The 10/10 Challenge

[Tristan Foy]

Ben, I've never heard of plaiting over thin air. Like hollow core plaiting? What are the negative effects?

[Ron May]

Tristan this subject would be better served in a thread of it's own.
But it is worth discussion.

Ron

[Guest]

You can find a relatively new thread on the subject in "questions..."

[Tristan Foy]

Thanks! I'll seek it out there.

[Guest]

Yesterday night I brought my new 6 footer out and had a good 40 minutes of practice.
So I'm officially back in the game! Today I didn't have time though but I'll make up for it.

I focused mainly on the overhead crack but did some of the combo also.
Most of the time the whip hit my hand and/or the fall knotted every other time.
I think I'm lifting my hand too much to the point where my arm actually goes upwards instead of horizontally.
If I let my hand move slightly more downwards I have successful cracks. I used my own shadow as reference - this is where a mirror would come in handy. The new whip is still pretty stiff - and it's quite heavy - so my hand wore out and it was a real exercise!

Not a lot of process really, but it was definitely not a useless session. I ended it up in good terms with myself and I'll give it another go tomorrow!

[Ron May]

Erik I was either rubbing or hitting my wrist and or forearm on the horizontal crack (overhead crack) and I found if I just angled the heel knot down and the end of the handle up just a fraction it more or less stopped that and I was able to finish the crack with a intentional upward movement of my hand/arm to promote the thong stay on the horizontal plane in stead of dropping a little making it a diagonal circus crack. If you know what I mean.
I'll bet that new whip is a beauty.

Ron

[Ron May]

Today's practice I paid more attention to the off hand, and it's still super awkward.
It's going to get better, but it's going to take quite a while.
Smoother, slower, but paying attention to form, that's the ticket.

Ron

[Tristan Foy]

Erik, is this the whip you made? Also, remind me, in case you mentioned earlier in the thread: do you mostly make nylon or leather? And if both, which do you find it easier to practice with, if there's a difference?

I also used my shadow today. One of the benefits of being able to crack before dusk. I gave myself some good welts across the neck. I am making progress with my FC, but my form I think is still crummy.

But I did manage to make some with the first combo.

Ron, that's a good point about using your off-hand to force you to go slower. I think I'll try that.

[Guest]

Tristan, I have no experience on leather whips whatsoever - making or handling.
The whip I used is the last 6 footer I completed. You can check it out in "Whip's I've made" in the Whips section. It's the colorful one and there's actually photos and commentary of the whole build.

I suppose the general idea is that kangaroo whips are the nicest to handle, but I also believe a well made nylon whip can be better than a mediocre kangaroo whip.

Last time I was cracking I had a hoodie on - the hood with the protective glasses made me feel pretty safe going for the overhead!

That's a good point on the off-hand. I'm not going to start doing the overhead with the left before I got it solid with the right, but I could start doing the combo on the left!

Ron, I'll have to experiment to see what's really going on. I tried a few things also of what you described with different results. I think there's a couple of factors in play in my case: the timing, the handle angle and the plane I'm going.

[Tristan Foy]

I'm sure you're right about nylon being just fine. In this challenge, the only whips I have used are nylon. But that's partly why I was asking earlier about if the material would affect performance. My guess is, not really, not if they are made well, but I just didn't know.

I don't mean to side track the thread here, but since we are not all using whips from the same materials for this challenge, I feel like it is pertinent.

[Guest]

I don't think that's going off track too much! It's an interesting question to ask.

I was thinking of whip lengths affecting performance on certain cracks before.

[Ron May]

I too think it's valid to this thread bringing up the differences .
I do know that you are less limited in when and where you can practice with nylon.
For instance you don't have to worry about wet grass or rain/mud as much.
An un-waxed whip will soak up moisture where as a waxed one will not as much if any.
A leather whip is very limited when it comes to wet conditions.
The basics are all the same no matter what flavor of whip you use.
It's still style over power.

Ron

[Ben Varsek]

Tristan, here is the link to the "plaiting over thin air"/"plaiting without a core" thread:

viewtopic.php?id=5147



Ron, thank you for your tips on how to avoid hitting your own hand on the HC !!!


Erik, I share your opinion about the length of a whip having an influence on the performance for different cracks - for example: I find it more easy to do a HC with an 8 footer than with a 6 footer or even a shorter whip.


I've had a "handle only" practice on the last two days - my grandmother had serious problems with her heart condition and it had been too late for whipcracking by the time I've returned back home.
Today I'll be practicing with a whip again (I'm looking forward to that ) !!!

All the best
Ben

[Ron May]

It's nice that we have discussed this. I thank every one that has participated and shared this valuable information.
Now it's time to get back to the challenge.
Happy crackin' .

Ron

[Tristan Foy]

Thank you for the link, Ben. Hope your grandmother is doing better now.

[Tristan Foy]

Nothing really to report today. Pretty much a regular practice. I tried working with my off hand a bit but since I'm still gaining confidence with my right hand I focussed mainly on that.

I'm going to work on building my whip a little bit tonight.

I wish the best for everyone in their practice this week. :-)

[Ron May]

Today's practice was continuing to keep the speed down but still maintain the flow of the thong's curl or loop to achieve a quiet pop.

I think if one can do that then at a normal speed , being still even and not muscled, that the pop turns into a clean crack and a better form is also achieved.

It's coming along.

Ron

[Ron May]

Tristan, definitely practice will give you confidence .
I'm glad that you are sticking with it and not getting discouraged.

Ron

[Tristan Foy]

Thanks Ron,

I think tomorrow I will just keep things slow as well. I've been going at regular speed up till now. Tomorrow I am going to fine tune a bit.

[Guest]

Yesterday's session was quite fruitful although the horizontal crack is still giving me great trouble!

Ben, I was thinking an 8 footer would be comfortable on the overhead crack!

I had a small epiphany on when the crack happens on the HC. Observing my shadow I noticed I sped up to crack the whip and turns out it was quite unnecessary and the crack happens automatically a little bit later. The thong still tangles on my arm and knots most of the time but I managed to have some progress.

I did some of the combo too trying to do it slow and graceful and Rachel's whip is perfect for it!
I'm a little bit scared to use my off hand especially since I train in the dark (most of the day is dark here now) and can't see what's going on meaning if the whip is heading towards my face.

Practice, practice.