Club Obi Wan

Hi every one!
I just film myself trying to learn the flick move,i have the impression i 'm not completly right,seems to me different when i watch the videos on youtube but i can't figure out what.If somebody see a mistake in my move,can you please tell me... that would be nice if you have the time.I would not like to learn the move in a wrong way and then get use to this bad move it's always dificult to start again from the begginning once you've got a bad habits... Thanks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCxnO5wx0FE

Absolutely gorgeous. The whip work is good, too

Looks fine to me.

The only helpful observation I can make is that at the end of the motion your hand is approximately level with your shoulder i.e. your arm is basically straight out. You could be seeing others who've had more practice with the flick making more subtle motions - less "shoulder", more "elbow" - and thus ending up with their hand lower than their shoulder. This slight change in overall body motion account for the difference your perceiving.

You're also giving the whip a relatively long "hang time" extended in the air behind you. Now that you can do the crack consistently, try playing with this timing in both directions (how quickly can you repeat flicks, and how long can you keep the whip hanging before you crack it?) and see if that matches what you're seeing others do that you're trying to model.

stevemahaffey wrote:Absolutely gorgeous. The whip work is good, too

Ditto! LOL

I tried hard to look at the whip, and it seems that it doesn't have a popper...

Hi Sylvia, Welcome to Indy Gear.

What you are doing in your video is more of a modified cattlemen’s/gypsy style crack then a flick. You set it up a bit differently (like the flick) but the whip is still forming a top-rolling loop early in the throw then continuing straight out over length to produce the crack. Your developing a great rolling loop (Similar to a technique Anthony DeLongis is known for) that produces a very smooth and precise crack, and works well for targeting but is different from the flick.

The flick, (overhand, underhand or sidearm) basically forms when you cast the whip out in a similar motion to throwing a ball. Rather then the whip forming a rolling “loop” though, It develops a hairpin curvature or U shaped bend as it travels out. Like the rolling loop, this motion intensifies the momentum of the whip as it curls along on itself allowing the energy to becomes more focused; producing the crack.

Flicks can be a tricky to master. Adam does a good job of explaining it in his youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od7JBEIQj7M
but it's not uncommon for someone just learning to struggle with it a bit, especially with out having someone next to you, to walk you through it step by step as you practice. With any type of flick though, timing is especially important. The technique itself is relatively simple, you are dragging the whip from behind, then pushing it forward when it's at your side. Finally pulling the handle forward as it moves out in front of you, giving it extra bit of force to form the hairpin and make the crack. But it takes a little time and practice to really develop the technique and get the feel for where to speed up and when to let the whip follow through.

Keep at it.

Dan

Bernardodc wrote: I tried hard to look at the whip, and it seems that it doesn't have a popper...

Y'know, I had that same impression, but attributed it to the video quality. Tip for future self-videographers - show the whip up close so we know what you're working with. And when I say "we"...

BullWhipBorton wrote: What you are doing in your video is more of a modified cattlemen’s/gypsy style crack then a flick.

...I mean, anyone but me, apparently.

Fortunately, tomorrow is "whip day" so I can atone. (Getting all introspective... I suspect I started off with a basic flick and once I moved to a longer whip I focused on getting a DeLongis-style role by way of copying DarenHenryW and didn't realize I was technically doing a different crack rather than just refining what I had.)

Hi!
First thank you everybody for your answers!
So apparently considering your anwers it is not the flick i'm doing,so i was right i knew it was someting wrong,thanks for explaining me what!i watch the video of Adam Winrich of course as well as some others but still it's difficult to reproduce the same move i need more practice...i wish i could have somebody teaching me all theses tricks in person but i don't have to complain fortunatly there are many videos on the net and for luck a can discusswith peoples about it !that's great few years before before internet it would have been much much harder!
so i'm gonna practice more this flick and show you ma progress in a while!
For some peoples wondering which kind of whips i'm working with,it is a matched pair of hybrid performance nylon made by Lauren Wickline,it does have a popper but i have to admit that it's become quite short now and that i will have to change it soon...you know when you crack it a lot then it's just come more small...This is my first matched pair of whips i have and i ave them since july!they're great i love them!!
So thanks again for your comments and trying to helping me it will put in practice what you told me and trying to finally do this flick!

stevemahaffey wrote:Absolutely gorgeous. The whip work is good, too

Bernardodc wrote:

stevemahaffey wrote:Absolutely gorgeous. The whip work is good, too

Ditto! LOL

I tried hard to look at the whip, and it seems that it doesn't have a popper...

Ditto as well! You have nice form. I still have some trouble with the forward flick too. But keep it up!

Okay, my advice - for whatever it's worth - after spending some time analyzing this today:

If we define the "flick" as the whip producing a U-shaped bend but never an actual loop, then (relative to your video) you need to keep your hand higher, slightly over shoulder height, and the forward motion needs to be more of a "throw" than a "push" - your arm should straighten all at once, with minimal wrist motion, and make it fast. Much as the underhand flick can be described as an underhand badminton hit, this overhand flick motion resembles a badminton smash. Imagine you're pulling the tip of the whip up-and-over from behind you.

Contrast this with what you're doing now (the "DeLongis-style modified cattleman's crack", which looks better to me anyway), where you'll find that as you begin your forward motion your hand remains vertical (and thus, your wrist becomes increasingly bent) as your arm extends, followed by snapping your wrist down which puts the loop into the whip.

what do you mean when you says ditto?

yeah hollywood 1340 i watched that video and trying to learn from that video too but apparently it is not coming the same...because what you do in this video is a flick?right?but somehow i turned it into a midified version of the cattlemen crack or a move wich Anthony De longis make .but i'm gonna try like adviced to work more with the elbow rather than with the shoulder.

Alright now i know!thanks!

Ignore that; see my follow-up.

Good morning everyone!
so this morning i made a new video trying to correct that move and making the "u"form... i let you watch and tell me if it's better and if this is more the flick move than the modified cattlemen's crack(wich by the way i would almost say i prefer,i find nice this loop!:-)) don't be too hardwith me though because it's still far away from perfect and clean move but it's just to know if i continue in this directionand if the move is correct.Also from the link arm i have a bad habit it's not the same than the right arm,need to correct that too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twl6Vhy3SoU
Thanks !

Until reading this thread, I thought I was doing the flick too... Now I know what the difference is... I mean, I called "flick" two different things.

No doubt you learn something new everyday!

How curious, I thought the whip was an Australian style bullwhip. Should watch more carefully.

ATB,

Aldo.

sylviarosat wrote:Good morning everyone!
so this morning i made a new video trying to correct that move and making the "u"form... i let you watch and tell me if it's better and if this is more the flick move than the modified cattlemen's crack(wich by the way i would almost say i prefer,i find nice this loop!:-)) don't be too hardwith me though because it's still far away from perfect and clean move but it's just to know if i continue in this directionand if the move is correct.Also from the link arm i have a bad habit it's not the same than the right arm,need to correct that too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twl6Vhy3SoU
Thanks !

Those are good flicks! I can see more of a U-shape in there. Nice work.

Alright thanks!so i'm gonna keep working on these ones and maybe put a video when i will be better!and now i can also perfectly see the diffenrence between what i'm doing now and what i was doing before!thanks to you!

What you did before is fine too. Both ways look good! Looking forward to that video!