Caber questions/problems...!!!

First and foremost my main problem is that I have no access to a caber.What kind of execises or equipment can simulate a caber..I know there is no replacing the real thing.The caber is by far my worse event.All help is greatly appreciated..Thanks.

Aside from specific lifts a really good thing you can do is simple dry runs.  Run like you have a caber in your hands and work on the timing of your plant/pull, the timing of the plant and pull is the most critical part of turning a caber IMO.  Anticipate the pull before you are fully planted so that you actually start the pull when you do plant, this prevents loss of momentum, and having the caber fall to far from you.  Drill your hips forward, extend to the tips of your toes and make sure you pull all the way above your head (lift) and then pull back behind your head (tourque) pull complete.  You should finish on the balls of your feet with your back arched and hands actually behind your head. STOIC!

Michael,

  When you get settled, make the drive due west 1.5 hours.  I have a few that you can use.  It doesn't do you much good now, but it will in the near future.

 -Dave

Actually, you've got a good point about speed.  I was really struggling with my practice caber for quite a while, because I wasn't really controlling it:  I'd pick it and immediately try to get going, and never really have good control.  To get past this, I decided I'd practice by just picking it and controlling it:  I allowed myself to move forward or backward, or side-to-side to gain/retain control, but no running allowed.  When I was about to lose it, I'd just drop it.

Finally, I picked it, controlled it, and said to myself, "ah, what the heck", and planted and pulled, and it turned.  I wouldn't say that cabers have been easy ever since, but they've been a heck of a lot easier.

-Wayne

Mike,call me.I lost your cell # somewhere.Or maybe my wife pitched it?You are the anti-Christ to her.Either way give me a buzz.Just got back from Carbondale.Chris Snider was there and said you could train with him.Dudes a trip.Gotta train with someone that has a caber.Kinda like boxing,you can train all you want,but you don't how good you are until you get hit.

Yeah I know,but I know Mike quite well.He'll get it.Taking a shot from a caber could hurt a little worse.I for one don't stand around if I start to loose one.I'll take a dive every time to avoid a KO.

Barn poles or telephone poles would be your best bet if you are not one to go "lumberjackin".  The cabers that Sean and I train on are all telephone/barn poles.  You can get the sizes you want and/or cut them to your needs.  Most lumber yard will have them.

You can train for power and quickness all you want in the weight room but there is nothing to substitute for the caber its self.  The timing is important but so is just having it lean on you, picking it, and balancing it.  There is a huge difference at a games if you have been practicing.  Instead of freaking out when you step up the the caber it feels like just another day of practice.  You can relax and focus more on turning a 12 instead of wondering if you'll even pick it.

Find one, it is worth the search!

Someday you will run....you will have no choice. 

But then again, i'm probably not one to talk, as i don't own a caber and have never practiced it.

You can show me a few weeks Mike....

Some thoughts: V-E-L-O-C-I-T-Y is the number one
componenet in ANY throw...so if we wanted you to
NOT be sccessful...DON'T run...!

PLACEBO Caber tossing...back in the day...Stan
Russell would run with a sack of cement or "wet"
sand...you can use a metal pipe (12 -15 feet)
aluminum light poles are AWESOME (check with Cal
Trans or your local street dept. for wrecked ones)   
Big PVC will work as well.

I would practice the pick OVER and OVER again as
this is where MOST throws are lost...!

Gotta go to class !

I can`t thank everybody enough for the help..I'm gonna try a couple of the suggestions mentioned and will definitely update everyone on my progress.BillB I PM`ed ya..and DaveCarl you also..Again thank you very much for the help.

sorry,

wrong post.

-Jason I

Yes, Larry is like a pine vampire.  He bites into it and sucks out all the resin to use for his cult of the undead caber tossers.  All who use his tackey have an immortal hold on any implement they grasp.

Tim Pinkerton wrote: You can train for power and quickness all you want in the weight room but there is nothing to substitute for the caber its self.  The timing is important but so is just having it lean on you, picking it, and balancing it.  There is a huge difference at a games if you have been practicing.  Instead of freaking out when you step up the the caber it feels like just another day of practice.  You can relax and focus more on turning a 12 instead of wondering if you'll even pick it.

Nice bro, I totally agree, especially with the "Instead of" part

Oh yea Jason I. email me bro Deakion@yahoo.com

Edited by Deakion

If you've got no caber, you're much better off picking almost anything than you are just lifting weights.  In fact, my first caber turn came in picking practice:  I picked it with no intention of pulling, just intended to pick it and control it.  As soon as it started to lean too much to control, I'd drop it.  In this particular case (about pick number 100 or so), I picked it and just stood there, finally saying, "ah, what the heck," dipped, pulled, and turned it.

I personally don't think you need a particularly heavy caber for practice.  Length is more useful, but again it doesn't need to be anything heroic.  My practice caber is 16' long and 85 lbs, but frankly it doesn't have to be even that heavy to be useful.  In competition, cabers always feel lighter.  A 115-120 lb caber feels no heavier to me than my practice caber.

Now, the main trick with caber control is that, until you're used to it, by the time you realize which direction the caber's leaning, it's too late to correct with a small control input.  Thus, what you're trying to learn is pretty subtle.  It's not at all difficult to hurt yourself with a caber, so give it a lot of respect:  as soon as it starts to go, just drop it, plain and simple, and get away from it.

The other big trick with caber tossing is pulling before it leans away from you very much.  Ideally, it passes through vertical as you get to the bottom of your dip, but with the top of the caber moving forward.  Thus, you pull more or less straight up on the butt, getting a max effect on the center of gravity of the caber, and let the caber's forward momentum handle the turning in the air.

In practice, this means you dip for your pull earlier than you think you should.  The other practical effect is that your dip and pull should be done in one motion.  There's a strong temptation to dip and then sit there waiting.  Waiting for what?  After you do your pull, you realize you were waiting for failure.  As Roy Bogue suggested, you should be thinking about starting your pull even before you have completed your dip.

-Wayne