Frank Sinatra Lives
hey nathan, 28 is young. I'm 34 now and still feel like I can progress for another 5 years hopefully. But 28 to 32 was a time that I wish I could have spent more time on footbag (instead of barn building). Anyways, if you want long fun strings, practice long fun strings instead of drills. Just my opinion, but I tend to do about a month of drills followed by 3 months of just playing creatively. Keeps it fun for me. I'm not trying for BAP so repeat drills aren't as useful as trying for good links and long strings.
Bob R.
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Heya Bob. Are you trying to tell me that its time to build a barn? Yeah I don't have much fun drilling but I think its the most effective way to get new tricks up to the level I want them to be at before adding them to my game.
I kicked a couple times since the last post. Took the last week off due to an injury to my right big toe. It was bruised up pretty bad, hoping its just a bruise. It still hurts when I put pressure on the tip. Bad ankle, bad knee, bad toe... this sucks.
But I did hit some new stuff - down axle, open down axle, and stepping far down axle bs.
Gotta get some new bags.
I kicked a couple times since the last post. Took the last week off due to an injury to my right big toe. It was bruised up pretty bad, hoping its just a bruise. It still hurts when I put pressure on the tip. Bad ankle, bad knee, bad toe... this sucks.
But I did hit some new stuff - down axle, open down axle, and stepping far down axle bs.
Gotta get some new bags.
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So I've had 8 or 9 sessions since my last post. My toe feels better, I only notice some stiffness once in a while but I think its basically fully healed. I want to make the most of what's left of the outdoor season.
First two sessions back were nothings. Nothing but drops & being out of shape & sucking. Third session I went back to basics & didn't try to string - 100 clippers, 100 osis, 100 ducking clippers, 100 drifters, 40 whirls.
Kicked with Max a couple times. First session was still rough - really short strings again but at least I was trying to mix up my tricks more. Second session with Max was like 2 hours & 45 minutes, had some good stuff every once in a while. Gyro clip & spinning clip in the same string (one sided, but I'll take it). 33 contacts of symp mirage> butterfly> pdx mirage> rpt is a new record. String with terrage> paradon> filler> osis> barrage towards the end of the session. Haven't been doing many double downs this summer because I haven't learned them on my flip, but I can change that with some work I think.
Kicked downtown with Tommy & Grant the next day, about 2 hours & 15 minutes. Swerve & pixie ss rake in one string (one sided, again), shut muted clipper midstring (first time for that). Had some good strings but was really tired. Ended the session with terrage> dimmiest - Grant & Tommy said it was clean...
The last three sessions have all been solo, and shorter. Its just so hot out. Had a 48 contact osii & clippers string, and 54 contacts tiltless. Did 100 clippers, 100 osii, 100 ducking clippers, and 100 whirls one session. Two flip whirls for each one on strong side, trying to get those consistent. Today was really short, only thing I remember is drifter x4 > run.
First two sessions back were nothings. Nothing but drops & being out of shape & sucking. Third session I went back to basics & didn't try to string - 100 clippers, 100 osis, 100 ducking clippers, 100 drifters, 40 whirls.
Kicked with Max a couple times. First session was still rough - really short strings again but at least I was trying to mix up my tricks more. Second session with Max was like 2 hours & 45 minutes, had some good stuff every once in a while. Gyro clip & spinning clip in the same string (one sided, but I'll take it). 33 contacts of symp mirage> butterfly> pdx mirage> rpt is a new record. String with terrage> paradon> filler> osis> barrage towards the end of the session. Haven't been doing many double downs this summer because I haven't learned them on my flip, but I can change that with some work I think.
Kicked downtown with Tommy & Grant the next day, about 2 hours & 15 minutes. Swerve & pixie ss rake in one string (one sided, again), shut muted clipper midstring (first time for that). Had some good strings but was really tired. Ended the session with terrage> dimmiest - Grant & Tommy said it was clean...
The last three sessions have all been solo, and shorter. Its just so hot out. Had a 48 contact osii & clippers string, and 54 contacts tiltless. Did 100 clippers, 100 osii, 100 ducking clippers, and 100 whirls one session. Two flip whirls for each one on strong side, trying to get those consistent. Today was really short, only thing I remember is drifter x4 > run.
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The catch was flawless. Thanks for the props guys.
So this will probably be my last update before Funtastiks. I kicked 13 times since the last post. A lot of those have been solo, but I did kick with Max, with Tom a couple of times, and with Tommy & Grant. During solo sessions I've mostly worked on stepping - stepping ss clipper, ripwalk, schmoe, and some stepping far clippers. Also did some whirl work, and a little spinning work.
I'm trying to increase variety in my runs, more drifters, more ducking, more varied clipper to toe transition tricks - pdx illusion, ps mirage, and crispy dlo. Naturally my string length is still pretty low. Don't have a whole lot of highlights:
dimwalk> ripwalk
drifter> spinning clipper
ducking clipper> spinning clipper
flip smudge midstring
butterfly> osis> symp mirage> rpt
drifter x6
10 toe-to-toe guiltless (symp mirage, smear, plo, terrage, & paste bsos)
paste> drifter
terrage> drifter
Just had a real short session, but for one thing its super hot out and for another I'm having some muscle pain, this time in a muscle right below the calf on the inside of my left leg (too many symposium mirages?). Right now I'm icing.
I'm going to Funtastiks! This will be my first event outside of Chicago, and I'm really happy that I'm actually able to get away for this one.
So this will probably be my last update before Funtastiks. I kicked 13 times since the last post. A lot of those have been solo, but I did kick with Max, with Tom a couple of times, and with Tommy & Grant. During solo sessions I've mostly worked on stepping - stepping ss clipper, ripwalk, schmoe, and some stepping far clippers. Also did some whirl work, and a little spinning work.
I'm trying to increase variety in my runs, more drifters, more ducking, more varied clipper to toe transition tricks - pdx illusion, ps mirage, and crispy dlo. Naturally my string length is still pretty low. Don't have a whole lot of highlights:
dimwalk> ripwalk
drifter> spinning clipper
ducking clipper> spinning clipper
flip smudge midstring
butterfly> osis> symp mirage> rpt
drifter x6
10 toe-to-toe guiltless (symp mirage, smear, plo, terrage, & paste bsos)
paste> drifter
terrage> drifter
Just had a real short session, but for one thing its super hot out and for another I'm having some muscle pain, this time in a muscle right below the calf on the inside of my left leg (too many symposium mirages?). Right now I'm icing.
I'm going to Funtastiks! This will be my first event outside of Chicago, and I'm really happy that I'm actually able to get away for this one.
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Hey thanks Zac. I'm going to try to keep incrementally increasing my drifters, just so you have to keep posting here.
So I was gonna do a big Funtastiks write-up, but honestly I don't think I'll ever finish. So while things are still somewhat recent in my mind, I'll jot down a few things.
Finally got to meet Bob Riefer, and even hang out & kick with him, which was cool. The hack circle on the first day was a lot of fun, and I also got some interesting feedback on my game.
The road trip was a blast, fun conversations about footbag & other topics with Cory Allen, Donovon Thakur, & Steve Stuart.
Thanks to Tom for driving & putting this whole thing together.
Good chilling in the room with the crew - the guys I just mentioned plus Waylon.
The video project with Nathan Pipenberg was a lot of fun. Big thanks to Ken Somolinos for taping & directing & all the creative ideas from everyone. Always a good time talking shit with Ken.
2 square against Kenny Shults was fun. All the 2 square was fun - against Steve Goldberg, Mathieu GM, Donovon, Pipenberg, one of the new guys from Ohio (Tony).
Meeting John Goode, Josh Gayhart, John Schneider, Ian Brill, Mark whose last name I don't know... I'm sure I'm missing people... I met a ton of cool people. Lots of newer players on the East Coast as well. Kicked a little with Josh... he was going off. Awesome guy.
Kicking a bit with Flash was fun. Always a treat to see players like Flash, & David Clavens. I knew Jay was good, but daaaaaaaamn he threw down at this event.
Talking footbag/local scenes with Matt Cross.
Doug Tank is always fun to hang out with, and is really smooth. His runs in circle were really nice.
Oh and thanks to Funtastiks for 25 years of supporting an event.
Got to meet & kick with Adam Keith on the way back home from the event, which was cool.
Well I guess I'll stop there, I'm sure I'm forgetting something or someone. Other than that, it was a great weekend, with the exception of one very tiring day of the road trip. The East Coast scene is cool.
Got a lot of good feedback on my terrages, some other feedback on my game which I'm trying to put to use.
I think the only other thing I want to say is this: for the first couple days of the event, it seemed like every time I turned around, somebody was giving somebody else advice on their game. Now, in a way, that's cool that people are trying to help the newer players. But generally the people giving out so much advice were really not the most qualified players. Just saying, people should limit their advice to things that they've actually mastered.
So I was gonna do a big Funtastiks write-up, but honestly I don't think I'll ever finish. So while things are still somewhat recent in my mind, I'll jot down a few things.
Finally got to meet Bob Riefer, and even hang out & kick with him, which was cool. The hack circle on the first day was a lot of fun, and I also got some interesting feedback on my game.
The road trip was a blast, fun conversations about footbag & other topics with Cory Allen, Donovon Thakur, & Steve Stuart.
Thanks to Tom for driving & putting this whole thing together.
Good chilling in the room with the crew - the guys I just mentioned plus Waylon.
The video project with Nathan Pipenberg was a lot of fun. Big thanks to Ken Somolinos for taping & directing & all the creative ideas from everyone. Always a good time talking shit with Ken.
2 square against Kenny Shults was fun. All the 2 square was fun - against Steve Goldberg, Mathieu GM, Donovon, Pipenberg, one of the new guys from Ohio (Tony).
Meeting John Goode, Josh Gayhart, John Schneider, Ian Brill, Mark whose last name I don't know... I'm sure I'm missing people... I met a ton of cool people. Lots of newer players on the East Coast as well. Kicked a little with Josh... he was going off. Awesome guy.
Kicking a bit with Flash was fun. Always a treat to see players like Flash, & David Clavens. I knew Jay was good, but daaaaaaaamn he threw down at this event.
Talking footbag/local scenes with Matt Cross.
Doug Tank is always fun to hang out with, and is really smooth. His runs in circle were really nice.
Oh and thanks to Funtastiks for 25 years of supporting an event.
Got to meet & kick with Adam Keith on the way back home from the event, which was cool.
Well I guess I'll stop there, I'm sure I'm forgetting something or someone. Other than that, it was a great weekend, with the exception of one very tiring day of the road trip. The East Coast scene is cool.
Got a lot of good feedback on my terrages, some other feedback on my game which I'm trying to put to use.
I think the only other thing I want to say is this: for the first couple days of the event, it seemed like every time I turned around, somebody was giving somebody else advice on their game. Now, in a way, that's cool that people are trying to help the newer players. But generally the people giving out so much advice were really not the most qualified players. Just saying, people should limit their advice to things that they've actually mastered.
Hey Nathan. Just wanted to say it was great seeing you again at Funtastiks; I'm stoked you finally made it to an event outside of Chicago. Next time hopefully we can play more than just in Circle contest. I'm hoping that will be at NYJ in a couple months.
Just FYI, this may take some time before I can put it out. My video-editing lab is in Denver, and I still haven't received word from work when I'm moving out there. It could be a week, it could be a month. But yeah, I think the video will be a lot of fun, and I look forward to making it.Frank_Sinatra wrote: The video project with Nathan Pipenberg was a lot of fun .
I agree. In life in general, I always try and take into account the skill/experience of people who give me advice. If somebody can't do something (consistently), then their advice should be taken with a grain of salt. Over the last 6 months I've started playing poker, and really tried to focus on the advice of players I see consistently doing well. Bad poker players give a ton of advice, but I try to tune it out. With footbag, I try not to give advice on anything that I can't hit both sides, and hit strong side at least 80% of the time.Frank_Sinatra wrote: But generally the people giving out so much advice were really not the most qualified players. Just saying, people should limit their advice to things that they've actually mastered.
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Heya Ken. Yeah, I was glad to get to an event outside of Chicago, too. Hopefully I'll be able to do that more. Maybe get off this damned no-fly list. No worries about the video.
Also, I'm great at tuning out advice. Its the new players who haven't yet figured out who is a good source and who isn't that I'm more concerned about. I almost don't want to talk about this because the conscientious people who give out advice - and limit their advice to areas where they are qualified - will assume I'm talking about them and the specific people I had in mind will just ignore this and continue to give out advice on things they're shaky on, so it seems pointless.
And as for me, I feel like I was giving out advice like candy at a parade to a couple players, and I know I'm not the most qualified player. On something like osis, or mirage, or paradox mirage sure I can give advice, but it basically stops there.
Anyway. I'm gonna recap the sessions I've had since the beginning of September, not including Funtastiks. Now, with detail!
September 1st - I really just wanted to feel good about my game going into Funtastiks, and also hit terrage> drifter bsos if possible. Came up short on both.
pixie muted clipper> pdx illusion> symp mirage> rpt> run
terrage> drifter bs
drifter> ducking clipper> drifter> rpt
30 stepping ss clippers each side & I saw what Tom meant about my stiff-legged set on what I thought was my strong side.
So one thing I mentioned in the Funtastiks recap was Bob gave me some ideas about practicing differently to eliminate the dumb drops in my game. What I've started doing is punishing myself with pushups for dropping on things that I don't feel I should drop on. I may also use infinities as punishment on days when my shoulders can't take any more abuse. I don't like drilling infinities, which is why it would be a good tool, and would also make me better at infinities. I like it so far - it gives me a way of channelling frustration and disappointment and discouragement into a physical act, which is great. If I get any other benefits than that out of it, fine. My practice sessions feel like real workouts again.
September 8th - pretty short session, I must have eaten too soon before kicking because I started to feel nauseous (spelling?) after a while. The pushups didn't help. I did use infinities once as well.
Drifter b2b x10 starting on each side.
20 pushups
September 9th - kicked with Reid, Tom, & Max. Reid pointed out I was watching too long on osis - and that was exactly the same advice that I had given to another player at Funtastiks! I am a giant hypocrite. Not my best session. I'm really excited that Reid's here now. I kicked a little over two hours.
smudge> terrage> rpt
September 10th - got motivated. I decided to do 1000 osii. Best of the day was 29 consecutive, got into the tens & twenties many times, which made it go fast. I thought I'd have a good chance at breaking my personal record but no dice. Took me about an hour & a half.
1000 osii
50 pushups
September 11th - rest day. Would it be poor taste to post a crying eagle picture? I'll just commemorate it as I always do by posting this link: http://wonkette.com/402674/a-childrens- ... -911-art-2
September 12th - worked on two move links that I should be able to own, but need to practice. I need to work on flip pixie & flip clipper tricks mostly, better clipper to clipper links in general would be good for me.
PLO> pixie ss clipper x10 bs
pixie ss clipper> whirl x10 bs
whirl> drifter x10 bs
whirl> drifter> osis> infinity> rpt
drifter b2b x20 starting from each side
60 pushups
took about an hour & fourty minutes
September 13th - had a few cups of coffee this morning, had been laying off the caffeine so much lately. It always gives me a boost - at first - but then it can become a crutch. I should just train without it, but then drink like a whole pot before a jam or competition. So I don't know if I should attribute this to the caffeine or to my practices, for now I'll say caffeine:
butter> pdx illusion> rpt> butter> infinity> osis> pdx illusion> rpt> then repeated the previous 12 contacts again + 1 more butterfly
smear> plo> rpt x10; best was to 10 contacts
pixie ss clipper> crispy dlo x10 bs, repeated a couple of times
pixie ss clipper> crispy dlo> butter> infinity> pdx mirage> rpt
whirl> drifter x10 bs; repeated a couple times
whirl> drifter> osis> whirl> drifter> osis> whirl> osis (all one sided, but still...)
pixie muted clipper> whirl> pdx illusion x10bs; repeated a couple times
40 pushups
about an hour & 15 minutes - long enough to listen to Superfly and Purple Rain. Thank you for the funky time.
Also, I'm great at tuning out advice. Its the new players who haven't yet figured out who is a good source and who isn't that I'm more concerned about. I almost don't want to talk about this because the conscientious people who give out advice - and limit their advice to areas where they are qualified - will assume I'm talking about them and the specific people I had in mind will just ignore this and continue to give out advice on things they're shaky on, so it seems pointless.
And as for me, I feel like I was giving out advice like candy at a parade to a couple players, and I know I'm not the most qualified player. On something like osis, or mirage, or paradox mirage sure I can give advice, but it basically stops there.
Anyway. I'm gonna recap the sessions I've had since the beginning of September, not including Funtastiks. Now, with detail!
September 1st - I really just wanted to feel good about my game going into Funtastiks, and also hit terrage> drifter bsos if possible. Came up short on both.
pixie muted clipper> pdx illusion> symp mirage> rpt> run
terrage> drifter bs
drifter> ducking clipper> drifter> rpt
30 stepping ss clippers each side & I saw what Tom meant about my stiff-legged set on what I thought was my strong side.
So one thing I mentioned in the Funtastiks recap was Bob gave me some ideas about practicing differently to eliminate the dumb drops in my game. What I've started doing is punishing myself with pushups for dropping on things that I don't feel I should drop on. I may also use infinities as punishment on days when my shoulders can't take any more abuse. I don't like drilling infinities, which is why it would be a good tool, and would also make me better at infinities. I like it so far - it gives me a way of channelling frustration and disappointment and discouragement into a physical act, which is great. If I get any other benefits than that out of it, fine. My practice sessions feel like real workouts again.
September 8th - pretty short session, I must have eaten too soon before kicking because I started to feel nauseous (spelling?) after a while. The pushups didn't help. I did use infinities once as well.
Drifter b2b x10 starting on each side.
20 pushups
September 9th - kicked with Reid, Tom, & Max. Reid pointed out I was watching too long on osis - and that was exactly the same advice that I had given to another player at Funtastiks! I am a giant hypocrite. Not my best session. I'm really excited that Reid's here now. I kicked a little over two hours.
smudge> terrage> rpt
September 10th - got motivated. I decided to do 1000 osii. Best of the day was 29 consecutive, got into the tens & twenties many times, which made it go fast. I thought I'd have a good chance at breaking my personal record but no dice. Took me about an hour & a half.
1000 osii
50 pushups
September 11th - rest day. Would it be poor taste to post a crying eagle picture? I'll just commemorate it as I always do by posting this link: http://wonkette.com/402674/a-childrens- ... -911-art-2
September 12th - worked on two move links that I should be able to own, but need to practice. I need to work on flip pixie & flip clipper tricks mostly, better clipper to clipper links in general would be good for me.
PLO> pixie ss clipper x10 bs
pixie ss clipper> whirl x10 bs
whirl> drifter x10 bs
whirl> drifter> osis> infinity> rpt
drifter b2b x20 starting from each side
60 pushups
took about an hour & fourty minutes
September 13th - had a few cups of coffee this morning, had been laying off the caffeine so much lately. It always gives me a boost - at first - but then it can become a crutch. I should just train without it, but then drink like a whole pot before a jam or competition. So I don't know if I should attribute this to the caffeine or to my practices, for now I'll say caffeine:
butter> pdx illusion> rpt> butter> infinity> osis> pdx illusion> rpt> then repeated the previous 12 contacts again + 1 more butterfly
smear> plo> rpt x10; best was to 10 contacts
pixie ss clipper> crispy dlo x10 bs, repeated a couple of times
pixie ss clipper> crispy dlo> butter> infinity> pdx mirage> rpt
whirl> drifter x10 bs; repeated a couple times
whirl> drifter> osis> whirl> drifter> osis> whirl> osis (all one sided, but still...)
pixie muted clipper> whirl> pdx illusion x10bs; repeated a couple times
40 pushups
about an hour & 15 minutes - long enough to listen to Superfly and Purple Rain. Thank you for the funky time.
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Ha ha, pushups for punishment is great. You're way too good to miss the stuff you miss was my point. It's just a mindset I think. There may actually be an audible "click" when your brain jumps the hurdle.
Great, another player that will be twice as good as me in 6 months. I hate you.
(not really)
edit: regarding the advice giving, I believe I understand what you mean in reference to that event and those I saw giving lots of advice. But, I'll disagree with Ken regarding who can give advice. If that were held true across various sports, who would coach football and basketball and track?
Great, another player that will be twice as good as me in 6 months. I hate you.
(not really)
edit: regarding the advice giving, I believe I understand what you mean in reference to that event and those I saw giving lots of advice. But, I'll disagree with Ken regarding who can give advice. If that were held true across various sports, who would coach football and basketball and track?
Bob R.
Yeah, this is pretty much what I do. Train without caffeine, and then get jacked up on it right before competition, or if I want to hit something crazy on video.Frank_Sinatra wrote: had been laying off the caffeine so much lately. It always gives me a boost - at first - but then it can become a crutch. I should just train without it, but then drink like a whole pot before a jam or competition. .
Uh... Bo Jackson?Rieferman wrote: I'll disagree with Ken regarding who can give advice. If that were held true across various sports, who would coach football and basketball and track?
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Yes. Also, Gil Thorp.C-Fan wrote:Uh... Bo Jackson?Rieferman wrote: I'll disagree with Ken regarding who can give advice. If that were held true across various sports, who would coach football and basketball and track?
Now I have a new goal. To be hated by Bob Riefer. I hope this shows up when people google your name!Rieferman wrote:Great, another player that will be twice as good as me in 6 months. I hate you.
And thanks Tom for the props. It was nice to check in to the blog & see these responses. Then I read them over and over and over again, for several hours each day.
Well its been about a week, and I'm procrastinating on doing any more studying for the moment, and I've had too much coffee to sleep, so I might as well update this.
Lately I've been kicking every other day. My leg still hurts in the same place, just been playing through it. Eventually I'll have to take time off, I'm hoping I can put that off until November, but I'm also hoping whatever the problem is won't get any worse in that time. Its a stupid gamble but I'm doing it.
I think I've been injured so much this summer because I've been pushing myself so much harder - playing more days in a row and doing tricks that take a little bit higher toll on my body. For instance, I figured that to get a really clean illusion you've really got to drive your foot through the back half of the dex & push fast towards the ground, so that has caused some hard impacts at times. I think its just part of the learning process.
September 15 - kicked with Tom for about 2 hours. Rough start but by the end I put some solid runs together, like mid-teens guiltless without a ton of BOPs in a row. Those are the kind of runs I feel I should be able to do consistently. That is where I wish to plateau. Stuff:
Ripwalk b2b
smudge> terrage> drifter> osis> pdx illusion> swerve> run
September 17 - kicked for a little over an hour & a half with Max. Had good solid strings, particularly at the beginning of the session. Then I got more into stepping tricks as run starters, and that didn't go as well as I might have liked but at least I got some stepping practice in.
51 contact tiltless warmup
32 contacts guiltless (mostly BOP drills but a couple other bread & butter tricks too)
Ripwalks & stepping ss clippers on both sides
Blur & shmoe on one side as run starters
paste> symp mirage> drifter
Toe drifter out of toe symp mirage is so much easier than I thought it would be. Clipper set symp mirage is kind of weird for me, its harder for me right now than PS mirage. Regardless, I need to lay off symp mirages.
September 19 - kicked with Tom by his place, probably like an hour & 20 minutes, maybe more? First three warmup strings were 35, 30, and 25 contacts, felt good. One of the better sessions I've had this summer I think.
tap both sides (new)
swerve & pixie ss rake bsosed in the same run
smear> paste> smear> paste> pixie muted clipper> spinning clipper
swerve> smear> plo> swerve
Since other rake tricks have names like "freak" and "swerve," I want to call pixie ss rake "grind." Damn now I really want to go hit pixie knee bump to ss rake...
Sep 21 - solo study break, kind of a short session. I got so tired so fast, not sure if it was the unexpected heat, but I also did some energy-sapping stuff right away. Maybe combo of the two. Afterwards I ran into Fred at Tony's. Brought a to my
I was really pleased with the first highlight here -
68 contacts of osis> ss clipper> rpt
46 tiltless warmup
20 BOP warmup
butter> infinity> crispy DLO> rpt x10, best was to 12 contacts
smear> pixie ss clip x10 bs
24 pushups
That last link is usually not difficult but I was just beat by the time I started it. Threw in the towel shortly afterwards.
Sep 22 - another solo study break, about 1:15.
heel set drifter
pixie ss clipper> osis> pdx illusion> rpt x10, best was to 12 contacts
drifter> pdx illusion x20 bs
drifter> pdx illusion> pixie ss clipper> rpt x7, best was to 12 contacts
32 pushups
I noticed that in every video I'm in, I hit some kind of weird heel trick, so I better get something planned out for the next time I get a chance to be in a video. Stepping far heel to heel set drifter would be pretty nifty, I think. Now I've just got to hit it.
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Kicked another six times since the last post.
Sep 24 - kicked for 2.5 hours with Max. It was very windy, session started well, then hit a slump, then finished on some ok notes. Max hit DLO. As for me, mostly trying to continue with some things from previous sessions.
51 tiltless warmup
pixie muted clipper> osis> pdx mirage> pixie ss clipper> dlo> rpt
tap bs again
swerve bsos again
pixie knee bump> ss rake
Sep 26 - another 2.5 hours of freestyle with Reid, Tommy, Max, and Tom. Zeke & Ronnie came out, too. Maybe the biggest freestyle session we've had in a couple years, and that's even with a couple of guys unable to make it. Had some squares going on too, and about an hour of single-trick games after we were done with shred. I had a good time.
terrage> symp mirage> rpt to 10 contacts
ripwalk b2b & bsos
stepping ss clipper bsos
ducking pickup bs
stepping far heel> drifter
drifting rake
swerve> terrage
Sep 28 - solo for about 1:10. Drilling & working on new links.
10 sets of butter> pdx illusion> rpt, best completed 3 sets
10 sets of smear> pixie ss clip> dlo, best was to 9 contacts
10x DATW> drifter each side, bsosed once
10 stepping ss clippers each side, bsosed a couple times
10 ripwalks each side
pixie ss clipper> ripwalk> pdx mirage> rpt
40 pushups
Sep 29 - solo for about 1:20. I knew there wouldn't be a ton of nice days left this season, so I took every opportunity to kick. But I also started to see diminishing returns.
50 sets of osis> ss clipper> rpt, best was 50 contacts
40 contacts tiltless warmup
10 sets of butter> pdx illusion> butter> osis> pdx illusion> rpt, best was 29 contacts (this was exhausting)
10 sets of pixie ss clipper> whirl> dlo each side, best was 9 contacts
10 sets of pixie ss clipper> ripwalk> pdx mirage each side, repeated a few times
30 pushups
Sep 30 - kicked downtown with Tommy. I wanted to start putting those links I've been practicing into my strings, had some success. Pretty pleased with these highlights, especially surprised with the first two:
swerve> drifter
swerve> dlo
osis> ripwalk bs (not the best ripwalks)
smear> plo> smear> pixie ss clipper> ripwalk> pdx mirage> pixie ss clipper> whirl> dlo> symp mirage> butter> osis> dropped dlo
pdx drifter bs
The pdx drifters didn't take many attempts at all, and felt easier than I expected. I've been working my downtime drifters & it seems like it paid off.
Oct 1 - kicked solo again. I had really low energy & was feeling tender in a few places from the last three days of kicking. I just warmed up & then worked on pdx drifters. I hit 10 on each side but that took forever on my flip side, I must have footed it well over 50 times. Maybe close to a 100 times. Definitely didn't feel so easy this time out. I didn't figure out exactly what the mechanical problems are, but I think I figured out some different approaches to practicing that trick. 25 pushups.
Sep 24 - kicked for 2.5 hours with Max. It was very windy, session started well, then hit a slump, then finished on some ok notes. Max hit DLO. As for me, mostly trying to continue with some things from previous sessions.
51 tiltless warmup
pixie muted clipper> osis> pdx mirage> pixie ss clipper> dlo> rpt
tap bs again
swerve bsos again
pixie knee bump> ss rake
Sep 26 - another 2.5 hours of freestyle with Reid, Tommy, Max, and Tom. Zeke & Ronnie came out, too. Maybe the biggest freestyle session we've had in a couple years, and that's even with a couple of guys unable to make it. Had some squares going on too, and about an hour of single-trick games after we were done with shred. I had a good time.
terrage> symp mirage> rpt to 10 contacts
ripwalk b2b & bsos
stepping ss clipper bsos
ducking pickup bs
stepping far heel> drifter
drifting rake
swerve> terrage
Sep 28 - solo for about 1:10. Drilling & working on new links.
10 sets of butter> pdx illusion> rpt, best completed 3 sets
10 sets of smear> pixie ss clip> dlo, best was to 9 contacts
10x DATW> drifter each side, bsosed once
10 stepping ss clippers each side, bsosed a couple times
10 ripwalks each side
pixie ss clipper> ripwalk> pdx mirage> rpt
40 pushups
Sep 29 - solo for about 1:20. I knew there wouldn't be a ton of nice days left this season, so I took every opportunity to kick. But I also started to see diminishing returns.
50 sets of osis> ss clipper> rpt, best was 50 contacts
40 contacts tiltless warmup
10 sets of butter> pdx illusion> butter> osis> pdx illusion> rpt, best was 29 contacts (this was exhausting)
10 sets of pixie ss clipper> whirl> dlo each side, best was 9 contacts
10 sets of pixie ss clipper> ripwalk> pdx mirage each side, repeated a few times
30 pushups
Sep 30 - kicked downtown with Tommy. I wanted to start putting those links I've been practicing into my strings, had some success. Pretty pleased with these highlights, especially surprised with the first two:
swerve> drifter
swerve> dlo
osis> ripwalk bs (not the best ripwalks)
smear> plo> smear> pixie ss clipper> ripwalk> pdx mirage> pixie ss clipper> whirl> dlo> symp mirage> butter> osis> dropped dlo
pdx drifter bs
The pdx drifters didn't take many attempts at all, and felt easier than I expected. I've been working my downtime drifters & it seems like it paid off.
Oct 1 - kicked solo again. I had really low energy & was feeling tender in a few places from the last three days of kicking. I just warmed up & then worked on pdx drifters. I hit 10 on each side but that took forever on my flip side, I must have footed it well over 50 times. Maybe close to a 100 times. Definitely didn't feel so easy this time out. I didn't figure out exactly what the mechanical problems are, but I think I figured out some different approaches to practicing that trick. 25 pushups.
Finally figured out who you are after watching Ken's "Elimi Nathan" video. I couldn't really say "yeah it was good to meet you at Funtastiks" until I was able to put a face with your name. So... yeah, was glad I was able to shred with you even if there were little children throwing plastic balls into our circle hoping that they would get to see some ankle crunching. Love your style - super smooth and clean - basically what I'm trying to emulate. Nice highlights in your recent posts too; props!
Mark Bull
-
- Avenging Disco Godfather
- Posts: 1660
- Joined: 09 Jan 2007 12:43
- Location: Chicago, IL
Zac, I've been putting in decent time on my drifters, just in hopes of your approval. And thanks. Mark, thanks for the really nice comment.
So I've kicked 8 more times since the last post. Its getting the time of year where the weather isn't always cooperative. On nice days I'm doing whatever I can to get out & play while I can. I've also got my indoor spot to go back to when it gets to that point.
Have a couple good job opportunities lined up. One is almost a sure thing, the other has a few more hoops to jump through but I'm very confident I can jump through those hoops, and both are limited term contract employment. So that will leave even less time to play for a little while. But the timing is actually great - the money will help out with things like gaining more certifications, which will make long-term job prospects better, and if I have to take time away from footbag now is a pretty good time to do it.
Other than that, I haven't really made my mind up about planned time off before NNYJ. One strategy would be to take November off from kicking to get healthy, then get a couple weeks practice in to shake off the rust. The other would be to just play when I can up until NNYJ. I'm just gonna roll with the punches and see what happens with the different jobs & with school.
Session recaps
Oct 6 - due to poor time management on my part & a couple unnecessary school-project-related phone calls, I didn't have much time to play. I was just rushing too much - rushing through the warmup and rushing through tricks. It was really beautiful out though. 35 minutes of play, 61 contact tiltless string, 10 pushups.
Oct 7 - decided I needed to keep it basic instead of push my boundaries, since the last two sessions hadn't been real solid. Kicked for 1:15.
5 strings with 20+ contacts of BOPs
25 ducking clippers each side
25 pushups
Oct 8 - kicked for an 1:40 with Max. Strings were short, had too many dumb drops. Not really sure what was going on. But I did hit a couple new links that are challenging for me.
PS mirage> drifter
swerve> terrage> drifter
Also had swerve> dlo again, pdx drifter on my strong side again, and tap bs again, but all were pretty sloppy.
Oct 10 - kicked for 1:15. Worked on ducking, diving, and stepping. Warmup clipper drills were solid.
op clipper> ss clipper> rpt to 48 contacts
alternating clippers to 54 contacts
Pixie muted clipper> diving clipper> pdx illusion> rpt
pixie ss clipper> ripwalk> pdx mirage> rpt to 8 contacts
40 pushups
Oct 13 - kicked for 1:15. Noticed a lot of specific things to improve. Tried to hit Smoke at the end of the session, I'm still close but haven't quite got it. It doesn't line up for me, I'm probably closer to hitting it on my good pixie side than my good drifter side, so I'm working on improving my weak drifter. On weak drifter I'm not pivoting/hopping far enough, and the bag is landing too far forward on my shoe instead of in the sweet spot. The weak side pixie is good at basic stuff but has a lot of room for improvement. I don't feel real confident with my flip diving midstring.
op clipper> ss clipper> rpt to 64 contacts
ripwalk> whirl 10 times each side
diving clipper> ducking clipper> rpt 10 times, got 8 contacts a couple times
diving clipper> drifter 5 times each side
drifter> diving clipper 5 times each side, eventually hit the rpt
35 pushups
Oct 14 - 1:20. Started working on some of the problems I noticed the day before. Worked on toe drifters and tried Smoke some more, footed twice on my strong pixie side but it still isn't there yet.
drifter b2b x10 each side
stepping ss clipper> run x20 bs
stepping ss clipper> ripwalk bs
40 pushups
Oct 15 - 1:20. Still not smoking.
5 ss clippers> 5 ss clippers op side to 50 contacts
pixie muted clipper> ducking clipper> dlo x10 bs, rpted a few times
drifter b2b x10 each side
smear> drifter x10 each side & bsosed
pdx drifter a couple times each side
50 pushups
Oct 16 - 1:35. Skipped some parts of my warmup. Sometimes it just gets stale, but I do feel like its really helpful.
pixie ss clipper> ripwalk> run x10 each side
terrage> drifter bsos (finally!)
terrage> terrage> drifter bs
smudge x20 bs
stepping ss clipper> run x5 each side
blur, shmoe, spinning clipper a couple times each side
So I've kicked 8 more times since the last post. Its getting the time of year where the weather isn't always cooperative. On nice days I'm doing whatever I can to get out & play while I can. I've also got my indoor spot to go back to when it gets to that point.
Have a couple good job opportunities lined up. One is almost a sure thing, the other has a few more hoops to jump through but I'm very confident I can jump through those hoops, and both are limited term contract employment. So that will leave even less time to play for a little while. But the timing is actually great - the money will help out with things like gaining more certifications, which will make long-term job prospects better, and if I have to take time away from footbag now is a pretty good time to do it.
Other than that, I haven't really made my mind up about planned time off before NNYJ. One strategy would be to take November off from kicking to get healthy, then get a couple weeks practice in to shake off the rust. The other would be to just play when I can up until NNYJ. I'm just gonna roll with the punches and see what happens with the different jobs & with school.
Session recaps
Oct 6 - due to poor time management on my part & a couple unnecessary school-project-related phone calls, I didn't have much time to play. I was just rushing too much - rushing through the warmup and rushing through tricks. It was really beautiful out though. 35 minutes of play, 61 contact tiltless string, 10 pushups.
Oct 7 - decided I needed to keep it basic instead of push my boundaries, since the last two sessions hadn't been real solid. Kicked for 1:15.
5 strings with 20+ contacts of BOPs
25 ducking clippers each side
25 pushups
Oct 8 - kicked for an 1:40 with Max. Strings were short, had too many dumb drops. Not really sure what was going on. But I did hit a couple new links that are challenging for me.
PS mirage> drifter
swerve> terrage> drifter
Also had swerve> dlo again, pdx drifter on my strong side again, and tap bs again, but all were pretty sloppy.
Oct 10 - kicked for 1:15. Worked on ducking, diving, and stepping. Warmup clipper drills were solid.
op clipper> ss clipper> rpt to 48 contacts
alternating clippers to 54 contacts
Pixie muted clipper> diving clipper> pdx illusion> rpt
pixie ss clipper> ripwalk> pdx mirage> rpt to 8 contacts
40 pushups
Oct 13 - kicked for 1:15. Noticed a lot of specific things to improve. Tried to hit Smoke at the end of the session, I'm still close but haven't quite got it. It doesn't line up for me, I'm probably closer to hitting it on my good pixie side than my good drifter side, so I'm working on improving my weak drifter. On weak drifter I'm not pivoting/hopping far enough, and the bag is landing too far forward on my shoe instead of in the sweet spot. The weak side pixie is good at basic stuff but has a lot of room for improvement. I don't feel real confident with my flip diving midstring.
op clipper> ss clipper> rpt to 64 contacts
ripwalk> whirl 10 times each side
diving clipper> ducking clipper> rpt 10 times, got 8 contacts a couple times
diving clipper> drifter 5 times each side
drifter> diving clipper 5 times each side, eventually hit the rpt
35 pushups
Oct 14 - 1:20. Started working on some of the problems I noticed the day before. Worked on toe drifters and tried Smoke some more, footed twice on my strong pixie side but it still isn't there yet.
drifter b2b x10 each side
stepping ss clipper> run x20 bs
stepping ss clipper> ripwalk bs
40 pushups
Oct 15 - 1:20. Still not smoking.
5 ss clippers> 5 ss clippers op side to 50 contacts
pixie muted clipper> ducking clipper> dlo x10 bs, rpted a few times
drifter b2b x10 each side
smear> drifter x10 each side & bsosed
pdx drifter a couple times each side
50 pushups
Oct 16 - 1:35. Skipped some parts of my warmup. Sometimes it just gets stale, but I do feel like its really helpful.
pixie ss clipper> ripwalk> run x10 each side
terrage> drifter bsos (finally!)
terrage> terrage> drifter bs
smudge x20 bs
stepping ss clipper> run x5 each side
blur, shmoe, spinning clipper a couple times each side