Jpaige footblog

[jpaige]

No time like the present to start a blog. Had a crappy day and feel like ranting and had a short but decent session today hitting 10 consecutive contacts for the first time, kinda pathetic but whatever. Just needed to shred to get my mind off my bank screwing me over, my parents telling me how I screwed up after I called them to tell them I screwed up, and then breaking my already P.O.S. phone.

Didn't feel like drilling at all today so I just tried to go for consecutives. Most I hit was 10 which is a first for me. DATW > Near Butterfly > Osis > Pdx Mirage > Mirage > Legover > Mirage > Butterfly > Infinity > Pdx Mirage > dropped near butter. Gives me a glimmer of hope for hitting longer strings in the future...hopefully. Also hit 3 DLO's strong side from toe set today in 3 tries. My first 3 DLO's actually so that was satisfying. Hopefully I can get my mind of things and get back do disciplined drilling tomorrow instead of dicking around...my flip toe needs some serious work.

Also if anybody In New England or New York, New Jersey area reads this I've been dying to find people to shred with. I'm not very good and would like to get some pointers on my game. Would be willing to drive 4-5 hours to find some people to shred with sometime.

[jpaige]

Didn't a get a chance to shred today (yesterday now i guess) unfortunately , wasted a beautiful day running errands including getting a new cell phone; one that will actually save phone numbers so I don't lose track of all the ladies (lol...). Plan on drilling tomorrow before work for a couple hours which will be nice. Wish I wasn't so ADD as to get bored with drilling after an hour or two but hopefully that will change when I feel like I can put some decent strings together consistently. Is the blog supposed to stay on the topic of footbag? I feel like I have so many other random thoughts to spew out. I guess I just can't help myself. Gonna push for 30consec legovers tomorrow and 25consec mirages on each side to skool both of them. Should be able to do it if the energy level is there. For now its off to listen to some Elliott Smith before bed and if you happen to read this and haven't heard of him I highly recommend downloading his music or letting me send you some (I'm a music freak).

[jpaige]

Short session today because it was super humid out. Drilled legovers and clippers. 28 strong side clippers was a new personal best. 15 alternating was also a personal best but I know I can do better on both when my energy level is a little higher and it isn't so darn hot out. Be back to rant after work but I'm out for now.

[DTank126]

Hey man, first off props on your nice foundation of tricks, looks pretty bothsided too, so your definitly off to a good start. How long have you been playing anyway?

I noticed you were looking for guys to shred with in the New england/New york scene. Currently I live in rochester, ny and play with the RFA, but Rochester seems like it might be a bit of a drive from ct.... However, this September Im gonna be moving to Boston, ma. Idk how far away that is from you but if its not too much of a drive I highly suggest you come kick with us sometime, the crews kinda jsut coming together this September so there'll be many a footbagger. Feel free to check us out in the Boston blog.

Peace

[jpaige]

Actually I'd love to take a drive to Rochester to shred with the RFA sometime after worlds. I'm definitely willing to trek to Boston a bunch its only an hour and a half from UConn.

Thanks man, I have been trying hard to drill the basics but thats about all I can really do so if you guys don't mind shredding with a weaker player I'd definitely be down to play with guys and get some tips. I bought my first pair of lavers and a sandmaster sometime around christmas so that was probably when I really got into it but had been screwing around with basics a month or two before that but didn't really know what I was doing lol.

This week has been kinda crappy for shredding for me. Been a little bit unmotivated and the weather has been less than ideal for playing. Off to worlds in less then a week and hopefully lots and lots of shredding. Gotta work in an hour and watching the Big Lebowski and drinking white russians tonight always a good decision...or is that sam adams?

[jpaige]

Another short session today, sweating out all the alcohol from the night before. Footed a DLO flipside today. Flipside ATW's make me angry, guess I just gotta drill them harder. Feels like I can start hitting some pixies on my flipside though. Hopefully I can get my ass in gear and drill hard before Sunday.

[jpaige]

Ever get the feeling that you really aren't progressing that much? Man do I need to drill more, and get a few new bags. I can't hit clean illusions to save my life either side and my left legover just feels awkward most of the time. Hopefully I can get some help at worlds. Leaving tomorrow, probably have one last session before I go to florida.

[jpaige]

arrived in Orlando today! Working out the plan for the week which will most definitely include mad shred sessions. Damn its hot down here....

[jpaige]

Worlds is soooo sweet. Played 2square today with Daryl Genz and Peter Irish. Daryl is good. Also bought a pair of quantums and they are nice. Aside from routines, Big 3 competition was today but the format was kind of crappy and there were way more drops than completed 3's. Seeing this 15 year old kid from the czech republic hit a clean fusion was nuts . As for myself I didn't shred that much. Everyone here is good, and I um...suck, oh well, still fun to watch, play 4square and shred a little. Hit blur for the first time ever at this worlds, and hit DLO both sides, as well as hitting legbeater and dlo midstring in separate runs. My stepping set on my less consistent clipper is way better and form overall is way better which is strange but oh well. Got lots to work on, will probably shred my ass off for a while tomorrow now that my legs are back and definitely lots more pictures and video's to take and maybe party it up at Terra Verde at night. Oh and net is sick...

[jpaige]

Well I hit two new moves today and a new combo. Atom Smasher and Blender were the new moves. Dimwalk > Ripwalk is a fun new combo, and is actually relatively easy for me to hit. It's frustrating seeing that all the shredders here are better than me but whatever. I plan on practicing my ass off when I get back home. I have been drinking jack for a few hours so I am a bit fucked up. AHHH last day of worlds tomorrow unfortunately. Should be a good time, hopefully Vasek gets beat by someone...off to more drinking for now.

[The Rhino]

It's frustrating seeing that all the shredders here are better than me... hopefully Vasek gets beat by someone

Dan Shrednie

[jpaige]

Well my first trip to worlds is over and holy crap...I hit moves that I thought would take me a lot longer to hit. Atomsmasher, Blur, Flail, Blender. Footed a PS whirl, Blurry whirl and Smog. Consistency and proper technique is definitely something I need to work on. As I've only been playing for about 9 months I feel that if I work hard I can become a decent shredder and put some good strings together. Right now the best I've hit was 14 contacts - a drill that Paul showed me that I sealed with a butterfly. I was definitely disheartened by all the really good shredders I saw bust most have been playing for a while. It has given me motivation to work my butt off and not only shred hard but exercise more and maybe even lift weights a little bit (mostly legs). I hope that this can be a measuring stick for a year from now when Worlds comes around again at Prague and I can hit all these 'big' moves I hit for the first time BSOS, and maybe start competing in intermediate shred competitions in a years time. Today was the best I felt about my shred the entire week, and with it being the last day I guess thats a good thing, maybe I have improved slightly with the tips that some really awesome shredders have given me. I still think that the crazy games of 9 square were the highlight of my footbagging at worlds. Man that was fun. Kolo and Steve Goldberg are both really good at 4 square, especially Steve. The whole footbag community is a great bunch and I plan on frequenting tournaments that come close by to the north east and hopefully play with the New York club whenever I can. Seeing all these great shredders is serious motivation for my game. Im kinda glad that the tournament is over so I can go work on tweaking my game and not have to do it in front of a bunch of sick shredders. After seeing all these guys in person I'd have to say that Jorden Moir and Lon Smith are definitely my favorite shredders. Lon is a funny guy and an awesome freestyler and Jorden hits some of the most ridiculous combo's. I think he might be slightly crazy to even attempt some of the links he does, and I'm glad I was stoked to see him hit Spinning Big Apple, most likely the first to do so?? World's kicked ass. If I can scrounge up the money to go to Prague for a week or two next year I will definitely go. Now its off to uploading some pics and videos from the final day of worlds. Peace.

[jpaige]

Bleh, Have been sick since I got back from worlds which has kept me from shredding since Tuesday. Feeling better today finally and will be shredding tomorrow for sure. School starts monday so hopefully I can keep with the training and maintain my schoolwork. I videotaped myself working on a tiltless drill and both side clippers which I will upload in a day or two and would like some advice on my form .
Tips I recieved at world's which I am focusing on currently: better posture (not hunching over), staying on my toes, and from watching the video of myself I need to work on my toe sets as my knees tend to fly inward a lot of the time, especially when I'm tired. This is what I will be focusing on for my session tomorrow; hopefully a long one.

[jpaige]

been playing a good amount this week which is nice. playing on this campus is really crappy though. People seem to have a vendetta against someone doing something they enjoy in public and feel the need to walk by right next to me when I play as if to try and mess me up. Wish people would just mind their business sometimes instead of going out of their way to be assholes. Thats UConn for you.

As for the footbag, very shortly I should be hitting ripwalk and whirl BSOS, sooo close today but hitting them both midstring feels good. My average strings are getting longer as well which is nice. I feel like all the playing at worlds has increased my endurance. Still trying to focus hard on proper form with the basics. Best things I've done this week were figuring out some problems with my fundamentals and hitting many DLO's easily as I only hit this trick real well since worlds. Also hit my first 3dex trick which was fog. Once I get my fee bill squared away I'll be able to go to the gym on campus (they wont let me in now) and the actual practice sessions should be longer. I always get bothered by people that have no idea wtf I'm doing but play hacky sack and want to rip open the seams of my bag with toe scrapes. Its nice to have people to kick with but nobody here knows anything about footbag so I can't get any pointers from anyone and tend to lose focus when I'm playing with people that can't hit toe stalls, even though I've been giving everyone that plays with me pointers, if they actually want to hear them. I guess I like playing alone more than I thought, although the scene at worlds was incredible, but nobody here is any good . Oh well. More footbag to be played tomorrow.

[jpaige]

Well I have not posted any updates in my blog for quite some time. Smoking cigs made me lazy and out of shape and I sort of lost my drive to get fit and drill. Not anymore! Trying to quit the cigs completely but damn they go so well with coffee and after a meal. Anyways, I started picking up the practicing quite a bit the last couple weeks and am starting to feel good about my game. I think a little time away allowed me to really see the problems in my form and I've been working hard to improve in that area. Gonna be playing a lot more footbag this semester instead of being lazy. On that note I hit a combo i havent hit before - PLO > Paradon. Ended up hitting it clean about 5 or 6 times today too so it wasn't fluke . Happy to be back playing and posting on modified. Must improve!

[jpaige]

drilling is going well. played for almost 3 hours today, really tired, got my bag stuck on the roof so i will have to get it down tomorrow . Things feel like they are starting to come together slowly and i feel like my form and consistency are improving. Now runs of 10+ contacts don't tire me and my drops are from bad form not being winded. Being able to keep the bag up makes playing solo a lot more fun but i get bored having most of my contacts be 2 adds; mostly legovers and mirages. I am going to start drilling the illusions and pickups more and hopefully soon i can hit all of the toe two adds bsos.
A couple of big almosts for me today: DLO bsos, ripwalk bsos, paradox flail.
Big moves/links hit: Pixie ss Whirl, Smear flipside, and a sick 3 I wish I had on film Smear > Dimwalk > Butterfly Swirl on my first try! Perfect timing too some kid saw me hit it and came up and started kicking with me for a bit. I think I have some potential newbie freestylers to kick with.
oh also hit pixie ss clipper > torque best torque ive hit, usually when it hits my foot i fling the bag across my body but this was executed well
All in all was a sick day for some footbag...aside from getting my bag stuck. Flip clip and flip illusion need work, the rest of the two adds starting to feel pretty good. Next task is to find someone with a video camera so I can post a video and get some much needed feedback. Time for some studying. adios for now modified.

[jpaige]

still drilling 2 adds and flip pixie. pickups feel kinda weird because I haven't done them a lot, and flip illusion still givin me mad troubles.

footed flail a bunch, close to smear > pixie legover > rpt

landed whirling swirl for the first time, also whirl (x2) > butterfly > whirl (x2) > osis. need to drill flip whirl hard, pickups should help. Hopefully have a session tomorrow.

[jpaige]

well I wasn't planning on playing today after playing for 3+ hours yesterday but I was surprisingly not sore and less tired than I assumed I would be so I decided to shred for a little over an hour and im glad i did! In drilling my two adds sometimes I feel as if I'm just going to be stuck there and not actually progress. But then there are moments where you hit moves you never thought you'd hit, or could hit and it makes you want to play that much more!
Today: Blender both sides - I figured out that keeping my ankle cranked when dexing makes this move WAAY easier. Also hit Fear, Gyro Mirage, Pdx DLO and Barfly all for the first time. No long runs or crazy links (for me) but the endurance wasn't really there today. Probably take a day or two from playing now I'm beat.

[jpaige]

wow haven't posted on here in forever. I find that my desire to shred comes in waves. Sometimes its all I want to do, and other times I'd rather do anything else, usually caused by lots of distractions. Well, after taking some hiatus from footbag, due to some personal issues, I'm back in it full force. Been playing almost every day, lots of drilling and lots of improvement. Drifter once seemed like a move I would never hit. I can now hit it both sides. Same with DATW, and others. I think that if I keep up the drilling I will be playing guiltless very soon which has been the one hump I've wanted to get over ever since I first started playing. I dont know why but I feel like playing guitless somehow makes you into a more serious footbagger, like you have practice enough to achieve a (relatively) high level of respect in the community, especially when playing with others. After going to worlds in '07 and only being able to hit a few moves consistently and seeing how consistent a lot of other players were I felt like an outsider. I'd rather sit and watch better shredders play then join a circle, struggle to hit a 2 or 3 add and hit strings of only 3 or 4 moves. Well thanks to lots of drilling I am super amped to keep improving and hopefully head to some tourneys and shred with people, considering I almost always play by myself. Yay footbag!

Shred goals for the end of march: drifter bsos, flip eggbeater, 50 consecutive flipside clippers, level 6 in triforce drill.

[jpaige]

not a lot of exciting new updates, but i wanna post them so i remember what i've hit.

magellan (strong side) x8 (weakside) x2
fear (strong side) x2
ripwalk x4

hitting smog strong side almost on command
hit ripstein

its nice out today, if my legs aren't weary ill get out and try to accomplish the goals from my previous post.