unwhipping a whip

I searched this forum and used "whip" as the keyword and came up with three pages of threads...

http://www.dirtrider.net/forums3/search.php?searchid=30356

I've been working on doing whips but I'm having a hard time at it. I can get the whip out there a little bit but I can't tell how far I've gone. So far bringing it back hasn't been a problem, I just shift my weight and look the direction I want to go with my head leading the way and so far it's worked. I haven't tried to really throw one out there yet because I'm afraid I can't bring it back.

I've read a lot of articles and browsed the forums trying to find the secret tips for learning to do whips. All that I've found so far seem to be more of an (what I would call) advanced maneuver to throw sic whips. I guess what I'm looking for is more of a beginner friendly whip tips approach. I'm sure I could go out there and toss it sideways and flat but I doubt I could bring it back during the same day. :eek:

I see some of the guys that do descent whip doing them off the side of jumps, is there an advantage to that?

I also saw a friend this weekend that was doing some very nice whips the last few weeks. He says it's real easy, "just sorta lean a little and it goes out there and when you want to bring it back just lean a little the other direction and it'll come back." Famous last words, one of his whips didn't come back Sunday as he sheered his collarbone just past the rotator cuff. That had to hurt.

joereitman said:

http://www.acemotocross.com/whip_principles.htm

Click to expand...

I've seen this one, it's probably the best yet.

The biggest problem I've had so far when whipping is I sometimes land not pointed the direction I intend to go. I've been practicing on a tabletop in the middle of a rhythm section that has a camel hump 1st, nice tabletop and then a smaller table with a very slight face. I do the whip on the middle table but I often land pointed off the side so I'm riding off the side of the last table. Perhaps it'd be better to practice on a single jump?? I guess what I'm looking for is what's the best kind of jump landing to practice whips on? Is it better on a tabletop with a ramp landing or a single with a flat landing? Another factor is the size of jump to work on? I know the longer I'm in the air, the more time I have to pull off the whip but it also involves more speed which equals more pain if not done correctly.

Jeff, I've been working on them lately too. I've found that it helps to pick a fairly big single on the track and whip that one jump all day long (more of a whip to scrub off speed). The more I practiced turning up the jump face,weighting my inside peg, transferring my weight, and turning the bars back the direction I wanted to go, the more comfortable I felt. It gets automatic pretty quickly. The best thing about this approach to the whip is that it helped me in a lot of other areas as well. It REALLY helped me with getting off the side of the bike and letting the bike float up under me on the bigger doubles. It also helps me scrub off speed on the small jumps by staying low. The next step is the tabletop and eventually the double. One word of caution that I learned quickly, be careful on really windy days!

I think it helps in windy days to know how to whip. If you can whip the bike into the wind, and let the wind bring it back for you, its easier to travel in a straight line. Singles are the worst to practice whips on imo, because if you dont bring it back and/or land rear wheel first it gets kinda scary. Landing a little sideways on a downslope is more forgiving i think.

ha s your front tire ever dropped to far for comfort over a jump? what was the first thing you did? it is called a panic rev but it actually serves a purpose a motorcycles rear tire is a high powered gyroscope if you can throw it sideways even a little bit to get it back rev the bike and the gyroscopic effect of the rear tire will bring it back or throw you spinning wildly out of control either way it should be cool.