The Inshredible Bulk: Not Trending, Not Roll Spiking Either

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 29 Apr 2009 09:20

I'm out 'n about

Cholera Brothel

EDIT:
Unedited spike practice videos on my Flicker

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 12 May 2009 08:37

Finally had our first doubles session here in Chicago last Sunday and sadly, we had to wait until May again this year. I've got some mixed feelings about this session. While it was great to get some doubles games going, I did not play as well as I could have. They day did end on a good not as I hooked up with the freestyle crew + James Rizden to get some Giordano's pizza. The Stuffed spinach and mushroom was perfect!

Saturday was a bit sloppy. I tried to make last second plans to kick, some bailed on me and I bailed on some. I ended up at Reile's a lot earlier than I was expecting for our weekly RE5 session. We finished our play through on 'Veteran' difficulty then did a speed playthrough to get unlimited ammo on the rocket launchers. Sweet. Then we did a few rounds of the Mercenaries side game. Co-op is so much fun!

I crashed there again and had my brother pick me up to Watch X-men Origins: Wolverine. I liked it and had fun watching. I grew up watching lots of B action movies to cure childhood boredom so my standards are low. A movie would have to be truly gaaaawd-awful for me not to like it.

Anygay, I get dropped off at home then headed out to Jane Adams Memorial near Navy Pier. Ran into Tommy, Nathan and Tom on the bus. I must admit that my eagerness to play doubles completely overwhelmed my happiness to see James again. They went off to a different shred spot in Olive Park which left Ronnie stranded since no other squares player showed up until later. He did play a few pick-up games with us and mentioned that he could see himself playing more net.

I never properly warmed up and ended up playing very inconsistent. We effectively had a 5 man rotation and I shot pics instead to loosening up and staying warm. I felt I made quite a few stupid plays that made me second guess my decisions through out the rest for the day. Maybe I had just as many good plays as bad ones but I just remember being frustrated most of the time. It's days like this when I feel like my practice is completely ineffective and just wasted time. Am I practicing bad form? Am I having a bad session or is this something that newbs just go through?

Other than the usual sketchy serve returns I think I did ok defensively. Got some nice digs and postponed a few game points. Almost blocked Tommy again but the bag landed on our side. My highlight of the day was stuffing Cory in the last game. I went up and side axed his side axe. I felt the bag hit my foot before we came crashing back down. I saw that bag bouncing around on their side of the court then got up and just screamed in excitement. There was a bit of controversy when Tommy asked which one of us hit the net but Ted grabbed the bag and prepared to serve for our team before the mystery was truly solved. It was a tough match but we finished a respectable 12 to their 15 points. We stayed competitive so I would would still count the loss as a positive.

The freestyle crew had finished up and met back at the net site. Tommy(2) jumped in and did some hand toss rallies with me and Ronnie. Then he tried some spike practice. I was particularly impressed with his scissor sweep attempts. The freestylers were lightheartedly heckling him and telling him to just quit now.

I packed up the court afterward and we decided to walk to a Giordanos Pizza closer to the loop. I was already pretty tired and I had to lug that fucking court a mile to the restaurant. The food was amazing and well worth the trek. Service was a little shady and that was the first time I did not leave a tip. I was way too beat to head back to the pier to hook up with Scot and Daryl so I headed home after eating. Damn that pizza was good.

So, going back to having mixed feelings about this session, part of it was from the frustration of my inconsistent play and part of it was Ronnie. Well not on a personal level, but just having a new guy on the court slowing things down. I have been waiting for months to play doubles here and he only played when I was in rotation so the games were toned down to adjust for him. It's a shitty thing because I'm all about bringing in new people But that day I really wished he would just NOT play. Selfish, I know. But that's me, so shut the fuck you.

Hm, not sure if I would have felt the same if it were Tommy(2) in Ronnie's place...

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 12 May 2009 17:55

I gotta move again.

Senor Grommet · Post by **Senor Grommet** » 12 May 2009 20:16

move as in move out of your apt? That would suck. Move to California. We need dental assistants out here.

When Tommy Whitworth comes back to Chicago, he's gunna be a machine! Wish you could be here for the Cup! Please consider it for next year. It is certainly the BEST tourney of the whole year.

Lastly, always get a good warm up before gaming. If you don't, you are fdoing yourself and your playing partners a disservice cause you won't play up to your potential!

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 13 May 2009 15:13

Yeah, outta the apartment.

Tommy has asked me on several occasions if I wanted to move out to the bay area with him while he peruses an MFA. I have not given him a definitive answer yet. He actually bought a house here last year though.

The weather around here is finally starting to get to me.

Back to Tommy, he's very excited to be playing and training with you guys. I asked him to be my partner for WCC but he mentioned that PT has set him up with a partner for Green Cup and they will be playing together again for WCC if the guy can make it to Chicago. Bryan Nelson will be busy with his pregnant wife and is not sure he'll be able to participate in the event. That leaves me with either Mike Bellman or Greg Grandy. Neither of which have confirmed their attendance nor would I be able to practice with very much or at all. Well, whatever the case, I would like to play with Tommy more often since he is the closest player to me by far. Our schedules just haven't been working well together.

We've had 2 singles sessions about a month ago. I get more volleys and rallies playing against him than I did playing vs Vince. Most of the time we do hand toss rallies. He didn't seem too keen on doubles practice with the net set up against a wall. I've had a couple solo practices this way which is great because I don't have to go far to retrieve the bags when I practice spikes or serves. Unfortunately, it's adjacent to a baseball field and I can't practice there when a game is in progress - which is often.

Lately I've just set up on any level piece of grass I can find that's not too muddy (I can't complain about the weather around here nearly enough to subdue my growing contempt for it) and do some light spike practice. Hitting hard means wasting time gathering 6 bags scattered all over gods creation. I might just go back to wall ball. I need work on by bumps anyway.

I did get a surprise when Ronnie agreed to practice with me last Thursday. We did serve/return drills, bump & kill drills then many rounds of monster. It was the most productive practice session I've had this year. Ronnie never struck me as a player that takes instruction well. Nothing aggravates me more than trying to teach someone something only to have them respond with 'whatever, man'. Ronnie says that a lot, which is just short of blatant disrespect IMHO. He also wishes he could freestyle and be better at 4S. Well, if he just wants to wish and not work towards that end he might as well just get used to his frustration. I should take my own advice!

While I do appreciate someone to play/practice with, I'm not putting much stock in him wanting to drill as much as we need to.

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 16 May 2009 20:34

Last week I practiced with Josh at River park. Worked on some basics with hand toss rallies and serve/return drills. I really like working on returns since it's so unpredictable. I scratched the face of my new watch climbing the metal fence to retrieve the bag from the locked pool area. I just bought the goddamned thing too. Josh had shanked one of my serves with his lright shin and it welted up almost immediately! I don't think I've seen anything quite like that before. Did some more light spike practice after he left.

2 practice sessions on Thursday. I biked to Welles late in the morning with the court straped to my shoulder only to find a game being played near the wall I intended to practice against. So I biked a few miles north to Warren and set up there instead. I can't set up as close to the wall as I would like (ended up with the net about 15ft away) but it worked well enough. Wall ball to warm up then practiced sweeps extensively. Tried a few toe flips and scissor sweeps until my back started aching from the twisting. After an hour and a half I packed up rode home and finally got some breakfast and took a couple eye-bees

Got in a practice with Tommy(2) later in the day. He bought a pair of my old lavers from me. We did power, hand toss rallies, serve/return drills and bump & kill drills. He shred with Tom and Nathan when they arrived after kicking at a skate park. By this time my body was loose, warmed up and the ibuprofen were in full effect. Drilling solo I worked on scuffs, frontbacks, sunbacks, moustraps, side axe and more sweeps. I've getting more comfortable hitting sweeps as a line drive from mid court. Not the most ideal way to use it since defenders have more time to react due to the longer straight trajectory. I felt I got some decent progress with mousetraps. I concentrated on leaning back more and they cleared the net more often then not but there's still not much power to them. I'm thinking I can set up with dinks then trying the mousetrap when the defender plays closer to the net anticipating the short shot. Got some thai food with the guys after we were all done kicking.

Today I practiced with Jake. Power, hand toss, serve/return, bump & kill and many, many rounds of monster. I tried to shred a bit before we eventually moved on to some 2S. Some guy volleyed with us over the net for a while before his gf stunk-eyed him away. You know that look. We all do, either directly or indirectly. Fucking bitches, lol. Jake left and I was in the middle of some half-assed mousetrap practice when Kim and Barbara showed up to kick. I set up the 4S court then put away the net. They only had about 45 min to play since Barbara had to be home by 6pm. It was only after I had learned she was also packing for a trip to New York next week with friends did I think her curfew was ridiculous. I was pretty exhausted so it actually made the games more interesting. We hacked for a bit to finish off the day. Barb was trying toe stall while Kim and I kicked. Kim mentioned that she didn't like kicking in a "line" since it took more effort and control to kick the bag to the other person. Hacky slacker! Hehe. It just struck me as odd since hacking requires so little effort to me now. Anygay...

I'm rambling.

Whoa black Betty

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 18 May 2009 08:11

Another double session. Kicked with Tommy in the morning then with Nathan after he got in from Cinco in the late afternoon. Tommy and I played about 6 games 2square with a few games being close. Ken, one of the former lane kids showed up with a few of his friends and was hacking nearby. We hacked with them for the rest of the afternoon.

I was at home when Nathan text me. I told him I could meet him back at Welles for some 2S. These were tough games! We would be deadlocked at the same score after battling all out for the crucial side out round after round. It eventually became a contest to not fuck up first. It felt great to be in competitive matches again.

I really need to give my legs a rest. My hamstrings are still sore. It's so nice outside though...

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 18 May 2009 12:33

The day I was practicing with Ronnie I had found a cell phone on the ground and turned it in to the front office of the park field house. Half an hour later I saw some dude who looked like he was looking for something on the ground right near the spot where I had found the phone. I asked if he had lost a phone and sure enough it was his. I told him to pick it up at the office. He seemed very relieved and I joked with Ronnie that I had done my good deed for the year and I can be an asshole the rest of the time.

Today I was in line to pay for my groceries while the guy ahead of me racked up a 42 dollar bill. The cashier asked if he had a discount card and the guy answered no. She then asked him if he knew anyone who did. All he had to do was give a phone number to get their discount. I could tell the guy didn't want to make a big deal out of it, he just wanted to pay (a lot) for his groceries and just get the hell out of there. The cashier turns to me and asks if I had a card and if it would be ok for him to use for his purchase. I reluctantly agreed, she scanned it and his new total came out to be 25 dollars! He thanked me and got the hell outta there.

Back at home I'm in the middle of making a sandwich when I hear my roommate cough and run to the washroom. It didn't sound good so I went to see if he was ok and ask what was wrong. There was food/snot all over the sink and toilet. His eyes were watery, there was snot hanging down from the tip of his nose and he was motioning his hands to this throat. He was choking! I had to fucking run to my PC to look up how to do the Heimlich Maneuver (correctly)! I found it soon enough, ran back and applied it to my roommate several times before he finally spit out the rice(!?!?) that was clogging his froat. Holy shit I just saved his life! He was breathing normally now and thanking me but I was still in a bit of a panic and kept asking if he was ok and if everything was out. What a tense moment. Then I finished my sandwich.

So by my twisted figuring, I can be an arsehole, guilt free, for the next 2 and a half years

CIC flurry · Post by **CIC flurry** » 18 May 2009 13:28

froat!

great jaerb

Elliott · Post by **Elliott** » 20 May 2009 08:54

congrats on the lifesaver you're a hero bro! so you didn't know the heimlich? then thank god for the internet. i bet alasakan sen. ted stevens is kicking himself right now. (if your unaware of his quote he said the the internet "is a series of tubes".)

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 20 May 2009 22:25

Thanks guys.

I was fully prepared to play solo yesterday when Ronnie text me asking when I got off work. I text Daniel, one of the guys Ken brought on Sunday if he wanted to kick too. I bike to Welles and meet Ken unexpectedly. I guess Dan had told him about the impromptu session. Ronnie shows up and we set up the net court. We were in the middle of hand toss rallies (it was more hand toss then wiff but wutevz) when Dan and three other guys show up! We break off into 2 big teams and I immediately pick the 2 taller players since my team would only have 3 and Ronnies side would have 4 players.

What a whiff fest!

I could set my 2 guys but they really didn't know what to do with it. I managed 2 sweeps that this guy Kyle amazingly dug back into play. He even managed to bump 2 of my serves! The biggest guy on my team, Tom (yeah, another one) was able to get a couple digs and had some good bangs. Dan was on my team too. He's fast but a bit of a spaz. At one point we served to open ground SIX times in a row! LOL. I told them we didn't have keep playing net and that I had my 4S court with me.

We set up the court and played with a sandbag, probably one of the bags I used to sell. They were not familiar with the concept of having extra players in line and were tainted by the shitty Lane style of play. I just let it slide, didn't want to be too overbearing the first time. Ronnie was having an off day so I swept all three games easily enough. During the massacre they new players were taken out by co-op screens, self screens, hand fakes, kick fakes, back line dinks, Zeke Heils, and all manner of snakes. We played to 21 points. To give you an idea of how easy the games were, during the last 2 I served game point to players with the next highest score - it was 4 and 6 points. They played with an interesting addition where if you were at 17 points and get killed trying to get 18 then you lost all your points. Ken also put in trippy serves. I immediately got to 6 before I killed myself getting too fancy. They took the rule out the next round.

It was getting dark so we hacked in the gazebo. They eventually started asking about stall tricks. I gave them some real basic advice but told them they would have to eventually hook up with real freestylers. They great thing about playing with new people (that is, players you have not kicked with before) is that I can bust out old boring stuff and they are easily impressed. We got a surprise visit by Twitch and Cudo who were on their way to see Terminator Salvation. They were both interested in coming back out to kick. It was about 10 when we all left Welles. It was pretty fun. Hope these guys stick around and play, all the scenes could use new players.

CIC flurry · Post by **CIC flurry** » 21 May 2009 00:28

awesome. so many peoples. Awesome.

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 21 May 2009 21:15

Great Net session at Busse Woods today! I got a text from Cory asking if I wanted to play. I made plans with Scot to meet him at his work so we could drive out to Busse after a quick stop at Wheaton to pick up his kid and get his playing gear. I took the western bus to Division which let me out right across the street from Clemente high school. What a shit hole. I was running late with no Division bus in sight. Managed to change plans and have him pick me up at the corner.

We get to Wheaton where I meet his son after picking him up from pre-school. They say his memory is really incredible and is good with maps and directions. He says some pretty funny things too. We drop him off at home, Scot changes, I pick up some food then were' off to Busse. We have a very good conversation about our insatiable appetites.

Cory and Ted are already there and warmed up. I made it a point to warm up properly today to improve my play during the games. Scot and I power kicked and stretched while the other 2 played a couple quick singles games. After a few rounds of serve/ returns we got our fist match started. Cory/me vs Scot/Ted. I played ok and got a couple sweeps and scuffs in early. Had another near blocked spike against Scot but the damn thing popped off my foot then sailed over and behind me. Serve returns were a little shaky at first. Ted actually drove one of his damn serves straight at me. Stupidly, I backpedaled straight and caught the bag before it hit me in the chest. Very embarrassing. This match went to 3 games which we won.

Next I played with Ted. I thoroughly stunk this match up. Cory and Scot took us in 2 straight. The first game was 15-1 and the second was 15-7. Ted really did all the work while I shanked and whiffed myself into utter uselessness. I just couldn't do anything right. We did fight off several game points by playing good defense but it was way too late and just wasn't enough to get us over the top. Ted really impresses me with his level of play.

For the next match I teamed with Scot. This went to 3 really fun games. We won the first one convincingly but they fought hard to win the next two. I felt I was playing well but Scot was smashing just about every set I gave him. He hit sweeps, scuffs, toe reverse pulldowns and sunbacks. I was setting well and making good digs. I was really feeling comfortable with returning serves with both legs to the point where I could set Scot after the serve. One of the funnier plays occurred when he bumped a pass then positioned himself with his back to the net. We were in a tight 'I' formation when I think my 4S instincts took over and incorrectly recognized the situation as a screen. I sole pushed his low bump right into his face! Our opponents were confused as to what happened but we were too busy laughing to explain. Even though we lost the last 2 games, we stayed competitive and executed like a team. It just felt good to play well. Scot mentioned that was one of most fun matches he's played in a while.

I botched at least 3 toe jam attempts during the day. Two of them would have given my team a crucial side out. My timing on scuffs were a bit off. I would hit with the top of my foot and lob them over with a lot of backspin. I hit one solid scissor sweep and one greasy one that I could not help but laugh at. Today was probablt the most spikes I've hit during a session. The hardest (in terms of power, not difficulty) thing I hit today was a sunback the hit the back line. I've been doing a good job of getting up at the net and not hitting it during the play. Still need more consistency in just about every aspect of my game though

Tentative net session at Jane Adams (Navy Pier) on Monday at 1pm.

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 26 May 2009 12:14

Solo wall ball after work on Friday. Rallies, left side bumps, sweep and scuff practice. I focused primarily on sweeps again. Fairly light session. Saturday Ronnie and I spent at least 5 hours at Welles with most of the time doing net drills. Tossed a disc around just to change things up every so often. I got there early stretched and warmed up before Ronnie eventually showed up. We started with basic power kicking and hand toss rallies. Then we moved on to many, many rounds of serve/ return drills. He tried a sweep style serve at first but we could not seem to correct the bad mechanics of his swing. After seeing him toe kick a bag back to me after retrieving it from the field I suggested he try serving with that same style kick and he was finally able to get it over the net. Unfortunately it hurt his foot after several kicks and could not continue to serve. We then did some bump & kill drills. Again, he had problems either setting high enough or banging the bag over the net. He has very limited motion on his swing. Once he figures out how to open his swing up he can be effective on the court.

Two college girls stepped on the court for a bit to try it out. Don't know how interested they would be in actually playing but I got their numbers anyway. Cynthia left early but the other, Liza, stuck around and tried a few spikes. She and Ronnie got into a heavy conversation about some tv show in the middle of hand toss rallies. I toe jammed her with a soccer ball, LOL!

Some time after she left, the twins and one of their friends dropped by on their way to a comic shop. We did 3 vs 2 hand toss rallies for a bit. Using one of the softer net bags I was able to set fairly well. Near the end I set Jake for a flying pulldown that hit just below the tape. He asked for another one and I set him exactly in the same place for the kill. It was a great spike but I was still more in awe of being able to set in the same place twice in a row.

I woke up Sunday with sunburn on my shoulders and soreness in my legs. I was at a family BBQ when Daniel text me that he, Ken and a few others were playing at Welles. I got there later than I had hoped but didn't miss anything more than a couple hours of shitty hacking. Ronnie showed up not long after I did and immediately wanted to play squares. Updated them with the rules and we played a few games. At the end of the day, Daniel stayed after and played 2S with me and Ronnie. He's pretty quick and I can see him getting good if he chose to devote time and effort to learning a discipline or game. Time will tell.

It was cool and cloudy by the time I managed to get a couple people to play at Welles on Monday. Nathan was drilling when I rode up and we eventually started hacking with one of his heavier footbags. We decided to set up my 4S court just as Ronnie showed up (late again). It was drizzling lightly on and off while we played 3 games. I stunk. I just could not keep the bag in the squares. The rain started to get heavier so we decided to stay in the Gazebo and wait it out. There was some kids and their parents shooting there, there was instant tension as we pulled up. Ronnie asked if it was a school project and one mom wasted no time asserting her alpha male douche-baginess, LOL. It was funny at first but as the kids were delivering their dialogue amusment quickly turned into agonizing torture. Who the hell wrote that crap?

We ended up chillin at Potbelly's for a couple hours. Nathan went home after while Ronnie and I went back to the park to play some more. The gazebo was empty now so we kicked there to avoid the damp ground. We were hacking at first but we tried some power kicking drills using one of my Kolo 32's. Using an actual net footbag would have meant lots of wasted time retrieving them. The drills were bump & lob, bump & kill. Then we tried one that I saw in a video where we volleyed back and forth for 2 contacts then on the third kick, the bag went straight up and we switched places and continued the same apttern. This was HARD! I don't think we were able to to do more than one good rep.

It was actually a lot of fun to kick and have some focus to it. Drills just seem like mini-games that help build skills for the real thing.

Earlier I wrote:While I do appreciate someone to play/practice with, I'm not putting much stock in him wanting to drill as much as we need to.

Ronnie has definitely proven me wrong so far and I'm glad.

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 27 May 2009 15:19

I've noticed lately that when my mind wanders while I'm at work, it's usually me daydreaming about spiking something with my foot. It has this weird effect of calming me down when I start to get stressed and making me restless to play net at the same time. The other day I had to deal with a shitty patient and all I could think of was side-axing her shitty face. I'll notice everyday things above me and get this urge to want to kick it. Tops of doorways, ceiling panels, low lights, hanging plants, signs and even cigarettes sticking out of peoples mouths. I'll see fences and I would want to jump up and kick my leg over to see how far I can cross then retract it before skewering my junk. I'll see leaves hanging off a tree branch and would want to toe flip it. Sometimes I catch myself just looking up at absolutely nothing at all but in my mind there's some imaginary bag there and I think, "Man, I could totally roll spike that!" I can't roll spike in real life though. I can't side axe shitty faces too. Well, I could but there would be consequences. Shitty ones.

Roll spikes look so cool. I remember foolishly thinking I could learn them the first year I started playing net. Dummy. I can't seem to get my body to get sideways far enough. There's still some part of me deep inside that is afraid to fall. When I get up in the air it manages to take control and makes me land as vertical as I can. I guess it's good in a way and it's prevented me from doing something stupid and breaking my neck in the process. That would be counterproductive to getting good at net I would think.

I feel like it's holding me back, though. There are plenty of players that are fearless in the air and I truly admire that. I want to be like that. Fearless, not admired. I just need to stop being a pussy. Stop being afraid. Stop holding back.

I want to get up high in the air

Attack

Kill

CIC flurry · Post by **CIC flurry** » 27 May 2009 20:21

Zeke wrote: all I could think of was side-axing her shitty face.

lmao

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 29 May 2009 08:24

She should be in the chair right about now, actually. Thankfully I'm at home. No net so far this week. No jumping, no attacking, no killing. Blah.

Speaking of kills. I guess my spikes have been slowly getting more consistent. Well, the ones that I practice are getting there. Toe jams and side axes are still unreliable. They fucking hurt my knee when I try to drill those and if I'm hurt I can't play. I want to play. I need to play. But I want those spikes to be more reliable. It's all retarded.

I have been getting more kills the past few games and I should be thankful for that. Instead I seem to remember all the whiffs and shanks. It's stupid to think that I should just be able to do things well without practicing them. But that's exactly whats going through my head. PRACTICE YOU FUCKING IDIOT! Anything I happen to do well is something I've done a thousand times over and over. I don't know why I feel I should be able to hit every set I take a swing at.

Back in the day, when I used to play basketball I would never let it bother me if I missed a shot, turned the ball over or didn't get that rebound. Dealt with it, kept playing. I fully understood those are costly mistakes and they do add up. For whatever reason every error I commit on the net court feels like I just cost my team the championship. I guess it's good that I understand how important it is minimize my errors but all the pressure I put on myself to execute perfectly and the frustration that comes when I stink up the court with my shitty plays is a bit unnecessary. I need to just stop being a drama queen - just fucking get over it, concentrate on the next play and practice whatever the hell it was that I screwed up during the week.

I'm glad the weather will be nice for Sunday. I really need to play.

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 01 Jun 2009 09:47

Saturday I got off work and met Nathan at Welles. I always enjoy our pleasant and well meaning conversations! Ronnie shows up and we start a hack circle. Tom arrives soon after. This was the first time I've seen him with his buzz cut, it was so weird! We eventually split off as Tom and Nathan shred while Ronnie and I set up the net at the west field of the park. We powered and did serve/return drills to start off. The rest of the day was spent doing hand toss rallies. It was actually a lot of fun since I got Ronnie to hit the bag over the net consistently by telling him to always aim for my back line. We even had a few lengthy rallies. After the session we got food at Garcia's, then headed back to my place to pick up my frisbee. We played at River park for the rest of the night. I got him to do a couple different between the leg catches. Nice way to end the day.

Sunday I got up high in the air

I attacked

and I killed

I got a last minute text from Cory asking if I wanted to go out to Busse Woods. I called Ted Martin to ask if he could drive me from the Metra station by his house out to the site. I get to his place easy enough, chill there for a bit, apply sunblock then head out to the the woods. A game of Ultimate took over the usual spot so Ted and I power kicked to warm up at the far end of the ultimate game. Cory arrived and set up the net. There was one side of the net that dipped lower than the other that I commented would be a huge kill zone for anyone that's set there. I took the opportunity to stretch while the other two power kicked. Greg Grandy arrived, power kicked a bit then got on the court for several rounds of serve/returns. We started out doing matches to 11 points then switching teams. When Scot finally arrived we did singles games to 11 while one player sat out. Cory said he played 14 games finishing 8-6. I don't remember how many I played exactly due to the 5 man rotation, all I know is I won only 4 games. Two with Cory and one each with Greg and Scot.

I managed to accomplish 2 goals that I blogged/bitched about. I got over my many errors and focused on the next play & I was as aggressive as I've ever been at the net. Applying sunblock, properly warming up and icing my knees after the session were other things I was smart enough to do and need to continue doing through out the season.

Defense was definitely a sore spot for the day. Serve returns need way more practice! I think I shanked just about anything that was driven at my sides or behind me. I was not setting/bumping as well as I have been. I challenged a few shots at the net but didn't get any blocks. There were a few plays where better communication and/or positioning on my part would have been the difference between an easy point for the other team or a kill for us. I even committed a few net fouls, something I have not done since last year, I think.

I had an outstanding day offensively. Lots of sole pushes, lol. Hit a few sweeps and scuffs. Hit one really hard sunback and a few toe reverses. That's the stuff I practice and and can hit more often. Ironically, it was toe jams and side axes I that I was killing with most of the day. I side axed a few over sets and one that was set from the back court while I was at the net (usually I get a running start from the back court with the set coming from the front). Chased a set that went far left that I had to hit sideways to keep in play. I drilled one straight into Scot's midsection for a tattoo.

I took a big swing at a toe jam in the middle of the day, right over that kill zone I mentioned earlier. I totally whiffed it but the attempt alone managed to get a reaction from the guys. In another game, The other team served game point with Scot and I looking for a crucial side out and a possible come from behind victory. He set me on the right side about a foot and a half off the net. It's funny 'cause I remember him saying in a session earlier in the year, "It's game point, are you gonna kill it with a flying-something or a standing-something-gay?" I'm gonna kill this bitch in the air! I ran for it, got sideways in the air, snapped my leg and - WHAM! The fucking bag went flying outta bounds! LOL! Goddammit! Then later, I was at the net near center court when a set from the other team came really close to the net. Scot backed off thinking it was going over to our side. I was feeling it so I got up, crossed the plain a few inches and smashed the bag with my toe. I asked where it landed and Scot pointed to the ground just a few feet off the net, not too far from where he was standing. I was extremely pleased.

At the end of the day I was partnered with Cory playing against Ted/Scot in very close game. Cory hit a bump that went wide right (right at that kill zone again), near the post & sailing just out of bounds. Normally I'll watch the set and think, ok this set is good for this kind of spike. I didn't have time to really analyze anything and ran from the left side and just attacked the bag. I got in the air sideways and murdered that thing with a monster toe jam. Right after the contact I twisted in the air and landed on all fours so I never saw what happened to the spike. When I got up the other team was standing there with their mouths open and Cory was laughing. Again I asked where it landed and Scot pointed to the middle of their court with Ted raving that it was the shot of the day. Somehow I managed to kick that damn thing back in bounds while avoiding the post & the tape and scoring a kill in the center of their court between two waiting defenders! Cory gave me props and we went on to win the game with the next play. It was fucking awesome! Would have been more awesome if I had seen it all but shit happens.

I might have gotten the shot of the day but Ted was amazing through out the session. He was hitting pulldowns, flying pulldowns, side axes and jousted with anyone that went up with him! Greg was very solid as usual and hit plenty of well placed/timed dinks. I really like Scot's toe reverses, especially the ones where he spins into them or the ones that damn near shoot straight down. He got 3 partial blocks on Cory. He also got a block that tattooed Greg! Let's do that again... a block... that... tattooed... Greg.... ! The other team emphatically denied it. I'm always impressed with Cory even though he wasn't satisfied with the days performance. It was another great session at Busse and I was glad to make it out to play net with the guys.

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 02 Jun 2009 17:56

WooT! Tommy and I are partners for Windy City Cup!

Tommy text me during work to get a session at 6:30. Thankfully I got out early enough and made it to the park on time. We went through some of the Chaos drills while we powered. Then we did Monster, a bit different from what I learned from Cory and Scot. Grueling like a mother fucker!. After that we did a lot of hand toss rallies and serve/returns. Played one match, best of 3 to 11. He won in two straight. Generally he would jump ahead then I would catch up, take the lead then he would shut me out the rest of the game for the win. We would get some good rallies though.

After that we did spike drills. Tommy started with Bitch Slaps. This a great spike for him since it crosses from one side of the court to the other. I can't imagine anyone digging this unless they knew he was going for it. On my turn I tried sweeps, hit some standing and some scissor sweeps. Then we both tried toe reverses. He just smashes these too. I hit more of these standing than I did jumping for them. When we moved on to sunbacks, we both fucking killed these. Tommy did his final round with sweeps and I finished up with side axes.

His partner from Green Cup isn't coming so were partnering for WCC. Immediately, the issue of our inconsistencies come up. We both know we have to practice as much as possible the next 2 weeks to improve our chances of getting out of pools. It's going to be a lot of work ahead but for now I'm just glad to have another good partner for the cup. I can't fucking wait to play again.

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 06 Jun 2009 07:02