Nearing the end of another Whip Cracking Season...

[Lukes Roommate]

...and the volley is still eluding me

Oh, I've learned a couple combos, but that volley....THAT VOLLEY!
Sigh.
I will admit to not having as much practice time devoted to learning it as I should have as I would get annoyed and work on something else. But #### if it's not like the Grail™ itself.

[IndianaBravo]

Yeah, the weather is also taking a turn for the worse here. I have to find a dojo or somewhere where I can get together with the rest of the whipcrackers and do our stuff

[riku1914]

Where I am it's actually getting more whip cracking friendly. We had like a two and a half month drought or something like that, now

that we are getting rain semi-regularly I can crack my whip on something other than bare dirt.

On the volley, my suggest, get a whip with a handle longer than 8". I learned it on a whip with a 9.5" handle that was 6 ft. long (

bullwhip ) , but get a stockwhip or a Midwest Performance hybrid, you'll get it quick. I've made a nylon stockwhip, that I later turned

into a kind of performance hybrid, volley's are easy to come with. After I learned it on these shorter whips with longer handles, I

can easily do volleys with my 8 ' whips with 8" handles. Just get a performance hybrid or go to rhett kelly and get a 4 or 5 foot

nylon stockwhip. Plus it'll help you get a few other cracks, for instance if you haven't already, I just COULD NOT get coachman's

cracks, but after I made that sort of performance hybrid whip with a 3.5 ft. thong, I learned it on that, which came easy, now I

can do it on my 8' whips. It was the opposite for arrowhead however. I couldn't do it on my 6 footer with a 9.5" handle, or my

4.5 ft. stockwhip with an 18" handle, so I tried on my 8 footer with an 8" handle and got it, now I can do it on these faster whips.

[Lukes Roommate]

riku1914, that is good advice re: the longer handle.
My nylon whip has a 9" handle with a thicker transition/taper and it's helped with :nearly: getting it.
I might try the hybrid whip (and Joe makes a Lonestar whip with a 10" handle)...

I had no problem learning the Coachman with my 8ft Raiders whip, but the arrowhead is something I haven't grasped yet (I've been trying it with my 10 foot Strain as I feel the length slows things down to a manageable level).

[riku1914]

riku1914, that is good advice re: the longer handle.
My nylon whip has a 9" handle with a thicker transition/taper and it's helped with :nearly: getting it.
I might try the hybrid whip (and Joe makes a Lonestar whip with a 10" handle)...

I had no problem learning the Coachman with my 8ft Raiders whip, but the arrowhead is something I haven't grasped yet (I've been trying it with my 10 foot Strain as I feel the length slows things down to a manageable level).

I've never handled a 10 foot whip but it would seem to me that it would make it more difficult over an 8 footer. For me, learning the

arrowhead, the 8 footer was the perfectly balance of timing and speed. For once, you didn't have to go super fast, like if you were

using a hybrid, but you also didn't have to move slow and potentially lose control.

Question, when you're doing the arrowhead, do you only do one round of it like adam does in his video, or do you try to continually

do the triangle action? It was more difficult for me to do it just once, doing it continually helped me much. Also, when I was first

learning I started it with a cattlemans turning into a fast figure 8 ( but not going straight back, going kind of diagonally back )

then I'd transition to a breakaway, but instead of the crack being in front and beside me, I'd try to make it directly in front of my

body, from that point it was just a matter of getting that left sided ( or if you're doing left handed it would be right sided ) volley.


If you can't do the volley, I would suggest you don't go for arrowhead. It's like trying to do hassets four corners without being

able to do a coachmans or overhead volley. It's just not reasonable. I'm still working on that one with my "performance hybrid"

whip I made. It's tough!

[Lukes Roommate]

Thanks for the tips riku!

I put the Arrowhead off the table until the volley is learned anyways.
The Performance Hybrid whip really has my curiosity now...

[riku1914]

Thanks for the tips riku!

I put the Arrowhead off the table until the volley is learned anyways.
The Performance Hybrid whip really has my curiosity now...

They're cheap, and awesome. I don't have an official one, I made my own. It's shorter than the real thing. If you're wanting to get

into two handed, buy two. They give a discount on buying matched pairs. I've wanted a pair ever since I got into whip making and

cracking, but haven't been able to afford any. I've heard great things about them.

edit: plus there's so many customization options with the performance hybrids, you can get a really sweet looking whip.

[TREX]

I have to agree with Riku,
GET HYBRIDS!!!!
your learning curve will increase immeasurably! I have two pairs & I have used them so much I worked the falls almost all the way off, but with Lauren's help I'm going to put new falls on & keep blasting away! I have to say for learning they are so perfect!!! They are light, fast & when you hit yourself It's really not that bad & with the long handles it only makes thing easier to learn the harder tricks- I LOVE LOVE LOVE these Whips!!!

So... Yes, I would definitely think about getting a pair

-T.Rex

[Lukes Roommate]

Bah, what does TREX know...

Well, the idea is firmly entrenched and I will be jumping for one (or two ) asap!