Singletail Tutorial, Part II

While learning and practicing to throw it is advisable to take safety precautions, starting with clothing. Long sleeved shirts, cotton, denim or even a leather bike jacket are good choices. For head protection, I have known of some people who initially started by wearing a motorcycle helmet. This may seem a bit extreme, but you are the best judge of how much or little protection you are willing to give yourself. If nothing else, as far as head protection, it is a VERY GOOD idea to wear safety goggles when first starting out. Ear protection in the form of earmuffs is also not a bad idea.

Part of learning to throw a whip is understanding the physics of the whip in flight. In a nutshell, the whip is designed to transport energy in the form of momentum, through the whip and release it at the popper end of the whip. By the time the momentum has reached the popper, the whip is often traveling faster than the speed of sound, or at least 750-900 mph. The "cracking" sound that you hear is a sonic boom created when the traveling popper breaks the sound barrier. You will also find that it does not take much energy from the thrower to send the whip at the desired velocity. Once the energy has been spent, physics dictates that the whip, by equal and opposite reaction, will ricochet back in the direction of the energy source, i.e. , you! For this reason, it is very important that whatever method you choose to throw a whip, never throw it directly in front of you. Instead, always throw the whip to one side or another. This will become clearer when you understand the basic throws.

To explain the throws, I'll use the "clock" paradigm to make the directions as clear as possible. Each explanation will ask you to envision a circle in a plane, with the various angles in the circle labeled from 1:00 to 12:00. Each angle is analagous to a number on a clock face.

A Circus Crack is a vertical throw. Stand with the whip to your side, and imagine a large vertical circle, with straight up at 12:00, directly behind your back at 9:00, and forward at 3:00. The movement consists of starting the handle at 6:00, bringing the handle straight up to the 12:00 position and throwing the whip forward. When the hand reaches the 3:00 position in front of you, throw the whip forward using your wrist. The actual cracking or cutting with the whip is done with the wrist rather than the shoulder. The follow through consists of continuing the whip back to the 6:00 position and following through ending around 7:00 or 8:00. Remember when throwing to keep the whip to your side rather than directly in front of the body. Once the whip is thrown, follow through by bringing the arm down and past your body. If you wish, you may find it easier to follow through by taking a step back with the same side that you are handling the whip. In other words, if you are throwing right handed, take a step back with your right foot when following through turning your body to the right, allowing the whip to freely travel back.

Similar to the Circus Crack, the Forward crack follows a throw similar to a overhead baseball throw. Rather than starting at the 6:00 position and moving to 12:00, start the handle at the 9:00 and begin a vertical arch as you would if you were pitching a ball. Like the Circus Crack, crack the whip with the wrist at the 3:00 position and follow through as in the previous throw with the handle ending back behind the body. As in the Circus Crack, envision throwing the momentum in the whip out at the popper, thus cracking the whip.

For the Horizontal throw, envision a circle on a horizontal plane, 12:00 being directly in front of you, 6:00 being directly behind. The Horizontal throw is begun by rotating the whip overhead along the horizontal clock plane to gain momentum. I have personally found it easier to rotate clockwise if you throw left handed and counterclockwise if you throw right. Once momentum is obtained, you cut back with your wrist, meaning reverse the rotation at 2:00 if right handed and 10:00 if left. Unlike the Circus and Forward Cracks, by cutting back you are reversing the momentum thus cracking the whip. After you cut back your follow through ending the wrist at around the 4:00 position if right handed, 8:00 if left.

Opposite horizontal refers to the direction of the cutting motion and is thrown much like a side ball. Start the throw with the handle at the 6:00 horizontal position, rotating the whip forward parallel to the ground. Note the rotation is the same as the of the horizontal throw above, i.e. , counter clockwise if you are right handed, clockwise if you are left handed. When the handle reaches the 12 noon position,continue the whip in the same direction of the rotation while cracking the whip by pulling the handle up with the wrist. Continue the rotation to follow through, returning the whip to 6:00. In this throw the whip is cracked by throwing off the momentum without changing the direction of the rotation.

When practicing these throws. I suggest that you use a signal whip due to the size of the tail and its convenience. If using a bullwhip of 8' or longer, it is better to practice outdoors in a open space. Regardless of the space, I always make it a practice to make a slow circular rotation with the whip before starting to crack. This will let you know if you have any potential obstructions , especially observers who may be standing around in your throwing area.

Always envision where you want the popper to crack, and aim for that position. At first you will have difficulty hitting your target, but over time your accuracy will improve.

Once you are comfortable with arial cracking, you can start trying to "place" the popper. Start with a propped up pillow or cushion and try to strike a preselected area, using any throw or a combination of throwing techniques that you have learned. Stuffed animals also work great for this exercise. Another means of practicing is to line up several empty aluminum cans in a row and knock them off one at a time without disturbing the others. As you get better, keep making the difficulty level higher.

After some time spent practicing these throws, you will begin to understand what I meant about the learning curve.

Do not overestimate your ability. A mistake made when first learning is to be expected, but a mistake made while throwing on a person could result in serious injury. The purpose of practice is to learn how your whip will react when you throw it, so that you will be able to throw it safely . Lots and lots of practice will help you learn to adjust your throw to direct the whip accordingly. Do not attempt to throw on a person until you can hit your target every time , with controlled force .

The above throws are the basic ones that Western performance artists learn for trick cutting work. There is an excellent video that describes in detail these throws called "Learn the Art of Whip Cracking Made Easy", now available in 2 volumes. Both videos are available through David Morgan and other Western Arts suppliers. An excellent online resource is the Bullwhip FAQ .

In the next installment, we'll discuss the "fine points" of using the whip in a BDSM scene.

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