The Coachman's crack 2/4/17 to 2/13/17

[Matt Henderson]

Morning all, I'll put up a video of my practice today . Looking good, Ben.

[Ron May]

I found the coachman's crack to be not that easy.
I finally was able to get it sort of on track. The key to me was to be very patient and wait until the loop was fully formed before completing the throw to the crack.
It's not straight up and down but it's a start.

It' was a fairly foggy day. I love fog when I don't have to go anywhere.
https://youtu.be/GGheEdEcBTk

Ron

[Robert Gage]

Ron, that's wonderfully relaxed - and it suggests to me why I've never managed to do this crack. I've never quite had the courage to wait as long as you do, after the initial swing, before throwing the whip up for the crack. I must have another try!

But do you really call that slight bit of mist 'fog'? Here, I know it's foggy when I wake up in the morning and hear the mournful wailing of the fog horns at the beach. At its worst, visibility goes down to about thirty or forty feet, beyond which one can see nothing! It's hard to imagine how much worse it was when fog like that was thick with coal smoke!

[Ron May]

Mr. Robert, the little "pumping motion" helped too but waiting for the end of the cracker to fully form the loop before throwing it upward was key to my partial success. Over all I am happy, but not content, with this first practice, while looking forward to improving it more.

Yes, it's fog for here. I have only seen the type of fog you speak of once in my life while driving. Even though it was daylight and I know that factually the land was flat, it still felt like I was driving uphill. It was very disconcerting. Visibility was maybe 10 feet beyond the hood (bonnet) of the car.

Ron

[Robert Gage]

Ron, fog causes fatal accidents of British roads. Some people drive as fast as usual in fog - or even faster. They simply can't see what's ahead. They don't have time to stop when they find a stationary lorry in front of them. Squish!

[Matt Henderson]

Here's my practice folks, although you might need to sit a little awkwardly. To be honest, this came easier than I thought. I just need to relax a bit more when pushing outwards.

https://youtu.be/Y0xOjQ33YWY

[Robert Gage]

Matt, because the video is upside down it's hard to tell exactly, but I suspect you'd do well to imitate Ron's little 'pause' before the upward 'pump'. I've always thought this crack needs to be super-relaxed.

Here's a still from the old (1960s?) television series 'Whiplash' showing Peter Graves doing this crack.

[Ron May]

Matt, my head hurts from standing on it.

From what I could tell, from watching it upside down, you are doing more of a circus crack than a coachman's.
Several of the throws were out in front of you instead of upwards.
I would also suggest to pause in between throws to slow your pace down.... a lot.

This crack, from what I can see in Robby's video is a much slower crack to perform.
Waiting for the loop to develop by your side and then throwing it upward to get the crack.

Thanks for making this video for us and I look forward to seeing your improvement.
Good job except for the video being upside down.

Ron

[Matt Henderson]

Duly noted folks, thanks for the tips

[Robby Amper]

Matt - slow down, okay? And learn how to put your camera right...

Ben - very good. Slow down a bit and you're good to go.
Ron - perfect! Nothing else I could say. You are doing very good on that!

Robby

[Ron May]

Thank you Robby.

Ron

[Matt Henderson]

Okay Robby, I'm suitably chastised :P. I'll slow down and figure out my camera for next time.

[Ron May]

Today's practice was about the same but the timing was a little more
consistent. I believe timing has a lot to do with any and every crack.

Ron

[Robert Gage]

I believe timing has a lot to do with any and every crack.

Ron, I firmly believe it's all about timing, rather than force! Always!

[Morten Aalykke Pedersen]

Nice video - tried to turn the computer upside down, did not work - next time i will turn the screen.

Its funny to hear that the echo is almost louder than the crack

[Matt Henderson]

Cheers Morten, there's a sports centre right on the other side of the fence that the cracks always bounce off.

[Ron May]

Today's practice was a step back day for me.
I was being too impatient waiting for the thong to curl up before throwing / flicking
it upward.
Toward the end I caught that mistake and ended on a more positive note.

Ron

[Matt Henderson]

Today's practice for me was the opposite, Ron. I took slowing down a bit too far and waited too long for it to loop.

[Robert Gage]

Matt, like you, I'm so aware to the need to slow down that I tend to slow down too much - and the whip just collapses!

[Matt Henderson]

Best not to do that with an overhead crack :P. It's all about finding the balance between speed, power, and form.