TMNT Have Nothing On This Shredder

[C-Fan]

Yay Derek Worlds write up!

I almost completely passed on doing Shred-Off. Given I typically film my sessions, and play 3-4 times a week, would have been foolish to not try.

I'm glad you participated; I enjoyed your entries a lot. I was in a similar boat myself about Shred Off, and came to the same conclusion as you.

I was torn between the two runs I posted, and a single 48 contact run.

Given it was the first year they ran the event, it feels like we were all figuring it out at the same time. I initially thought the judges would prefer fewer clips which were longer. Towards the end, I got the sense they didn't care if you had a ton of clips in an entry, and therefore the scales were tipped more towards videos packed with lots of shorter highlights.

Instead, he scratched the day of, so all of my efforts were essentially for nothing. Literally blew my entire load on this round trying to take down a Mantis.

I feel you. There was a lot of unpredictability in this year's tournament. There were a few injuries (Dominik, Mathieu, Pawel) that had variable impacts with their timing. I also struggled with trying to predict when I needed to give my best shot on an entry (almost lost to Pawel because of it) and when I should hold back (which I did with Sergio) to keep some surprises in reserve for later rounds.

The heat was a bit of an issue, especially being in a swamp, but my previous scorching desert lifestyle gave me enough attributes to cope decently well.

Yeah, it looked miserable hot in some of your clips. It sucks that local weather conditions impacted competitors differently, but I kept reminding myself that it was better than not having a Worlds at all.

Pig war >Smog war has become a staple in my game, can pretty much hit it every shred.

That's awesome. If you were trying for a new record of unique triple dexes, how many more do you think you could add to that? Could you throw like a pixie dso in there somewhere and push to 9-10 range?

Noticed quite a bit, that a sign made people far more likely to approach and interact with me. Damn, was I not a fan of that.

I feel you. The signs frustrated me too on a few levels. Sometimes mine would fall down at a bad time, sometimes they'd be out of frame, sometimes they made us write too many damn words for it to be easily visible. And yeah, nothing like having looky-loos asking you questions when you're in a time crunch to film something usable before the light fades.

Surprised with the feedback I got from this, Taishi even messaged me thinking that I may have won. Like I said, knew I wouldn't win, but heads were fanning the flames pretty hard, so there was a spark of hope.

Unsurprisingly, I was one of the fans. I still think your entry beat Taishi's. My goal with all my own entries was: try to submit something you're proud of. Even if the judges don't give it to you at least you can sleep well knowing you pushed hard. You can definitely say that about your Shred Off.

That live-stream was hot fire.

I laughed more during those 2 streams than I have in quite some time. Made me really miss my footbag family.

Slightly confused about what to do with my game(not taking requests),

How about some enterrages? I think they'd fit your game nicely and don't tick any of the injury boxes. Oh wait, you said "not" taking requests. Nevermind.

[boyle]

I thought your round with Taishi was super close. I would have been happy to see that go either way, same for Ken vs Pawel. I'm not entirely sure of the judging process, like Ken mentioned. I think for future events this is something to get a bit more clear. Glad to have you in there, you're really pushing hard lately. Weird for me that you guys had the issues with the heatwave. I had a few days of some pouring rain and other days with heavy frosts.

I know you're not taking requests and don't want to get injured, but have you ever thought of terraging ducking? Not sure if anyone has hit this at all.

That's great you could play in the closed space with Dante - I was wondering what the situation with gyms and things over there was.

I would have liked to win the director thing also. Let's see what happens in the coming years. Hard to say if there will even be a Worlds to make changes to with travel restrictions and whatnot.

[C-Fan]

Enjoyed your Joulu drills video. Miss hearing your thoughts on here.

[Derek]

Things have been super slow during our 2nd lockdown, that started after Xmas. Experience from round 1 definitely showed the level ups. Free time. The downstairs neighbors still haven’t flinched on all the shred, so that’s hype. Especially given all the Atomic work I’ve been doing. Heh-heh. Stompy-stomp, but smooth stompy-stomp. Atomics have been a thing for a couple+ months, and the spine seems strong, so, dope. The only downside to that is all my goals for Alpine Pixie stuff are severely hindered, if not dead. ‘Tis life, though. Not gonna lie, Pixie’s didn’t come naturally, it ended up being what I drilled for 14 years that made it look that way. But these Atomics, boy, oh boy. They click, somewhat, for unknown reasons.


My focus for Atomics is obviously form, so I tried not to drill things like Tap, or Atomic ss Pickup, as I feel it’s easy to sluff these. I do them now, but not as a focus. Atomic Legover is a no-no, cause, Eggbeater. Illusions out of flip Atomic were really thin, and I don’t like that. Think, by definition, thin is in. But, not a fan. Took a lot of single tricks to hand catch to clean up. It still has room for improvement, but loads better than what it was. Kinda embarrassed by my NYJ video, as I feel they were still pretty booty then.


Atomic highlights of recent past:
-Atomic Ducking Leg , only strong
-Alpine Smudge >Atom rpt
-6 Unique (Omelette*2,Atom*2,AtomicssLeg*2)
-Atomic ss Leg >Pig to 8 contacts

Other highlights that are on IG/Discord:
-16 DSO (ties my PR, and actually on camera)
-Assassin >DSO to 8 contacts

Acquired a minor injury from over spam trying to get Pixie Diving DOrb(Double Orbit). Footed it once, with a couple other close calls, that kept egging me on. It was my birthday, and that’s apparently what I wanted. Shouldn’t be more than 6 days, and I sometimes do that when laboring. Been trying to get back with Footbag making, but burnt myself out last year. Also, there’s a fill issue, more so a cost of shipping issue. Before, I’d cross the border into Michigan and swoop on some fill and a sess, but now I can’t do that. Have a bunch at my parents, but it was like $50 to send 3 lbs, let alone 20. Hopefully, I’ll be able to actually visit in the nearish future, to grab it IRL. Toolan also has some super special fill I like, but concerned over shipping costs there, too. Be that as it may, been diggin’ the newest iterations of bags I’ve been doing. With most of the final tweaks worked out.



And, to end it, a video of excess footage I gathered for the NYJ video contest thing:

[boyle]

Your atomics are looking good. Glad to hear they are not destroying your body. It doesn't look like you are working as hard for them as with the pixie ducking stuff. Have you done much/any pixie ducking into atomic ducking tricks?

[C-Fan]

been diggin’ the newest iterations of bags I’ve been doing. With most of the final tweaks worked out.

Me too. I've only had two sessions with the bag you sent me, but it's played fantastic in both. Zero break in, stalls well, sets true. Best bag of yours that I've played with so far. Thanks again for sending it my way!

[mtoolan]

Been trying to get back with Footbag making, but burnt myself out last year.

I've been feeling that lately. I stitched a lot over the last year (wish I had kept track of how many). Still, I was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it. It's the perfect activity for when I want to turn my brain off but still feel productive. And it doesn't hurt that I can supply my own prizes for any online comps I host.

[Derek]

Boyle: Taken proper measures to make sure things don't get too poopy. And yeah, been gradually introducing Atomics into and out of harder tricks.

Toolan: Didn't actually make a lot of bags overall, especially compared to previous years, but 4 stitch 32's are dreadful. Not sure how anyone stays up on 32's, way too much cutting.


Quick little thingy on my back and Atomics:

Fairly certain the root of my back issues weren't directly because of Atomics, was more added stress to an already stressed spine. At the time, was working out, doing manual labor, shredding, and then more physical activity with the homies(one was a track coach and had access to a warehouse with a bunch of equipment). On top of all that, learned you're not supposed to stay on your toes for things like squats, but that was shortly after the first time. Same with a lot of the other incidents, too much physical activity paired too close. Also, my form was pretty doodoo then, and really feel like if your basics aren't up to par, uptime sets can be risky in general. Now, I've learned to stay on top of things. Not playing too much, making sure to stretch daily, sleeping enough, resting an adequate amount, no work/play in the same day, steady on the not shitty food intake(eating enough protein), and taking things at my own pace. Hardest thing is still making sure to not play too much at times.

My approach to Atomics this time around is probably a big boost, too. Every session, for a while, there was a ~30 single Atomic tricks to handcatch segment. Still do this, but it's more like 30-50, now. Think this is honestly one of the best ways to learn anything in Footbag. Understandably, it can be slow and tedious, but not everyone is born with immense natural talent. Mentioned before that I steered clear from easily sluffed tricks like Tap and Atomic ss Pickup, too. Before, think I spammed Atomics far too much, and with too much focus on doing Atomic everything drill.

Recent Highlights:
-Bladerunner B2B
-DSO *18
-Atom *8
-Omelette *4
(Bladerunner is so weirdly doable compared to Predator, given those last 2 stats. Don't get it.)



Cass and I had a session on Sunday, super fun. Have been full house husband mode since lockdown round 2, but hoping things pick back up now that restrictions are beginning to lift(Makes my bag making excuses pitiful.... lawl). So, I've been able to steady play Tues, Thurs, Sun. DSO and Atomics have definitely overshadowed a lot of my other tricks, especially the Diving/Pixie Diving stuff. But, it's been such a blast. There is something about my newest bag, made it slightly smaller than normal, and it feels super dense, even though it's one of my lighter bags. Every time I try DSO first try with it, many dexes occur. 18 is my PR, and feeling confident that I should have the WR(23) beat by the end of the year. Always wanted to snag one from Anssi.

[boyle]

Sounds like you were really overdoing it in the past (not only on footbag) - I guess getting a big boost on footbag -say going from hitting, let's say some around the worlds and some decent strings, to going hardcore on the atomics etc, then you really get into it and make it your main focus.

Glad to here the body is working better with you at this time.

Huge effort on the DSO also, really impressive. It also takes a lot of discipline not to just do some and then break into another, similar trick.

[mtoolan]

Didn't actually make a lot of bags overall, especially compared to previous years, but 4 stitch 32's are dreadful. Not sure how anyone stays up on 32's, way too much cutting.

I've never heard of 4 stitch 32's. I thought there were only 2 and 3 stitch varieties. Three stitches is certainly hard enough for me to keep consistent, so I can understand why you wouldn't enjoy 4. And I hear you on the cutting. It's not the cutting for me really, but the tracing. I keep meaning to make some stamps for it, but I put it off every time.

Props on all the gnarly highlights. I'm very jealous of your indoor shred space.

I read the top post on this page (EDIT: not sure how I got there but it turns out I'm actually referring to a post on the previous page from 8/9/19) and liked reading what you had to say. Every time I get burned out on footbag, it's because I'm too worried about competing/comparing or I overthink things. Next time I'll turn my brain off completely and see how it goes (after a thorough warm-up, of course).

[Derek]

Boyle: Yeah, big time. But exactly, the gradual build pays off a lot more than eagerly rushing into things.

Toolan: Yeah, all my current 32’s are 4’s. Even the one you copped at NYJ. Brian talked about a few 4’s he made, and Cale(or maybe Ivan) did a 5. Cale has mentioned doing 7 on a single Hex to prove a point. But I tend to charge more than any other maker, so I try to add a lil’ something-something to make it seem more worthwhile(4:32’s, 7:14’s, 10:8’s). Hit up Ivan. Prolly busier these days, but he made me one for 14’s that I completely cherish. I’ve never actually traced and cut out a 32, so I don’t truly know the pain

I feel it, though, I’m sure the downstairs neighbors loathe us.

Yeee. Comp is weird. Just wanna zombie some Dexes. Potentially with those that’ll appreciate ‘em.







Not trying to get all in my feelings, but felt it worth bringing up if I’m going to continue this at all. Before Xmas my younger cousin ODed, and my brain still feels so mush. Haven’t felt able to properly human, outside of interactions with Cass. Think not being able to go back home and solidify everything is messin’ with me. But, what’re you gonna do? Such interesting times.



[youtube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeROPVqyHkQ[/youtube]


Still shreddin’. Super stuck on Atomics, kinda been my drive when playing, so, hard not to be. Gettin’ a lil’ clean widdit, at times. Squats, specifically sumo squats, I think are great for Atomics. Strong buns. Working on freestyling, too. Not just non stop drills. So my sessions have had much different paths than my normal ones. Dippin’ my toes into some Atomic triple dexes. Holding out on Alpine for as long as I can. Shred is so much fun, like whoa. Still only doing 1-3 attempts on DSO’s per, should be enough, though. After catching that tie/Atomics, the utter desire has been slippin’.

Protein intake, and post shred water consumption have taken some scrutiny for the better. Trying to consume 100g a day, and pound water after a kick. Consider myself quite the water drinker, in general, but you REALLY need to replace what you lose, and then some. Do be gettin’ mad sweaty, though. Like, MAD. Bodily care cannot be stressed enough.



[youtube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL3aTNa2HJk[/youtube]

These link things are bootsy AF.

[boyle]

That sucks about your cousin. That's been a huge thing for people around the world, not being able to go to wherever and get some closure, go to funerals and this kind of thing.

I think that's a good thing you're focusing on some just plain freestyle here and there in the sessions, easy to get worked up when the session is not going to plan. That DSO record was impressive.

Do you ever do quantum sets? I find them really hard.

[Muffinman]

Before Xmas my younger cousin ODed, and my brain still feels so mush. Haven’t felt able to properly human, outside of interactions with Cass. Think not being able to go back home and solidify everything is messin’ with me. But, what’re you gonna do? Such interesting times.

I'm so sorry to hear this, Derek!
I agree with Daniel -- hopefully footbag is helpful for you with this <3

I love the atomics. Those tapping eggbeaters are so sick. I think just the atom smashers look so good though. Really amping up your game! Seems like they came along really quickly! You're so good!

[mtoolan]

Shit man, really sorry to hear it. Keeping it together these days has been hard enough, I can't imagine having to cope with that on top of it all. I hope you're able to find closure soon.

Hard transition...

I'm interested in knowing how much water you drink on non-footbag days. I've recently upped my intake quite a bit, but don't hear too many people talk about it. When Cat and I looked into it, the most popular recommendations were 1) Drink to your thirst (I was already doing this and knew it wasn't enough), and 2) Cut your body weight (210 lbs) in half and drink that number of ounces of water (a bit over 3 liters for me, but I usually shoot for 4). Do you supplement electrolytes after shred? I also get VERY sweaty after kicking and I'm sure I'm losing a lot of them.

[Derek]

Boyle: Yee. Super strange times. Glad I got to do some proper living pre-pandemic. Not much of Quantum-er, only came close doing Frantic. Would prefer to be concrete at Atomics vs moderate at 2 high energy sets.


Erik: Appreciated. Not one to say I’m naturally talented when it comes to nearly anything Footbag, but there is something about Atomics. Think it also helped that I babied my way into them. Loads of single tricks to handcatch, and plenty of rest whenever feeling taxed. Consuming enough protein was also a gamechanger.



Tooly: Read a lot of mixed messages about water consumption. Probably drink a gallon a day, and maybe 2 on an intense day. My water bottle is nearly 2L, if that helps paint a picture. Been somewhat OCD about water consumption since graduating HS. Agree with the drink until not thirsty, but have been told that with proper hydration, you shouldn’t feel thirsty. Obviously, you can’t be on it 100%.

I, too, make it rain. Post shred is tricky, but I snag Gatorade Zero to replenish a wee bit. Mainly slam regular water till I’m about to burst. Read that electrolytes work better when consumed 10-20 before a workout. So I’ll drink 1/3-1/2 of the Gatorade before, water down, and drink the rest after. (Try drinking during shred, but end up needing water to wash the flavor from my mouth)




[youtube] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l0pdp-ohIY8&t=3s[/youtube]


-Still playing regularly. Brain fog has been hard to kick, so I end up drilling more these days. Hoping it will clear as things warm up, and I can play outside. Atomics are still the focus, but had some breakthroughs with Diving Smudges. Atomic muted Clippers are gonna take some serious time, and I’m pretty sure Pixie muted Clipper has suffered because of it. Unexpectedly became even more of a Toe player. Fuhhh.

Had a fun virtual session with Kemmer. Both of us were rather tattered, even so, think we accomplished putting in some work. Now that we have a newer laptop, it made the setup much easier, and I was able to film. Used to think virtual sessions were kinda annoying, but maybe I’ll try reaching out more. Know I still owe Rory a session.

Worlds dates were finally announced. Appreciate that it’s later than last year’s. Should spark something in me, soon.


Random Combos:
-Diving Smudge > Atom BS
-Pixie sympl ss Leg > Atom rpt*2
-Atomic ss Egg >ss Pig BS
-Atom PR at 11


[youtube] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zAsqjBzAuns&t=24s[/youtube]

[boyle]

Happy to link up for an online shred if you're looking for weird timezones...

[Muffinman]

Good stuff. Ducking illusions are hard! What was your alpine smudge breakthrough?
I remember doing virtual sessions back in the day. That was so fun. Not sure how I'd manage that outside of my wifi range though. Does it use a lot of data to stream a 1-hour session? Loving the videos and highlights as always