The Best

beenjammin · Post by **beenjammin** » 03 Aug 2006 17:07

Ricky Carmichael is the reigning world champion of motocross. He is in his mid 20's and is 13 time world champion. Not only is he the winningest rider in the world but he also is the first and only person to complete a perfect season winning 24 out of 24 races. ON top of that not only did he win every race but he absolutely dominated the competition lapping up to 2nd place, 2 years in a row. I sometimes wonder if Ricky would have decided to another sport would he be as dominant just because he works harder? Or is he the best because he loves the sport more? I could be the best at footbag because I love it more than a majority of baggers. I practice 8 hours a day almost on a weekly basis. I believe that if i would have started playing when vasek did i would be just as good or better, but who's to say i still cant?

RawSko · Post by **RawSko** » 03 Aug 2006 18:35

I have taken up the Mantrum "I will be one of the best"

I truly want it bad enough to shape my life entierly around footbag. I may simply not have it in me to be THE best, but I've promised myself that I'll be right up there amoung the best. Until I'm satisfied with a placement in the top 10 at Worlds, and hopefuly gotten into the BAP I will push my body to the limit. I have been doing so, I'm currently doing so and I will continue to do so until I've achieved my goals. After that, I guess I'll just play things by ear

Footbag is in me.

habitat · Post by **habitat** » 03 Aug 2006 22:03

blurryben wrote:Ricky Carmichael is the reigning world champion of motocross. He is in his mid 20's and is 13 time world champion. Not only is he the winningest rider in the world but he also is the first and only person to complete a perfect season winning 24 out of 24 races. ON top of that not only did he win every race but he absolutely dominated the competition lapping up to 2nd place, 2 years in a row. I sometimes wonder if Ricky would have decided to another sport would he be as dominant just because he works harder? Or is he the best because he loves the sport more? I could be the best at footbag because I love it more than a majority of baggers. I practice 8 hours a day almost on a weekly basis. I believe that if i would have started playing when vasek did i would be just as good or better, but who's to say i still cant?

I am. Like Jon said, I can dream and believe but then reality hits that your not going to be the best no matter how hard you try. You just know if you could be the best, within 6-8 months of playing you know how good someone is going to be. Are you hitting 5s and 6s midstring guiltless?

the only way your right is if you prove me wrong

JoFa · Post by **JoFa** » 03 Aug 2006 22:51

I think one of the important things to look at is that most succesful people are not talented - they are simply persevering. How many hardworking bums do you know? There are plenty of talented slackers. Sure there are things that we are naturally good at, but that is simply a door to motivation. As a natural musician, I could live at a piano and just create music all my life. I'm good at it, I enjoy it, and I could do it forever.

Now let's say I have that same motivation for footbag. What's to say I couldn't play footbag all the time and become the best? I have a perfectly healthy body. Nothing is physically limiting me. It's all mental.

I will not become the best. But to say I can't just because I won't is simply ignorant. I have seen people go from being the worst at what they did to becoming amazing, simply because they wanted to hard enough.

Desire drives everything we do. Don't underestimate it.

jon · Post by **jon** » 04 Aug 2006 12:14

Marianne Williamson wrote:Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel unsure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. As we let our own Light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

professor · Post by **professor** » 04 Aug 2006 13:10

Amen.

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 04 Aug 2006 13:32

You can argue for perseverance as much as you want, but I'd bet there's a person with as much drive and that's more talented. Yes, it's not just talent that makes a person great, but I am positive that anyone can't just "decide" they're gonna be the best in the world at footbag... or much of anything for that matter.

professor · Post by **professor** » 04 Aug 2006 14:37

I agree with Zach to a point.

Assume there are two shredders, A and B. Shredder A is naturally talented at footbag, while shredder B is not. What Zach is saying is if shredder A and B both practice the same amount, then A is obviously going to be better than B.

But, if shredder B wanted it bad enough and practiced his butt off more than A, he could become better than A. I think what we are saying is that if you wanted it bad enough, you could be the best in the world. Maybe not right now, but eventually if someone put in enough time and effort they could be the best. Whether they are naturally gifted at footbag or not.

RawSko · Post by **RawSko** » 04 Aug 2006 14:50

SandWraith wrote:You can argue for perseverance as much as you want, but I'd bet there's a person with as much drive and that's more talented. Yes, it's not just talent that makes a person great, but I am positive that anyone can't just "decide" they're gonna be the best in the world at footbag... or much of anything for that matter.

Anybody seen the movie Rudy? He had a hell of a heart for his game, but... well, he sucked.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 04 Aug 2006 17:57

Dean Rioli is an amazingly talented AFL player - he doesn't put in any work, he just has awesome skills. He'll probably be dropped this year and never play again.

Greg Williams was constantly told he'd never be good enough to play at the top level. He was short, fat and had no skills. He worked his arse off and won the league best and fairest the equal most amount of any player (3).

Of course you can't just "decide" to be the best player and obviously only 1 person can be the best but if you do want to be the best than the first thing you need is the right attitude - and if you have the right attitude you'll go really far no matter what you're skills are. Having the right attitude means being able to spend 4 hours + a day working on getting better (or whatever amount depending on the sport). It means not giving up no matter what.

How many people see you playing footbag and say "I could never do that". - yet what was your reaction the first time you saw somebody freestyling? I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of people on this forum (like above 90%) did not think "I could never do that" when they first saw freestyle. I thought "Wow, I want to do that" - and now I can. Attitude is everything.

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 04 Aug 2006 18:16

That last paragraph makes a really good point, Jeremy. I'll agree that just about anyone can get very good, but I think we both agree that becoming the best is more complicated than a simple affirmation of intent.

JoFa · Post by **JoFa** » 04 Aug 2006 18:19

SandWraith wrote:but I think we both agree that becoming the best is more complicated than a simple affirmation of intent.

strawman

SandWraith · Post by **SandWraith** » 04 Aug 2006 19:51

No, not really. I already said in my post up above that talent plays a big part of it. Running around saying "strawman" makes you sound like Dan Feary. Don't incite flames.

EDIT: It also seems lame to me because I made that post mostly to compliment Jeremy on an excellent point.

james_dean · Post by **james_dean** » 05 Aug 2006 00:18

JoFa wrote:
SandWraith wrote:but I think we both agree that becoming the best is more complicated than a simple affirmation of intent.
strawman

what? that makes no sense. Isn't a strawman argument: using an anology to prove a point, where the analogy doesn't actually work. (or similar)

There's no analogy there, what are you getting at?

Jeremy, I agree with your post completely. It's pretty obvious being the best would have to come from a combination of some natural talent + a lot of perseverence.

Jorden · Post by **Jorden** » 05 Aug 2006 07:46

Jeremy wrote: It means not giving up no matter what.

RawSko · Post by **RawSko** » 05 Aug 2006 13:24

Jeremy wrote: Having the right attitude means being able to spend 4 hours + a day working on getting better (or whatever amount depending on the sport).

I used to shred for only 2 hours every day. Even at that, 2 weeks passed by and my knees were ready to crumble. When you say "whatever amount depending on the sport" do you mean that 4 hours is perhaps not ideal for footbag? Just curious... Am I in desperate need to work my way up to more hours of shred per day?

dblthnk84 · Post by **dblthnk84** » 06 Aug 2006 03:59

Take your time, and don't rush past what your body can handle. But yes, it is possible to shred more then 2 hours a day. I have a mostly toe shuffle style with which I have gone for 4+ hours a day for over a week before other commitiments caused me to slow done. I've heard of people doing alot more then that too.
________
Parklane

HG · Post by HG » 06 Aug 2006 05:08

My theory:

More toe moves than clipper = PLAY FOREVER

more clipper than toe = play for like... 2 hours a day solo

mix it up, and you can have a nice long session

james_dean · Post by **james_dean** » 06 Aug 2006 17:49

HenryG wrote:My theory:

More toe moves than clipper = PLAY FOREVER

more clipper than toe = play for like... 2 hours a day solo

mix it up, and you can have a nice long session

True that. Although I don't agree with your specific example (I could step all day way before I could atomic or quantum all day, it depends on how advanced your toe shuffle is). But mixing your sessions up is definately key to playing longer.

Guest_2 · Post by **Guest_2** » 06 Aug 2006 18:45

Part of being the best is possessing that drive

It's like saying, "I could nail that got chick if I really wanted too!"