The forward (flick) crack from 1/15/17 to 1/24/17

[Ron May]

The cross over is next in Vol. II but we need to cover the forward crack, also known as the forward flick first. It's the first part of the cross over.
In 10 days, after this crack is completed, we will combine it with the second part of the cross over crack.
Here's a good video by Daren Wilkerson of the forward crack / flick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSda5qJbBW4

Have a good practice and happy crackin'!



Ron

[Bob Ouellette]

I'm going to see if I can't get a video of myself tomorrow on the first day of this one. Weather has conspired against me and it's been a while since I've whipped it out :p

[Ron May]

Thanks Bob.
I look forward to seeing it.

Ron

[Matt Henderson]

I'm in early on this one. Stockwhip got wet so it was a bit ornery, and I'm still a bit useless at getting a wide enough field of view from my camera.
https://youtu.be/KwrJQ45iamE

[Robert Gage]

Thanks very much for this, Matt! You're right: a wider field of view would help us see exactly what you're doing. Perhaps if you just stood farther away from the camera....

I think your form is already better than in the last videos you posted, but there's somehow still a lot of superfluous movement. Try to minimize everything - which might mean slowing down a bit: not so much the cracks themselves, but the time between cracks. And I see from the 'head on' shots that your handle sometimes wobbles from side to side. Try to keep the handle, as well as your hand, in a single (vertical) plane. You should find this takes less effort, which in turn should mean you can minimize the extraneous movements. (I find it helps to think of Zen contemplation.) But I think this shows a real advance on recent days.

[Ron May]

Matt, thank you for sharing your video with us.
A couple of words, slow down and pause in between cracks.
That will allow you to focus on the form. Don't forget to follow through on the forward crack.
All in all, not too shabby.
Good job

[Matt Henderson]

Thank you Robert, I'm very happy to hear you say that I've improved . Your tip about holding the heel knot really paid off.

The camera issue is mostly because I prop it up against something then misjudge where it's actually pointing when I take a position. Might enlist someone else's help just to make sure, next time.

As regards the extra movement, I think it might be the whip to be honest: I don't like to blame my tools as a rule, but I've noticed that I manage much more smoothly and straight with a bullwhip. My guess is that since my stockwhip's so nose heavy, and the extra movement afforded by the keepers, it likes to wobble about more. When I use the 8ft bullwhip my handle stays better aligned and cracks tend to be easier.

It's probably just me being a new cracker though :P. Thanks again for your help and advice Robert.

[Matt Henderson]

Thank you Ron, any praise from forum members is high praise . Looking back on it I see what you mean about following through, shall work on that.

[Ben Varsek]

Ron, thank you very much for sharing the link to Daren Wilkerson's video !!!

Matt, thank you very much for sharing your video and congratulations on your improvement !!!


I'm used to combining both crossover cracks into one motion so it fealt a little "unfamiliar" to divide this technique into two spereate parts on todays practice and I have therfore only practiced with my doinant hand so far. Dividing this technique into two makes a lot of sense thouh since a practitioner can focus on one crack at a time.
Tomorrow I'll carefully try this technique with my off hand (it will be interseting ).

All the best
Ben

[Ron May]

Ben, practice with what you feel comfortable with.
Since we have not covered the forward crack yet I thought it better to master that one first seeing that it's the first part of the cross over crack. I'm not sure if the second part of the cross over can be practiced alone because it needs the momentum of the diagonal forward crack to position the thong for the reverse diagonal crack.
Practicing the diagonal forward crack might be worked in along with the straight forward crack if one needed to.
At least that's the plan for me.

The practice today is possible because of a stall in the rain.
The grass is really wet so the un-waxed whip got heavier as I progressed and the wet cracker kept getting tangled up with the fall. But it's progressing.
If it dries out a little more I will try to get a video of my first throws to have a comparison for the last day of this challenge.

Ron

[Ron May]

Here's the video for day 1 for comparison on Day 10.
It was a lot of fun because of the wind.

https://youtu.be/FBWCm5eT49E

Ron

[Ron May]

Today's practice, it seems, that my diagonal is too horizontal.

I am trying to come over the top more on the diagonal and finish more on my left side.
When I combine the second part it wants to crack more towards the right side of my body in stead of in front.

More like a diagonal "horizontal overhead" crack.
Maybe that's what it supposed to be, yes?

Ron

[Ron May]

Yesterday's and today's practice was mostly spent on getting a good result to replicate more than one time in a row.
I think it's getting better.

Ron

[Ben Varsek]

Ron, my compliments to your relaxed and effortless whipcracking !!!

One thing that might help you to get the whip to crack in front of you on the second part of the crossover crack is to pay attention to the "hight"of your hand: when you do the first part of this technique in your video, your hand is a little lower than your shoulder but on the second part of this technique your hand is almost above your eye level.

I'm also struggeling with the "hight" of my hand (the 10/10 horizontal crack practice seems to have payed off in terms of muscle memory ) and with many, many more things I need to improve on.

My practice during the last couple of days has been fun despite the cold weather. Taking realy long breaks in between the cracks (1-2 minutes for my hands to wam up again) seems to have a very postive effect on my whipcracking progess

All the best
Ben

[Tristan Foy]

Ron, it's interesting you think wind is fun to crack in. I don't think wind is fun to do anything in. My last session I considered going home because it was windy, but it turned out to be no real big factor was I got into the swing of things, no pun intended.

[Ron May]

Tristan, I was being sarcastic. It was no fun at all.
Today is the last day of the forward (flick) crack.
Tomorrow we will start on the combination to form the cross over crack.

Ron

[Tristan Foy]

That makes more sense!

I got in twenty minutes today. I'm going to try to double up to make up for the lost time. In the meantime I tried to make my whip roll out the way the video suggests, but my whip is too stiff for that. I don't know if that is normal for nylon whips or not, because I have no other whips to compare it with.

I almost felt that it would be too stiff to do this crack at all, but after several minutes, I think I started to get a pattern down. It would sometimes whack me in the back of the head though, which was the whips way of saying I was going too fast.

[Ron May]

Tristan, sometimes the whip will tell us in subtle ways , sometimes in rather stark and painful ways, what to do and what not to do.
Right or wrong, it will always do what we tell it to do.


Ron

[Tristan Foy]

I got in a 30 minute practice today. I was focusing mostly on movements and going slow for the most part. In practice, I have a hard time distinguishing this from the forward crack, other than the FC starts with the whip in front of you.

I'm not posting too much on my progress, since I know most of us have moved on to the crossover.

[Ron May]

This crack , like the FC, this one does start with the whip in front and it's not an easy crack to do. To me the diagonal part is easier that the straight forward crack for some reason.
Keep at it and don't worry about it too much. Just develop in your own speed.
You are doing an awesome job with your practicing.
"Never give up. Never surrender."

Ron