Club Obi Wan

I was interested to read in another post some excerpts from David Morgan's book in which he advises against using the wrist too much while using a bullwhip. I think he said it can damage the thong somewhere around where it attaches to the handle. However, I've read elsewhere others who recommend applying more wrist action in place of using a stiffer arm to generate all the force because the latter would wreck the popper in no time.

It seems to me that going through a few extra poppers in order to preserve the thong is preferable in terms of repair costs, but what's the consensus here?

Adios,
Satipo

Satipo, Good whip handling it more about proper timing and technique then wrist force. With a good technique you should not need to use excessive force or have to snap your wrist forcefully to crack a whip. You can bend and flex your wrist as part of the motions while whip cracking, especially to add more energy to the throw but the usual and preferred crack is accomplished with minimum force.

One of the biggest mistakes of whip cracking is thinking its all in the wrist, its not. It’s in the whip itself, it’s in the arms and in the body, all those motions put together. If you ever watch some one pick up a whip for the fist time, they often try to crack it by forcefully snapping their wrist up and down to make the whip crack. That’s the wrong way to do it.

Short handle bullwhips like the Indy style whip are designed to be used with relatively little wrist motion, as too much of that strong bending wrist action can cause the area between the handle and thong to break down more quickly over time. With some of the more complex multiple cracking more direct wrist work is sometimes needed but it depends on what’s being done, that is one reason why short handled bullwhips aren’t the best whip for that type of work and why most choose Australian stock whips or long handled bullwhips for that type of cracking.

Now, If your wearing through a lot of poppers fast, your most likely cracking the whip too loudly and with too much force, I.e power cracking This will wear them down and also cause a shorter fall life. True control of the whip means you can crack it as softly or as loudly as you like with minimal effort.

Dan

Well written, Dan.

Satipo, my lazy brain's way of remembering is this:
Bullwhip-use more arm motion and less wrist.
Stockwhip-use more wrist and less arm.

I tend to think of elbow as the deciding point on the arm. With a stockwhip, use your elbow and wrist. With a bullwhip, use your shoulder and elbow.

Keep in mind the mechanics of the two. With a stockwhip, you have an extra leverage arm (the handle), but don't with a bullwhip. Thus, your arm has to be the lever to impart motion in a bullwhip. In other words, with a stockwhip, your hand does roughly the same duty as your elbow when handling a bullwhip.

I'm not sure that makes sense to anyone but me, but it's how I think of it. By all means, that doesn't mean that you should keep your shoulder immobile when using a stockwhip, or your wrist when using a bullwhip. Just place more emphasis on those parts, and you'll do fine.

Restating what Dan wrote, the whip is designed to crack. It's just how good one is at minimizing the bad form during said motion. Let the whip do the work, and you'll learn form first, which is most important. Once you have the form down, you can get surprisingly loud cracks with little effort. That way, if you want to give it a bit more sound, you don't have to muscle it really hard. Just a little harder. Trust me on that!

Regards,

Paul

It is very much like FlyFishing.... Try to use more arm and timing and less wrist!

C3

Thanks for the great answers, guys!

I haven't got a bullwhip yet. Just trying to learn as much as possible before I jump onboard. Last whip I had was a cheap 8ft snake style whip when I was about ten years old. I used to get some good cracks out of it, but was pretty heavy-handed with my technique. I've been waiting a long time for the right moment to get my first proper Indy whip (about 25 years!), and now with the pound/dollar situation working in my favour, that time might be now!

Just wondering, is a David Morgan worth going for these days, when there seem to be a lot of fans, other vendors, etc. producing good quality alternatives? Is it still the ultimate one? I really like the look of the Raiders bullwhip, and am slightly dismayed to read that current Morgans have changed characteristics such as shorter handles.

Adios,
Satipo

Satipo

I would HIGHLY recommend Bernardo del Carpio's whips! He can achieve any film used look and his prices are quite good... Look in the vendor/whip section for his website info...

Happy hunting!
C3

Thanks for the tip, coronado3. I've been looking at his whips. They look fantastic, and he sounds like a great guy to deal with. But do you know how well his whips handle/last compared to a Morgan?

Adios,
Satipo

No, I've had mine less than a year, and i haven't owned a Morgan, so.... perhaps someone who owns a Bernardo and a Morgan could step in on this one!

I do know that Bernardo spent some time in Morgan's shop plaiting and learning from the master himself.

C3

If your interested I have just uploaded a video on basic whip cracking to YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBdAY-128j0
This is part of a DVD that I send with all my whips just to get people started with the basics. The rest of the DVD covers whip maintenance,changing and making your own crackers and changing your fall. If any one is interested in this just let me know and I will upload it as well.
Kind Regards
Bernie
http://www.em-brand-whips.com

Hey Bernie ,
Would be certainly interested in the rest ! Please do !


cheers

Dirk

1AM here at the moment so I'll load it up tomorrow evening some time,I'm off to hit the sack.

Great video Bernie. I think that’s going to help a lot of people, Thanks for putting it online. I’m looking forward to seeing the whip maintenance sections as well.

ATB

Dan

It worked last night, but now it says that the video has been removed by the user.

VP wrote:It worked last night, but now it says that the video has been removed by the user.

He changed the URL there's a topic about it.