Erick Hernández Breaks World Ball Juggling Record with 11,942 Touches in One Hour

May 11, 2026

Cuban former footballer Erick Hernández Sánchez, known as "El Dominador" (The Dominator), set a new world record in ball juggling on May 9, 2026, tallying 11,942 touches in one hour using his feet, thighs, and head, in a feat accomplished at the Hotel Meliá Copacabana in Havana.

With this achievement, the Havana-born record-breaker surpassed the previous world record held by Mexico's Abraham Muñoz, who had registered 11,901 touches in July 2017. The attempt was certified by official judges before an audience gathered at the seaside resort on Havana's waterfront.

Throughout the hour-long attempt, Hernández maintained a rate of more than three touches per second — a cadence that challenges human perception and demands extraordinary physical coordination and mental focus sustained without interruption over the full sixty minutes.

This was not Hernández's only milestone in 2026. On March 28, he set another personal record, juggling the ball using only his head while seated on the floor with 1.5-kilogram weights strapped to each ankle, for one hour, 24 minutes, and 33 seconds. That record is currently awaiting official recognition by Guinness World Records.

Hernández's history with Guinness stretches back nearly two decades. In 2005, the Guinness Book of Records recognized him for the first time after he recorded 319 head touches in one minute. He returned to the record books in 2020 with 188 head touches in 30 seconds, edging out his own 2011 record by a single touch. He also holds the mark for 351 head touches in one minute, surpassing the previous standard of 341 set by China's Gao Chong; and in 2009 demonstrated remarkable endurance by keeping the ball airborne with his thighs for one hour and 28 minutes.

Born in Havana in 1966, Hernández played football before turning to ball juggling as his discipline. He began specializing in 1994, following the example of his brother Douglas Hernández, the pioneer of this specialty in Cuba. Since then, he has exhibited mastery using virtually every part of the body — thighs, knees, feet, and head — in various positions, and even while running 100-meter sprints and full marathons.

With a career tally of more than 30 world records, many certified by Guinness, Erick Hernández at 59 years old remains one of the most singular and admired figures in Cuban sport — and shows no signs of slowing down.