explain the forward crack to me.

[Indiana Joyce]

Ive watched youtube videos, learned some things, learned from others mistakes as well. I can do the overhead crack, which looks pretty cool, but your standard"stand there and pretend there is a wall next to you and bring your arm up, now crack the whip" works as a lesson, but doesnt look cool in front of a crowd.

I cant throw a baseball, so Id love to hear as many different descriptions and tutorials on how to achieve this crack please. Well that, and anything else you think a beginner can do in the event that someone says well yeah you look like indy, but can you crack the whip..

[WhipDude]

Go buy a DVD from Western Stage Props.
Or use the handy search feature which has covered this topic numerous times in the past.
Lots of lots of practice. Watch the pro's in slow motion. Make note of very footstep and movement and replicate it. The forward crack is a tough one to learn for beginners. It's going to take practice. Just go out after watching a video, imitate them and do it over and over again. If you have to, adjust little things like elbow positioning, and when you use your wrist etc.
And it may depend on the whip length. Forward isn't the easiest with whips longer then 8. Possible, but not easy. Especially for a beginner. It also depends upon the quality of your whip.

[whipwarrior]

All I know is that crack is very illegal.

[McFly]

Have you seen my youtube vid? It's gotten decent reviews.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XfAgsJ0VmE

If you don't like mine, you should check out Anthony Delongis's DVDs. He's great at explaining the various cracks, and you'll learn even more than the flick!

Shane

[Shagbd]

I highly suggest Robert Amper's WHIP BASICS dvd that i reviewed a while back viewtopic.php?t=35002

its a great DVD and will give you a good basis and foundation for whip work.

it can be purchased from midwestwhips.com http://www.midwestwhips.com/

[WhipDude]

Good video McFly.

[McFly]

Thanks!

It's basically Anthony's method, but not explained as well.

Shane

[FloatinJoe]

Thanks!

It's basically Anthony's method, but not explained as well.

Shane

Come on Shane, it's just the acceleration of kinetic energy

Seriously, I've trained with Anthony a few times. His method make a whole lot of sense and it doesn't expend much energy to make a crack. I'd invest in his dvds. I believe he has two for whipcracking.

Michael

[Indiana Joyce]

yeah after waht i read about Anthony ive been considering his vids...just thought someone could explain it here. its ok tho.

[scot2525]

I give another vote to Rob's Whip basic DVD. It explains the cracks in detail. IJ do not feel bad if you can't get the the forward crack, I struggle with it as well and I have thrown a baseball and a football. I think this actually works against me when cracking the whip for the forward flick. My right ear, neck, and shoulder have recieved a beating attempting this crack.

[Indiana Joyce]

Yeah no kidding. I was just re watching Adam's video and I just cant seem to understand the body movment. every time I tried it when i was practicing, i just kept either hitting my self in the back of the head or wrapping the whip around me. maybe if i had tried the underhand flick instead of the forward flick first.

[McFly]

Yeah no kidding. I was just re watching Adam's video and I just cant seem to understand the body movment. every time I tried it when i was practicing, i just kept either hitting my self in the back of the head or wrapping the whip around me. maybe if i had tried the underhand flick instead of the forward flick first.

Do you know about the railroad tracks? Did you watch my video? It sounds like the whip may be crossing your RR tracks behind you.

Shane

[Whip Basics]

Hello IJ,

I think you throw the whip not straight behind you, but in a little angle.
That means, when you pull the whip forward, it just has to hit your
back. Try to throw it a little bit away from you. A bit more to the right
side. When you throw it now, you just have the feeling that you brought
it straight behind you. But it isn't. Throw it back, stop, and then turn
around and watch where the whip actually is. You also can lay the
whip straight out behind you and bring it it forward from there. The
whip will always follow the line you lay it out. Don't give up, okay?

Robby

[IndyWhips]

Hello IJ,

I think you throw the whip not straight behind you, but in a little angle.
That means, when you pull the whip forward, it just has to hit your
back. Try to throw it a little bit away from you. A bit more to the right
side. When you throw it now, you just have the feeling that you brought
it straight behind you. But it isn't. Throw it back, stop, and then turn
around and watch where the whip actually is. You also can lay the
whip straight out behind you and bring it it forward from there. The
whip will always follow the line you lay it out. Don't give up, okay?

Robby

Great Explanation!

[Whip Basics]

Hm. It seems that Indiana Joyce doesn't think so. I posted about three weeks ago, but since then
there came nothing more. Perhaps he lost interest or he already mastered that crack. Who knows.

Robby

[hollywood1340]

Wrist, elbow and shoulder alignment is also very important in this crack. Foot position helps to

[ANZAC_1915]

Wrist, elbow and shoulder alignment is also very important in this crack. Foot position helps to

I have more trouble with foot position on fwd crack and it always works better if I take a step forward as I crack it.

You're definitely offsetting your arm further away from you - deLongis has a different flatter wrist orientation from what I can see in CS. I think the real trick is in making sure the whip has unfurled reasonably cleanly behind you before you move your arm forward.

HF had always said "use a weak wrist" -- I've seen David Morgan crack a 10ft with basically no energy, just a gentle roll.

[thefish]

Most people want to make an "O" shape with their arm when doing this crack, and use a larger arm motion like they do with the circus crack.

That doesn't impart the hairpin curve to the whip.

Instead, what you want to imagine sort of a lazy "D" in which the curved part of the "D" is on the bottom, and the flat part is parallel to the ground. Your wrist doesn't need to go above shoulder height for this crack. The whip stretches out BEHIND you rather than arcing over your head like with a circus crack, (I practice targeting with flick cracks in my living room with an 8 foot whip and and I have a 10 foot ceiling.)

Robert Dante, (in his new book, "Let's Get Cracking," a very good read for beginners, I might add,) likens the arm movement in a flick crack to that of a swimmer. You REACH forward, and sweep back. Yeah, when swimming you can just windmill your arms, (in that "O" fashion I mentioned,) but you'll expend a LOT more energy, and tire yourself out a LOT faster.

And you're really pushing the whip, rather than swinging the whip.

The handle should still be pointed directly behind you through most of forward arm motion of the crack. It's really more like the thrust than a slash, (to put it in rudimentary sword terms.)

I visualize it like this. Imagine that the whip is a hollow tube, and in the core of it is a steel ball that rests in the butt knot of the handle. For circus cracks, you can swing the whip in a huge arc that sends the ball, through centrifugal force, out to the far end of the whip. The whip will crack VERY loudly, (however, swinging the whip in this manner is "Muscling" or "Power Cracking" the whip, and should be avoided.)

For flick cracks however, you try to keep that steel ball in the butt knot, or at least no further down the thong than the transition of the whip, and then as you bring your arm forward, you're PUSHING, rather than throwing, that steel ball forward.

I know, this is probably preaching to the choir, and it probably won't make sense to anyone who is actually trying to LEARN this crack, (and it might not even make sense to people who've been working with whips for YEARS!) but stick with it. To me, this was the hardest crack to visualize and learn, because it is the most subtle of the cracks. You're really not doing any work other than guiding the whip, and letting it do everything. For circus and other "Loop" cracks, YOU can MAKE the whip crack, and most people start off doing that until they learn to let the whip do the work, but for flick cracks, it's mostly the whip doing it or nothing.

Anyway, all the best, good luck. Stick to it! You'll get it.

Happy cracking,

-Dan

[bluzharp]

Wrist, elbow and shoulder alignment is also very important in this crack. Foot position helps to

I'll second the foot position as well. For some reason, my feet have to be just right to throw this crack.

[Whip Basics]

In the target section of whip basics - Vol. II is a very detailled explanation of the four most common stances.
If you check out that clip, you can see #4, the step into the crack. The body mechanics of hip/shoulder rotation
is also very detailled there. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=ch ... lKL5K2Pt6o

Robby

[bluzharp]

Great vid, Robby! It helped me understand the cause and effect of some of the "bad habits" I have, and went a long way to correct them. Thanks!