Outer slots

[PhreeZone 15]

How does one remain in the slot at the end of a wacker? I was flipping through my videos from this summer/winter and it looks like I'm having some serious problems flying a 1 handed grip slot whil a 2 grip is'nt a major problem (still minor issues to be worked out). It seems that I keep getting tossed around and it just looks ugly. Is it the outer slots responcibility to keep the entire wacker stable or is it the wackers responcibility to be perfectly still?
Cause I don't wanna come back down from this cloud... ~ Bush

[skybytch 259]

Without seeing the video can't say if it you or the rest of the whacker... but the advice I was given about flying a whacker is legs out, drive toward the center and watch your mirror for fall rate... If everyone does that there'll be minimal tension and the whacker should fly clean.
pull and flare,
lisa
--
What would Scooby Doo?

[Jessica 0]

What's a whacker?

[Viking 0]

i think it looks like a weed wacker in motion like a throwing star with four blades on it. not certain though
I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver

[skybytch 259]

Pretty close Viking! A "weedwhacker" is a larger RW formation, usually a donut or star base with curving lines coming off of it - looks kinda like the business end of a weedwhacker hence the name. The curving lines are often referred to as "whackers"
pull and flare,
lisa
--
What would Scooby Doo?

[billvon 2,391]

>How does one remain in the slot at the end of a wacker?
By being agressive. The first challenge is to know where you have to be, and you can get a good sense of that during the dirt dive. Figure out where you are in relation to the base and how far out you should be. One of the challenges there is what to do if you get to your slot and the end of the wacker, where you have to dock, isn't there. You have two options - go to the end of the wacker, dock, then try to return to your slot, or fly your slot and let the wacker close on you. They both have pluses and minuses. Note that the second one is, strictly speaking, correct - you should always fly your slot and not your grips.
The second challenge is maintaining that position. When I fly wackers, I regularly have to drive forward, or sideslide, with all my might to maintain position. Don't let your grip get stretched out - if your arm is extended to the front of you, you will backslide. If it's extended out to the side, you'll sideslide away from the line. Keep that arm in its normal flying position, or even a little tighter - that will help you drive forward and in towards the line.
>Is it the outer slots responcibility to keep the entire wacker stable or is it the wackers responcibility to be perfectly still?
Everyone on the wacker has to fly to make it work. In my experience you can compensate for a maximum of one person not doing their job on the wacker, but not more than that. Everyone has to fly their slot and drive in. At any point you should be able to drop grips and maintain position. Sometimes, when the tension gets really bad due to one or more people backsliding, you just have to drop grips and let them see what they're doing to the line - once they go shooting backwards they may realize that they are loading the wacker. Before you do this, of course, make absolutely sure that _you're_ not the one that's going to go flying backwards.
A good drill for this is to build a "practice" wacker and have the last 3-4 people not take grips, just fly the slot in space. This gives the docked people good practice in not relaxing and backsliding (since you're not there to anchor them) and it gives the free-flying people good practice in just flying their slots.
-bill von