So not only do you need time to learn the skills to balance, but your body needs time to develop.īack to the advice I give for standing on a line for the first time… Be a “wet noodle”. So our lack of success to walk the line in our first few attempts isn’t due to some mental block, it’s due to lack of muscle fibers – a physiological limitation. We spend 99% of our life on solid ground, whereas this line isn’t so solid. When you first begin slacklining, your micro-stabilizer muscles have to adapt and develop. You’re moving the line.” It’s the best philosophical response I’ve come up with, and it’s quite true. I smile and say, “Well… Actually the line isn’t moving. The most common question I get, when someone places their foot on the line in preparation to stand up is, “How do I get this line to stop shaking?” The answer lies in our micro-stabilizer muscles. You’re probably wondering, “what makes standing and walking a piece of webbing so difficult?”. Then a couple weeks later I was able to walk across the line, after putting in another dozen hours of practice. Thinking back to my first day on the line… I spent about three hours just trying to stand up in one spot for fifteen seconds. Quickly their dreams will crash and burn. Too often, a newbie will jump on the line with the intention of sprinting across it.
![slack lining slack lining](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/bendbulletin.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/41/24114f58-d27d-11ea-a74a-630d32b702c7/5f22edfa6d58d.image.jpg)
In this case, you must be able to stand before you can walk. Next… I repeat a thousand times that you have to crawl, before you can walk. The moment you hold your breath, you’ll tense up, and fall off the line. I have someone pick out a focal point on the tree, instead of staring at their shaky feet, and give them the reminder to breathe, and breathe often. The two most important tips are to breath, and focus. And perhaps I enjoy a good chuckle.Īfter a couple failed attempts at standing, I’ll begin giving advice. I do this because I’m a big believer that experience is the best teacher - so that they can understand just how difficult slacklining is. At first I sit back and let them do their thing, with no backseat coaching. Going back to the moments when I’m approached in the park, it’s because someone wants to to try slacklining, in which I’m eager to teach. Although the best advice I’ve been given is that, “if you can walk it in the park, you can walk it in the air”. Highlining amps the mental game up to 100. This way if they fall, they stay attached to the line (similar to rock climbing). While this looks terrifying and dangerous, it’s quite safe because the Slacker wears a harness to be tethered to the line. Highlining, which resembles tight-rope walking, is when a slackline is strung-up very high in the air. Simple beginner tricks are either drop knees, chest bounces, or bouncing on your butt to your feet. Tricklining, is the extreme sport version of slacklining, where people bounce on the line to do various tricks, such as flips. Once someone has perfected the ability the walk across the line multiple times, they will usually progress to tricklining, or highlining. This is more challenging because the longer the line, the less tension it will have, therefore making the line sway more. As someone gets more comfortable on the line, they typically lengthen the line (ie: find two trees that are farther apart to set up) to make the activity more difficult. A Slacker (term for someone on the line) will test their balance by either standing on the line, or by trying to walk across the entire line without falling. A beginner’s line may be anywhere from 20ft to 80ft long, only one-to-three feet above the ground, and either one or two inches in width. Slacklining – in it’s simplest form – is a piece of webbing strung between two points. Whether you’ve never heard of slacklining, or have seen it once or twice, I want to give you the rundown of this activity.
![slack lining slack lining](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZMQMgm8YBUE/T_JWUzVNEAI/AAAAAAAAAGk/8VlbEbg2xQU/s1600/scott1.jpg)
It will test your balance and mental limits. This activity is popular amongst climbers, and outdoor enthusiast. The same thing that happened to me a few years ago. These moments may just bring me a greater sense of joy than actually walking the line, because it means I’ve piqued their curiosity, and hopefully have given slacklining a new raving fan. It never fails, that I have at least one – but usually a handful – of people come up to me, and want to try to walk the line. Often times when I’m setup down at Gray’s Lake, it’s not uncommon for people to gaze in wonderment of what this “thing” is.
![slack lining slack lining](https://assets.rbl.ms/14837882/980x.jpg)
I never knew that such a simple concept could be so challenging, addicting and rewarding. One of my favorite ways to pass time in Des Moines, is to walk a line strung between trees. Introduction To Slacklining: The Perfect Activity To Perfect Your Balance