Whip Cracking is an enjoyable sport for all ages.
Children have started cracking as young as three years of age!
As in any sport, there are a number of safety precautions that need to be taken to avoid injury.
When cracking a whip, every care must be taken to protect your own body and other people around you.
Remember, when learning a new crack, it is quite easy to have the whip lick your legs or another part of your body.

It even happens to the experts!

A good safety precaution is to wear long trousers, a wide-brimmed hat and wrap-around sunglasses or safety glasses to protect your eyes.
Always check that the area you are cracking in is clear, away from any obstacles and a safe distance from other people.
Occasionally, the Cracker can slip off or the end of the Fall can break.
When the cracker leaves the whip, it can shoot off in any direction, traveling at the speed of sound.
Every care must be taken to ensure other people are standing well away, so that the runaway Cracker does not hit someone unintentionally.

Another common injury can occur when the person is standing on the whip without realising and swings the whip to crack it.
When all the slack is taken up, the whip and your hand suddenly stop and the handle can quite easily hit you in the face!

These safety tips are not intended to scare or discourage you, however it is important that the utmost care and precautions are taken.
In general, when the whip is about to crack, it is traveling in a direction away from you, therefore preventing injury to yourself.

Always remember that whips are not to be used in a deliberate manner to hurt animals or people.

Reprinted with kind permission of Angie Mooney