Ryan's Footblog: JOULUKALENTERI 2018!

[Ryan_Morris]

All I have to say is that 38 tiltless feels fucking awesome.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

That's so sick! Props man! Your game sounds like it's coming along really nicely! Also might have seen some very recent footage somewhere of you doing like 4 Guiltless links and I was very stunned by that… You're really kicking ass. Heist Krupp it up!

[Ryan_Morris]

I'd like to give a big thank you to Nick Polini for his advice on ducking. He said to practice planting my setting leg sooner, so I did that today and my ducking got a little better. I had a little trouble focusing on both that and getting a good set but I can tell that I'm heading down the right path now.

Highlights:
ss butter > osis > pdx mirage repeat x4 (twice on each side)
Clipper ducking > pdx mirage > butterfly > pdx mirage (flip side) > symp mirage

I think that last one was my first five unique guiltless (counting flip as unique). I almost did it with a pdx illusion, but those still need more time. Still, the duck was pretty good and, if not for Nick's advice, I probably wouldn't have been able to do it before I got too fatigued.

[akprice]

DUDE.... congrats on the guiltless!!! your game is booming. awesome to hear. would love to see some video at some point, hint hint.

[Ryan_Morris]

Thanks, Aaron Khoa has a decent camera. Maybe I'll get him to film a shred video of us folks at State College since there has been a lot of cool stuff happening this spring.

[Ryan_Morris]

I've had many sessions since my last post, but I finally feel like I've done enough good things to warrant a post. We'll start with my favorite:

Ducking clipper back to back. Maybe it was the advice from Nick Polini and Ian Brill, maybe it was the hoard of quacking ducks nearby that finally gave me what I needed to hit this link. Of course, I only hit it once so there's still a lot of work to be done, but I'm really happy at the results I'm getting from ducking practice.

35 tiltless. Not my record, but not bad either. I try to end every session with a 30 contact (minimum) string and I'm often able to do that, which is a considerable improvement considering that I could barely get 20 earlier this year.

DLO. I'm getting ever so slightly better at it from toe and clipper thanks to a bit of symple legover practice. It's a really fun and fast trick that I try to throw in the middle of my strings. I usually drop them, but when they work it's awesome.

My basics still need some polishing, but I really want to push for longer guiltless strings now. Unfortunately, there are a couple things holding me back: infinity and osis. I've been working on infinity since before school let out and I thought I was finally getting good at it, but now Ivan tells me there's something slightly off about them. He says he had the same problem and Matt Kemmer helped him fix it (though he won't tell me what it is, damn it). Osis...you know how I said I was really happy how well ducking is going? Osis is the exact reverse opposite of that.

Matt, if you would be so very kind as to help me, I'll have some osis and infinity footage for you tonight or tomorrow. What is the best way for me to get it to you?

[Matt K]

me21kemm@siena.edu

I should host a website with an upload form

[Ryan_Morris]

I should host a website with an upload form

Just start an online footbag class already.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

I should host a website with an upload form

Just start an online footbag class already.

Matt and I have plans...

[Ryan_Morris]

First of all, props to Khoa for braving the heat and humidity to shred with me the past few sessions. It's been well worth the effort.

Secondly, going to todays session was particularly worthwhile for the long tiltless strings and...
toe same butterfly > ducking clipper > pdx mirage, repeat. Woo!

[Ryan_Morris]

When I write blog posts, I try to include either goals or accomplishments––both if I can. That being said, this one has neither.

Friday was supposed to be my one day off from footbag, but my lazy ass didn't get out of bed early enough on Saturday to shred before work. With no work and nice weather, today should have been a perfect day for a solo session but I couldn't find the motivation to get off the couch. I don't know why. Matt Kemmer just recently gave me a ton of useful advice on osis and other things, so I should be totally pumped to practice what I learned. I did manage to drag myself down to the basement sometime after dark, but not even half an hour in I got frustrated––and worse, bored. What the hell is wrong with me?

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

We'll talk about this when I see you this weekend. I understand why it's happening though. Nothing to be worried about. Short version… You're bored because you don't have a whole lot of stuff to work with and that can also be frustrating.

My advice to you is, when you feel like this… Experiment a little. Try to hit a new trick by combining some of the concepts you can already do.. You can do Ducking Clippers and you can Butterfly, so.. why not try to hit Ducking Butterfly? It sounds like ADD hunting, but it isn't really, because you can already hit those concepts fairly well. I think this would be pretty beneficial for you from time to time, just to give yourself some fresh stuff to mess with. This always works for me when I get frustrated or bored to the same old same old.

But like I said, we'll chat more this weekend. Hang in there man.

[krustykrakk]

Hey, sorry about the poor attendance with the meetings. Sometimes real life trumps footbag, unfortunately. April and I actually have been kicking. In fact, she led a long, intensive drill session yesterday that kicked my butt! If it helps your motivation, just remember that we are all training!

[Ryan_Morris]

Ben, I meant to reply to you earlier this week, but I forgot. What I was going to say is that I am really glad to hear you and April are still practicing. I was worried that the sessions you missed were just days off, but it really sounds like you're putting in the time despite your awful work schedule.

[Ryan_Morris]

Some things happened since my June 6th post. Let's talk about them.

The day after I wrote how lazy and bored I felt, I tried to kick again. However, not even ten minutes in I got mad and threw my bag at the ground, hard. Luckily, it hit soft dirt and didn't break, but bag throwing is still a major no-no for me. I stopped playing immediately.

Later that day, my insane work week began. Earlier this summer, I got a job at College Pizza which, for the most part, has worked out well. My bosses are nice, the pay is decent, and the hours aren't usually a problem. This week, however, I worked the closing shift Monday and Tuesday, double shifts at Arts Fest booth Wednesday through Friday, and both of the above on Saturday (15 hours in one day). My crazy schedule plus my bad sessions made me decide to just take the week off from footbag. I stayed true to my word, until...

Friday night, Nick Polini, Ryan Thomas, Matt Kemmer, and Dan Carey showed up at my apartment. The first two on that list started kicking in my basement, and I couldn't help myself. My body felt heavy and my form was sloppy, but I hit some DLOs and ducks. It was nice to kick, I guess. Mostly it was good to see my friends.

Saturday was, by far, the worst. I was supposed to work 11am to 9pm, but a few hours before my shift ended, my boss told me somebody couldn't make it to their shift at the store and that I had to work until close. So, after a couple hours rest back at the apartment, I went to work. I left at 4:30am. I didn't get to kick or hang out with anybody that night, which blew shitty chunks.

The good news is, my boss gave me off on Sunday. I kicked a lot with Matt and he gave me some incredibly good advice about separating tricks, moving my upper body together on osis, turning more into my infinities, and how to drill tiltless. Later on, I got in a circle with him and Nick. Although they both denied it, I thought they were playing well. True, I still can't always tell with advanced what "good" is for them, Matt had some awesome strings and Nick hit some wacky cool links. He was also trying difficult things, not hitting them, but looking like a boss just trying. Obviously, I was a little puppy with some big dogs, but I put as much effort as I could into my strings. I did a few ducks and they reminded me to get to a "neutral" stance more quickly after the set and the duck and to spot more on the way up. Nick encouraged me to try some guiltless strings, but I couldn't right then. I was still too rusty from not playing all week. Sorry, buddy. I'll try to send you some footage later on.

At the end of the session, it started pouring rain, but we kept shredding. I ended up hitting a 30+ contact string in it on film, which felt totally badass and was definitely my favorite part of the day. Ivan says he had footage of a better one with more 3-adds, but I don't remember it. I probably dropped on a clipper or something and immediately decided it was lame and forgettable.

All in all, I had a great day. I wish I'd had more time to have fun this weekend, but I'm satisfied nonetheless.

Summary:
Highlights:
30+ string in the rain
Short but cool guiltless string (friday night)
Matt Kemmer

Things I learned:
Make a clear distinction in my mind where one trick ends and another begins.
Practice tiltless "marathon style" so I won't have to ever again.
Set waist to naval height.
On osis, wait longer to turn and move my head and torso together.
Stay in a neutral position as much as possible when ducking.
Turn 90 degrees before dexing infinities.

That should keep me busy for a while.

Edit: I want to say one more thing. Last week I felt too frustrated and bored with footbag to drill, but I think the feeling has finally passed. I have a ton of things to work on and a lot of hope for improving my game.

More here when I have good news to report.

[krustykrakk]

Your string in the rain WAS totally badass. It was coming down a bit then as you kept your composure and the string went on, the rain got heavier and heavier. It was like watching an inspirational part of a shitty movie. I head intense music in my head when watching you. Seriously, at the end of your string, I expected you to fall on your knees and curse the skies. At that moment, a lightening bolt would come down from the sky and you would ride off into space on a jet-powered rocking horse from the future of another dimension in order to save all of us in the past from the space-alien ghost robots who plan to flip the universes inside-out, add lead and steel, gather the last panel, stitch it, and start the epic movie string that would start the process all over again!

[Ryan_Morris]

I much prefer posting happy things, rather than the alternative.

Thursday I drilled solo and managed to get 21 infinities, one for each of my years as a human being and a personal record. At the beginning of the session I was feeling bored and angry, so I texted Nick for trick/link ideas. He called me up to gave me some helpful starting info for pixies (I have now hit a grand total of four pixie sets) and suggested I try spinning for fun. I'll try some after I watch a bit of footage on it. Thanks for the stuff, man. I've been feeling really crappy at sessions lately and you helped lessen that.

Friday I took a break because things were sore.

This was a good decision because I felt fresh and energetic for Saturday's session with Ben, April, Khoa, Ivan (who stitched), and surprise guest Jacob, a high school freestyle soccer player. I tried to do as much guiltless shred as possible and turn two adds into bails. Though my strings were definitely not as long, I'm really glad I pushed myself to do harding things. I hope that by East Coasts I'll be able to consistently string together at least 10 guiltless before bailing to a two-add. We'll see.

I still need to work on osis. Matt told me more or less exactly what is wrong with my osis, but it remains uncooperative. I think I may have simply drilled it the wrong way for too long to expect a quick fix. Luckily, I now have ducking to distract me. I'm doing more with it now than I thought I would be, partially due to Ivan challenging me to hit ducking pdx mirage, which I hit both sides.

Also, Ben, I resolve to pay more attention to what tricks are happening in a circle, even when side conversations are happening. 'Nuff said.

Highlights
Ducking pdx mirage, bs.
Ducking far pickup, strong side.
Ducking clipper b2b.
Ducking pdx mirage > dlo > other threes, bs.
Strings with more threes.
Had fun.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Sick, Ryan. I'm glad you got some good new stuff. Like I said, I think experimenting will do your soul well. I knew you'd get some ducking stuff soon. Prosps on the highlights. I think you'll hit your goal by eat coats, if you keep pushing for it. The great thing about your game right now, is that your downtime is so solid. Once you get more uptime sets and sounds and ducks, your game will quickly sky rocket. I can't wait for that. Which is why I told you to experiment for a while, to see what you liked/didn't like. Have fun dude.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

I fucking said "eat coats" again...

[MetZelRio]

I fucking said "eat coats" again...

Ahhhhh HAAAAAAA! ROTFLOL!