Ryan's Footblog: JOULUKALENTERI 2018!

[Ryan_Morris]

I've been playing footbag for almost two years, and my friends have finally convinced me to make one of these.

Who I am:
Ryan is my name. Footbag is my game.
I am a member of the PSU footbag club and am currently a resident of the "Shred House," which is Nick Polini and Nate Pipenberg's old apartment.

My progress so far:
Legover (still stabs me in the back sometimes)
Pickup (tries to be like legover, but he's basically my bitch)
Clipper (he's house trained, but still a bit rough around the edges)
- Clipper to both of the above
Mirage (we used to hate each other, now we're bros)
- Paradox
Illusion (recent addition to the group)
- Paradox
Butterfly (in the sky, I can go twice as high...)
- same-side (I think that's what it's called)
Osis (very inconsistent)
Ducking, stepping, and a few other tricky things have been sighted, but all of them were filmed by the same guys who brought you Bigfoot and the Lock Ness Monster. That is to say, if they do exist in my game, they are quite rare.

The plan:
I do a lot of drilling, so I'm getting pretty decent at repeating a few tricks over and over. I still struggle to string things together and just make it up as I go. I intend to kick at least every other day and jog on the days in between to develop my cardiovascular strength. Let's see how quickly that goes out the window.

My mentors and motivators:
Nick Polini got me hooked on the sport with his unrelenting enthusiasm and encouragement. He and I have some distinctive similarities in our style, and so he has been able to give me a lot of very relevant help.
Nate Pipenberg is the best footbagger I know personally. Often times, when I get stuck trying to learn a new trick, I imagine myself as him. It actually works, kind of!
Ivan Iakimenko was a noob like me two years ago when he was first introduced to footbag. After going to one session with Nick and Nate, he dragged me along for the second. While he has progressed in leaps and bounds, Ivan continues to drag my slow ass along with an endless stream of useful tips and insights.
Last but not least, I have to mention everybody else in the PSU footbag club. As our little group grows, the sport becomes more exciting to me. The best sessions are the ones where we have two or more circles going, so if you guys are reading this, then SHOW UP! (That means you, Greg.)

Somebody once said that showing up is half the battle. Well, here I am. I suppose hard work is the rest.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

That was fantastic. I laughed!~ I cried! Oh jesus, blog again, Ryan! Blog again!



Seriously, great first post. I quite enjoyed that, and I'm looking forward to keeping up with this. God speed and have fun in the Shredhaus. it's been too good to me and I know it'll be great to you guys too. Looking forward to kicking with you guys soon!

[krustykrakk]

Yeah motherfucker! Diggin' the footblog! I will be seeing/hopefully kicking with you on saturday!! Exclamation!

[Ryan_Morris]

Time for an update on what went on this week.

First and foremost: ouch. My legs hurt. I've kicked every day since my last post, and each time it got more painful more quickly. Today was supposed to be a drill session with Ivan and Marc, but about 20 minutes in my calves were on fire from my knees to my ankles. I had to sit down.

Anyway, let's try to stay positive. Things actually went pretty well early in the week. My illusions got a lot stronger and I started working them into drills and strings. Osis also improved noticeably on both sides, and because of that I was able to hit BOP a few times. Speaking of that notorious string, I did some drills with Ivan and Khoa. We started with good ol' clippers and worked our way up to butterfly. Normal butter is still fine, but for some reason I struggle with same-side. Infinity drills yielded some promising strings, but of course it needs a LOT more work to make it consistent. By the time we got around to BOP my legs were aching, but the moderate progress I made had me feeling optimistic for the next days session with the whole group.

That's when things turned sour. Tricks that were consistent earlier that week dropped like flies. I quickly succumbed to my frustration and couldn't manage to enjoy myself. I need to find a way to chill out when things don't go right, because the reality is that things often go wrong in footbag. Progress is not linear and day to day setbacks can be made up for the following week. I'll take tomorrow off and rest my legs, then try to kick every other day or so, working on the things I started this past week. Hopefully I can make some real progress.

Thought for today: do you think Bigfoot would be good at toe stalls?

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Hey man,

I know things can go sour in a session sometimes. I have a few suggestions for you of things to do when this happens:

1) Practice ATWs/Orbits. You know you can hit them, but no one is ever good enough at ATW and Orbit, so you might as well focus on getting those concepts better rather than trying to learn a new one and failing. Plus the better you get at ATW & Orbit, the easier many other dexes will become. If you would spend time just trying to get up to ATW x100 bs and Orbit x100 bs, every one of your in-out & out-in concepts would get so much stronger. Instead of working on Illusion, you would just work on Orbit a bunch and your Illusions would receive the "trickle up effect", which is when you work hard enough at a small trick, then all of the sudden, the bigger trick with similar/same muscle movement will become hittable. Same deal with ATWs and Mirage tricks.

2) Work on freezing your Clippers or do Osis ending on a frozen Clipper. If you work on that when your game isn't going as well as you want it to, you will see the effects very shortly. Your Clipper game will become much stronger.

3) WORK ON BASIC KICKS. If you haven't hit alternating Inside Kick x100, then it's time to do that. Because no one goes Guiltless without hitting 100 inside kicks first. Kicks really help you focus on great control of the bag.

4) If your session isn't going well while you're trying to hit a new trick or even a trick that you've drilled plenty of times before, analyze these few things:
a. How high are you setting the bag?
b. Is your set straight up and down or are you setting a bit crooked?
c. Ask Ivan to do it and watch where he sets the bag and how high etc..
d. Do you need to turn your hips into the bag more to get a better dex?
e. Is your dex knee high enough to execute a good dex on it?
f. ARE YOU ATTACKING THE BAG AS QUICK AS YOU CAN? Don't waste time. Time in footbag is precious. It separates a double dex from a triple dex. Make
sure you are using the bag's hangtime wisely. Plant your set foot IMMEDIATELY with most tricks. You'll be able to tell which one you need to plant.
g. How high are you RAISING your clipper foot/toe stall foot during the set? It should only come up a little bit, accompanied by a strong quick little
set. Watch pros like Evan Gatesman, Johnny Suderman, Jay Boychuck, Jorden Moir, etc.. They only raise their set foot just a bit to set any trick.

So I hope this helps a lot. I think there are a few areas in this a - g list that you are lacking a bit of. Once you find what you need to fix, your game is going to take off. I have a lot of faith in you as a player. Keep it up man.

Also, props on the stronger Illusions. Mine still suck

Good luck with your first day of classes!

~CSI (Coach Stupid Idiot)

[Ryan_Morris]

At the insistence of my roommate, here is a more timely update.

After a few days off to rest, I came back swinging. It's amazing how much better you can kick (and how much more fun you have) when your legs are pain-free! The most exciting news is that my osis is looking stronger and I hit several strong BOPs. Sometime this weekend I'm gonna have to do a few hundred osis and butterfly and make that drill solid. Time and leg strength permitting, I'd like to practice illusion and its big brother (paradox), which are going to be great additions to my game once I get them consistent.

Of course, the most important thing is to avoid overexerting myself. Truth is, I'm not used to kicking this much and my legs are feeling it. Thankfully, my old mentor Nick has reminded me that I still need to work on "easy" (but no less important) things like inside kicks and ATW/orbit. If I break up the hard shredding with less strenuous drills like these, I think I can avoid the session-ending soreness.

In other news, East Coasts is coming up and I am PUMPED! I haven't been to a competition since the 2012 PSU jam, and I am ready to show people what I've got! Except...I'm not. In a little under a month, I need to become much more consistent at the tricks I know. I don't care about winning. I just want to perform at my absolute best. No dropping baby tricks, and no getting flustered and frustrated if I do. Patience and persistence will be what I bring to every session this month.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Yes Ryan. Great post. Thanks for taking the torch and holding it strong this year.

Great to hear that your Osis game is ballin'er now, too.

With what you said about not wanting to win at ECFC... Awesome mindset. That is how I go into all comps. I don't expect to win, but if I do, I will be so surprised and happy. Basically, just go and have a fun time. If you do well in comps, sick, congrats dude. But if you don't do as well as you had hoped, use it to push you harder when you come home.

I always just aim to put on a good show for myself, and others watching. Cant wait to shred and chill with you again at ECFC!

[mtoolan]

Can't wait to see how much your game has improved, dude. Keep on killin' on.

[Ryan_Morris]

Thanks, for the words of encouragement, dudes.

[Ryan_Morris]

Studying for my midterm can wait. It's time to write a footblog.

Much like my midterm, East Coasts is tomorrow. Unlike my midterm, I am PUMPED FOR IT! The past two sessions had more long strings than I've ever done ever, and a good variety of tricks. I'm not hitting everything I wish I was (osis, far pickup, and same legover are inconsistent), but I can string most of my 2's and 3's with some toe stalls mixed in. Ivan gave me some great advice to base my strings on the drills I do, and do one less repetition than I can do consistently. Basically, play it safe and go for as long of strings as possible. I can do all that at regular sessions, but competition circles are a different beast. I get nervous easily, frustrated even more so, and I've never been good at dealing with either of those things. Staying calm will be paramount to my success at East Coasts.

Rather than focusing on the anxiety of competition, I should be thinking about how much fun it's going to be. There's a lot of people going who I haven't seen in a while, and quite a few I've never met before. Kicking with a new crowd is always good, and a crowd that is lightyears better than me is always tremendously inspiring. I'm also really glad so many people from PSU are going (eight, in total). We are a little noobish, but we've got a lot of potential. Many of us who are going have never been to a competition before, and those who have know what that does to a person's game. This is an exciting time for the Penn State Footbag Club.

And now, I return to my studies. More words to come later.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Yeah, and you fucking killed it! Great job on 2nd place buddy! You put up a hell of a fight. Use this moment to push you to get better and better!

[mtoolan]

What Nick said. Also, super major full symp gyro pdx props, dude!

[Ryan_Morris]

Thanks, guys. I wish I could've stayed to watch the rest of the open competition.

[Ryan_Morris]

Ivan is yelling at me to update my footblog, so here goes....

East Coasts was the fucking bomb and I don't even know what to talk about first, so I guess I'll start with me. I competed in the intermediate circle with Mikie, Marc, Oli, and Ben. Things did not start out well. My first few strings were relatively short and did not show what I had really worked on the past few months. I finished the variety rounds feeling pretty disappointed and fairly sure that I would not make it to the finals circle, but I guess something clicked during the density rounds. I hit much longer strings and much harder tricks without relying on toe stalls too much. Actually, I think what helped me the most was consecutive clippers. Whenever I didn't feel ready to hit a harder trick, I used clippers to steady the bag and reset my brain while still staying tiltless. When it came time for the finals circle I had gone from 4th to 3rd seed and was feeling much more confident. That confidence carried me all the way through the finals circle and into second place!

I'd like to say that I could not be happier, but that wouldn't be true. It's not that I wanted to place higher; I had no expectations of doing as well as I did, and Mikie earned first place, without question. What would have made me happier is if I'd been able to hit at least one new trick. After the competition, I tried to hit whirl, DLO, and drifter, but I just couldn't get them to work. I also wish I could've hit more of the tricks I'd practiced throughout the year, like osis and illusion. Even though I'd drilled those tricks a lot, they just didn't work very well for me at East Coasts. For now, they'll stay on my list of things to drill.

Speaking of that list, now that East Coasts is over I can move on to some of my bigger goals. First on my list is uptime sets. I've done a little stepping before, so now it's time to get serious about it, along with pixie and maybe even atomic. Learning to duck well is also high on my list, as are all the tricks I mentioned in the previous paragraph. This sounds like a lot to learn, and it is, so I'm going to focus on just a few at a time and see how much I can get done before the PSU jam (which everybody should come to).

Before I end this blog, I also want to congratulate Aidan and Derek for bravely competing in the novice circle. You both did really well and I hope that East Coasts has inspired you to get really fucking good at footbag. That goes for everybody at PSU who went. We were the biggest group there besides NYFA and I think that all of us showed what potential Penn State has. To quote Toolan, “Super major full symp gyro pdx props” to you guys.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Boom. Congrats on 2nd place! I'm so proud of you man. You were so dense in circle. You really made me proud to be your teacher. Your hard work is finally paying off. Killer. Stroked to shred with you guys on halloween weekend. Definitely coming up for it, btw. Keep polishing that trophy. again if you ever need help with a concept, just ask me.

[Ryan_Morris]

I HIT DLO! I HIT DLO! I HIT DLO! I HIT DLO! I HIT DLO! I HIT DLO! I HIT DLO! I HIT DLO!

That is all.

[isirc10]

I was hoping you would post something of this nature...

[Ryan_Morris]

Quick (and late) session update.

We had an unbelievably huge session last Wednesday. At one point there were twelve of us kicking, though George and Ben had to leave soon after I showed up. Actually, the only people who weren't there were Jeff and Tom, neither of whom I have kicked with in a long while . This was also the session in which I hit DLO (see previous post). I've been trying to hit that trick for some time now without making much progress, but it finally happened ! Of course now this means I have to drill it and use it in my strings....

We had another (smaller) session on Friday. I didn't do many exciting things, but Ivan did help me practice stepping and ducking. I can do stepping a little bit now. I still need to learn how to set the bag a little higher, but I should be able to hit tricks out of it before long. Ducking is giving me a lot of trouble because I can't seem to set it very high. I got some great tips on how to do this (properly), but I can tell it's going to take a LOT of practice to get it right. Stepping and ducking actually use a similar technique to set the bag, so I'm going to be practicing those two tricks together over the next month. Hopefully by then they'll be consistent enough to work into my strings.

This is going to be a tough month, no doubt. Stepping and ducking tire me out quickly, so drill sessions are going to hurt a bit more, which means stretching will be critically important. The weather is also getting colder (and rainier) this week so all sessions will have to be indoors . And, of course, my workload from school is ever increasing while the amount of sleep I get is doing just the opposite. Such is college life.

That's all for now.

[Ryan_Morris]

I don't have much to say about myself this time. I didn't play for a week and then kicked three days in a row this past weekend, which kind of sucked. I was very rusty, my legs got sore quickly, and I didn't make any noteworthy progress on my goals. All I can say is that, when you're busy, it's very easy to put off things like footbag until you have spare time. The trouble is, I never have spare time, which is why a week can go by before I realize that I haven't kicked for too long. When you're trying to juggle school or work or family (thank goodness I only have to worry about school), you can't just wait for opportunities to pursue your hobbies. You have to put time into your schedule for them, just like everything else.

But enough about me. Let's hear it for John Schneider (I hope I spelled that right)! He was going to take a vacation in Washington DC, but apparently footbaggers have their act together more so than congress. Well, John, State College might not have grand monuments and world-class museums, but we do have a mountain lion and a little art gallery. Oh, yeah, and lots of footbag. Thanks to our special guest, I had reason enough to put off schoolwork and kick for a few hours this weekend, and it was definitely worth it. John has an interesting style that some might call "old-school," but that I just call "cool." I don't remember if he said how many years he's been playing, but he mentioned he's been through twenty pairs of lavers. I hope I go through that many pairs of shoes someday. Thanks for visiting us, John. It's always inspiring having you at PSU.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

*Jon



Glad you guys got that cool and legendary visit. Hope you got inspired by him. Looking forward to Nov. 1-3! do as much school work as possible so you can kick with meh! See ya soon bud.