Am I a freak? Handedness

[Chance]

Hi All,

Ok, I've been practicing away and, I have to say, this is pretty addicting stuff.

But one thing about this for me has been very curious. I can juggle passably, and I can do basic rope tricks - flat spin, wedding ring, etc. And when I learned all those things, and it is still true now, I am way better with my right hand/arm than my left.

Now with cracking a whip.... I worked hard trying get my first cracks down with my right arm. And I only had a few minutes each of the first few days I messed with the whip so I never used my left arm. Finally, I had more time to work and when my right arm got tired I thought, what the heck lets just use the left for a bit.

First attempt: CRACK! Now I had been working and working and I was not having great success with my right arm. And all of a sudden, it was like my left arm knew how to do this all along. It quickly got to the point to where I would study what I was doing with my left arm and then try to recreate it with my right.

So know I am doing pretty good on three of the basic cracks with both arms. And my left was only better at the first crack I was working on (cattleman's). However, I am still better with my left arm than my right for basic cattleman's / circus cracks. I am louder and more consistent. When I start to have trouble I go back to my left arm, do a few, and go back to the right. It seems weird to have my left arm better at something.

Anyone else have this experience or is it only me?

Chance

[Kt Templar]

No, you're not a freak. (Well at least I don't think so!). I'm right handed, and usually practise with my right arm. But occasionally will crack with my left, and get a really good crack.

I'm not sure what the logic is but the fact that you use the left less can mean that you can more easily pick up the correct form for cracking a whip... at least that's what I found, and anecdotally others have expressed similar experiences.

[WhipDude]

When you continually practice with 1 arm (For me that is my right) generally you understand how to crack with the other arm pretty well. i remember being terrible at the side arm crack with my right hand. I finally got it down and all of a sudden I can do it with my left as well.

[winrichwhips]

I do mostly two-handed whip routines when I practice, so when I learn a knew crack I try to learn it with both hands at the same time. I'm right handed, and sometimes I find I'll have more success with my left doing some cracks. I'm still better with my left when doing the arrow head and the Tasmanian cutback.

I think some of it comes down to your dominant hand having more muscle memory, which can be hard to adjust when learning something new. The non-dominant hand can be more of a clean-slate.

I've also found that each arm isn't built the same. While I try for symmetry as much as possible, the dominant arm is still stronger, though the non-dominant arm is more flexible. The flexibility is important in the Tasmanian cutback, or when doing drum rolls behind your back (which I can only do with my left).

With rope spinning, I'm working on the butterfly, and I tried teaching both hands at the same time. In this case each hand progressed about the same, though my right and left-handed butterflies look different.

For fun, you might try spinning a flat spin in one hand and cracking your whip in the other.

-Adam
www.winrichwhips.com

[Chance]

Hi All,

Thanks very much for your replies. Glad to know I am not a complete freak.

Adam: The muscle memory idea makes perfect sense to me. It is sort of what Kt Templar was saying, my left doesn't have the same degree of training and so, in this instance, it picks it up quicker as there isn't as much in the way.

I think too that part of it is that I can't do things as precisely with my left. And that ends up being a good thing in the sense that I take things easier and don't try to finesse with my left. And slow and simple somehow works for whip cracking. Just an idea from a person just starting.

Adam

Chance

[Chance]

<snip>

For fun, you might try spinning a flat spin in one hand and cracking your whip in the other.

-Adam
www.winrichwhips.com

Fun you say. Sounds dangerous to me! I think I'm going to have to work up to that one. Sounds like patting your head and rubbing you stomach at the same time.

Chance

[The_Edge]

It is because a right handed person is less comfortable using their left when manipulating objects which results in their movements with this arm being more stiff. Especially in the wrist. Their movement tends to flow from the shoulder and elbow more readily which is exactly what cracking a whip should consist of.

In my experience, many folks tend to over use their wrist when cracking so when they switch from their dominant hand they tend to get better results because their wrist stays more rigid.

Use less wrist motion on your dominate hand, throw from the shoulder and you'll be just as consistent.

[McFly]

Sometimes you can do a crack with your odd hand better because you're doing it wrong with your dominant one. For example, I couldn't do the coachman's crack with my right hand because I was being too scared of the whip and too careful. With my left hand, which is not as deft as my right, I could do it fine - like you, the first time.

Then you try it again with your odd hand, and watch how it does it and try to do it that way with your dominant hand. Sometimes you can teach yourself things. Interesting, hm?

Keep on crackin'!!

In Christ,
Shane

[Ripper]

I have been cracking since I was 10. I'm ok at it, I don't do it all the time, more of a passing thing I do in the Spring and Summer months. I can crack ...ok...with my left, I'm better with my right. I have never been afraid of it, even after hitting myself quite a few times. I have always wanted to learn how to crack using two whips at the same time. That would be pretty neat! Some day, I'm just waiting on my other whip at the moment.

[winrichwhips]

Ripper, I've tried cracking two 8 ft Indy whips at the same time before (I think it was a Morgan and an EC whip) and I found it to be quite a chore compared to cracking a pair of stockwhips (stockwhips being lighter and depending more on the leverage of the handle for the crack). I've also messed around with cracking two 12 footers at the same time, which was also a lot of work.

-Adam