10/10 Challenge the Circus Crack March 1st to March 10th 2020

[Ron May]

Wolfgang, both sides are looking pretty good.
Great video. That whip flows very well.

Ron

[Robert Gage]

Yes, the whip flows very well indeed! Johnny Öhgren is clearly an excellent maker.

[Ron May]

I didn't post yesterday, but the thing I was trying to do was to crack the whip in different points on the clock face. Like 1:00, 3:00, 4:00, and repeat again.

It didn't work out so well, so I'm going back to just plain circus crack.

Ron

[Wolfgang Timm]

Ron - and I forgot to post that I was curious with what you were to come up with!
But the idea is certainly good and a useful practice - give the crack a direction...

[Wolfgang Timm]

I want to pick up from the roll call thread here, as this is the place to discuss and collect the information

I had to go change whip from lightweight 7 ft. to heavy medium weight 6 ft. The wind was changning the direction of the 7 ft. whip during the roll-out.

My left hand su... I know what I want to do. I can do it with my right hand without any problems - and it just don't happend !!!!

A video would be helpful, but how about this experiment in order to test if the problem comes from elbow/shoulder or is it really the HAND/wrist?
Keep your wrist totally stiff, think about karate - cracking a wood board with your hand edge. Modify the crack slightly, make it an incomplete coachman’s crack. Really pronounced swing upwards wait a little longer than for a normal circus crack, bring it down and DON‘T do the downward snap with the wrist at the last part of the motion.
Does this work or at least does the whip form a loop in a correct plane to your left?
If yes, than the problem is most likely in your hand...if not than elbow and shoulder also don’t do as they are supposed to.
Just a suggestion...

[Ron May]

Mr. Robert, alas, I missed today.
I'll probably miss tomorrow too. It's not easy but I think the goal is to try and even if you don't succeed, it gets us to practice more than we might normally practice.
So, it's a win win.

Ron

[Wolfgang Timm]

Today I found a position to make slo-videos indoor by myself with a certain smartphone position - it’s more difficult because the front camera doesn’t allow slo-mo, but the flow of the 3 ft is still so fast that it’s hardly visible. But I noticed/remembered a systematic error with the left arm/hand in that the loop-plane is much closer to my elbow and touches the arm during the roll-out more often than with the right arm where this hardly ever happens. From the 12 cracks in this video (the 7th didn’t work at all) I felt the thong or fall slightly touching my arm every single time. I don’t know the exact reason, but will focus on that in the future.
And I also tried a variation of the crack position as suggested by Ron: One more upwards, one more vertical.
This is probably one reason for not getting into a working groove and having difficulties with the whip touching my arm as I have to readjust for every crack.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=coJRLYyGJ ... e=youtu.be

[Mark Elliott]

I haven't posted in the last two days but I have been practicing my left-handed Cattleman's Crack faithfully and it is becoming much more natural feeling to me, moving my body and hand to counterweight the crack is still not great, but I am improving, or so it feels to me. I shall make a video tomorrow on the 10th day and see what everyone else thinks.

[Julia De Jong]

I've only been practicing my right hand the last days, but I might want to try my left hand today. So far I've only used my right hand when whipcracking, apart from a handful of halfhearted tries, just for the fun of it. So wish me luck, I'll do my best not to hit myself in the face.

Mark, it's good to hear that is does become natural after a while. In the beginning it just feels so alien!

[Ron May]

Good luck with your left hand Julia.
The more we do something the less awkward is becomes.

Ron

[Julia De Jong]

If I have to describe my left handed endeavour, it would be: clumsy. I noticed I tensed up when trying, probably overthinking it as well.

We still have a day left for the cattleman's crack, right? Let's see what tonights attempt will be like.

[Flemming Bo Christiansen]

Hello

Sorry that I have not uploaded a video of this challenge yet. The case is, that it looks like sh.. , and I know. My problem wast to control the plane (as usual) therefore I went a little further and started working on the plane, while doing a four crack vertical routine, that Robby taught us at the M&G 2018 and which I enjoy to do. I can relax my brain. Enjoy the Skye and the bird, that are singing and just let the body work .

It is out of scope, but I had to do something - sorry Ron

https://youtu.be/BEGITHfjrkI


https://youtu.be/2ZTQZ0cd4a0

Please remenber, that this is with my left hand ( I am right - handed)

[Robert Gage]

Flemming, considering you're right-handed, and have problems with your shoulder, I don't think that's as bad as you seem to think!

And you've got the secret: enjoyment is the key to success!

[Flemming Bo Christiansen]

Robert. Enjoyment

[Robert Gage]

Robert. Enjoyment

Always!

[Ron May]

Flemming, any cracking is good.

I might suggest to not let the whip get slack behind you.
A little more whip speed does not mean you are overpowering it.
Just let it flow.

Like Mr. Robert said, for your left hand with shoulder problems it's not as bad as you might think.
Good job.

Ron

[Flemming Bo Christiansen]

Thank you friends. I will power it up a little. This stockwhip is a typical woriking whip. Simple and plain, but lightweighted and it can crack , so I think you are right to give it a little more power

[Wolfgang Timm]

Flemming, do you absolutely want to do it with a stockwhip? Left hand is already a challenge and I assume you get more feeling where the crucial points are when you use e.g. the Jessie practice whip. Heavy, slow, great weight distribution, ideal length. And the transition gives a clear indication of where the plane is.

[Flemming Bo Christiansen]

I don't have the 6 footer from Jessie at home. I lent it to a guy whom I hope will be interested in long whips.

I might try the 5 footer tomorrow. Thanks