Help getting crack!

Stefan Hills · Post by **Stefan Hills** » Thu Sep 05, 2002 12:49 am

Greetings fellow crack addicts, hee hee!

After having a whip for nearly a year, I recently mastered the under hand crack, the one that is like a bowling move or follow through and now I got the Raiders Cario Market Scene down.

So on to more difficult cracks, does anyone have any idea on how to master the type of crack Michelle " Catwoman" Pfeiffer does in Batman Returns, when she is on the roof with the ice princess to ward off Batman.

It is a sort that has two cracks in rapid seccession, by rolling the wrist, very quickly. This crack is also part of the cracks Alex Green does in the second video on multiple cracks while out side but he does not go in to much detail merely stating that it requires a roll of the wrist.

Does any one know what I am talking about?
Any help would be great,

Kind regards and best wishes

Stefan

Sergei · Post by **Sergei** » Thu Sep 05, 2002 1:20 am

Stephan,

I don't remember the Michele Pfeiffer routine, but I think from what you described about the crack in tape 2 of Alex Green's is a fast figure 8. And you are right Alex did a terrible job of explaining that crack. He just glossed over it. It's not really a roll of the wrist but really rolling the elbow that is pointing in the back position and then rotating real quick where elbow is pointing in front of you.

To set up that crack I do a "cattle man's crack" or "circus crack". It's the crack where the whip ends up in front of you. If you notice at the end of that crack, the elbow is sticking out pointing behind you. You then radically rotate the elbow (pointing backward) underneath and finish pointing towards the front. The wrist appears to roll, but it's really the elbow going forward and the wrist going backward. Properly done, the sequence is the whip cracks in front and then in a split-second cracks right behind you. That tip was given to me in person from Fiona Wilks, 5 time champion from Australia. It's the elbow rotating, not the wrist.

I hope this helps. Another resource is Mike Murphy's, "Fundamentals of Whip Cracking". And good question! I will make sure that this gets included in the "whip tutorial" part of the IndyGear site.

-Sergei

TheOther Jones · Post by **TheOther Jones** » Thu Sep 05, 2002 4:06 am

The second crack in the fast figure 8 is referred to as "the back curl" by Peter Jack on his "The Ways of Whips part I" video. That's where I learned it from, and Peter does a great job of explaining it. The fast figure 8 is a combination of the vertical forward crack (or circus crack vel cattleman's crack) and the back curl.
Peter Jack's videos may not be as info-packed as Mike Murphy's, but I'd recommend picking them up anyway.

TheOther Jones · Post by **TheOther Jones** » Thu Sep 05, 2002 5:21 am

I just remembered something: visit this thread http://www.indygear.com/community/forum ... .php?t=879 and download the clip. In it Sebastian demonstrates the back curl you're after, Stefan.

Stefan Hills · Post by **Stefan Hills** » Thu Sep 05, 2002 12:39 pm

Greetings all,

Many thanks to "S" and The Other Jones for their wonderful insight regarding this crack.
I will look into both options and will keep you posted on how things turn out.
Many thanks,
Kind regards and best wishes,
Stefan

WhipEnth · Post by **WhipEnth** » Thu Sep 05, 2002 8:35 pm

Stefan,

If your still having some problems, email me privately and I'll try to help you best I can. (no need to take up bandwidth here)

Sergei - count me in if you'd like some help with a whip cracking primer on Indy Gear.

Keep 'em cracking,

Seb~
(the other S~)