Getting stopped is harder than getting started.
Apparently what applies to bad habits applies to swinging on a slackrope: stopping is more difficult than starting. Coming to a controlled stop requires far more skill, discipline and diligence than swinging till I swing right off.
Because of the unusually warm and dry winter we're having here out in the western United States, I've been able to practice on my slackrope outside off and on through the winter. Standing lateral swing has been a focus of my training for nearly six or seven months now. The fact that I'm just barely learning how to come back to rest is indicative of how difficult this particular skill is for me. In the last week I had a major minor breakthrough--I actually managed to
stop swinging after I'd gotten going.
I can't do it consistently yet; far too often I fall off far too quickly to even contemplate stopping, but a handful of times I've shakily managed to bring the rope back nearly to resting, and twice I've managed to get it completely still, then set it swinging again. I still have plenty of practice ahead of me to be able to start, increase, maintain, and wind down a swing consistently, but I'm taking a minute to savor this mini-momentous first.
