Simplifying a long story of emotional anxiety:
Two years ago I stopped playing footbag because of knee pains. These pains have been problematic in all physical activities, not just footbag. After moving back to Australia early this year I decided to fix the problem once and for all. I visited a GP and was referred to an orthopedic surgeon. I made the booking, and three months later visited the dude. He referred me to a physio. Last week I went to the physio (which was actually two guys) and they spent ages analysing the problem, which was great. I went again yesterday and they told me they want me to play footbag every second day, so I went and borrowed a footbag from Janis at the Melbourne uni footbag barbeque yesterday (shoutout to Janis for the lend!).
I've more than learnt my lesson and I'm going to take this transition into footbag playing very slowly. I've waited so long that spending the rest of the year just drilling basics in short footbag sessions is easy to cope with. Once my knees prove their worth, I will gradually turn up the heat and hopefully grow to dominate the Australian scene
Today I played footbag for half an hour (half an hour is the restriction the physios have told me to abide by). I did some kicks, inside stalls, toe stalls, clippers and a couple legovers. I'm still to plan my training sessions to get the most out of the 30 minutes.
I was just reading a thread in the getting started forum about various builds and footbag. Someone mentioned something about playing 'smart' and I so thoroughly agree.
These 30 minute sessions should encourage me to play smart. When I was a new footbagger in 2004 I had many discipline issues. I was too impatient to drill and just wanted to see how many times I could hit ripwalk consecutively. I'm going to drill lots, and strategically plan drills that will cater to my weaknesses (eg. today I came up with ss inside>ss toe>op toe> repeat to address some basic balancing issues).
First up on the agenda for the next couple months will be:
-General Kicking (also toe kicks, which i never really mastered)
-Toe delays/sets (ensuring I delay the bag at optimal height and horizontal distance from my body)
-Inside delays and clippers (a lot of work must be done here, specifically on regaining ankle flex and, performing clippers properly my clipper>op clipper> repeat is horrible!)
-ATWs and legovers
-Mirages
-Butterflies butterflies butterflies and butterflies
That is all. If anyone can suggest helpful drills or exercises that would be greatly appreciated.
I'm going to update this blog every couple sessions, but will keep it entertaining with anecdotes and other interesting remarks.
