Solo Players

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 16 Jul 2006 20:49

Hey guys, I actually played today! I got Tevas (Cross Terra 2's) and I shredded some in them. Just thought I'd let the solo guys know... and I'm leaving today for a monthlong trip in Europe! Later.

sen · Post by **sen** » 16 Jul 2006 20:50

How'd the shred go David? Have a blast in Europe!

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 16 Jul 2006 20:55

Shred went alright; I was basically just trying out my new Tevas! I still have some of the old moves I had.

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 17 Jul 2006 18:29

Jman9089 wrote:I think that I'm getting a shin splint in my right shin so I put spenco's into my G-units along with the G-unit insole.

How's that working out for you? Does the speco fit well or slide at all?

I had my second session in g-units today; my first session was many months ago before I got mono. The cushion really helped as my knee doesn't hurt at all. I worked a lot on spinning and fairys and also on just getting the toe sets right in those things-- seems like my set has a tendency for the bag to drift forwards.

Hit zooming osis bs, gyro mirage bs, and gyro pickup bsos. I was avoiding doing runs because I don't want to stress my knee too much at this point. I'm seeing a doctor tomorrow about it.

sen · Post by **sen** » 17 Jul 2006 18:56

I was gonna play tonight, but my girlfriend is on her way to my house. I'm not going to play much all week it seems. Tomorrow I'm leaving for Wainwright and I don't know how much time/energy/want I will have to play kicky bag.

Have fun everyone!

Lackey82 · Post by **Lackey82** » 18 Jul 2006 05:26

Hey everyone.
Props to all on some good solo shred.

Let me introduce myself. I'm Josh Lackey, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I play with the other members of the Footbag Association of Toronto (FAT), but this summer I am often out of town for work and so I shred solo much more than with my fellow baggers. And I'm interested in the progress we're all making shredding hard alone. So I figure I'll keep in touch!
I'm a very solid tiltless player, but don't yet consider myself guiltless, just because I still really enjoy 2-add moves and use them in runs, especially harder ones. Actually, you can see my overall skill level in the first post of my Challenge thread. I need some more, too, if you're interested!

Anyway, I'm here to help if I can, and especially to be part of the mutual motivation and respect that comes with sharing your footbag woes and triumphs with others in the community. I'll talk to you all soon!

Jman9089 · Post by **Jman9089** » 18 Jul 2006 11:14

I cannot tell if the spenco's are helping or not... I think they are preventing the splint from getting any worse than it already is. When I first put them in it made my shoe feel a lot more cramped (I have both the G-unit and spenco's in at once), but I got used to it quickly and can't tell they are there. I put them under the G-unit sole because I cut them like 1 cm to small. I guess they're alright, it doesn't make the sole seem softer though. I think I'd recommend them because they are only like
10$ and will help prevent injuries, which we all know is a good thing!

zeroman13 · Post by **zeroman13** » 18 Jul 2006 11:19

Here's an update on my injury. My leg feels really good today, I'm gonna stay off of it today. I'll probably try some light kicking tomorrow and see if it acts up again. Hopefully I'll be able to shred again by the end of the weekend.

Props on the zooming and gyro stuff Zach.

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 18 Jul 2006 19:09

Thanks Josh.

I feel like I'm learning how to better my spinning every day I practice them. Worked spinning and fairys again today. Didn't hit too much new, but mostly worked on technique. Butterfly > spinning osis > butterfly bs. Also spinning clipper > blur bs. Fairy mirage footed a lot.

setman · Post by **setman** » 18 Jul 2006 22:50

i played 10 minutes yesterday and because of my brother's camera i decided filming. and i filmed only the thing (9)

Stepping pdx miraging symp miraging (no plant) ss butterfly

zeroman13 · Post by **zeroman13** » 19 Jul 2006 06:17

HOLY CRAP! Thats freaking NUTS! Here's some major props for that Kamil.

Jman9089 · Post by **Jman9089** » 19 Jul 2006 10:32

Kamil that trick is freakin sweet. Very impressive man.

I played today, it was really hot. For once I kept my shirt on after checking out the topic about shredding shirtless. After reading some people's imputs I decided that shirt on is definatelty more approachable for curious people. Anyway, my session was alright, I kind of got pissed towards the end because I couldn't hit stepping ss clip>stepping op clip>rpt again. It was discouraging. Maybe it's because I hadn't played since like last friday, I'll stick with that excuse. I'll play again tomorrow and hopefully my session will be more rewarding. Oh and I almost hit Osis>ducking clip both sides (usually I have to bail to leg overs from osis, I need to work on other tricks out of them). Maybe tomorrow.

zeroman13 · Post by **zeroman13** » 20 Jul 2006 11:05

I can officially say that I'm up and shredding again. I kicked for awhile today and no pain in my ankle or lower calf area. Nothing new to report. All I did today was work on a sick 3 combo for next online comp.

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 20 Jul 2006 16:46

Played painfree for 45 minutes. The physical therapist said to stop if I felt any discomfort at all, so I had to quit. I worked on spinning almost the whole time and feel like my spinning is getting really fun and consistent both sides. Spinning clippers and spinnings oses easily both sides, and spinning clipper > spinning osis bs a bunch of times. I want to hit spin clipper > spin osis > repeat, but couldn't get the spin osis > spin clipper link on either side yet.

Fairy technique seems to be getting schwag as well.

Jman9089 · Post by **Jman9089** » 21 Jul 2006 08:14

(copy/pasted from my blog)

Yesterday's session and todays session both weren't too great. I feel like I've hit a wall in my progression. I don't know how I can get any better now, it sucks not having someone around to help me through this or help me get better.

I'm at a point where even if I keep practicing I'm not getting better. I pixie my ass off and their consistency has not gone up at all for a few weeks. I drill whirls and they still aren't all that great... and my gyro clippers still suck, even if I practice them every fricken session (which I do). My stepping isn't getting better, a few days ago I hit step-clip>step-op-clip>rpt which was nice, but now I cannot hit it again... wtf? I feel like there are to many concepts to focus on, that if I want to get good at it all I'd be playing all day every day, something I have neither the time or energy for.

I think I take the level of play I have for granted, I remember seeing someone playing tiltless in a video when I first started and I was like damn that's sick. Now I'm better than that, but I still feel like I suck. Hopefully if I play tonight I'll play better, I don't have work and all my friends are on vacation so... I think one good session will end my temporary disappointment.

Does anyone else ever feel like this? Any advice to getting through it?

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 21 Jul 2006 13:38

I have felt like that a LOT in the past. Progression doesn't seem to be a steady thing-- it definitely goes in spurts. I don't know if I'd advise playing through it or taking a short interim, but I know sometimes just changing how you practice can make a big difference. Maybe work on consistency for a while, or focus on one particular concept that you enjoy practicing. As far as all the things to work on, I've tried a bunch of ways of working on that and have found that drilling a particular concept into submission has been the best for me. Don't quit when you can just hit it-- make sure you can do it with such consistency that if you put it into a run you would be surprised if you dropped on it.

Most of all, don't quit. There's ups and downs for everyone, and you'll kick yourself a year from now if you quit today.

Jman9089 · Post by **Jman9089** » 21 Jul 2006 17:06

Yeah I had a few free minutes today and was reading a random blog where someone posted something from David Clavens blog where he talked about a strong foundation. I think I'll do at least 100 of each foundation move most of my sessions. He said something like why try pdx whirls when you can't do regular whirls 10x in a row and why try whirlwind when you can't do ps whirl 10x in a row. It makes sense and I feel like an idiot for not realizing it myself. No professional athlete ever got good with out a strong foundation.

So starting tomorrow I think I'm going to start drilling foundation stuff like it's my job. I think I'll see improvements in every way if I keep to it. It's funny that I found that, it was like exactly the kind of advice that I was looking for. Thanks Mr. Clavens for writing that.

Lackey82 · Post by **Lackey82** » 21 Jul 2006 18:47

I agree completely about the foundations, although I've sometimes found it easier to conceptualize moves by trying one of their harder counterparts.
For example, I once could not spin to save my life. So I thought to myself, "Hey, why not pretend I'm about to do a surging set without the dex? That'll have me spinning and spotting faster, right?" Anyway, I found it really helped. So while shooting for hard tricks without having their foundation predecessors down is somewhat detrimental to morale, the visualization process can really help your mental state. Hope that helps. Footbag is such a mental game, and you need to be in the right state of mind to progress. This is sometimes hard when playing alone, one of the reasons this blog helps so much. Keep it up guys!

vettehunter123 · Post by **vettehunter123** » 22 Jul 2006 18:46

I hit my first Osis today, and a butterfly from a clipper set.

zeroman13 · Post by **zeroman13** » 22 Jul 2006 18:51

Congrats Travis.

I've haven't been kicking all that much. My knee has been bothering me now

. I did do some light kicking today, no tricks. The knee felt ok, some slight pain here and there but for the most part it felt good through out.