the carrying hand follow the second throw back across the body. Keep the ball held between your fingertips & spread out your little & ring fingers. Just after the thrown ball peaks scoop it up in your outspread fingers so that you are holding two balls in the same hand again.
Practise combining those two steps together to form one continuous movement. As soon as you catch the first throw, make an inward scoop & toss it back again. Scoop the carrying hand to mirror the movement of the thrown ball too. Dave is very picky (or at least he was when he could remember his own trick) about the first throw being one smooth movement too. Don't throw one ball then carry the other, just concentrate on the carry. Lift your arm & then just release the ball when it is level with your shoulder. The momentum of your arm alone will throw the ball over to the other side.
Practise this move on both sides.
Now with all three balls. Hold two in one hand & one in the other. Begin with the throw & carry as you have just practised. When the first throw peaks throw the ball in the other hand straight up as a rolling out Two in one hand throw on the inside of both the ball in the air & your carrying arm. Catch the first throw & toss it back as a cascade throw as before & follow it with the carrying hand underneath the two in one hand throw as it peaks. Catch the two in one hand throw with the same hand that threw it & then scoop the cascade throw up with the carrying hand. & stop.
Practise on both sides. That is effectively Dave's Dilemma. You can perform it as a one sided trick or the pattern can be extended with a couple of extra throws to change from holding two balls in one hand to the other.
As a one sided pattern you only need to add in one extra throw. Start as before & go through the whole throw & carry manoeuvre. When it comes to making the final catch to finish with two balls in one hand, throw the third ball straight up. Then as it lands make the first throw of one of the two balls again. Try & create the effect that the force of the catch on one side causes the throw on the other side, kind of like a see saw.
For the symmetrically inclined there are a number of ways to create a two sided pattern. The list below gives four simple ways from getting from the starting point on one side (two balls in one hand & one in the other) to the starting point on the other. There are of course many other ways possible.
- Throw one ball from the hand holding two to the other. Simple but a bit boring.
- Make a split multiplex throw, catch one ball in each hand. Exactly the same as the first option but with a little bit extra.
- Make a stacked multiplex throw to the other side & throw a single cascade throw back underneath it. This was the original Dave's Dilemma.
- Throw the single ball as a cascade throw & pass the two balls from hand to hand underneath. Very similar to Orin's Multiplex (guess who came up with this variation).
Dave's Twiddly Dilemma
Dave's Dilemma can be further extended to include a twiddle (more commonly known as an orbit). Instead of just gathering up the low cascade throw there is plenty of time to make an orbit with the carried ball & then making the catch. Circle your right wrist in a clockwise direction & your left wrist anticlockwise. Start the orbit early, in a standard Dave's Dilemma the carrying hand stays level with the thrown ball that it follows. In this variation as you make the second low cascade throw your carrying hand needs to jump ahead of it. Start the orbit early, carry down & underneath the ball in the air as it peaks. Then as you continue the orbit up the other side scoop the orbited ball into your hand from above with your outstretched fingers when the ball starts to fall.
Much better.