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Previous Tips on Tying

Basics of how to ty the goat.

1. Holding the goat's legs with your left hand, with  your hand on top & your fingers on the sides, so that your left thumb can hold the back legs of the goats (don't cup the legs with your fingers pointing up at you), look at the web of your left hand to help your ty go around the goat's legs & not his toes..... 

2.  Have your head down & LOW to the goat's legs. This does 2 things, #1 helps you get your wraps around the bones & not toes, #2 saves time.

3.  I like my string in my mouth, coming out the right side with the tail buckled over and ran through my back middle belt loop.  I buckle my string over through my belt loop so it has more drag than just running it through my belt loop so that it doesn't fall out & get in the way, plus it will come out of your belt loop more rapidly when you want it too.

4.  My right hand starts at my mouth (because that's where I KNOW my string is) with my fingers pointing up & elbow in close to my body, kind of like you are cupping your mouth to yell at someone far away.  I slide my right hand down my string to about shoulder height so that I will be pulling on the tail of my string, not the part that's in my mouth & OUT as far as I can go so that my arm is straight out to the side of me with my elbow extended.  The farther you slide, the more string you'll have to snap on & the quicker you'll ty, so slide the full length of your arm.  My right thumb will be up like I am hitch-hiking, with my right pinky finger curling around the string to control it.  My other three fingers curl too, but don't have a death grip on the string.

5. I bring my right hand close to the goat's toes & snap my wrist down & follow through like you would if you were shootin hoops in basketball, breaking my wrist for the follow through.  My hand is close to the toes of the goat if not touching.  When snapping your wrist down, it should also drive your right elbow up. The 'follow through' will help bring your string around the legs for the circle. (next step)

6.  After snapping, I am going to try to keep my elbow still & finish my wrap using my wrist only.  So I draw a circle with my wrist around the toes of the goat.  The circle should be big enough to enclose all the legs, so the longer legged goats, you'll have to have a bigger circle, but try to only use your wrist. 

7.  After circling around the toes, I should have one complete wrap on.  Now I take a death grip with my right hand & PULL to my right hip pocket & slide along my string some to make a big hole for my left hand to come through. You should slide about 6 inches. 

8.  After pulling my wrap tight & sliding some on my string, my right hand is going to keep that same tension & come up close to my face, so that my strings are parallel. My left hand is going to let go of the legs & if you keep your head STILL & tension with your right hand, your goat's legs will stay in the wrap ( it also helps to squeeze with BOTH knees).  My left hand will come from my body going out (like you were to shake someone's hand left  handed), through the string end that is in my mouth & the string end that's in my right hand.  My right hand is going to cross over my left hand & I will turn my left wrist so that my hand looks like it could pat myself  on the chest & I am going to hook the string end that's in my mouth with my left thumb.  With my left thumb I will pull the string end out of my mouth & back through towards my body.  This should all be happening close to your face in front of your body.  Now you should have a knot that looks like how your cross your shoe laces. 

9.  My right hand (keeping that tension) is going to go down & underneath the goat's legs & my left hand will follow.  This will get your knot on the bottom of the legs.  Keep your shoulders square to the ground which will help get your knot on the bottom of the legs, which you want instead of the knot being on the side, as the goat's power will come from the front leg & you don't want your knot resting on the side of the front leg.  If it is, make sure you're not tipping up with your left shoulder.

10.  I pull tight & slide both hands to the end of my strings to complete the ty & get my hands up!

When spinning your first wrap on the goat's legs, it's important that you snap your wrist over the toe of the top back legs, as this is usually the foot that sticks farthest out.  If you fail to snap over that toe, your first wrap will go in between the back two legs & usually only catch the bottom back leg and the front leg.  It's really difficult to keep goats tied when splitting the legs and it's a timely mistake as well.  So train yourself to snap all the way over the top back leg.

Other factors to help get your ty on all three legs: 1. Head down & close to the goat's legs  2. Slide full length of your arm out to the side so you have more string to spin on.

The knot of your ty

You want your knot of your tie to be on the bottom of the goat's legs, as this is the most secure way to finish your tie.  If your knot is on the side of his legs, then if the goat strains, he's applying pressure directly to the knot of the ty, as compared to the wraps if the knot were on the bottom of his legs. 

To help get your knot on the bottom of the goat's legs, make sure that you sit squarely on your goat, you shouldn't be sitting on the goat's butt when you're tying, but more in the middle of his body, with your left knee on his shoulder & right knee in the dirt behind the back legs. You also want to keep your shoulders square to the ground as you ty.  Don't let your left shoulder "peak" up anticipating the flag.  Flaggers flag off your hands, not any other part of your body.  So keep your shoulders down and square to the ground to help keep your knot on the bottom, giving you a tighter tie.

"All right Mister, let me tell you what winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, give more than anyone else."

~ Vince Lombardi

Some girls look real fast tying, because their body is moving a million miles an hour while they are tying. My general rule in goat tying is the least amount of movement you make with your body, the faster you'll be. And this is true in tying. Try to keep your body as still as possible when tying & make your arm & WRIST to most of the work. By keeping your body still, you won't be inadvertently moving the goat's legs, which would cause you to mess up on your ty. Get your head down & close to your goat's legs & keep it still! Keep your shoulders square to the ground & don't let them rotate up while you are tying- the judge flags off your HANDS, not your upper body or head- so let your hands come up, but keep your head & shoulder down to make a secure ty.  

"One important key to success is self-confidence.  An important key to self-confidence is preparation." ~ Arthur Ashe