Wasabi: M(s)+J = BLAST

[C-Fan]

Damn, I was really hoping the rainbow bag was mine.

Hey, what was the name of those starbury shoes that look good for footbag? And are they only $10?

[Wasabi]

Schooled inside kicks with my MC bag #99. I didn't count or anything, but I went up to 20-25 minutes of straight kicking until a friend of mine interrupted me to hack with him. I didn't want to be a dick and refuse, so we did some kicking. Then 2 more people came in. Then a few more. Then it became a hack circle.

It was comforting to have a hack circle at Hunter again, since the weather was so nice, but it really did put a damper on my solo training. I need to find a private place to solo kick, but I feel that the more privatized locations are occuppied by cigarette smokers and stoners. And kicking indoors will only make me build up a sweat, when I can have the lovely outdoor breeze cool me off. It's not a huge dilemma really. I just need time to think.

I just finished this bombtastic bag a few minutes ago:



You know who you are. See you in a week.

[Wasabi]

Finished half-way on the prize bag for Shred for Savvy. I think I lost my stitching nerve, because I'm not exactly satisifed with it. I tried mimicking Hania's radiation bag that I commented on her previous photo submission, but I already have two hexagons of the same color touching each other. It's sort of weird. I should have made a Fearless 55 pattern. I've also used really supple material, Eclipse and Admiral facile specifically, and it's been a real pain. My consistency always drops whenever I use facile colors that are extremely soft and supple, because it's hard to sew very clean and even when the material slips and stretches occasionally.

I've had a small hack session Tuesday night with the girl that I've been dating. We kicked in her classroom sometime around 8pm, because, for whatever reason, it was unexpectedly canceled that day. A lot of students were confused, especially when they saw the large and spacious auditorium completely empty of people. The sight of the desktop computer and projector used for slideshow presentations was eerily turned on as well. Anyway, she's been doing pretty well with toe stalls and such on converses (she has the coolest pair of Chucks ever - they have a Scrabble theme ) and she almost hit an inside stall! She hasn't had time to kick, since she works as a Starbucks barista, so her kicks aren't finely tuned, but her crank is really good. We were just messing around, but it was something that brought me a lot of joy. I just needed some time to let loose from basic footbag training, and I thought this was perfect.

I switched the laces on both of my Quantums. I have both colors of the Quantums 02, the white/grey and all grey, and switching the laces just made them look pretty pimp. Especially the white/grey with grey laces - they look like skate shoes and whatever. This is just something that I wanted to mention.

Barefoot toe stall training - GO!!!

edit: Well, it's Thursday morning. I didn't sleep the entire night. I was suppose to type a 6-page paper about the perpetuated paradoxical "identity crisis" long shown within Asian American or minority communities, in light of several readings I've/we've done in my class while using No-No Boy as the main theme for the entire essay. I've read the book over and over a couple of months ago and got sort of cocky to leave it until Thursday to submit it (Monday and Wednesday afternoons were open as well, since it was a rolling due date this entire week). I just became too overconfident on what I wanted to write that, through hours of contemplating, I didn't exactly have a consistent argument to lead the essay with.

I did take my time sewing a 32-panel keychain that I will post pictures up soon. I pretty much used my time to type the essay up for sewing, and now I'm regretting it. Well, there isn't much to regret except a 15% drop on my grade, but my professor does offer extra credit occasionally so it's not a really big deal. She doesn't take late or e-mailed work though. I'm just a bit upset over being overconfident and lazy - I knew the material but didn't have the muse to type anything out. I guess the one obstacle that struck me really badly was to think of a witty title (yes, my professor does grade papers based on the title of the essay) so that took me aback. I don't know.

I just hope I don't have to see a blank word document ever again and procastinate about it.

[Wasabi]

Outdoor NYFA session at Central Park tomorrow! Whoo!

Shred for Savvy next weekend! Whoo-hoo!

Got my elemental footbags today! w00t!

Getting an artificial pistachio high from one of the elemental footbags? Ooooohh...

[Wasabi]

Started smoking again. It's been a stressful academic week. I don't know. I guess my mind is stuck on making footbags/playing footbag that trying to focus on my studies is a bit difficult. I'm also pretty anxious for Shred for Savvy. I haven't been in D.C. for two years, and that was during East Coast Championships '06.

I'm just a poor organizer. I can multi-task fairly well, it's just finding the motivation to do so that's the trouble. I just can't wait until this week passes by and I get my weekend for footbag. My legs are restless!

Just a lot of solo training on the basics, especially kicks. I haven't done consistent 100+ toe/inside stalls training for a week. I have been doing clipper training, but I think my flip side is returning to old habits now. It's not going into a perfectly flat surface. It could be my posture as I sink my body into clipper form on that side. I need to adjust it soon.

My stitching arm is shot, but it's been feeling a lot better lately. I would be stitching now if I didn't have to worry about my studies. Oh well.

Stoked! Shred for Savvy!

[C-Fan]

finding the motivation to do so that's the trouble.

Started smoking again.

Well, that's not going to help.

And why are you stressed about MD? It's going to be good times.

[Wasabi]

Travel. I don't know who I'm hitching a ride with, and at what time. I got word from Benny that there's a chance he might not make it. The only one that wants to leave in the afternoon is Ted Fritsch, in terms of available rides, and we haven't established any time just yet.

Drew wants to depart with the rest of the NYFA crew Friday night. I want to show up earlier.

I'm also anxious that all of my training won't amount to anything, and I'm trying to control this tendency of mine so that I don't overwork myself before the tournament or get injured at the event site. Another poor habit: over-excitement.

I didn't start up on smoking tobacco or anything like it; an alternative to tobacco... yes. At the very least not at an aggressive, chain-smoking consistency. Still, it's pretty bad to relapse, but I'm keeping it under control before Shred for Savvy.

[Wasabi]

"Why try? Why try at all? Are you trying too much? Why try so much that you should push yourself? Why try so that you can compete at a tournament? Why even go to tournaments at all?"

This weekend left me having such a bad vibe. However, it did start out pretty well. All in all, Shred for Savvy was great and was an amazing tournament with an amazing venue. There were just other circumstances that stained it into an unpleasant event.

Friday night, 3.21.2008
I got to Maryland around 7:16pm with Barrett, Ted and Edna. It was pretty much a 4 hour drive with traffic accounted for. I felt really tired, but everyone wanted to go check out Vince Bradley's band playing at the Iota. I had the intention of checking out Vince's band, but due to some circumstances we got there a bit late. I think I was only able to hear 2-3 songs before their performance ended.

I met up with the other footbaggers that wanted to attend, but for some reason they left after Vince was done. And quite literally, about 75% of the attendees went to Ken's place. I was stuck with the Eerie crew (Dan Greer, Cory, Emily; Jack Lendtz was staying with Adrianne's parents), which isn't bad, but left me pretty confused for the entire night. I thought everybody was going to Adrianne's after visiting the Iota?

Long story short - nothing much happened, we didn't get shitfaced like we wanted, and we went straight home and slept quietly.

Saturday, 3.22.2008

I'm not going to much detail on this because it's not something I want to cover fully. The day had a good running start, but as it went on it just felt... bittersweet, I guess. This is just me. I'm sure other people had a great time.

The venue was this huge gymnasium that sort of brought you back to grade school when you were a toddler, and you saw several rows of basketball hoops suspended up on the ceiling. Literally, what a great place to host a footbag event! There was actually enough room to play Footbag Net and Freestyle, and then some! The floor was a tad slippery, so us freestylers had to mooch some floor matts to offer some reliable traction.

I competed in Intermediate Circle. Only 4 people competed. Matt Evans, Barrett Neimeth, and Drew Krause. I was seriously nervous, because I was just not playing very well Saturday. My links and performance were just defenestrated out of my psyche. I dropped after two or three links. It was absurd. I'm still bashing my fucking head over it. I got 4th.

There were enough prizes on the table for everyone to get, especially for competitors, but I was so pissed at my performance that I just felt that I didn't deserve a prize. It was that horrible. I had my eyes set on a pair of planetfootbag shorts, but they were all taken. I guess my time to get a pair will be in some other tournament this year.

Then there was some partying at Age's place. It was fun and dandy. Everyone was having a lot of fun. Chris was having way too much fun that it took a turn for the worst. I'm not going to detail this, but if anyone is interested in knowing what happened, feel free to PM me.

I was told that I "try too hard." I'm still trying to interpret those words in my head. I feel that I'm not trying enough. One session per week, Saturday, for two to three hours with the NYFA crew. Whatever time I invest is solo shred. Before every session that I do any sort of "regular freestyle," I drill with consecutive inside kicks for 30-40 minutes (I don't think I'll be counting my kicks up to 1000 anymore - I tend to lose count), then 100+ toe stalls and then 100+ inside stalls. Then I try to figure out how to properly improve my clipper form, especially my flip (trying to get 10 on each side). And finally, in the freestyle portion of my solo play, I usually start doing legover and mirage links, then go to clippers, then go to butterflies and paradox mirages. Uptime sets are optional, and used when I feel like it. Am I trying too hard?

Alright, I admit, I was a bit pixie crazy when I was playing Saturday. I tend to do pixies early when I'm nervous before comp, to see how my form is and challenge myself to link one trick to another successfully. But I don't think I did most of my pixies that was duckable. That is something I have denounced myself from doing aggressively since the New Year, and I was called out for it. Consistently. Over and over.

I... just don't know what to do here. This is where people's advice really just conflict and confuse me, frustrating me. Do I seriously have to be stoic and sit there listening word for word on something that I already know? I'm just having a hard time thinking what "trying too hard" is. It's not like I'm going for Assassin or Phoenix at every chance I get. It's also not the case in which I can hit butterfly-osis-paradox mirage consistently in 15 link strings. I'm not even capable of understanding my clipper form at the moment. I just feel that some of the advice I get is a bit too out of place. My current challenge (proposed by Ken) was to hit 20 tiltless, in which I have yet to accomplish.

So again: "Why try? Why try at all? Are you trying too much? Why try so much that you should push yourself? Why try so that you can compete at a tournament? Why even go to tournaments at all?" These were the rambling thoughts that I was stuck with in the entirety of Sunday afternoon and evening, during a Southern brunch and lunch at Age's, during the car trip home from Maryland to NYC. I felt like the breath of life was sapping straight out of all of the orifices on my head. Of course, I did take a muscle relaxer from Cory of the Eerie crew to use for the pain I got from my stitching arm, but I was really conscious and mentally troubled this weekend.

Maybe I should stop doing anything uptime at all. Not even for recreational fun. Zero pixies, fairies, atomics and neos. Maybe I should drill on moves that don't consist of mirage and legover. Maybe I should just do clippers all day long.

PS: I'm having sentiments that I shouldn't attend GRASS next month. This bad vibe is really putting my spirit down a great deal. In fact, I think I should put off all of my plans on going to any tournaments this year, excluding the NYFA Invitational this July. Saturday just gave me a reality check, and it really hit me hard.
PPS: Also, I'm thinking about quitting stitching sometime this year. I haven't confirmed anything yet, but yeah, this is something that I truly feel that I should do. I suppose that if I do quit, footbag stitching for me would only be reserved for private occasions/deals/personal trades. I just want to put most of my concentration into playing and only playing footbag, not making the bags for the sport of footbag. I've said this over and over, and the footbagging community always, in some way, drives me back into stitching publicly. My right arm can't take it, and my feet can't take it either.

edit: Parts of post omitted/re-edited.

[ednie]

Hey Waylon,

interesting reading you blog - i hope you spend more time playing footbag as well! And hopefully I'll be able to come to america again for footbag sometime soon.

I havent seen your game recently but generally pixie ducking isnt the next logical step in most peoples games. ken's challenge is really good i think - and i would also challenge to hit one move (even if its really unusual like a gyro outside stall) each time you play

i did atomic symply guay two days ago! and i think you could do lots of guay moves because you are good at inside stall
with clipper i say just bash it out trying to hit as many as you can - you dont need to confuse yourself with technique so much - learn it one way then modify it as you go along - development of general leg strength and co-ordination is more imporant than a perfect theoretical understanding
- say:
have a bash mate

talk soon
dan ednie

[HG]

Dan is right, if you aren't good at clipper yet, trying to learn it with perfect form will give you ZERO results. Learn it, get it really dialed, and then mess with your form.

[Ian Brill]

First off, I would like to apologize. Not just for my behavior, but for being insensitive. While it's true that I tend to ramble sometimes, I sometimes put too much attention into communicating ideas than on what kind of impact they might have.

I think you should keep playing, but part of getting better at footbag requires gradual development. How you choose it is up to you. I offered advice and it may work. Take what you can from those you have faith in.

Give me a call please. Bruce has myb number.

[Wasabi]

I had a heart-warming conversation. I left myself vulnerable in this consolation from a fellow player. I'm still tearing up.

Sometimes, I really like to push myself, because I have this self-image that I'm not working hard enough to achieve my goals. I feel like the results I achieve are mostly half-assed and unworthy. I see so many good players out there, that I myself wish I can get as good as them. I mean, it's been two maybe three years into this sport for me and I keep feeling like I'm falling back. I truly want to reach guiltless, but I have to have tiltless dialed. I couldn't manage tiltless strings this weekend, so it was a really hard-hitting setback for me.

If you can understand the absurdity I feel, it's like how people reacted in Worlds '07 when it was announced that BAP was only accepting one person into their group. A lot of people didn't think much of it, but several players had their hopes up in getting their names on the list. It's having the hard dedication and expectation of yourself to achieve with hard work and achieving goals through hard work that got me optomistic. I didn't have that mentality from my performance this weekend. To be frank, I sort of had this feeling of defeatism or futilism from my bad performance, and it got to me before and during competition. I even had to do several calming exercises to get me feeling stable after intermediate competition.

I apologize for whatever I posted in the previous post. It just had to let out whatever frustration I've had about my footbagging ability. I really need to collect myself and see where I am in footbag. Maybe I am trying too hard to push myself into this sport. I mean, the mentality in drilling is to focus and play extremely well without fail. Playing for fun puts footbag into a different light, where strings can be laidback and drops aren't important. I feel that dropping is important, passing and pass-backs are important, and how you serve is important. And it's important to learn from them and general footbagging etiquette, so I always seem to butt and smash my head whenever I keep dropping consistently on moves that I know I shouldn't be dropping. It really gets to me, it infuriates me. And yet, I don't know why I drop, I don't know why I suck. It just happens.

Ian, really man, thanks for the call. I don't know. A lot of ominous energy and emotions are getting to me. I really like footbag and I truly love the sport. I just feel that there are a lot of setbacks keeping me from improving, and since the beginning of this year I've put "improving myself in footbag" as top priority. Playing carefully, treating my body even better than I previously thought, abstaining (though I have relapsed smoking a small bit) and living a comfortable life to sustain myself for footbag were in my list of New Year's Resolutions to dedicate to. I still believe that you are one of the most inspiring people that I've played with in footbag, and that you are such a dedicated veteran in this sport that I want to play up to par with you and others in a circle together. The whole point in me playing and working hard in footbag is just so that I can link up strings that are worthy to offer in technical ability in a freestyle circle. I don't want to be the inadequate factor in a footbag circle.

It only took one small tournament to break me down, making me feel like I didn't work hard enough. I feel like a fool.

I'm taking some time off from footbag. I really need to collect myself. But there is one thing I want to do, though, and it's to play footbag with only clippers and moves involving clippers. I will touch on toe moves every now and then, but not too much since I feel like 90% of my strings rely on toe moves. It irks me to think that most of my strings have me dropping on clipper, and I truly feel that this is a problem area that I want to fix. I also feel like I rely too much on toe moves and strings that I neglect using clippers. It really, truly irks me to no end.

What I want to quit is footbag stitching, because I feel that stitching is keeping me from playing, and playing is important to me. I will fill out and complete whatever current orders I have, but I really believe that getting too immersed into something like sewing could deteriorate my eye-foot coordination. Playing more instead of sewing more is important, because footbag is all about playing, not making the bags used in the sport. Even the best footbag maker in the world doesn't mean he's the best player in the world. The same can be said vice versa. I feel like I've said this countless times.

Anyway, I feel all touchy and whatever from all of this. I'm going to put blogging aside, maybe put modified aside for a while. I would appreciate no more comforting words or words of inspiration, because it feels like something I've heard for more than a few years now.

Sorry for the angst.

[Wasabi]

Got back to playing, got back on my feet on everything concerning footbag. It usually takes me a week of abstaining from a certain thing to sort everything in place and have peace of mind on what my goals are. I think I have a clear mentality right now.

Played for 45 minutes to an hour on Sunday, just soloing. At first i was playing for fun just for the sake of fun, but then I went to drilling. Not really hardcore drilling, just a bit laid back I guess. I drilled clippers and miraging from clippers (clip mirage, paradox mirage) both sides.

I didn't want to drill feverishly because I didn't want to cause any injury (because with any usual anxieties I have, I eventually and reluctantly injure myself). So, I just spent the rest of my day on Sunday resting up and training my ankle strength. For a while I had this susceptible feeling that I had really weak ankles, and I felt that I couldn't balance well and do any symposium moves. Well, I just did the basic ankle exercises that Janis told me, and whatever else he depicted in his topic, and I was doing hopping exercises on one leg. The latter I remember seeing a few tips from Hood's House back then when John Mahood's site was still up and running.

Anyway, I think I have the confidence to do symposium moves.

Patched up some holes on my Quantums. I have this cool plaster that you use to patch up cracks on steel pipes and whatever. It's awesome.

Ted Fritsch gave me a call today in the morning. We talked about plans for Prague, footbag and fabric stores he walked by during his day job. Then he we got into talks about making a 32 panel made entirely out of spandex. I got the url link from him over the phone, and thought it would be an interesting challenge. I'll detail it on this footblog at a later date.

[Paul Agostinelli]

It usually takes me a week of abstaining from a certain thing to sort everything in place and have peace of mind on what my goals are.

this is a great strategy for sorting your head out, i like using this approach too.

i dont think you are trying too hard, i believe that you are thinking too hard.

it seems you've compartmentalized footbag to the point where you've lost sight of the big picture. for example, when you were writing about the competition in maryland, you went into explicit detail about your thought process and what you usually do.

"...One session per week, Saturday, for two to three hours with the NYFA crew. Whatever time I invest is solo shred. Before every session that I do any sort of "regular freestyle," I drill with consecutive inside kicks for 30-40 minutes (I don't think I'll be counting my kicks up to 1000 anymore - I tend to lose count), then 100+ toe stalls and then 100+ inside stalls. Then I try to figure out how to properly improve my clipper form, especially my flip (trying to get 10 on each side). And finally, in the freestyle portion of my solo play, I usually start doing legover and mirage links, then go to clippers, then go to butterflies and paradox mirages. Uptime sets are optional, and used when I feel like it...."

Alright, I admit, I was a bit pixie crazy when I was playing Saturday. I tend to do pixies early when I'm nervous before comp, to see how my form is and challenge myself to link one trick to another successfully. But I don't think I did most of my pixies that was duckable. That is something I have denounced myself from doing aggressively since the New Year, and I was called out for it. Consistently. Over and over."


the main thing im pointing out is the "tendencies" as you describe them.
you've thought through very logically and extensively every little bit of footbag and the way to get better.

its good to take a week off from footbag to clear your head of it and clean the slate so to speak, but if you return again with the same mindset, going through the same patterns (literally and figuratively) you will only end up where you began before your break, frustrated and feeling unaccomplished.

ive been going through the same thing with music right now and ive realized that if i just relax and play tiltless music with a guiltless synth thrown in here and there, the output is original sounding and pleasant to listen to.


always try hard when your playing but remember that dropping is a constant psyche out. do more contacts at a lower difficulty and the higher difficulty will appear. if you want to go guiltless, make vasek look bad at tiltless.

[bdams19]

Hey Waylon! I recently got into rock climbing and I was reading a book on techniques when I came across this passage, which is pretty universal and should be used to put footbag in prospective:

Embrace a Practice Perspective and Resolve to Always Have Fun

We get into climbing becasue it's an enjoyable activity that diverts attention from the serious or stressful aspects of daily life. Ironically, some climbers gradually come to take climbing too seriously. They create a self-imposed pressure to perform that generates stress and anxiety- and ultimately ruins the fun of climbing.

Footbag is supposed to be fun; don't stress over it. It should be a stress reliever, a type of get away from the real world activity where the only thing that matters is having fun (and not getting hurt). I'll be injured for at least 2 weeks, but I will definately be down to kick after that.

[Wasabi]

Thanks for the words of wisdom, guys. Especially to you Paul. I totally respect your mentality and playing style sometimes. It's so smooth and well calculated. I don't know, I guess I'm always too involved internally to approach people for aid at an interpersonal level.

One of my life mottos that someone told me and worked pretty well were:

"Be comfortable in being uncomfortable"

I guess it really speaks for itself. It also leads to the negative stimulus in that you pressure yourself even more to succeed in a way.

Before I started playing footbag, I was an unmotivated youth that didn't take into sports very seriously, much like anything in particular. I always approached everything "safely," so to speak, or performed everything involving as little risk or trouble as possible. I don't know how to word it well, but I guess you get the concept.

Anyway, I don't want to internalize too much, or post too much and whatever.

I want to play tiltless so well that Vasek can stay at the Czech Republic and build up his bod instead of his game in footbag.

[Wasabi]

I had a dream that I got a Trapper Keeper in the mail, and once I opened it up, it was literally filled (up to the brim) with footbags. I looked them over, and they were from Hania Mickiewicz.

...



The Hania bag I bought hasn't arrived in over a month and a half now, and I've been stressing over it's arrival. I think it got lost in the mail. I pmed Hania that it would be alright to ship another bag made in the same pattern and fill to me, but I feel a bit guilty to ask for something like that. Probably because I'm a stitcher as well, and I know and understand that the resources in making a footbag is wasted once it gets lost in the mail.

But I'll throw this out here: if I do receive the Hania bag that I thought was lost in the mail, it will be a prize for GRASS '08.

The weather is a bit messed up for footbag. April Showers is playing us NYers like a bitch. It was hard for us NYFA to calculate during the week which day (Saturday, Sunday) was the best day to play. Sunday looked promising for the entire week, but suddenly turned a turn for heavy showers. Wtf?

The world is coming to an end.

[Wasabi]

I've been having footbag anxieties lately, but as readers of my blog should know, this isn't a unique or troubling matter in my life. I don't know. It is too much internalization, and I get worked up for doing so, but I feel that my blog is the one place where I can vent those anxieties. I can vent, sort, and organize whatever troubles I have in a clear manner.

Well, here's one that is pretty much in everyone's heads, 24/7, in the perspective of a footbag player in the world of Footbag: flip clipper. I keep dropping on flip clipper, and if I do delay it, I don't feel that the surface on my flip clipper is flat enough to sustain a nice and even set. I just think it's very sloppy.

I know I shouldn't be whining or complaining about bull shit like this. It takes practice. Everything takes practice. Drew Martin was telling me this past weekend about some advice that Lon Smith opened during Worlds last year: "If you have time to play footbag, play footbag."

Sweaty after a long day? Play some footbag before you hop into a shower.

Waiting for the bus? Play a little footbag before the bus arrives.

Got 15 minutes before class begins? Play some footbag before heading in.

It's that consistency that I have to drive into my mentality. Too much sobbing and self-realization is too much for me - this is the revelation I've come up. It's been 4 months since 2008 began. Rushing myself in attaining guiltless freestyle is not something that I need to do, or should do for that matter.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that competing is out of the picture for me, at a mental and physical standpoint. I don't think I have the confidence to compete well at GRASS, Jersey Spike or even the July NYFA Invitational for that matter. Funtastiks is a maybe, since it's at the end of August. I should be playing for fun ad enjoyment, and learn through that training curve.

On a final note, Ted really wants me to go to Prague for Worlds this year. I still don't have a clue if I should even consider Prague. I mean, I'm spending a month of my summer vacation attending a summer session at Hunter College to get whatever requisites I need for graduation. That's $500~ USD out of my budget. Should I pay $1200~ to fly to Prague and enjoy myself for a week there? I don't know. My chances are pretty much 40-45% in my favor of doing so.

That covers it.

[Wasabi]

I don't think I'm going to Prague. It just seems my chances for it is dropping ever so slightly with each passing day. I'm just going to be really busy when summer rolls on by.

I'm doing really poorly on my Health Psychology course. Just... really really poor. My average ranges around a C or D I think. Approximately 65% is my average. So far, I have this 3 page paper in which I have to compare Social Integration and Networking with a Case Study about a crack whore that's worth 20%, and a final exam to worry about. In this class, the lowest grade gets dropped, and the lowest I have on it is a 60%. I'm literally busting my balls to get the grade.

I'm going to stop stitching until this semester ends. This is retarded. It just sucks that I have to submit a paper by Friday, which is the same day that I'll be departing for GRASS. I feel overworked. I will have some bags for sale at the event, and might chip in a prize bag of my own depending the situation. A Hania bag is my safety, I guess, in terms of prize submissions.

Concerning footbag... well, I don't think I'm progressing all that well, or at all even. I've just been drilling the basics a lot. I got several cracks on the soles of my Quantums. My right shoe's sole has a huge crack I'm worried about, and the left one is developing some slight cracks. I have a back-up pair of Quantums, but I'm unsure when to make the change.

Drilling is all I really do these days, and I'm still trying to find the fun things that come with footbag. Drops still psyche me out. All I do are clippers or tricks involving clipper (pdx. mirage, butterfly, etc.). I feel I should make some progressions on hitting DLO or eggbeater, but I feel hesitant. I don't know. Maybe GRASS will help me out in this regard. I won't be competing, obviously (please don't ask me to compete).

My life is full of stress, and coping with it is starting to be really hard on me. I always end up shaking my head toward the end of the day sometimes, it's troubling.

Depressing blog post. Sorry readers (if there are any).

[Rieferman]

Hey man, sorry to hear about the stress. On the other hand, a few days of hell and you're off to a footbag tourney with a lot of people you're friends with, so there's a light at the end of a short tunnel.

Btw, regarding all the drills etc. I came to the conclusion awhile back that the best mix is 80% shred, 20% drills. And that 20% drills usually takes the form of starting a run or practicing a link rather than repeatedly drumming one trick. Since 80% is shred and fun, I enjoy playing so much more. Oh, and I also move off a component before I get to the "throw the ball down and scream" stage. That's a key thing to remember. Not every day is meant to be your "on" day for every component.

At the end of my practices, I try to hit one new thing. Doesn't matter what it is as long as it's new. You'd be surprised how something seemingly impossible is actually somewhat hittable in most cases if you concentrate on it for a few minutes.

Between all these things that are fun to do, I can usually take something positive out of the session and keep my energy and mood up for my next session.

Do what you think is right (because ulimately, your own buy in for your sessions is the most important thing), but in my opinion, if you're having fun sessions your mind will be in a better place to improve and stay out of ruts.