This is a tricky question....

Posted by Indy French from syr-24-169-84-215.twcny.rr.com on April 23, 2001 at 00:19:03:

In Reply to: Good Whip posted by Chris on April 22, 2001 at 20:53:37:

Hey Chris,

I've been cracking bullwhips since 1993. My grandfather taught me how but most of the training came in the form of trial and error and a lot of self-inflicted punishment. I own two 10' Mark Allens with a 10' David Morgan on the way. Just telling you to give you an idea as to how serious I am about my hobby.

You asked if it was you or the whip? OK. This is tricky. See, it very well could be the whip, but there are some things I need to know. One, what kinds of whips are these, how long are they, and how much did they cost? The answers to these questions will give someone a good idea of how much the whip contributes to your problem. Along with that question also comes the question, do they have crackers on the ends and if so, are they worn off? Have they ever been replaced?

On the flip side of this coin, it very well could be you. I am training two friends of mine right now and they have a VERY hard time getting the whip to crack. Again, the bullwhip takes many hours to "get the hang of". I remember working on the bullwhip for days without any results while seemingly emulating the Drover's crack that my grandfather demonstrated for me. Then one day, BANG! Suddenly, I had it. But then I had to see if I could repeat it, and that was a whole new bag of frustrations.

I wish there was more I could tell you. Ideally, one would need to see the whips and see you attempting to crack them to make any final judgements. What I can recommend is going to www.bullwhip.org and reading up on their descriptions of different techniques, and attempt to emulate those as best as possible. At least then you can determine if it is "you" hindering the whip's performance.

If you want to ask some more questions or hash this out further, feel free to e-mail me at indyfrench@indy-web.com. I hope I can help.

Regards,

Mike

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: Hey Chris,

: I've been cracking bullwhips since 1993.  My grandfather taught me how but most of the training came in the form of trial and error and a lot of self-inflicted punishment.  I own two 10' Mark Allens with a 10' David Morgan on the way.  Just telling you to give you an idea as to how serious I am about my hobby.

: You asked if it was you or the whip?  OK.  This is tricky.  See, it very well could be the whip, but there are some things I need to know.  One, what kinds of whips are these, how long are they, and how much did they cost?  The answers to these questions will give someone a good idea of how much the whip contributes to your problem.  Along with that question also comes the question, do they have crackers on the ends and if so, are they worn off?  Have they ever been replaced?

: On the flip side of this coin, it very well could be you.  I am training two friends of mine right now and they have a VERY hard time getting the whip to crack.  Again, the bullwhip takes many hours to "get the hang of".  I remember working on the bullwhip for days without any results while seemingly emulating the Drover's crack that my grandfather demonstrated for me.  Then one day, BANG!  Suddenly, I had it.  But then I had to see if I could repeat it, and that was a whole new bag of frustrations.

: I wish there was more I could tell you.  Ideally, one would need to see the whips and see you attempting to crack them to make any final judgements.  What I can recommend is going to www.bullwhip.org and reading up on their descriptions of different techniques, and attempt to emulate those as best as possible.  At least then you can determine if it is "you" hindering the whip's performance.

: If you want to ask some more questions or hash this out further, feel free to e-mail me at indyfrench@indy-web.com.  I hope I can help.

: Regards,

: Mike

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