I spent the latter half of my summer getting into footbag. Through this forum, I met up with super cool guys from the Rain City Shred who all took a young padawan under their wings and showed me the ropes. HUGE thanks to Reilley and Justin for helping me get proper gear, giving endless encouragement, and inviting me along to kick. Seriously, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without you guys!
ANYWHO, I unfortunately had to leave and go back to college (Central Washington University), but that doesn't mean I'm going to quit kicking and drop the exciting hobby that is footbag! This blog will help me keep track of my progress and self motivation to improve through practice.
So yeah! Stats:
Age: 23
Experience: 2-3 months give or take? COMPLETELY fresh at the start, no hacky sack skills whatsoever. Uncoordinated as blind baby giraffe
Gear: Lavers, Liz Nation 32 panel metal pellet bag
I'm not very consistent in anything as of now, but some moves I've learned are:
1. Toe Stall both sides (pretty ok on catches, sets need work)
2. Inside Stall both sides (sets are still an issue again, will come with more practice and time I suppose)
3. Around the World (left side only)
4. Legover (right side only)
5. Mirage both sides (probably my favorite right now)
6. SS Mirage (feels like a different move even if its essentially the same as a regular Mirage)
I'm really itching to get my clippers down because they're so essential for everything, but baby steps. Insides and wraparounds need to get LOCKED DOWN.
Starting a kick session tonight while watching Star Wars home alone. And so it begins............
Any ideas on what I should work on to keep things fresh? Fortunately I have a LOT to work on, so boredom won't be an issue. However learning new moves while solidifying moves I can do is something we all like to do, nah mean?
Pete's Footblog
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Pistol Pete
- Circle Kicker
- Posts: 10
- Joined: 29 Jul 2011 19:19
- Location: Ellensburg, WA
Pete's Footblog
Pete Prosch-Jensen
-
Pistol Pete
- Circle Kicker
- Posts: 10
- Joined: 29 Jul 2011 19:19
- Location: Ellensburg, WA
So tonight, I bagged watching Star Wars and ended up kicking with some tunes instead. I wanted to work on what I already knew while stepping out of my comfort zone and doing things BOTH SIDES, which was the most important part since I tend to (I mean ALWAYS) favor one side for specific moves.
So tonight (MANY DROPS):
- 20 alternating toes (keep going till I hit 20 in a row)
- 10 alternating insides (keep going till I hit 10 in a row)
- 5 legovers from other side (5 per side, STUPID to start with these considering I'd never even been able to do left legovers before)
- 10 right side mirages (drops don't matter after the basic stalls, just get to the magic number no matter the drops)
- 10 left side mirages
- 10 right to left mirages (Same Side is the name?)
- 10 left to right mirages
- 10 left ATW's (easy side)
- 10 right ATW's (flip side, this took a long time, I always thought I was doing ATW's on my right, but it turned out I was doing legovers the whole time. Direction DOES matter!)
- 10 right legovers (easy)
- 10 left legovers (flip, this motion was so F'ing foreign, but by the 10th one it started to click, kind of like when you figure out the timing on a mirage. Now if only I'd done this BEFORE the legovers from the other side!)
- 5 clipper stalls on each side (go from same side toe stall to clipper and simply catch it and HOLD IT)
At the end of my routine I realized I should have started with the simple legovers instead of legovers from the other side because its a whole lot easier and develops the mechanics so that the more difficult ones become easy. Live and learn!
The clipper stalls are starting to get more comfortable and my sense of balance with that move is getting better. I feel like since I'm simply catching the bag instead of trying to do the whole move with the jumpy rhythmic stuff normal people do, its coming along easier than at first. (Good tip by Justin last week before I left) Wraparounds are also WAY EASIER now that I've dumped more time into it as well. Clippers in general are a pretty foreign position for me, so I just need to spend more time getting comfortable with them. Perhaps my ankle cranks are getting more consistent.
Overall, I'm really happy I got some reps in on my bad sides and did the same amount as on my good sides so that nothing was favored. Hopefully, this routine will become much faster and easier over time and I'll get to a point where I can do the whole thing with minimal (or no) drops, and definitely add some extras in there! This can evolve into a warmup for when I get a lot better, too.
So tonight (MANY DROPS):
- 20 alternating toes (keep going till I hit 20 in a row)
- 10 alternating insides (keep going till I hit 10 in a row)
- 5 legovers from other side (5 per side, STUPID to start with these considering I'd never even been able to do left legovers before)
- 10 right side mirages (drops don't matter after the basic stalls, just get to the magic number no matter the drops)
- 10 left side mirages
- 10 right to left mirages (Same Side is the name?)
- 10 left to right mirages
- 10 left ATW's (easy side)
- 10 right ATW's (flip side, this took a long time, I always thought I was doing ATW's on my right, but it turned out I was doing legovers the whole time. Direction DOES matter!)
- 10 right legovers (easy)
- 10 left legovers (flip, this motion was so F'ing foreign, but by the 10th one it started to click, kind of like when you figure out the timing on a mirage. Now if only I'd done this BEFORE the legovers from the other side!)
- 5 clipper stalls on each side (go from same side toe stall to clipper and simply catch it and HOLD IT)
At the end of my routine I realized I should have started with the simple legovers instead of legovers from the other side because its a whole lot easier and develops the mechanics so that the more difficult ones become easy. Live and learn!
The clipper stalls are starting to get more comfortable and my sense of balance with that move is getting better. I feel like since I'm simply catching the bag instead of trying to do the whole move with the jumpy rhythmic stuff normal people do, its coming along easier than at first. (Good tip by Justin last week before I left) Wraparounds are also WAY EASIER now that I've dumped more time into it as well. Clippers in general are a pretty foreign position for me, so I just need to spend more time getting comfortable with them. Perhaps my ankle cranks are getting more consistent.
Overall, I'm really happy I got some reps in on my bad sides and did the same amount as on my good sides so that nothing was favored. Hopefully, this routine will become much faster and easier over time and I'll get to a point where I can do the whole thing with minimal (or no) drops, and definitely add some extras in there! This can evolve into a warmup for when I get a lot better, too.
Pete Prosch-Jensen
Re: Pete's Footblog
I felt the same when i started. Rake was one of my favourite "non core" tricks to pull off. At this stage in your game I dont think theres any harm in trying clippers more often either. Near Mirage or Near Pickup are two easy tricks to learn from clipper.Pistol Pete wrote: Any ideas on what I should work on to keep things fresh? Fortunately I have a LOT to work on, so boredom won't be an issue. However learning new moves while solidifying moves I can do is something we all like to do, nah mean?
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Pistol Pete
- Circle Kicker
- Posts: 10
- Joined: 29 Jul 2011 19:19
- Location: Ellensburg, WA
Sorry for the incredibly late and inconsistent updates! This winter break season I worked every day and never had a chance to kick. Now I'm back in school (my last quarter of actual classes, then I'm student teaching!) and have way more time on my hands to do things I want. You know what that means!
I've been kicking in the music building where I always hang out (music student) and have gotten a pretty consistent group of circle kickers that always like to join me between classes. Going back to BASIC basics like kicking and overall bag control have drastically improved my game. I'm really excited when I come home and am in control of where the bag goes instead of catering to where ever it pleases. More updates will be had
I've been kicking in the music building where I always hang out (music student) and have gotten a pretty consistent group of circle kickers that always like to join me between classes. Going back to BASIC basics like kicking and overall bag control have drastically improved my game. I'm really excited when I come home and am in control of where the bag goes instead of catering to where ever it pleases. More updates will be had
Pete Prosch-Jensen
Pete, seeing this made my night. I can't wait to kick with you again.
I got an iPhone in December and have been filming bits of our sessions since then. I know watching my own crappy form has helped a lot -- it's also awesome to have some big tricks on camera for the sake of posterity (I hit atomic drifter not too far back).
Keep in touch!
I got an iPhone in December and have been filming bits of our sessions since then. I know watching my own crappy form has helped a lot -- it's also awesome to have some big tricks on camera for the sake of posterity (I hit atomic drifter not too far back).
Keep in touch!