Is the gap closing?

david · Post by **david** » 18 Feb 2007 21:21

Is the gap between vasek and the rest of the world closing or is it as big as it was a few years ago?

just curious.

dc

edit: for the record I think the 3rd option. I haven't played with vasek in 3 years so I have no way of knowing.

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 19 Feb 2007 03:12

Its a tough topic, because Vasek was doing what certain individuals are just now achieving, like 2 or 3 years ago.

QuantumBalance · Post by **QuantumBalance** » 19 Feb 2007 05:39

yes, but slowly

and not as much as you want i think

jon · Post by **jon** » 19 Feb 2007 05:52

In some ways I think it is. However I still do not think anyone is as good as he was even 2 years ago. People are now hitting some of his newer bigger tricks yet no one is close to his consitancy with other difficult but less ground breaking tricks he has been doing for a few years now. Also as it has been mentioned that some of the times he doesn't seem to be pushing himself while. It seems, to me at least, that everyone else needs to really push ever part of their game to shred almost at his level. Also one must consider that no one really knows (besides Vasek) what he is capable of. His videos are infrequent and show only parts of his game. I think if we could see his solo sessions from the past 3 years we would all have a very different take on this question.

professor · Post by **professor** » 19 Feb 2007 09:18

I was just thinking this same thing after watching the Vasek in Paris videos.

I would say yes, because from what I can tell, the rate at which other players are getting better is > the rate at which Vasek is getting better.

When watching those videos I thought, "Jorden, Dave, and Penske hit stuff like this in their runs, but with more variety."

But, like everyone says, you don't know unless you play with people in person and I've never played with Vasek, so what do I know? Not much.

mc · Post by mc » 19 Feb 2007 09:31

something important to remember about videos is that they're just one moment from one day. Frank has posted that vasek was hardly even warmed up for some of the shots for that video.

I think after we all see the shit go down in person this year at worlds, we'll be able to talk a little more about this realistically. Something tells me that the cleaver is going to be foaming at the mouth, and we're going to see some groundbreaking shit happen. I can't wait.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 19 Feb 2007 09:36

When I first saw Vasek play in person, and when I first played with him in person, I really came to understand the value of consistency. Can you break 200 in a shred30? Can you do that 9 times out of 10? Can you hit mobius to fog? Can you hit that nine times out of ten? In 2005 Worlds Vasek was injured and he still looked better than everybody. In 2004 Vasek was healthy, and I remember thinking it funny how he'd get props on EVERY string he did, even when they were "bad" by his standards.

What's all this rambling getting me to? My point is that unless you've been watching Vasek's recent solo sessions, there's no way to know if he's been improving faster than most, or slower than most. It's impossible to say what his best stuff is. But if you think those Paris videos were Vasek trying, then you sleeping.

Are people today really getting better faster, or are we just seeing more videos now as a consequence of technology and a bigger online community? I always like videos from tournies, because I know that's a better reflection of their skill level than a home video. At a tourney you don't get 10 tries in a circle to hit fog rubberman, you get 2 at most, and maybe a couple more times during the tourney if your dignity can handle it.

This is all a good plug for people to go to worlds. When you're at a tournament, playing or watching in a circle, then you know who's real deal and who's not. Video can lie in either direction, but an hour in a circle with somebody will give you a much better idea of where their game is at.

PegLegHolly · Post by **PegLegHolly** » 19 Feb 2007 09:41

i chose the 3rd option because ive never seen him in person.

for the xmas calendar i saw that moir video... which was awesome... but when i saw him at nyj he wasnt sealing his big moves (tournament wise). i didnt expect him to be hitting everything... and im sure that video he put out took about 5 hours to get all of that footage.

i dont think that vasek video showed his best tricks. yeah, it was for k swiss... but if you think about it... why would someone show all their best tricks on video? wouldnt that give the competition a sort of "heads up" for worlds? i was reading his information on the vaska website, and he mentions why he won worlds so many times... by doing more difficult tricks and taking a higher risk.

i think we are going to be suprised at worlds

jon · Post by **jon** » 19 Feb 2007 09:58

PegLegHolly wrote:yeah, it was for k swiss...

I think most people are referring to the recent Paris videos.

Anz · Post by **Anz** » 19 Feb 2007 10:01

I'd say there never was a gap. Vasek plays in a whole different league. I fully got to understand how Vasek was so amazing when I got to see him play live. Now I understand why there's such a huge crowd watching his circle in tournies. When you see Vasek play on video you miss so much, so you need to see it live.

He has no bad runs, seriously.

david · Post by **david** » 19 Feb 2007 10:19

I've seen him play live. He has bad runs.

Adding to a godly image only makes it less attainable.

PegLegHolly · Post by **PegLegHolly** » 19 Feb 2007 10:31

jon wrote:
PegLegHolly wrote:yeah, it was for k swiss...
I think most people are referring to the recent Paris videos.

youre right, my bad. although, what i said still is relevant with the paris videos

Splint · Post by **Splint** » 19 Feb 2007 14:54

That's so funny. I came on here today to ask the same question? I hardly post anymore and almost never watch the vids, so I was wondering if anyone is really a contender this year.

QuantumBalance · Post by **QuantumBalance** » 19 Feb 2007 18:27

clavens, moir, klouda, somolinos
+ probly some others that i dont know about

but out of all those names who is consitant enough and has experience under pressure.....?

david · Post by **david** » 19 Feb 2007 19:17

penske.

HG · Post by HG » 19 Feb 2007 19:23

PegLegHolly wrote:i chose the 3rd option because ive never seen him in person.

for the xmas calendar i saw that moir video... which was awesome... but when i saw him at nyj he wasnt sealing his big moves (tournament wise). i didnt expect him to be hitting everything... and im sure that video he put out took about 5 hours to get all of that footage.

i dont think that vasek video showed his best tricks. yeah, it was for k swiss... but if you think about it... why would someone show all their best tricks on video? wouldnt that give the competition a sort of "heads up" for worlds? i was reading his information on the vaska website, and he mentions why he won worlds so many times... by doing more difficult tricks and taking a higher risk.

i think we are going to be suprised at worlds

not to be mean or offensive holly, but in all honesty, your eyes still arent trained enough to really tell how good someone is compared to another. Im sure that moirs video didnt take 5 hours. probably something around 1.5 to 2 hours. it took me about 1-2 years of really playing footbag to know what people were hitting every run. up until that point i couldnt comprehend what big moves people were hitting, so vasek videos or novice videos were just as cool to me.

Just a thought

JoshMan01 · Post by **JoshMan01** » 19 Feb 2007 19:39

I'd say the gap should be closing. Everyone else should be getting better faster than Vasek just because they have something to shoot for, someone to set their sights on and drive towards while Vasek is at the top with nothing like that, he just has to stay better than everyone else. Not to say he doesn't have the drive, it's just easier for everyone else to have it. Just speculation, not based on seeing anyone. To really say you'd have to play with everyone though.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 19 Feb 2007 22:28

QuantumBalance wrote:somolinos
..?

Man, I'm still laughing.

shreddaily · Post by **shreddaily** » 19 Feb 2007 22:50

The atlantic ocean is getting smaller at about the same speed that our fingernails grow.

In my mind the best footbag player is decided by who puts out the most sick videos. Vasek is like 8th.

Uranos · Post by **Uranos** » 20 Feb 2007 01:59

vasek never releases new videos includingl the best shit he's hit in the session. I think all vasek video's ive seen are raw. If we are so amazed at his shred from tournies and that, then imagine him putting out a video of the best stuff he can hit.....

i dont know if the gap is closing coz ive only seen jorden and vasek in live and not the other guy david, but from the little bit i saw of vasek at last worlds i can safely say he was way more consistant and technical than jorden. vasek joined our circle for 5 minutes to "warm-up" and he hit tatw like 5 times in the run including flipside, plus some unbelievable shit.
from one run he hit like ripstein infinity rpt for about 3 reps then straight into ripstein - revstein and blah blah blah it was cool. Maybe other people can do this now but i doubt they could do it on command and own it hard like vasek does. that stuf is primary school shit for him.

modified

Is the gap closing?

Is the gap closer than it was in past years?

Is the gap closing?