The 10/10 Challenge

[Morten Aalykke Pedersen]

Ups - sorry just realised i answered the first page - circus crak - not seeing that there is 32 pages of replies - guess i have a working book available for my practice now

[Tristan Foy]

Welcome, Morten!

Yes, my cracker likes to get tangled up as well. Usually with the thong, though. I still have not figured out a solution.

[Ron May]

Hey Morten glad to have you join the 10/10 practice challenge.
What crack are you practicing at the moment please?

The whole object of the challenge is to practice with commitment and improvement.
Every time you practice you improve. If not correctly then you will learn what not to do and work on that the next time, just like you did.

Again , welcome Morten!

Ron

[Bob Ouellette]

Here is my video from today: https://youtu.be/0Ag80n4xN4I

One thing this combination made me think about is how I hold the whip when I throw. I generally throw my whips with the belly. Meaning that when I holds the handle pointed up, the inside of the curve is towards me. I prefer this style as it creates a tighter loop from the beginning and generally results in a more direct roll out. In order to facilitate this throughout the combination, I start the underhand crack with my palm facing upward.

I've also demonstrated the roll I was trying to describe.

[Ron May]

Thank you Bob.
Nice smooth delivery and finish.
I especially liked the couple of times you really slowed it down to show the relationship of the curl with the loop formation.

Today's practice was concentrated on slowing down every thing , using just enough energy to complete the combination. It was fairly successful. I still want it to smooth out over all much more.

Ron

[Tristan Foy]

Your videos are some of my favorites, Bob because you are so calm. When I do my underhand crack, as I said in a recent post, I still feel like I'm forcing it.

I do wonder if maybe a little bit of the factor is the type of whip I'm using. I don't think it would be significant difference, but I've wondered from time to time.

[Bob Ouellette]

What are you using, Tristan?

Ron, I've found that you can reduce the energy enough to move the whip from front to back without tangles or having the end fall. If you skip to about the 2:00 mark in this video, https://youtu.be/ZbdQ1HjTQLc, you might be able to see it. It's kind of difficult since it's a dark whip set against trees.

[Guest]

Tristan, it can definitely be a factor. With my 14 plait single belly 6 footer it really takes effort to get a nice pop on UHC since it's so light. On Rachel's whip though it practically cracks itself if I just try a regular CC but CC is harder since it's a 9 footer. That's why a good beginner whip is 6-7 feet and relatively heavy to get the motions down first.

I haven't been practicing for a couple of day's. Just giving full attention to the gf and have been in 5 different towns since last weekend driving her around seeing different labs, physio's and doctors!

[Robert Gage]

Bob, I really like the video n post 644. (I can't access the one in post 647.) As Tristan says, you're very calm - although you seem to wiggle your body a little after each crack, as if untangling yourself! My problem is the reverse: in trying to be calm, I become wooden. (When I was last in Munich, Robby pointed out just how wooden. I was quite startled to realise this.)

[Ron May]

Bob, for some reason, I too can't access you video in post #647.

Ron

[Ron May]

Bob, I think if you take the comma out at the end of the URL for the video it will work.

Ron

[Ron May]

Here's Bob's video in post #647.
Nice job in demonstrating the slower curl and loop.
Thank you for making it.

https://youtu.be/ZbdQ1HjTQLc

Ron

[Bob Ouellette]

Thanks, Ron. It would be nice to have an edit feature for that purpose.

[Ben Varsek]

Ron, congratulations on your success !!!


Welcome to the 10/10 challenge Morten !!!


Bob, thank you for sharing these great videos !!!


Erik, my best get well wishes to your gf !!!


It feels like I'm making a little progress on my UC/CC combo practice:
On todays practice I've been doing about 80% of the cracks with my off hand and it was definetly worth it for me in terms of progress (I haven't been practicing my off hand enough on this first 10/10 combo yet) !!!
I'm already looking forward to tomorrows practice and I hope that I'll get one of my friends to film my practice on this weekend !!!

All the best
Ben

[Ron May]

Ben, I'm so glad that you are making progress and that you feel that you are.
I think so often when we practice that we just don't feel the progress and start to get discouraged. It brings to reality that every practice when care is taken to try to do it correctly improves our skill and progress is being made even when you don't see it.
It teaches us what we are doing right and what to work on in the next practice session.
Excellent Ben.

Ron

[Tristan Foy]

Bob, yes, I really actually find the lack of edit feature to be a bit annoying. I understand it's meant for transparency, but I don't have to like it, either. So, one sympathizes!

I am using a six-foot 16 strand nylon whip, shotloaded but partly with a rope core, I guess. I'm not sure how the whipmaker managed that. It's a heavier whip I think but I don't really have anything to compare it to other than the whip I made, which feels like a feather now.

I eventually want to get a 10' Del Carpio Raiders and a 10' Nolan Indiana Jones whip, although I'm not sure I'm ready for a 10'er yet. I know that I cannot even come close to affording it at this point, but it's a goal of mine.

So I really don't know. I want to try some other whips just to compare.

My practice went well today. But whenever I do the UC I tense up still, like my body is building up some potential energy...which it probably is. :-)

Ben, great that you are also using your offhand. I have only dabbled with that, but still feel like I need to get better with my dominant hand first.

[Robert Gage]

Bob and Tristan, the lack of an edit feature is actually quite important. For a little while, there was such a thing; but then there was a very unpleasant controversy, in the course of which the person who caused this kept altering what they said they'd posted earlier. It all became impossible. Of course, it would be convenient to have this feature - I agree; but on balance I'm sure Robby was right to remove it. Its absence obviates any possibility for that kind of dishonesty.

Tristan, you might consider a good 8-footer before the 10-footer. Slightly more affordable, and a whole lot more manageable. I used to be wedded to long whips - 9- to 12-footers - but I've come over the years to find I can do fun things with an 8-footer which become difficult, or even impossible, with anything longer. I still love my 10-foot Morgan, but frankly use it a lot less than some others these days.

[Ron May]

Yesterday's practice was just a whole lot of fun.
I was seeing how slow I could go and get either a crack or subsonic poof.
It was a chuckle moment when it would roll out and hear that little crack.
I could not help myself when that happened.
I was inspired by Bob's video and wanted to stretch the limits or velocity or rather the lack of it. It was such a fun experiment and I highly recommend it.
It helps to nail down the movement into it's refined form which is, I believe, we all are striving for.

I had heard this before multiple times by Robby, Mr. Robert, David, and a host of others.
It's proof that finesse over muscle is the proper technique to inspire and achieve.
It's way more impressive that way.

Ron

[Ben Varsek]

Thank you very much Ron !!!

It also happens to me quiet often that I don't feel that I'm progressing despite the practice on a daily basis but in this case the progression has been clearly fealt by me
One reason for that is that I have been realy, realy bad with my off hand on this combo since I haven't payed enough attention to practice this combo with my off hand. This only prooves that parctice on a daily basis is the key to success (with both, the dominant and the off hand) !!!


Tristan, congratulations on your UC progress !!!
A heavy 6 footer sounds like a great choice for learning new cracks to me - if you're using both whips during your practice (the heavy 6 footer and the lighter whip which you've made) I would recommed to start your practice with the lighter whip first. Robby told me that when you are using different whips on your practice it's better to start with the lightest whip in the beginning and then "move up" in terms of weight - it leads to better results than the other way around (going from heavy to lightweighted) !!!
I'm wishing you lots of fun by choosing your next whip to buy !!!
On the 2016 meet&greet Robby and us were talking about plaiting hollow (or "plaiting on thin air") and the first name that was mentioned by Robby on this topic was Bernardo Del Carpio.
I don't want to talk you out of your purchase decision, I just wanted to let you know that Robby told me that he wasn't happy with the whip he recieved from Mr. Del Carpio after he had used it a little (after a little use the negative effects of a "plaiting over thin air" always starts to "kick in").
A Del Carpio 10 foot Raiders bullwhip costs 940 us $ (including shipping within the U.S.) - I've just posted this information about the "thin air plait" to point out that it would be sad if you payed that much money for a whip and then regret your purchase after a couple of cracks because of this issue !!!
I totaly agree with Robert - 10 footers are a lot "less forgiving" than a 8 footer in terms of "doing the form right" in my opinion - thank you vey much for pointing this out Robert !!!


I am about to log out and do todays 10/10 practice and I hope that my off hand progress from yesterday can still be fealt by me on todays practice !!!

All the best
Ben

[Bob Ouellette]

I'm glad you were inspired to try some slow, soft cracks. I took my 10 footer out today and was having some fun with it. My left wrist is to weak to do much in the way of whip work. It's something I want to keep working on.