Lesson II: 07/02/2017 to 07/22/2017

[Russell Jones]

Thanks for the continued support and advice Ron.
It does make sense, I should maintain my vision forward. I seem to find it really hard at times to not look at what the whip is doing.
I'll do my best to correct that.
Thanks again

[Sven van Leeuwen]

I've been struggling with that too and at times it's still hard not to take a peek at what the whip's doing.

But it's good practice not to look at it, it does develop the feel for the whip.

Good session.

Sven

[Russell Jones]

Yeah I find it almost impossible not to look when doing the second half of the fast figure 8, and the reverse cattleman's crack.
It's like my mind is asking for visual reassurance that the whip is where it should be lol

Thanks Sven

[Russell Jones]

I managed to get a couple of videos today. All up I was practicing for about an hour hoping to chip away at improving the change hands crossover in particular.
Progress was not as much as I would have hoped but i'm managing to get little cracks more consistently with the 6th crack.
As I practice more on this i'm sure I will get better. I'll wait to post another video when there is more notable improvement.

With Dog: https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=YQM6rlCj1zw

Without: https://youtu.be/pcw-G_ZKHoE

[Russell Jones]

sorry With Dog : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQM6rlCj1zw

[Ron May]

Russel, it's looking better every time.
I appears that you do focus much better with out the dog.
Good job.

Ron

[Ben Varsek]

Russell, you are constantly improving - very good job!

About looking at the horizon during the second half of the fast figure 8: if you keep on focusing on looking at the horizon throughout your practice sessions it will become second nature to you in no time!

All the best
Ben

[Russell Jones]

Thanks guys, and cheers for reminding me about Horizon Focus Ben, I'll definitely make an effort to do that.
The reverse cattlemans felt kind of weird at first, and when learning something new I always feel the need to look for reassurance the whip is looking right. I know, it's a bad habit.
Now that i've more or less established a flow with average form I should have more confidence to implement some Horizon Focus.

[Russell Jones]

Hi people. The weather has turned to custard for the last couple of days so I've been busting out the stick of death and watching my videos trying to isolate where I need specific work (mainly for the crossover) can't wait for good weather again

[Russell Jones]

Hi all, yesterday I managed to get some practice in and really sink my teeth into the harder aspects of this exercise.
I've managed to do the reverse cattleman's while looking straight ahead, but it does indeed look very ugly. I will be spending more time polishing that one up. I cannot help but have a sneak peek while doing the fast figure 8 though.

As for the crossover I am hoping it is part of the transformation into achievement, or I may be overthinking it as I seem to be at this place where I nail it about 5-6 times in a row, then I seem to lose it and feels like I am back to square one trying to isolate that sweet spot again. This is definitely one of the most challenging yet frustrating aspects of this exercise for me. I won't be dissuaded though, I'm too pigheaded for that

I'm looking forward to tonight when I hope the weather will oblige me and I can practice again.

Have a great day everyone.

[Ron May]

Russel, I find the crossover, simple as it is on the surface, one of the more difficult cracks for me to crack consistently.
When I get back to cracking it will be one that I will focus on to get right.

It still sounds like you are making progress, and that's the goal and purpose of these challenges.

Ron

[Russell Jones]

Thank you Ron

I know it won't happen overnight but I will keep chipping away until I reach my goal of executing this combo properly

[Russell Jones]

I know I said I would wait for some decent improvement before I posted another video but it's been 7 days since I started this exercise so I thought I would post another video.
I was a bit rushed because I was getting nagged to stop annoying the neighbors and get inside for dinner
I tried to keep my head facing forward especially for the reverse cattleman's, I think I was beginning to get there by the end of the clip.
Thank god there is still 13 days left to try to improve. However I really like the flow and the way this exercise works on multiple things. I will be practicing it a lot even after the 20 days are up.

https://youtu.be/NgBd-n_K2MA

[Ron May]

Russel, that is looking better. I see good improvement.
Good job.

Ron

[Scott A. Cary]

Looking good, Russell!

[Ben Varsek]

Russell, your video shows great improvement - good job mate!

All the best
Ben

[Russell Jones]

Thanks for watching and commenting guys

[Russell Jones]

My shoulders were annoying me so I have taken a break from whip cracking in recent days as I think I over did it in conjunction with the physical nature of my work of late.

Maybe I should have stuck to one challenge at a time, but being a combo I wanted to work on as much as possible to get it as good as I can.

I'm starting to feel a bit more up for some sustained practice though and looking forward to shooting a final video (20 days) for this exercise before moving onto the next lesson and re-visiting some other techniques in the 10/10 Challenge.
However this exercise like I mentioned has felt like it's really benefitted my overall technique and opened my mind to a lot of things so I will be continuing to keep chipping away at it.

[Ron May]

I feel that it benefits me to do, or focus, on one crack or movement at a time then once I am comfortable with it to either move on to the next one, for singles, or combine the movement to the second or next part of the combination.

Overdoing it was my downfall, as it aggravated the repaired rotator cuff and it's taking a substantial time to heal or at least feel ok to continue.

Ron

[Russell Jones]

That must be really annoying, sorry to hear about that mate.

When starting something like this it quickly becomes very addictive for me and an additional battle of mind over crude matter comes into play. I'm always saying "One more try" half an hour later.... "Oh well i'll worry about the consequenses tomorrow" lol

I really hope that you heal up soon and are able to continue Ron