Whip Basics. The Forum

Hi all, I managed to get some practice in this morning before leaving to visit family for the day. Unfortunately, I don't have video.

Ron, your final day of the combo looks good! You could trim the tree or move over a bit

I finally, after two days of not practicing, got a longer session in today. I worked on all of our cracks so far and am finding my stride again with the CC, getting nice loud reports with absolutely minimal effort.

I had some real challenges with second combination, the CC and the RHC. I thought it would be quite easy to combine them, as they are two cracks I feel fairly comfortable with now. But something is getting lost in the translation.

Alright, I'll be moving on too and I'll keep practicing the horizontal one every now and then : )

Tristan Foy wrote: I worked on all of our cracks so far and am finding my stride again with the CC, getting nice loud reports with absolutely minimal effort.

I've posted this photo before, but do so again now. It was taken five or six years ago. My form is not at all good here, but this is a candid snapshot by a friend which, I think, shows the 'minimal effort' style pretty well. That's my 10-foot David Morgan.

Mr. Robert, that shows it very nicely.
Stellar photo by the way.
Thank you for illustrating this for us.

In the second video for this compo I used both whips and with the shorter one at the beginning, I tried to show the same thing. As minimal as possible. Then I switch to the longer heavier whip and try to do the same.

Ron

Here's day #1 for combo #2 the circus and opposite horizontal cracks.
During practice there several almost "poofs" and I slowed it down some and had some success doing that.
I still need to pause longer between throws.

https://youtu.be/__wpq580VRs

Ron

Ron, that looks wonderfully calm and controlled! Well done, sir!

Thank you Mr. Robert.
This challenge is really working. Thank you Jessie for starting this exercise.
I have a ways yet to go but my progress is steady.
Thank you for your observation and participating.

Ron

Ron, I agree, you look like it is nothing at all.

I also have been combining the first two combos into just three cracks. For some reason I find that easier than breaking them into two apiece.

Robert, that is a great photo! Thank you for sharing. I can't tell what is wrong with your form. I think you will see that I still tense up when I do my throws.

Here are my videos from today. I had a wonderful practice session! I am actually getting the hang of the FC now. I have found, like with many things in life, the secret has been in relaxing and being calm, rather than not forcing and railroading things. You'll notice in my FC video that there is an acute lack of whip bites, which is a win for me. I actually had a better cracking session with it when the camera wasn't rolling, making consistent cracks, but at one point I did hit myself. I still need to slow down, of course. It's hard for me to know when the whip has been "floating" behind me long enough. But I am getting much, much more comfortable with it.

My form still leaves something to be desired, but even that I think is improving.

On my UC, the whip still likes to hit me in the back of the leg when I bring it up. I guess this is because it's at an angle behind me, but as silly as it sounds, I have a hard time getting it to lay straight behind me, especially if I am doing a few cracks in a row.

A question about my overhead cracks: Are those actually overhead cracks, because try as I might, I canNOT figure out how to make the loop lie flat instead of roll off vertically, as you see in the videos.

Again, sorry for the quality. I was out there earlier today, but it was rainy, so the light is still poor.

Combo 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxpERCQXKC8

Overhead Crack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW9A7Enh6iU

Forward Crack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCWAHvzBS6c

Tristan Foy wrote: I still need to slow down, of course.

Genau! Tristan, here's a tip Robby once gave me: when you're tensing up, just think about something else while actually doing the crack! It sounds absurd, but it can help a lot!

Huh, I hadn't thought of that. I'll give that a whirl for my next session.

Mr. Robert's right Tristan. Let your mind wander a bit.
Slowing down was a big problem for me a well.

I believe if you loosen your grip a little and start out in slow motion, then slowly, progressively increase speed until you get the subsonic "poof", the results will surprise you. It surprised me when I let the whip do it's job.

Pause for a count of 5 between throws.

I see good improvement and that's the name of the game.
Have patience with the crack and patience with the results as well.

Ron

Robert, thank you very much for sharing the picture in post #704 (it illustrates effortless cracking very well) and thank you for your advice on loosening up tensions !!!


Ron, the first day of your practice looks fantastic - congratulations !!!
There is nothing I could add to your video in terms of constructive criticism - great job !!!


Tristan, congratulations on your improvement !!!


I've had a better start with combo #2 yesterday compared to my first day of combo #1. On the beginning of yesterdays practice I've done the combo as slow as possible without focusing on the crack itself. After one or two "too slow movements" (I've done the upwards movement of the CC too slow to keep the thong extended) I started adding speed little by little while still focusing on the form and not the crack. I still have a long, long way to go to but the slow motion practice is helping me a lot to get the form right.
Todays practice fealt even a little better. I've started slow again and the entire combo fealt a little more "natural" for me than it did yesterday

Since I haven't uploaded a video to this thread for a long time I thought it was about time to build a "bicycle compatible tripod" for my videocamera. I'll try it out on tomorrows practice.

All the best
Ben

Here's my entry on combo #2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_3JkYD ... e=youtu.be

For me the combo isn't any harder than the sidearm crack by itself which is still a working progress.

Unfortunately - as you might see in the video - it started snowing (more) and I couldn't film anything else.
So, from now on I can't really promise to video anything since it's getting cold and all kinds of stuff fall from the sky - I don't want to damage my equipment. Unless of course I can get to somewhere inside - I will if I can and I'll still keep cracking though!

Tristan, on your forward crack I'd advise to give a bit of a longer pause when the whip is behind you!
On the overhead crack you do the same as I did: achieve the crack with a turn of the wrist - which is not what we're actually going for. If you observe the more skilled ones, the crack should be more to do with the forearm. Also while doing that with the wrist we both turn and dodge the whip a little bit with the upper body which is also bad form.

Erik that's looking better and better.
Nice and slow and smooth.
As far as videos, it's totally understandable that some days it just isn't possible to
do with the weather not cooperating.

Do you find that the whip is affected adversely by the cold ?

Good job.

Tristan I believe Erik's right about the overhead.

The crack should be more to do with the forearm. I also believe you are bringing the whip to the front more than to your right side. Try to finish the throw to your right at about head high in stead of to the front.

The concentration should be more on combo 2 the circus crack combined with the horizontal (sidearm) crack. That would help keep every one working together on the same page.

Keep it up whipsters.

Ron

I'm about to leave for todays practice on which I'll try out my "bicycle friendly tripod".

Erik, your combo looks really good to me - good job !!!
I've noticed that you are bringing the handle to the 10 o'clock or 9 o'clock position on the CC. Your sidearm crack looks very good - congratulations !!!

All the best
Ben

Tristan here's what I was talking about when it comes to the overhead.

https://youtu.be/BVOsRl2dkFg

Ron

Ron, that's splendidly clear! Thanks!

Thanks Ben for the pointer! I hadn't really noticed.
I'll see how correcting it affects the crack.

Thanks, Ron! You've asked it before and I've forgotten to answer: I don't notice the cold affecting the whips in any way at all! I'd guess heat would affect more than cold on waxed nylon whips. Thanks for the video too, that's exactly what I was talking about.

Thank you Mr. Robert for the picture, it's a really good one!

Thanks, Ron and Erik.

Interesting because I had the impression the cracks should be done with more wrist-action rather than arm-action.

Despite my videos I am focusing on the current combo.