10 Cracks In A Row. 2/25 to 3/6 2017

[Russell Jones]

Thank you Ron,

The weather looks a bit ominous here as well today. But I will risk another practice

All the best with your practice session mate.

[Ben Varsek]

Great job on your practice Russell - the improvement is very evident on your videos - thank you for sharing !!!
I'm very amazed how quick you've improved on this combo - especialy on the forward coachmans (I'm still struggeling with that one a lot).


Ron, I hope that the weather condidtions will be more whipcracking friendly soon !!!


Todays practice has probably been my best practice on the 10 crack combo so far since I've managed to do the entire combo very slow (without focusing on the crack but on the technique) and the whip cracked on every technique.
There is still lots of room for improvement and doing this combo fealt like a "lucky run" but it was very uplifting to have that sense of achivement

All the best
Ben

[Russell Jones]

Thank you very much Ben
Your enthusiasm and optimism is quite infectious

I was looking at your 'coachmans' clip in that section and was impressed with your effort. In fact it looked very clean and well executed.

As your whip looks shorter than mine, maybe the action required is different but I notice you push through with your arm rather than bring the whip down as I do.

In my case I viewed both Robby's and Adam Winrich's clips to learn this crack and tried to adapt both techniques.

Yet again I tried to break the crack down into two motions. I spent about an hour just learning the part how to form the loop.
Once I was fairly comfortable with that I simply tried bringing my arm downwards straight out in front of me after forming the loop.
This helped to get a rough idea of the action.
All the best to you too pal. Best of luck with your practice

[Russell Jones]

Congratulations too Ben on getting a crack on every technique It is a very uplifting feeling getting that sense of achievement, just like you say!

[Johnny Pell]

Great work fellas sounds like y'all have been keeping a bind on it. I have basically been doing the same as you guys practicing each crack separately and then together. It's coming along but not as quickly as I would like. separately has been fine but together can't seem to get it's shit together. I am putting in a lot time though. I keep thinking Baby Steps.

[Ben Varsek]

Thank you very much for your advise Russell, I'll try to aviod pushing through with my arm on todays coachmans practice !!!


Johnny, baby steps are the key to success for getting the hang of this combo in my opinion.
Congratulations on your progress (my progression is also not as fast as I would preffer but even a small progression is a progression and therfore one more step towards the goal of mastering this combo) !!!


All the best
Ben

[Russell Jones]

Oh Ben, I am sorry about this, when I was talking about pushing through with your arm I wasn't intending to say that your technique is incorrect, I was just observing the differences in each others technique.

The formation of the loop feels like the key to this crack. Other than that the timing of the extension of your arm.
Cheers bud I hope you are having a good weekend

[Russell Jones]

Hi Johnny,
I'm sure you will get there mate. It does take a bit of practice to establish flow.
I'm not sure if this has been done already in the challenge but Robby's 4 crack combo from the first whip basics DVD is definitely a good place to start

[Johnny Pell]

I will see if I can find it. Thanks for the advice.

[Russell Jones]

Johnny, I have had a quick look myself but seem unable to find it on youtube, maybe you might have more luck though.

Basically the combo is:

Underhand Crack to

Circus Crack to

Opposite Horizontal Crack to

Horizontal Crack.

My belief is that once you feel comfortable performing each individual crack, moving onto this combination introduces you to establishing a flow with a whip quite nicely. It's a good foundation for more complex routines.

If you haven't done so already, I do highly recommend looking into purchasing Robby's Whip Basics DVD's.
At first I was skeptical, but in hindsight it is one of the best decisions I have made to buy them.

[Ron May]

Russel, no need to look any further than here at WB.
All of them can be found here.
viewtopic.php?id=5463

Ron

[Russell Jones]

Thanks for posting that Ron,

The Vol I shorts have all the ingredients to learn the four crack routine. I did notice that the four crack routine was not included in the short so I did not post it, but it's still definitely worth a study

[Ben Varsek]

You don't need to apologize for giving me a tip Russell
My technique is far away from beeing correct on the forward coachmans crack and I'm very thankful for your observations and for your advise !!!
Thank you - I hope you've had a good weekend too !!!


All the best
Ben

[Johnny Pell]

Thanks Guys . I only got in about ten min of practice in today. I have been wanting to buy the whole collection for some time now. I actually mentioned it to my wife again yesterday. I know that it would be very beneficial, to myself and the rest of my family.

[Ron May]

Johnny, 10 min. that's part of the name of this challenge.
That's all it takes to improve.

Ron

[Ron May]

Today's practice was definitely a two steps back day.
The second part of the cross over has disappeared. So now my focus has changed once again to that part of the sequence.

Ron

[Russell Jones]

I seem to be having a similar problem Ron.
Whatever focus I put into one crack, seems to be at the expense of the proficiency of the other. Have to rinse and repeat a bit.

I feel I have somewhat hit a short term plateau, but know with more practice I can achieve much more.

One aspect of this challenge has been having to in some ways go back to ground zero with some cracks I took for granted.
The frustration of this has been tempered with renewed enthusiasm and awareness.
It is an ongoing and enjoyable journey but for me I am far from being satisfied. I'm going to post a video clip in the next few days and call it a day on the 10 crack combination I think.

[Robert Gage]

Russell - and Ron - if it's any consolation, Robby has told me he goes back to 'ground zero' all the time! I certainly do, too!

[Russell Jones]

It is actually a consolation, thank you Robert Very humbling too.

There is no doubt that going back to ground zero feels to be the best way to re-evaluate and improve techniques for me personally.

I think if the timeframe was 10 weeks instead of 10 days though I would be in a better place

[Ben Varsek]

Ron, Russell, I've also taken two or three steps back during my last practice sessions - especialy compared to that "lucky run" success.
Nevertheless "step back days" are normal when it comes to whipcracking (at least for me ) and I strongly belive that even a "step back practice day" will result in progress on the practice sessions to come.

Thank you very much for your advise Robert !!!


Todays practice has been fun. The weather in my area today has been great and I couldn't resist practicing a little longer than usual. I wasn't able to come close to that lucky run day but I've made some progress on the forward coachmans.


All the best
Ben