The Mechanics of a Proper Swing

I have enjoyed reading this thread because it helped me think through my own swings and figure out what is behind my best ones. My findings: when I just commit, the swing is seamless. When I "hope for the best, plan for the worst" I tend to need that plan. I think the most critical component is confidence to stick the landing, knowing that your mind and body can figure out the particulars when the landing comes. Since reading, thinking, and experimenting, I am getting more confident and landing more smoothly. Thanks for the discussion.
 
tree competition circa 2003/04 they used to do a masters challenge tree at the penn del east for the top 5, (which they stopped because it didn't mean anything)...
Was a big swing to get from one side of this monster co-dom to the other.. Mike Teti made 3 attempts, great push off, big swing, just barely missing his grip, then spinning wildly back to the first stem... Very dramatic, very cool....
The came big jon, he nonchalantly dropped down another 8-10 feet, gave what looked like little more than a gentle push off, and easily reached out to grab a 6' sprout that was growing back towards the first stem, pulled himself in hand over hand and scampered right up the second stem without hesitation.. It was so smooth and easy looking, it was almost unimpressive, if you didn't know better..

That was a really good lesson in making a swing... how to accomplish the task with the least effort and risk..... anyone else remember that tree?.. pretty sure it was on roberts Rd in Bryn Mawr..
 
I don't get to do big swings nearly as much as I'd like. Out trees are too codominant and there is rarely enough canopy far enough below the TIP for an effective swing. Often times to get the distance I need I'm so far below the target branch that I just end up descending nearly to the branch union and climbing the other stem.
 
Not anymore I have a TreeMotion Supper Light. I would like to put some suspenders on it though. It sure helps my hips feel better at the end of the day. Plus when I have rigging rope, block, saw ect. it helps keep my saddle from sagging.

I think the best swing I ever did was in a Three trunk Pecan tree. I had just cut a branch that lodged on a different stem from where I was at and the ground crew couldn't budge it even though it was attached to rigging. I backed up toward the tip of one branch in the opposite direction from the hung up piece, turned around and ran toward the branch. While in mid air I pulled my hitch flew over the cut branch and lit on a branch near it like a bird. Of course none of this was embellished.

My worst swing ever goes like this. I was dismantling a three trunk maple. For clarity purposes I shall refer to the stem I was tied to as A, the stem I was jumping towards as B and the the stem I bruised my tail bone on as C. Well, I jumped towards B from A, grabbed a twig that snapped and on my way back to A managed to smack my tail bone on a branch collar belonging to C (no it was not a stub) from one of my previous cuts. It hurt to sit for a week.
 
RE: treezybreez - Ouch!

My worst swing was in an American Elm and was unintentional. TIP was in another lead and I had just worked my way up to a limb at the edge of the roof line. I cut some suckers out of the crotch while standing on that limb but in error, I planned to finish the cuts in a moment and went to work on something else. Also in error, I didn't lanyard in. Reached out to cut something with the handsaw, tripped on one of the sucker stubs and took a swing backwards into another lead which I hit head first...well, the back of my head. Hardhat went flying (no chinstrap). Wasn't fun but no major injuries. I had my handsaw and hardhat sent back up to me and finished the tree. Of course my legs were a little shaky for about ten minutes.

And early in my career I took some unintentional swings very close to the ground. Both of which were coming down out of heavy leaning live oaks, really more like arched trees, with the ground sloping downhill toward the lean. One was hanging over a river and I was working my way down the trunk carefully, slipped at about 3' from the ground and I swung into the river :) The ground guys loved that one.

The other was on my property, but same thing, coming down the trunk, got close to the ground, fiddled with something on my saddle, lost my balance and swung downhill into a holly tree. That one hurt! The holly was coming down anyway so I enjoyed cutting that one up.
 
Recently I was in a large white pine, doing some windsailing. I was descending after finishing the prune whe I noticed a hanger in the lowest branch on the back side of the tree. I had a TIP on the lawn side of the trunk, levered myself around the opposite side and pushed off away from the lawn, to gracefully grab it. Got the hanger and then swung magnificently past the trunk, about fifteen feet out over the lawn, while at the same time descending in a controlled albeit rapid manner. However I failed to notice all the brush trapping the end of my line from swinging out with me, so my descent stopped short and I swung like an anchor (heavy, and without brains) back into the trunk of the tree...backwards. No hands or feet in front of me, just shoulder and ribs. scrapes and embarrassment. Nobody was looking though, so it never happened. But now you all know so...
 
LOL, brush in your line can be a problem for sure.

Your story reminds me of how many times I've tripped over brush/logs, seen someone else do it, or just heard about it. We always make sure everyone's OK first and then we laugh our butt off. Glad you didn't get hurt.
 
Treezybreez said:
That was a time I regretted not flush cutting. I often practice pruning cuts on removals probably because it's habit.
Click to expand...
Funny, removals are the only time when I try to cut as flush as possible. Too many times I've regretted not doing it. If it's not a rope getting hung up on something it's a limb being lowered. Sometimes on those loblolly pines though it's a lost cause trying to cut a branch collar off. I swear you could add an hour to the job just doing that.
 
I took a very fun little swing yesterday... I was clearing a weeping cherry from the roof... standing on a ladder I needed to get around the opposite side of the trunk..... pushed off the ladder to the right, reached out and grabbed the gutter with my right hand and used it to pull myself out away from the trunk and torque my body around so I landed feet on the trunk, facing the ladder...

Interestingly though, I wasn't planning on using the gutter, I just noticed it in the moment when I pushed off and used it instinctively...
 
After watching Joe Harris and Scott Forrest swing it really takes it to the next level. Every detail is so spot on. If anyone was at TCI Expo and watched Joe climbing around on the scaffolding that Sherrill had set up they would know what I'm talking about. There were plenty of times I thought he was going to just bail into the side but his feet still landed perfectly onto the rails. Scott Forrest last year in Toronto bombs out of the handsaw station and lands delicately on the limb that almost everyone else climbed down to. Awe inspiring for sure!

As for the mechanics of the swings, we still need to focus on fine tuning our climbing system as well. If your hitch is going to lock up and you need to drop precisely 5 feet then look out because you aren't going to make it. I think that having your system be second nature is a huge portion of it. Grabbing above your hitch and lifting your legs Tarzan style is another great way of making those swings higher opposed to a straight across swing.
 
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