The 10/10 Challenge

Tristan Foy · Post by **Tristan Foy** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 00:32

Here I am working on my FC at my beloved lot, RIP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-i50OOVkJY

Bob Ouellette · Post by **Bob Ouellette** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 02:55

Thanks for the compliments, Ben. It's been about 4 years or so since I started throwing. Maybe a couple of years since I had private instruction (and there's more I want to learn!).

Tristan, I'm sorry to hear about your practice location. Good luck in finding a suitable replacement. Most of your forward crack seems ok, but I recommend you speed up your upswing and insert a slight pause before throwing the whip forward.

Ron May · Post by **Ron May** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 04:03

Tristan, slow down.
Take a 5 count pause between cracks.
I think that will help the focus on form as well as finish.
You are making progress.

Ron

Brandon "Sparky" Lam · Post by **Brandon "Sparky" Lam** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 04:10

Tristan, if I may give a little advice (though I could be wrong since all my whip cracking has been done by playing with the whip in my backyard without instruction), as Bob said, bring the whip up a little faster on the backswing, and then let it sit there. The second the whip starts falling down is where you bring it forward, because the combined force of you pulling it forward and the whip's end falling down is what creates that cracking loop

For me, the FC is essentially the circus crack but in a more compact form, as you let gravity do the downwards force instead of you doing it with your arm.
Also I'm a little late to this topic, is this where people post their daily practice? :P

Ron May · Post by **Ron May** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 04:21

Brandon, if you read post #1 in this thread it will explain what the 10/10 practice challenge is all about.
Mostly it's for all at any skill level to practice one crack for 10 minutes every day for 10 days.
Post what successes you have had and what you feel like you need work on. Then every one helps each other with what we need.
It will take commitment to do this.
I would love to have your input and experience when you do this.
Your positive attitude is always welcome here.

Right now we are working on the forward crack. So feel free to jump in and join the exercise.

Ron

Brandon "Sparky" Lam · Post by **Brandon "Sparky" Lam** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 05:24

Awesome, this sounds like fun, thanks Ron! Probably a good idea to improve my cracks too :P

So my right hand's forward crack is relatively stable/consistent, though it'd be good to know if my form is bad. Either way, I decided to challenge myself by playing a little with my left hand FC, which I've never learnt/practiced so that was interesting!
Here's a video of that practice session - https://youtu.be/HdOdwwD0dt8 - please critique my form, especially on the right arm. I know what I need to improve on my left arm, mainly actually learning/practicing it so it isn't so janky! haha

I'll give any advice I can from now on, though I'm sure there are much better whip crackers than I am here

Thanks for the welcome in this exercise!

Ron May · Post by **Ron May** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 05:31

It looks fairly good on the right, the left is a little awkward but that's to be expected.
We have been practicing left and right on all these cracks. Like 5 on the right then 5 on the left , rinse lather and repeat.

I would advise to pause in between cracks. Maybe for a 5 count or so. It helps me to concentrate and focus.

My forward crack is still trying to become consistent. But for some odd reason the left hand side , my off side, is better than my right side .

Thanks for joining and contributing.

Ron

Brandon "Sparky" Lam · Post by **Brandon "Sparky" Lam** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 05:35

Mmm like everything I do, sadly enough, I neglect my left arm a lot. Maybe my next practice will be just left, just to train it more.

And I guess it's the arm you practice it first and more that you feel more comfortable with. For example in my avatar, the elbow stall I cannot do on the right side consistently, yet the left side is much better haha

Thanks for the advice, will slow things down!

Tristan Foy · Post by **Tristan Foy** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 07:19

I haven't really practiced much with my left (non-dom) arm. I probably will sometime, once I get more comfortable in general with whips.

Good luck in the 10/10 Challenge, Brandon! I was actually reluctant to join because it sounded like a long, drawn-out process with plenty of time for me to get sick of it and quit before I joined, but after a few days it started to become a habit, and communicating daily in this thread has made me feel very accountable for my own progress, now that I know people are paying attention. I wish I had more to offer back, but I can saw that I have really gone from basically zero to someone who at least knows their way around using a whip now, pretty much thanks to this thread.

I haven't found the commitment to be as scary as I anticipated!

Tristan Foy · Post by **Tristan Foy** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 07:22

Blame my typos on lack of sleep, which I'm off to now. :-)

Brandon "Sparky" Lam · Post by **Brandon "Sparky" Lam** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 07:35

Thanks Tristan! I'll try to keep it consistent, it really depends on how rushed I am to study, though I often take study breaks by cracking in the backyard :P

I guess this means that now I have to improve because people are watching! I look forward to it haha

Night Tristan!

Robert Gage · Post by **Robert Gage** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 09:39

Bob Ouellette wrote:Ben, I hope the video helps with the description of the way I throw. https://youtu.be/PSkz1AR6LE4

Thanks for posting this, Bob! (I love that 15-footer!) But may I offer one suggestion? You're doing something that Robby pointed out I was doing too, which I'm trying to correct. As you throw the whip forward, you stick your elbow out to the side. Try not doing that. It will mean you use less force, and the whole motion will be smoother.

Tristan, in this latest video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-i50OOVkJY) you too are doing something Robby has tried to correct with me: you force your arm forward hard, and then (at about 12 o'clock) you slack off the force. As a result, the whip wobbles. Try using less force in the beginning, but move your arm in one very smooth, continuous motion. Robby suggested imagining I was using a paint brush to paint a smooth, continuous curve on a wall. I find this helps a lot!

Ron May · Post by **Ron May** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 12:49

Thank you Mr. Robert for your observations.

Ron

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 22:08

Had a late night practice. Nothing special to report really.
I did all the cracks but mostly the forward one. I didn't quite get it first but after doing a few flicks from behind and some horizontal cracks I got the hang of it again. It was wet because it snowed (!) a bit today so the whip got heavier and heavier until I had to stop

Thank you for the pointers, Mr. Robert!

Glad you joined in Brandon!

Ron May · Post by **Ron May** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 22:16

Erik, I can't imagine having snow and cracking in it.
I'll bet there's a nice white "burst' at the moment of crack.
I'm glad that you are getting the hang of it.
I still have to wait for the heat do go down some before I practice today.
I usually try to do it in the morning but I had some work to do and it was already hot by the time I finished.
Good job Erik.

Ron

Bob Ouellette · Post by **Bob Ouellette** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 23:08

I was practicing with my left arm and I realized that it doesn't have the same range of motion as my right. It has made for some interesting two handed cracking.

Ron May · Post by **Ron May** » Mon 31. Oct 2016, 23:56

Bob, I have had both shoulders undergo rotatory cuff manipulation and surgery and I know what you might mean about range of motion.
That being said, my off side (left) has more success until this evening at this particular crack.
This evenings practice was better. The 6.5 footer is much lighter and limper at the transition than the longer one and my motion is decidedly quicker than I would like to do. (think snake whip with a handle a bullsnake if you will) But that does have better success at getting the "poof" or "crack" out of it.

Progress is being made even though it still feels kinda like a hot mess.

Ron

Ron

Ben Varsek · Post by **Ben Varsek** » Tue 1. Nov 2016, 00:24

I've also had a late night practice today and it fealt like I was finaly getting a little more secure with my off hand (right hand) doing the FC

Compared to the other cracks on the 10/10 challenge it took me a lot longer to get the hang of the FC with my off hand.

Welcome to the 10/10 challenge Brandon, it's great to see another participant !!!

Thank you very much for your tips Robert - visualizing a "paint brush motion" during this technique sounds like fantastic idea !!!

Since the next technique on this challenge will be the horizontal crack I thought it would be a good idea to post the "Whip Basics Shorts" video about the horizontal crack:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzoL1ZjA67Y

All the best
Ben

Ron May · Post by **Ron May** » Tue 1. Nov 2016, 00:33

Thank you so much Ben for bringing this up and posting the link.

I was going to tell every one that tomorrow is the last day of the forward crack practice and the next crack is the horizontal / overhead crack.

I will try to post a video tomorrow of my progress on the last day and a the comparison video I posted on day 1.

We will start the over head crack on Nov. the 2nd which will be day 1 of that crack.

Ron

Ben Varsek · Post by **Ben Varsek** » Tue 1. Nov 2016, 00:49

You're welcome Ron !!!

I'll post a video of my "last day FC practice" tomorrow too !!!

All the best
Ben

Whip Basics. The Forum

The 10/10 Challenge

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