SandWraith's Footnovel: Now with more footbag!

[SandWraith]

Didn't play Friday cause I was crazy lethargic, then Saturday was spent moving my sister out of her apartment and dragging her shit home. 8 hours in a car and mad furniture lifting was not fun, but it's done (till she moves out to Virginia in 3 weeks for grad school).

I kicked today though. Although I sucked at first, I got a lot better as time went on. I found that totally delaying my flip clippers worked very well to improve consistency. It bugs me that I'm still working on clippers after two years of playing, but I can bust 10+ high tiltless/guiltless runs, I just want to much more. I guess it's like returning to your roots.

I also discovered the means of doing eggbeaters today-- real eggbeaters I mean (the downtime version, not the atomic version). I don't quite have the motions down though, so in addition to never getting the second dex down, I continually whack my upper thigh with the first-dexing foot. All in time though.

I also realized that atomic sets hurt my MCL. I mentioned this a while ago, but I'm very concerned as to whether I'll ever be able to use atomics. I like illusions a lot, and bubbas and paradox illusions have formed a lot of my dexing game. I guess it won't kill me not to use them, but I've been thinking about it.

And, to finish, reverse swirls are so easy strongside! I did clipper > reverse swirl > rpt x 3 easily. Too bad I can't even reverse swirl flipside. Still, seems like I'm getting better at this consistency stuff. I hit 10+ ss clippers both sides many times without much ado.

[Tjuggles]

word.

Keep drilling yo!
It will so pay off in the future. Plus, its fun drilling, and realizing that you are improving.

[SandWraith]

True that. Today was my first day of work, and it sucked. They had all the girls do "trimming" on bushes, which amounted to standing around talking and maybe clipping a branch every once in a while, while the guys had to all go mow and weed whack. What a rip. The maintenance boss did that last year too-- really tried to get in good with the girls. I don't know who he's kidding though.

I ended up pushing a push mower up steep hills for 8 hours, and came back home with a sun-burn, sore muscles, and a head headache. I still kicked though: CAUSE I'M HARDCORE.

...well, I only kicked for about an hour, but I figured clippers weren't that energy intensive anyways. I strayed away from all dexes for fear that my fragile state might cause me to misstep and sprain something, but the clipper practice went really well! My previous training has resulted in me being able to get 10+ flipside nearly every time, and I feel almost total control over the bag. I'm not done working on it, but there seems to be one of those drastic rises going on that is preceded and followed by plateaus (you know how the sport is). I'm guessing I'll be pooped all this week and the next since I'll be doing similar stuff both of these weeks, but once we get into janitorial stuff (after school gets out), then I should have more energy.

[Tjuggles]

True that. Today was my first day of work, and it sucked. They had all the girls do "trimming" on bushes, which amounted to standing around talking and maybe clipping a...

Come on, that doesn't seem that bad... I mean I could use a trim...



You know I couldnt resist. It was just too easy...

Come and shred with me.

[SandWraith]

Well, I didn't play yesterday cause I was bushed (ha! the wit! the humor!), but today I was feeling more lively. Today we finished mowing the last school, so when we finished I got sent on garbage detail. I got to listen to Pink Floyd and Death Cab for Cutie while carrying a garbage bag around and picking up empty soda bottles. It was pretty friggin cool-- sunny and breezy and awesome all around.

I had hoped to go tree climbing but then it rained. That was alright though, cause I'd wanted to play footbag even more than tree climb.

I was a master of control today, and though I had some super long strings of clippers, with almost every one being over 20 contacts, I can only remember the best ones (something like 2 > 3 means 2 ss clippers on one side and 3 on the other):
-41 contacts of 10 > 10 > repeat
-40 contacts of 2 > 2 > repeat

That's right. I hit my goal. I'm gonna keep practicing clippers though because I feel like there's more to be learned. What I have discovered which I may not have mentioned, and which are the keys to my increased consistency, is:
-bend your support leg with the clipper for more cushioning
-spring up with your support somewhat as you set the bag, so that it isn't sent spinning but rather launched vertically
-actually delay the bag: if you can't just stop with it dead on your foot, you aren't getting enough control of the bag. by actually delaying every contact for the slightest bit longer than normal, much more control is gained
-don't allow yourself to be led by bad sets; try to stay in one location and control where you move (this forces your to control your sets more)

I also started on spinning recently, which I gave up about a year ago because my flipside was horrible. What I discovered is that my flipside was horrible because my sets were so uncontrolled (which stemmed from the clippers again). Now, my spinning isn't horrible at all. In fact, I think it could be serviceable with some practice. I have to focus on:
1) delaying the clipper beforehand; too often I preempt the launching of the bag and the whole thing falls apart
2) setting and then spinning. doing them together just causes it to hit me in the back. I've found that by rising up on my support leg while I launch the bag, I can more fully concentrate on the motion and force myself not to turn at the same time.
3) maintain balance so that I don't end up moving into the bag or twisting myself out of the range of the bag.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be light workwise (i.e. no lawnmowing and not a lot of really hard stuff) so that I'll have a lot of energy for footbag.

[SandWraith]

It rained around 11:15 am today. I was pressure washing some rugs from the junior high when it happened, so we headed for a nearby shed. Since we didn't have a vehicle, I got to spend a half hour in a chair with my feet up, listening to music and playing solitaire with a nice view of the rain. : ) It was enjoyable.

On top of that, we got to leave at noon on account of the rain, so I was able to come home and catch up on sleep (then play some Oblivion).

Footbag went well despite the ridiculous humidity. I feel very controlled, and managed to get 32 contacts of 10 > 10 and 37 contacts of 3 > 3. Something similar with 2 > 2 but I can't recall.

I'm also working on continuous oses a bit, and making sure they are controlled before releasing. I can get around 14, but setting into crossbody needs more work. I also have been working on spinning, and can do strongside pretty well (surprise), but flipside will require the same sort of treatment as clippers: analysis, correction, and massive drilling.

With Friday tomorrow, I can look forward to staying up late and getting lots of sleep. And with Brian gone for the weekend visiting his girlfriend, I should have lots of time on my hands to play.

I hope this feeling doesn't fade. I've been enjoying footbag a lot because I feel like I'm improving. I hate those periods where it seems like you're spinning your wheels. If I can stay focused on the game though, hopefully I can avoid the doldrums.

[sen]

I hope this feeling doesn't fade. I've been enjoying footbag a lot because I feel like I'm improving. I hate those periods where it seems like you're spinning your wheels. If I can stay focused on the game though, hopefully I can avoid the doldrums.

Right now I have that feeling too, and I know what you mean. It seems that whenever I'm not improving or I get a bit bored, I quit. I'm glad I quit when I feel that way because I don't want to do something that isn't fun. I can totally relate to that feeling and I hope mine lasts a long time.

[SandWraith]

Yeah, I know! If you don't feel like playing, why play? The point is to have fun. The problem is that it's like a sand-covered slope: if you don't play one day, the next you might play badly and quit early. Then each day after you suck more until finally you quit entirely. Ok, it hasn't gotten that bad for me yet (and I don't think for you either), but it's kinda disconcerting.

Today we went out to Nasonville school to spread mulch. There were 11 of us, which was a ridiculously large number of people for the job. Myself and two other guys got to just shovel mulch into wheelbarrows for 4 hours. It was a good arm workout and fun too. The only bad part was when my right ring finger got slammed in a car door. We spread mulch everywhere that needed it but had probably half the pile leftover! One of the guys from the shop was supposed to bring a tarp for a flower garden that was supposed to be put in, so we were gonna put a large amount of the extra mulch there. He was gonna arrive at 1:30. It was 11:15. Our boss radioed and just told us to take a long lunch... so that we did. An hour later we returned to work to realize... there was nothing to do. I sat under a tree listening to music and playing solitaire on my ipod. Some people that felt uncomfortable getting paid for doing nothing used a broom to move the mulch from a somewhat spread pile into a slightly smaller pile. Whatever floats your boat, I guess.

The tarp never came, so around 2:30 (an hour early) the boss told us to just go home. Footbag commenced.

For some reason, my clippers haven't been superb in the last two days. It might be that I'm just overworking them; my feet don't feel as energetic and capable of holding the clipper position at long. It's like when you work a muscle group at the gym a bunch and then go to do something like a bicep curl and can't even raise the bar. That sorta feeling.

I did hit like 31 contacts of 10 > 10 but that was the best my clippers gave me. I spent a while working on spinning and a bit on whirls. I have good control and form on whirls both sides now, and did 2 > whirl > repeat five times on each side.

I'm getting better with spinning. I can do spinning clippers, but I want better set height, so that's my current focus. I'm finding that I get better sets by actually watching the footbag till about the last instant before the set. However, this sometimes results in my spinning a bit out-of-control, so there's some work to be done there as well.

With the three day weekend, I plan on playing 2 or more hours each day, playing some Oblivion, and hopefully going tree climbing with some people I haven't seen in a while.

[SandWraith]

Man oh man! It seems like I've been playing slightly worse each day since Wednesday. Today I hit a crashing low, in which I spent 20 minutes trying to get more than 20 contacts of 2 > 2. I finally did, but crap was that frustrating.

I worked on spinning a bunch, since that was the only area I wasn't sucking hard. When I got sick of that, I tried spinning whirl both sides three times, and footed it on both sides. Still, I don't think I'll try it any more, since I need to work paradox whirls and spinning clippers a lot more first.

I also did a bit of pixie set and fairy set practice, but they're both cripplingly bad, so it's a long-term goal.

I hit 23 contacts of mirage > legover > repeat, which is pretty average but pretty good for today. Amazingly, I ended the session with 52 contacts of 2 > 2, which is a new record. I figured I would end on a high note.

[SandWraith]

Didn't play today. I decided I needed a day off-- both mentally and physically. I was just sick of footbag yesterday, and I don't want to tread down that road. I'm hoping I'll be more excited tomorrow. Spinning makes me giddy.

[Tjuggles]

Spinning makes me giddy.

HA! me too! Spinners make me giddy too...

[sen]

Probably a good call on the day off. Sometimes you just need to do that!

Spinning just makes me fall over . . .

[SandWraith]

Heh. Word to the falling over part. That used to be a big problem for me. Today was definitely a good day. For the first half hour after my warmup it felt like I was playing a video game. I was hitting moves very consistently, but it wasn't like I was feeling myself doing them; it was more akin to hitting a button-- like when playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and you can just hit do kickflips all day. That's how I want it to always be.

Managed 43 contacts of 2 > 2 and a lot of 25+ clipper sequences. I also got 15 ss a bunch, but moved on to whirls, endurance, and spinning pretty quickly. The whirls felt very much controlled. I got 6 sequences of 2 > whirl on my flip and 9 sequences of that on my strongside. Then 23 contacts of mirage > legover > repeat. I want to get 40+ since I challenged Iron Clad Ben to do that. Since I'm not dexing a lot, that should keep that part of my game in shape.

I spinned (spun?) for about an hour. I can spin decently both sides for the first time in my life! I want to work on set height though, because I could really see myself getting set in doing waist high sets, but I can get them up to my head if I focus on technique.

I found out that Thursday I won't be playing though, which makes me sad. My friends and I played Seventh Sea [check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh_Se ... ying_game) ] a lot last Summer, and this Thursday marks the first time we'll be playing it this Summer. We are gonna play at 5 since I have to go to sleep by 11 to get enough sleep for work. Since I usually get done at 3:30, I was hoping I could just leave an hour early from work so I'd be able to play for at least an hour and a half, but my dad gave me some crap about how I am supposed to be earning money so I can pay for school. It's 8 freakin dollars! Whatever, I guess that'll be my day off for the week... even though that's like the second one in four days.

--
Completely unrelated, but in the last three days, I've had three dreams. The first night, I had this dream where I had this short, brunette girlfriend, and we were walking in the woods after a lightning storm had destroyed a lot of the trees. There was more outside of this, but it got confusing and nonsensical. The second night there was another girl, lockpicking, and a nurse (that's all I can remember about that one-- not so memorable). Last night, I at one of the neighboring dorms at my school and a friend and I were trying to disable this electronic grid on the top floor. It was super cool. What's odd about all this is that, both nights since the first dream, I have gone to bed thinking, "I really hope I have a dream tonight because it was so cool having one yesterday" and that's worked! Who knows if it'll continue, but it's a lot of fun while it lasts.

[SandWraith]

Another day, another story. I'm gonna like looking back through this blog form the beginning when I hit the one year mark.

Had a dream last night, but it was either heinously nonsensical or just not that amazing cause I only remember that 1) it had to do with mutant powers since my friends and I saw Xmen 3 last night and 2) there was a scene wherein I and two other mutants were in a dark prison cell talking about killing someone. H'oh well.

In other news, I had one of those "oh if only you were 5 years older and probably much more mature" moments. I was shoveling mulch into a flower garden at the junior high while they were outside having this weird post-lunch pseudo-recess thing. Amidst my work I heard someone say "hey hottie!" and was somewhat concerned as to the person to whom the statement was addressed. I continued working with my head down, fearing the worst. A minute later or so two girls approached me. I looked up. One of them said to me, pointing at her friend, "she thinks you're hot!" and then they scampered away, giggling merrily. (somewhat randomly related: I've been thinking of throwing a picture of me up on hotornot.com just to see the honest truth as a (perhaps) confidence booster)

Yeah, so it was 8 hours of shoveling today, which was hard work but good exercise. I came back a bit tired, and it showed for my session. For example, in working on spinning I would start out strong-- three or four head-high sets-- but then my leg would fatigue and the set would be all sloppy and crap-laden. Still, I have good news. BEHOLD! 70 clippers. That's me new record, set with: 15 > 15 > 10 > 10 > 5 > 5 > 2 > 2 > 2 > 2 > 2 > drop.

Also did 25 contacts of mirage > legover > repeat, which was good for being so tired (those take a lot out of me).
Beyond that, I did a bit of whirling and failed paradox whirling, a bunch of spinning again and some pixie practice. For the pixie set, I am working on doing fast, controlled in-to-out ATWs, since I never really did IO ATWs, preferring OI ATWs instead. I can tell that the motion is getting more refined and that I can pull a pixie set on occasion now without disastrous results.

And my knees kinda hurt after this session, which leads me to believe that it's because of the paradox whirl(fail)ing, since most of my other stuff is light impact. I don't think p.whirls would be bad if I had more control of them, so I think that this may be true in many counts: bad control or accuracy may have been a cause of previous knee pain. Makes sense: if you have good control over where the bag is going, a relatively small hop is all that's necessary. Only bad control necessitates large jumps.

Sorry for the ridiculously long blog post. I kinda doubt anyone will read this far, but congrats if you did! You're a real trooper!

[Tjuggles]

YES!
Ive never been a real trooper before

Props on the clippers!!! I think about doing them all day long. I love the feeling for some reason. I love always realizing that they are getting better.


Keep going yo!!!!!!

If your clipper sets are getting that good, i bet ducking and diving will come easy to you...

[SandWraith]

I do declare: this is my 1000th post! Yippee!

Kicked today though my knees did kinda hurt. I have to take tomorrow off because of that Seventh Sea thing with my friends, but I think it'll be good for those tattered tendons. I did learn something from that though, as I previously mentioned.

I came back from work thoroughly baked. I decided to wear a sleeveless shirt today (I refuse to call those things wifebeaters... was "domestic abuse shirt" already taken? crickey), and after mowing for 8 hours came back very much sunburned. I hurt.

Since I was going for the light-impact stuff today, I focused on clippers, spinning, and pixies. I did pretty well for clippers, not breaking any records but getting more comfortable with control. Spinning went ok as well, and is feeling less awkward. My pixie work consists of doing IO ATWs, and they're feeling a lot more comfortable as well. Near the end of the session I even tried some pixie sets and found that I can get the bag high enough to do a downtime dex, just not high enough to delay the bag afterwards yet. All in good time.

So there ends my 1000th post. Here's to another thousand!

[SandWraith]

Played yesterday but had no opportunity to post as I had to rush just to fit the session in between work and playing Seventh Sea. Hour and a half long with work on spinning, pixies, and clippers (no verb in that sentence). I tried doing spinning without the plant, which Matt Cross mentioned a while ago as a way in which he improved his vortexes. It certainly was harder, and had the added benefit that I noticed that my flip spins were a bit off-vertical and so I'd tip away from where I was standing. I'm gonna keep doing spinning both ways as the normal way helps me with the set and the Cross way helps me with balancing the spin.

[SandWraith]

I only kicked today for an hour or a little over. I was playing very badly, which just made the whole session not a lot of fun. Plus, I had promised to go tree climbing with my sister, which appealed to me a lot more (actually, I was gonna climb trees and she was gonna sit at the bottom while we talked: hangout time).

I worked clippers (poorly), pixies (ok), and spinning (atrocious). The only real plus was an ugly strongside smear. I have to work on getting my flip setting foot down faster after the set, in addition to making the sets on both sides significantly higher.

((Oblivion is consuming my life and my soul... so addictive @_@ ))

[SandWraith]

No F-bag today. I woke up and sat around playing Oblivion for 3 hours. Being lazy for a while made me feel even lazier, and so I didn't kick. :/ Instead, I played more Oblivion. It's kinda funny how I felt like working 8 hours a day was making it harder for me to play, yet when I don't work I'm predisposed to not kicking. Whoops.

[SandWraith]

The last three days haven't been that great for footbag. In fact, my birthday (June 5th) was probably one of the worst sessions I ever had. Everything sucked-- my strongside clippers felt heavy and awkward, and my flip was twice as bad. Tuesday wasn't much better, sadly.

Today I took off from work and went to Noah's Ark, America's largest waterpark (which is strangely located in the middle of Wisconsin). Brian and I headed had gone there last summer and had a blast. We had a lot of fun this year too-- mostly because we act like 10 year olds while we're there. Strangely, we were both somewhat let down though. I guess the rides aren't as appealing when you know them all and, well, I guess we're getting too old to be excited about a waterpark. As I said, almost all the fun came from being juvenile.

We got back early enough that I had time to kick, but I wasn't expecting much, and that's what I got. My clippers have just been crap lately. It's very frustrating: I've been playing two years and it seems like I suck compared to so many others. I guess modified isn't the best comparison group: this site draws the most ambitious, the most skilled, the most dedicated. Still, I feel so often like I'm spinning my wheels. Worse, I'm not even standing still: I'm regressing despite my best efforts. Like a miser that's recently been robbed, I feel like resting my head in my hands and contemplating where it all went, and whether there's a point in starting anew.

Two years and still working clippers.... At least pixies went well today. The in-out ATW motion is becoming more and more natural and I managed to get some darn good-looking sets strongside: full-fledged pixie sets. Flipside I can get sets off, but they're not greatly controlled and thus useless.

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

(perhaps a bit more morbid than I'm going for, but it's a great song either way)