I am on a quest to get ringers at one of my local towers to use as little effort as possible. The more efficient we can be in our ringing, the longer we can continue, and the easier it will be to ring heavier bells.
A big part of this quest is teaching people how striking and handling are connected. It is a very close relationship but often counterintuitive.
A key lesson is: when the striking of one stroke is off, adjust the handling of the other stroke to fix it.
For example, if you’re leading and need to get your backstrokes in tighter/quicker, you should pull your handstrokes less. This should cause the rope to go up a little earlier and not quite as far, and then come back down earlier which is the outcome you want—earlier backstrokes. The backstroke was the problem but the solution is to change the handstroke. You might also have to adjust your backstroke—most importantly, be prepared for it to go up and come down earlier! But adjusting the backstroke won’t have much effect on when the backstroke sounds. Rather, it will affect the following handstroke.
This aspect of ringing is the main reason it’s important to think ahead in methods. By the time you start pulling a stroke, it’s already too late to change when that stroke will sound. All you can do is change where you will be for the next stroke. Efficient ringing involves treating each stroke as preparation for the next, always thinking one blow ahead.
Among Sallies and Bobs 