Speeding up your run starts with how you leave the box, because good balance will allow you to pick your rope up early enough to get a few swings off and still catch fast. Everyone needs two swings before they throw – even the guys at the NFR, which is why they start swinging in the box.
Have you ever gotten to your steer before you were ready to throw? You need to work on starting to swing that rope when you’re barely to the front of the box. Ask yourself how many swings you can get off before you get to the steer. You really have to work on being aggressive and getting your arm up to get off two good swings before you get there on a slow steer. It may be easier to swing earlier if you’re not clutching the saddle horn in the corner. I find that much of the time, people learned to hold the horn in the box because they were getting behind – they’d been trying to stand up as their horse left the corner, and were getting thrown back. If this has happened to you, point your toes down a little more and keep pressure on your feet to hold them in that position. Keep your chest just a touch ahead of your center of balance in the seat as your horse leaves. If your feet are under your hips or just a touch behind them and your chest is just a touch forward, you shouldn’t get behind or need to hold your horn. Your first swing sets up your second swing, and your second swing sets up your delivery. Focus on making that first swing great, so the second will also be good. Of the two swings, the second is most important because of the way it affects your delivery. Be wary of leaning forward too much, which shortens your swing and kills your extension – and of being thrown back, which brings your tip up in the air. Until you get really good at getting a good first swing off, you might need to take three swings before you deliver. Maybe with the first swing, your tip was too low or too far out to the right, and on the second swing it’s better, but still not good enough for you to throw. Finally, the third swing is really good and you can deliver and catch. Sometimes people who try to deliver out of that mediocre second swing will blame their delivery. But they should blame the fact that they didn’t have their rope up soon enough or their first two swings just weren’t as good as they needed to be. I work hard on helping people perfect their first two swings. Try it yourself and see how Smart Roping can improve your game. For more, visit www.smartroping.com.
Visit my web site, smartroping.com, for more.