Club Obi Wan

Hi Guys,

Earlier this year, I purchased an 8-foot 12-plait Natural Tan bullwhip from Bernie, at em-brand-whips.com. I also picked up a number of books and videos on whip cracking, and have been trying to master the basic throws.

I'm obviously very green, but I can do the overhead crack and the forward throw most of the time.

I did have to replace the popper once, as it had gotten pretty shredded while I was trying to master the throws.

I followed the instructions that Bernie gave in the video that he kindly sent with the whip, and the cracker seems to be attached correctly.

However, I went out to practice in the park for the first time since I'd re-attached the cracker today, and I noticed a couple of things that concern me.

The first is that now when I bring the whip back to prepare for the throw, I feel a "wobble" in the whip...it doesn't seem to be coming back straight.

Secondly, I noticed that during about half of the throws, I was hitting the thong of the whip with the fall.

My hunch is that I may not have tapered the fall enough, and that the knot holding the cracker on is too large, and so throwing off the balance of the whip.

Does this sound plausible?

If so, is the correction to trim off the cracker again, try and taper the fall, and tie on another cracker?

If so, how do I get a good feel for the taper of the fall?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.



Lorn

Lorn,
I exactly have a hard time understanding... maybe a picture of the cracker attached to the fall will help..

I've put a picture up at

http://www.barnettcollege.com/~drjones/cracker.jpg

If you need a better closeup, I'll see if I can get another picture.

In general though, could the cracker attatchment (and size of the knot) affect the throw of the whip? The best way I can explain it is that the whip feels out of balance now - and I was particularly concerned by the fact that when trying my throws out today, I was hitting the whip or my hand quite often.


Lorn

Lorn, I have a Em Brand 8ft also. I really don't think that either the cracker or your fall is the problem. You would have to make some really drastic changes to either of these to effect the performance of the whip. I don't want to disparage your technique but that might be it. When I first started cracking a whip I would do great one time and the next terrible. I would go out again and try cracking again and suddenly the timing was right. I believe there is a good chance you will do better. Bernies whips should perform the same regardless of what popper you have attached. And unless you have really butchered the fall, it will still perform the way it was intended. The cracker knot in your picture does look very unusual attached to one of Bernies blue poly crackers though.
Jim

Thank You for the reply -

The only reason I brought it up is because I had gone through the awkward phase that you mention, and then the whip started feeling "natural."

It was only after I replaced the cracker that I started to feel this "wobble" for lack of a better word.

I was afraid it might be a technique problem too, but I *never* had a problem with the whip hitting itself, even when I first began. This morning it seemed all I could do was hit the thong with the fall, and it didn't feel like it was coming back or throwing forward straight.

That said, I'll give it a few more practice sessions and see if today was just a particularly bad day for some reason. If not, I may try and reattach the cracker again.



Lorn

Lorn, let us know how it goes. If you still are having a problem after trying again, shoot Bernie an email and get his thoughts.
Jim

Lorn, Sometimes you just have an off day cracking. Things will start to feel weird all of the sudden. It might be technique, you may be trying too hard, your arm may be tired but either way the whip will just start to feel off for no apparent reason. Usually that’s a good time to stop practicing for the day.

The taper of your fall looks fine to me. I know I can feel the difference in a whip depending on the type of the knot used to attach the popper, or even if I get a knot in the popper just by how the whip feels as it cracks. So depending your level of sensitivity, too large a knot can throw you off a bit. From your photo though, the knot your using to attach the popper looks acceptable, maybe a bit big but that’s not uncommon for the first few times you retie a new popper on to a whip, especally if its a thick round fall.

Replacing poppers is easy, but if your not used to doing it like anything it takes a little practice to get it just right and cinch them up tight. Since your following Bernie’s method you shouldn’t have too much trouble but a clearer close up that might help us be sure. Since you said the whip is feeling natural again, you probably worked out the problem yourself. As your practicing, especally at this stage focus more on just getting a feel for the whip and the way it rolls out for you, not worrying so much about making a loud crack. If you find you keep having the same problem with the wobbliness, let us know.

Another thing, Try not to get in the habit of cutting off the tip of fall to replace the popper. If the leather is starting to wear out or break then yes, but usually you can carefully cut the popper where its attached to the fall knot. That will break the tension in the knot and you should be able to just slip the popper off the fall and replace it with a new one using the same fall knot. This will save your fall in the long run and make it easier to switch out poppers.

Dan

Another little thing that I've noticed is if I'm cracking in the morning and there's dew on the ground, my fall picks it up a bit and gets a little heavier. I don't think it really changes how the whip throws, but I do notice it because I tend to get tangles more on those days.

Just and idea about why the fall feels different.

Louie

Thanks for the additional reply...

I'm afraid there might've been a misunderstanding....the whip isn't feeling natural again, yet. I'm hoping that it will with additional practice, but I did stop the days practice yesterday when I became concerned about how often I was hitting the whip (or my hand).

I'll see if I can get an additional closeup...and thanks for the tip about the cutting the cracker as opposed to the fall...I'll give that a try next time.

I'm sure glad all of you are here as a resource. I'm trying to learn as much as possible, but it would be nice if there were some kind of instructor in this area.


Lorn

Lorn,

You profile says you are in Washington State. What part, I'm based out of the Seattle Area, but I travel the state performing. I'm in Spokane right now, and in very rural WA tomorrow and in Yakima Wednesday.

If you would like to get together at a park sometime I could possibly give you some cracking pointers. You can send me a PM if you want to get together sometime.

Louie
http://www.bullwhips.org

Thanks for all the replies, folks...

Louie, Ive sent you a pm.

I forgot to mention in my earlier posts that when attempting the cracks yesterday, I had to work a lot harder to get the whip to crack.

In the past, I could almost lazily get the whip to crack, but yesterday it seemed to take more effor to even get a tiny "pop".

Not sure if that helps at all, but its another factor that I was taking into account.


Lorn

Sorry Lorn, My misunderstanding. Since you are in Washington State, Hopefully you can get together with Louie and he can help you out, he’s not to shabby with a whip. I know when problems like this come up It’s much easier and faster to see it in person and fix right there, then it is to figure out what’s going on and what to do about it online.

I know of a few other whip enthusiasts and makers in the North West as well and David Morgan is just out side of Seattle too, He could help if you think there is something up with the whip itself. I don’t think its the whip, but I’ve been wrong before.

Just so you know, There are a couple different ways to attach a popper to the fall, some makea much smaller connection knot if you feel that might be the cause. They’ve been discussed here several times before so just search the older posts and you should find them.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Dan

Thanks!

I don't think something is wrong with the whip itself...more likely just my attachment of the cracker to the fall or the taper of the fall itself.

I'd even believe that it was a technique problem, if I hadn't been doing so much better before. I had an awkward phase when I was first trying to learn how to do the throws, but yesterday I didn't feel like anything I was throwing went to the right place...and when it did, I had to work extra hard to get anything out of the whip.

I'm sure I'll be able to find some resolution..just want to make sure that I know what's causing the problem before I try and do anything.


Lorn