Want to improve your balance, coordination and focus? Slacklining is a perfect way to do all the above and have a bit of fun at the same time...
Balance is paramount in Parkour as well as your everyday activities. A good sense of balance can mean the difference between a nasty bail or a graceful recovery. A certain portion of the skill is inherent in each person, but being a physical skill, it can be learned and improved over time with diligent training. There are many methods to train balance, ranging from walking rails to balance boards, but one of the most challenging and fun is slacklining. Slacklining began in the climbing community, owing its inception to the lazy afternoons that would ensue during the dirtbagging climber’s rest days. Looking for an activity to pass the time, and more than likely influenced by questionable substances, they dug through their equipment and came up with some one inch climbing webbing, a few carabiners, and a vaguely ingenious plan. They strung the webbing between two trees and used the ‘biners and some friction knots to pull tension on the line. They then attempted to walk this like a tight-rope, only it more-closely resembled a precarious trampoline. Over time, slackliners invented tricks, taking to the air to land in the middle of the wobbly line, or stringing the line across two points high above the ground to walk an extremely unstable long-line hundreds of feet above the valley floor. For the aspiring traceur (or circus performer) low-level slacklining has innumerable benefits. The line is unstable, moving up and down, back and forth, so it requires an interesting mix of core strength and stability, a still mind, and a bit of balls to master. By training on a slackline you will improve not only your general balance, but your overall agility, stability, commitment, and focus, all important factors all throughout life, not just on a run. Building a slackline is relatively easy, requiring only a good length of one-inch, climbing-spec webbing and some carabiners. If you wish to get a bit fancier or just want make setup a bit quicker, there are a few companies that sell ready-made slacklining kits, featuring ratcheting tie-straps, all the required hardware and a length of webbing with sewn loops on the end for easy setup. Whatever you do, take your time and work up slowly, using the assistance of a good spotter or a friend’s shoulder to learn the skill before venturing out on your own. Falls from a slackline have a tendency to happen unexpectedly, sending you speeding face-first into the ground before you know what happened. Another risk is racking yourself on the line, with the obvious slapping butt-floss affect none-too-appealing! Included are some resources for setting up your own slackline. There are some great resources for slacklining in general, and the sport is picking up some speed and becoming more popular, so it shouldn’t be hard to find somebody in your general area who would be interested in coming out and walking the line on a sunny afternoon. Good luck and happy slacking! Rockclimbing.com Slacklining forum Slackline Brothers Building your own Slackline
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