3 Club Split

Description: The 3 club split is very nice as a start, but it also works well in the middle of patterns and can even be used while passing.  The definition of a three club split is actually fairly vague.  As long as all three clubs are thrown from the same hand, and two of them are caught in one hand, while the other club is caught in the other hand, it would be considered a 3 club split.  So basically one of your hands is going to catch a stack and the other one will catch a single club from the split (this club is known as the split club).  If the stack is caught with the opposite hand that the 3 club split is thrown from, then the throw is called the greater 3 club split (siteswap [332]).  If it is caught with the same hand, it is called the lesser 3 club split (siteswap [322]).  Of course this doesn't say anything about the height of the throws.  You could throw the split club as a double and throw the stack as a single-double, or you could throw the whole split as a single-double-triple.  There are plenty of possibilities.

Grips: There are way too many variations of 3 club splits to show here, so I'm just going to go through a few.  The easiest way to throw a 3 club split would be to throw two singles and a double (or two doubles and a triple).  I refer to these grips as single-single-doubles.  Most of the time, with single-single-doubles, it doesn't really matter whether you are going to throw a [332] or a [322].  The grip should be the same since as long as the high club is in the middle it can be directed toward either hand.  If the high club is sticking out on the side, then it's more difficult to throw it towards either hand.  My preferred grip for single-single-doubles is shown in Figure 1 below.  It's basically a circus grip and an inside-high-outside-over 2 club stack grip merged together.  Fig 2 shows a european grip and an inside-high-outside-under 2 club stack grip merged.  Fig 3 shows a circus grip with a third club wedged in-between.  The middle club should balance between your thumb and index finger.

Here are a few example Single-Single-Double configurations:
Fig 1.  This is my preferred grip for single-single-doubles
Fig 2.  Another popular grip for single-single-doubles	Fig 3.  This grip is difficult to collect, but it can be thrown as single-single-double or single-single-triple

The Throw: The throw for the first two grips are pretty much the same, and if you know how to throw the 2 club split and the 2 club stack, these should be cake.  The three clubs lock together very nicely with these grips.  It's really the collect that's the difficult part, although being able to throw consistent 3 club splits does take practice.  The third grip gives you a little more control over the high club.  Use your thumb and index finger to control the height and spin.  You should be able to throw the high club as a double or triple while keeping the other two clubs as singles.

The Collect*: In order to collect the first grip, you can either collect an inside-high-outside-over 2 club stack, and then catch the third club underneath (my preferred method), or you can collect an inside-low-outside-over 2 club stack, and then catch the third club on top.  For the second grip, you pretty much have to collect an inside-high-outside-under 2 club stack and then catch the third club on top.  The third grip I have no idea how to collect.  You're on your own on that one.

* Note: The collect is only important if you want to use the 3 club split in the middle of a pattern.  A lot of times the 3 club split is thrown as a "start," so the collect would not be important.