SandWraith's Footnovel: Now with more footbag!

sen · Post by **sen** » 29 Jun 2006 06:34

I was glad to be able to read your blog entry. It was a pleasant surprise.

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 29 Jun 2006 19:04

Tjuggles wrote:I glad you didn't put a 'g' in at the beginning of every word.

sen wrote:I was glad to be able to read your blog entry. It was a pleasant surprise.

hahahahaa ok, I guess that seals the fate of that experiment. Arrr, readibility ahoy then.

I didn't mention this before, but at work yesterday (I work as a janitor cleaning our local high school with 4 other college kids and 8 very lazy janitors) we realized that we were working way too fast and that, at our current rate, we'd be out of a job in about a week and a half. So today we put into action a new plan, which I have dubbed "Project Lazy". We don't do a damn thing. When the janitors leave from the break room at 7:10, we stay till 7:25. Same thing when breaks happen. We leave a half hour early. We don't work hard and we don't work efficiently: one girl cleaned a sink for 2 hours today. If there's something on the wall, like a comic, maybe I'll go and read it. One guy slept for an hour in one of the classrooms.

The funny part is that the janitors are really lazy too, taking half hour breaks instead of 15 minute ones and leaving at 3:15 instead of 3:30, and thus, not too surprisingly, they didn't seem perturbed by our laziness. It sure makes work a lot less tiring.

I considered playing footbag today, but decided I was a bit too tired to put out that much energy. Knowing that it wouldn't hurt me to keep resting my knee, I didn't need much more motivation. Tomorrow though I intend to work on pixies for a half hour, maybe more if I don't feel any pain. Then I want to lift at the Y for at least an hour, and hopefully two if I'm not feeling too lethargic.

If I work on pixie sets all next week, that should have two benefits: 1) maybe pixies won't suck anymore? and 2) my knee will get more time to heal.

Damn, this entry was pretty long too! Well, perhaps this article on people's tendency to regret spending more time having fun will make up for the long read. Live life to the fullest, I guess. I already have a plan for how I'm gonna be more outgoing next year (more on that later), and I resolve to dance when the opportunity shows up.

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 01 Jul 2006 09:32

So yesterday was officially my first day playing again, though it was all I promised: around 35 minutes of pixie work with other light things thrown in. I did a bunch of legovers, getting I think 19 consecutive, which is darn good considering I was going slowly and making sure not to jump at all. I did pixies both sides until my knee started to complain, then I focused on flip. I think it definitely helped my flip pixie, and I hope to do another half hour tonight.

I also went to the Y and lifted for about an hour and a half, seeing 2 friends and a guy I don't like that much while I was there.

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 01 Jul 2006 19:10

Watched Portugal vs. England and France vs Brazil. Dang, two surprises.

I played for about a half hour again today, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was around 7 pm with the sun shining into the garage with a late afternoon light, my shadow stretching away and mimicking my every motion. Ohhhh, the subtle joys of footbag.

I played for what seemed a very short half hour, starting with 200 opposite toe stalls and then spending the entirety of the session on flip pixie. I'm surprised how well this is fitting: though I'm injured and afraid to do almost anything, this hinderance is forcing me to work on a flipside set that has been notoriously hard to work. Pixies are unique in my mind because, when a person screws up most sets, the footbag just drops to the ground. With pixies, however, the bag always seems to fly across the room before landing behind some large, immovable object (like a utility cabinet). My flip pixies are getting a lot better though.

sen · Post by **sen** » 01 Jul 2006 19:22

That's great that your injury is actually helping your game in some way. Stay Positive!

I know what you mean about the pixies too. I have to move my fridge WAY TO OFTEN so that I can rescue a stray bag. Now I have set my spare pair of lavers in front of it so that I don't have to quit my session to move the fridge. Did you know the back of a fridge is HOT??!?

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 02 Jul 2006 19:22

Really? I wouldn't have guessed it'd be back, but I suppose it is mechanical work expanding the coolant, so it'd make sense that there'd be a lot of heat exhaust. You learn something new everyday.

I went to the Y and worked out for about an hour and a half today, which was awesome. The last two times I've went I've worked out to the point where I feel like throwing up, which really does wonders for escaping my present footbag inabilities. I can also now see a hump where my triceps.

Footbag lasted a whopping 45 minutes and consisted of the usual: 200 toe stalls followed by a new record 20 consecutive non-jumping legovers. The rest of the time (the majority by far) was pixie work. My flip is progressing nicely and I even got 4 consecutive flip pixie sets that were pretty decent. I just have to work on the direction the bag goes, as sometimes it arcs off across my body with too much angle to be salvaged.

And check this-- my knee didn't hurt at all throw all my activities today!

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 03 Jul 2006 19:01

Today pretty much sucked, at least the events surrounding it did, but for some reason I don't feel upset or sad at all-- rather, I feel pretty good.

At work we were sent to clean the library. Two of my coworkers, Lee and Christine, promptly fell asleep and remained unconscious for well over an hour, while Jake and I worked somewhat lackadaisically. After around an hour our boss comes in and says how he caught us all sleeping on the job, when it's pretty obvious Jake and I aren't sleeping. What's lame is that he punishes us by splitting us into two groups: having Lee and Christine continue to "clean" the library and sending Jake and myself to clean the smelly, hot, and humid lockerrooms with this janitor named Mike that is probably too dumb to eat pretzels.

When I got home my mom was telling my dad how our 14-year-old cat was gonna have to see the vet. She hadn't been eating for 2 days and had been throwing up and pooping everywhere. My mom thought she might have to be put to sleep, so that was a sad moment, especially for my mom and dad. Having been away at college for a year and experienced the death of my grandpa a year before that and our other cat, which I was really close to, I wasn't quite as taken by this situation as one might think.

I played footbag later and sucked, but since I'm not really doing much except working on something I suck at, it didn't bug me much.

More of the same, with perhaps improvement on pixies? I really can't tell anymore, though my knee didn't hurt at all.

I'm forced to conclude by the length of my knee injury and the associated sensations that I *somehow* sprained my knee. I didn't know that was possible, but I guess there's no reason it shouldn't be. My medial and lateral ligaments don't really hurt at all anymore, but strangely my patella felt awkward after my session. The only motion that feels unnatural is (surprise) the clipper motion. I'm thinking that perhaps my manic clipper consistency craze primed my knee for disaster. I plan to continue toe stuff for the rest of the week and decide whether I want to go all out around the weekend time.

By the way, these lavers are HOT:

They make me wish I needed new lavers.

Tjuggles · Post by **Tjuggles** » 03 Jul 2006 20:38

How often do you stretch?

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 04 Jul 2006 08:20

I stretch for 5 to 10 minutes before every session and do the same stretches afterwards-- they're the stretches we used before soccer practices and games, with minor additions for things used in footbag but not in soccer. I'm gonna try doing some consecutive clipper motions several times a day as rehabilitation.

EDIT: How long do you (guys) stretch? I still think the consistency thing was probably the bigger issue, as I haven't had a knee sprain in the two years I've been playing, though my stretching regimen has been essentially the same during that time. Only since I started the consistency training did I get a knee sprain.

Tjuggles · Post by **Tjuggles** » 04 Jul 2006 16:28

I was gonna say that maybe the reason your knee hurt was because you arent stretching, but... you are.

Istretch for about the same time. maybe longer.

sen · Post by **sen** » 04 Jul 2006 16:39

I stretch about the same amount.

Tjuggles · Post by **Tjuggles** » 04 Jul 2006 16:41

Oh, sorry for two posts like this, but...

I also try to stretch throughout the day, even if it is only for a minute or so, here and there. That seems to not only keep me loose, but gives me more energy.

Worlds...

T

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 04 Jul 2006 18:04

Watched the Germany - Italy game. Very good game and I'm glad for several things: that it was a close game, that the goal scored on Germany was very good and no one was at fault, that the game didn't get decided on PKs, and that the host nation will not end up winning the World Cup.

Played footbag for about an hour and 15 minutes. My knee didn't hurt at all today, which makes me very happy. I am amazed at how not-sucky my pixies have become, to the point that I did PLO BSOS (the rest of the string being mostly toe stalls cause I'm still taking it easy), pixie same foot clipper BS, and pixie osis BS. Note, however, that none of those requires a particularly high pixie set. Still, I have discovered a key point that had evaded me: a good high pixie practically requires that the setting foot be positioned close to the ground and nearly below the body.

I also did some clippers! I didn't do many, but enough to realize that my clippers haven't really gotten any worse: my strongside is still strong and my weakside is still not too great. I don't have qualms with working flip a bit because my strongside clipper uses the knee that got sprained (how odd, eh?).

And while my knee ligaments don't hurt at all, my patellas have begun to complain again. Never can have everything, huh? I guess I'll try to start doing patella exercises at the gym and will rub my patellas after I kick.

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 05 Jul 2006 18:36

I took the day off from footbag intending it to allow my patellas to feel better (why do they hurt after such lame sessions?). After work I went and bought a knee strap, a black version of this. It's only my right patella that feels painful. At least my left knee doesn't seem sprained anymore, though I will still be taking it somewhat easy for the next week.

I went to the Y and worked out for an hour and a half. I'm really liking ab work for some reason. I used to hate it, but, for example, today I did three sets of inclined situps-- 175, 150, 150. I'm also trying to eat less and lose the little bit of fat I can find (I'm naturally pretty muscular).

After I worked out I was about to leave when I saw my friend Jie, who I hadn't seen since I graduated. He and I went and played basketball for a bit, just talking and throwing the ball around, when two guys came up and challenged us to a game. Jie and I said we sucked so we got split into two teams of two, and my team owned. It was a close game but damn was it fun. So while it wasn't really a break for my knee, my knee doesn't hurt and I had fun. Hence, it's all good.

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 06 Jul 2006 16:11

*sigh* My knees don't hurt after this session, but I didn't use that knee strap. Damn that thing was annoying. It's like a bar stuck in front of your knee. It messed up my sets-- the bag would go further forward because my knee wouldn't bent as much without extra effort (makes sense but still). I'm wondering if maybe my insoles are shot; they are over a year old. I will probably try to buy some new ones in the next few days. In fact, as I recall, I was having knee problems over a year ago, which caused me to buy insoles in the first place.

My pixies are getting pretty nice, though I still either don't get my setting foot down fast enough or I'm just retarded, because I can't do almost anything out of them besides a toe stall or a very downtime move, like an osis. The set comes out pretty seamlessly on both sides, though a little more height might make hitting stuff easier.

And to finish off, I just want to explain why it seems like I'm always frustrated with footbag. Please note that at the moment I just feel numb to this game and not angry or despondent as the following may confer.

---
This is probably gonna come off wrong, but I don't feel like tip-toeing around this basic statement: all through my life, I've been good at whatever I try at. I was a straight A student that got a 35 on the ACT. I was a good defensemen in soccer. I never had swung a tennis racquet until my sophmore year of high school, yet by the end of the year I was giving the varsity players a run for their money in singles. Even with weight lifting, which I've only been doing for maybe two weeks, I'm seeing results and seeing people (girls) look at me differently.

But I suck at footbag. Not only does it seem like I'm not physically built to play, but I just can't dex worth crap. So many people say that you should analyze each drop and correct the problem, and I see what the problem is: I hit the bag as I dexed it, or the bag missed my setting window, or whatever. But I can't seem to correct it. I get better slowly, but there permeates a feeling I'm so unused to: inability.

And with this past year, I've felt more and more like I'm running through a briar patch. No time to play, mono, ineptitude, no one to play with, the knee sprain, patellar pain: each one is a minor aggravation, but together they're stopping me in my tracks. I wish I could find something that would make me want to quit, maybe getting a girlfriend, finding a new sport, even an exciting tv show to watch, but I can't find anything. The one thing I love more than anything in the world is the one thing I absolutely suck at, and it is tearing me and my body to pieces.

So that's my manifesto.
---

sen · Post by **sen** » 06 Jul 2006 16:17

*hug*

mc · Post by mc » 06 Jul 2006 16:48

oh man... don't get discouraged. Fighting gravity is a losing battle, we all know it

do you have a better player to play with? a positive footbag influence could make all the difference in your game. If you don't have that, then the best advice I have is stretch and ice your sore parts often, and study people's styles on videos.

Footbag is hard when you don't have someone to push your game. Really, the best advice I have is to move to Rochester, there's some nasty players there

Matt

Tjuggles · Post by **Tjuggles** » 06 Jul 2006 19:11

Yeah, I wouldnt get too down. We all have those days...

It is really hard to play hard when you are playing alone. You should try to go to as many tournaments as you can. After every tournament that I have ever been to, my footbag flame is rekindled. I love it.

As far as dexes. I am the same way. Not good at them. But I do them everyday, and I try to set from different angles, try different styles of setting, hell, I even talk to myself to get that perfect set. After I try and try an try again, I do something else. You know what that is? I TRY AGAIN

It will pay off. It will pay off. Good luck.

HG · Post by HG » 07 Jul 2006 07:21

Zach, me and you brother.

The only thing im going to do to get out of my slump, is shred so hard that there is no way I won't improve.

It will be wonderful. Try it with me

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 07 Jul 2006 19:53

Wow, thanks for all the kind words guys! I know I've been bitching a lot, and I'm gonna set about changing that. I've always respected those that accept the bad without anger-- the whole "shut up and deal with it" philosophy. I'm gonna try to lament less and enjoy more.

The last two days I've been taking TJ's advice and stretching more, or at least stretching my patellas more. Probably every half hour I rub below my kneecap while doing 10 slow squats. I think it keeps my knees looser, and I've noticed my knees didn't hurt at all yesterday and barely hurt today, despite the beating they took.

While working pixies today, I realized something. I was doing pixie set after pixie set, hitting every set but never being able to get a downtime in (either the set's not high enough or I'm not used to the timing enough to fit in a downtime element). It was then that I realized that I am at a similar point with fairy. And with atomic. And somewhat similarly with spinning. And stepping has degraded into that, too. With all of them I can get a good-looking set out but I, for some reason or another, abandoned each set at some point. I spent about 30 minutes doing atomics and fairys, enjoying the change of pace from pixie-pixie-pixie-ad-infinitum. I think I'm gonna keep working all three until I can start hitting downtime with one of them, then I'll focus on that for a bit. I want a consistent toe set and a consistent clipper set so I can fulfill a dream-- shuffling. It looks so cool and is a stepping stone to my ultimate goal: freestyling.

The only real highlight is that I hit a smear strongside, but my sprained knee didn't hurt at all and my flip pixie is getting so close-- I came close to footing several smears flipside.

Thanks to everyone for commenting. After reading what you guys wrote, I entered my session optimistically-- something that had sadly fallen out of habit. It made so much of a difference.

After an hour and a half, I could feel my patella was a bit sore so I quit and headed to the Y. Man, weightlifting is such a great release. I still find ab exercises to be the pinnacle of my conditioning. I love the feeling right after you're dead tired and feel like quitting, that time when you get your second wind and realize you could just keep going forever. I did 3 sets of incline situps again: 205, 150, 200. I had to quit on them cause I was afraid of cramps. I think it'd be awesome to hit 500 situps in one set, though I don't know if it'll ever happen.

(oh, and I'm gonna start posting in the solo thread too, but definitely more laconically. This blog has always been more of a diary for me, a repository that I plan on visiting one year later, seeing the improvement, the changes, and the thoughts that ran through my head.)

And sorry for this yet again gi-normous post.