Curriculum

Single whip skills

Single handed whip cracking is theoretically a limited realm, but so far has not been completely explored. New techniques are always being developed and we don’t know where the limitations lie. Below you will find a list of skills to work on if you want to develop mastery in various avenues of single whip cracking.

For tutorials for any of the moves below, make sure you check out our tutorial archive.

Building to the Arrowhead

  1. Cattleman’s crack
  2. Reverse cattleman’s crack
  3. Slow figure eight
  4. Fast figure eight
  5. Volley
  6. Skills 1 – 5, but on the opposite side of the body
  7. Breakaway (forward & backward)
  8. Arrowhead

Building to Hassett’s Four Corners

  1. Overhead crack
  2. Reverse overhead crack
  3. Slow figure eight (in overhead plane)
  4. Cow and calf
  5. Overhand flick
  6. Drum rol
  7. Slow helicopter
  8. Fast helicopter
  9. Fast figure eight (in overhead plane, overhanded)
  10. Fast figure eight (in overhead plane, underhanded)
  11. Sydney flash
  12. Hassett’s four corners

Target Cutting

  1. Understanding the coil
  2. Cattleman’s crack
  3. Sidearm flick
  4. Overhead crack
  5. tilt (??)

Tosses

  1. Simple release
  2. Underhand toss
  3. Elbow toss
  4. Gainer toss
  5. Helicopter toss
  6. Reverse elbow toss
  7. Wilks’ wonder toss
  8. Cutback toss

Double whip skills

Since single handed whip handling is still unsolved, two handed whip handling presents an exponentially deeper realm of theoretical possibilities. This being the case, it becomes impossible to represent the true scope of the discipline within a single learning plan. This curriculum can guide a new whip cracker through some established techniques, but it can never comprehensively explain how to plumb the unexplored territories in two handed whip cracking and flow.

Timing variations

  1. Slow figure eight (together)
  2. Slow figure eight (staggered)
  3. Slow figure eight (balanced)
  4. Fast figure eight (together)
  5. Fast figure eight (staggered)
  6. Fast figure eight (balanced. This move is also called “The Rally”)
  7. Slow figure eight (each-way)
  8. Fast figure eight (each-way)
  9. Volley (together)
  10. Volley (staggered)
  11. Volley (each-way)

Hand independence

  1. Cutler’s march
  2. Cross march
  3. Changing eights
  4. Death march
  5. Tasmanian crossover
  6. Intertwine

  • translating a single whip combination into 2 handed combinations, informed by stagger and plane alteration
  • left-right-separating routines and drills