Begin Phase 1 again

[Iron Clad Ben]

What a great footbag weekend!

That was almost a month ago. Where you at?

Ha actually I played quite a bit this week. I think I am finally over my shin splints and tiny knee injury that I had.

Wednesday: short solo session in California. Worked on FUNdamentals

Thursday: Session in Mountain View, CA with Eric and Brianbear. This was a lot of fun. You may have seen his video, but shredding with this kid is something else. Pendulums everywhere, stepulous, pendulous ducking, osis like butter and a killer fairy set. I was totally on fire this session.

My highlights:
Mid-run torque for the first time ever, although I miffed the toe stall on the sealing pdx mirage
Weaving butter BSOS (not new)
Spinning ducking clipper mid run a couple times
Bubbabeater BSOS
Spinning Clip > Merkon BSOS
Dimwalk > Ducking butter > Mid run
Footed Ducking butter x 3
Weaving Legover (not new)
SS Butter > Spinning PDX Mirage > RPT > run
clip set ducking legover BSOS
Hit but did not seal Gyro-diving clipper and gyro-diving mirage

Saturday: Session with Cody back in Austin
Very close to Gyro clip > diving clip > RPT starting from both sides
Spin > Duck > RPT
More crap... I forget, but it wasn't as good as Thursday

That's all that I can remember. Ducking XBD rake is now very easy for me from right clipper to left toe.

Got the week off work this coming week. I'll see if I can get a few sessions in.

[Iron Clad Ben]

Epic session with Cody and Windsen Pan!

Well I don't feel like doing a big long write up, but Windsen came to town and we had an AWESOME session! I hit so much crazy shit, it was great. I was coming off having an absolutely horrible day, so it made just that much better.

Highlights:
Run with Ducking Legover, Ducking PDX Mirage and Diving Mirage all BSOS
Lots of pixie both sides including BSOS Dimwalk
Zooming Clipper BSOS (new on both sides!)
Gyro-diving clipper - new!
Gyro-diving mirage - new!
Legbeater (first time since worlds 07, 2nd time ever)
Zulu PDX Mirage BSOS with Zulu Butterfly in the seal
Zulu Clipper b2b > run

Four new tricks in one session! I don't think that's ever happened before. Zooming feels sooo good once you actually get it. I am so gonna school that. Gyro diving is weird, I basically just set a high gyro clipper and kinda stick my head out there. Cody confirmed it was clean, I had no way to tell.

It was really good to meet Windsen and shred with him. He's been out of the scene for years but doesn't seem to have lost much ability from what I've seen in videos. His shred reminds me a lot of Jeremiah from Missoula. Tons of pixies and DLOs. We had a lot of fun trying different wacky shit. I would never have even attempted zooming tonight if he and Cody weren't fooling around with it.

Well, till next time...

[Reid]

props on gyro diving mirage, I don't think I have ever hit that.. I will try that next session

[Iron Clad Ben]

Whoah! I am so stoked on footbag right now!

Had another BREAKTHROUGH session yesterday. I first hit atomsmasher over a year ago, but it was super leggy with terrible form and only on one side. My atomic set was so bad, I didn't even bother with it, and flip was impossible. That all changed yesterday

Any way a little while ago I decided to try atomics again. I tried to do them Curtis Taylor style. If you ever see his atomic set, it's extremely compact to the point where he barely needs to move his dexing leg. Basically I tried to keep the dex leg very low and perform the dex mainly by pointing my knee in. It took some practice to get the technique down, but now my body understands the mechanics.

Legbeater for the first time since worlds 07. 4 TIMES. Into a run every time. It used to be so much effort, now it's smooth like butter
Atomsmasher is MUCH easier now. I have much more time to get the downtime dex in. I hit that probably 10 times.
Omellette new trick! Cody confirmed it was clean.
PLO > PLO (first try) > run... not really related to atomic but I'm happy my pixies are sticking.

Now that flip pixie is something I can do pretty regularly, I tried flip atomic. I was amazed to actually dex the bag pretty well after only a couple tries. I cleared a few sets up to my chest with very little effort. It took all session but I managed to hit the following:

Flip Atomsmasher (3 times total I think, into a run every time)
Flip Legbeater (2 times the butterfly was sketchy, once very cleanly into a run)

The set is soooo compact and efficient. In fact I think it may actually be better on flip. I am so excited to get to school this concept now. One thing though, my upper leg muscles are SORE today. I want to shred, and school atomics, but my leg muscles are way too sore. Luckily it's a good kind of sore, from using muscles I don't normally use.

I can still zoom! such a fun concept. Between zooming, pixie and atomic all do-able both sides now I feel like a kid in a candy store. So much fun stuff to try out! Hopefully my body will be ready for a session tomorrow...

I want consecutive atomsmashers!
I want nuclear!
I want rubberman!
I want atomic ducking!

... but I know better than to try that now, got a lot of work ahead of me on atomic, but it's gonna be sooo much fun.

EDIT: In other news:

1) Got an interview with an awesome company on Tuesday. It's a 3 hour interview. Word is these guys grill you HARD, but it's a really good company to work for, and they have been profitable for a long time despite the economic downturn. Also, the job is a great match for my skills and sounds like it will be a lot of fun. I'm really excited about it, please wish me luck!
2) Not sure if I announced this yet, but finacee has a photography website http://www.ambersnowphotography.com/ ... check it out!

[Darkshredder]

woah Ben. Huge! I'm really happy for you. If you feel you can get atomic sets as efficient as you can there's no reason for you not to at least try ducking it. Here's to epic sessions.

[C-Fan]

Props on the strong sessions. Don't rush your progress on atomic. Just keep getting the basic atomic tricks both sides, and once they are all easy (automatic 8/10 midstring) then go for the harder stuff. Not that I take my own advice...

And good luck with the interview.

[Iron Clad Ben]

Thanks for the feedback guys. My upper legs have been sore two days straight from using muscles I don't normally use. But damn, it kinda hurts in a good way.

I haven't had this "kid in a candy store" feeling about footbag probably since 2006ish. I've been daydreaming about when my next session would be and what I would do. Tons of anticipation, just couldn't wait to lace up the old Quantums.

Well despite my legs still being a bit sore today, I went ahead and shredded today anyway. I HAD to do it, I HAD to play today. Short session tonight after work. Warmed up slowly with LOTS of stretching.

Somewhat cool highlights:
Osis > Spinning Clip > RPT > run ... w00t!
Flip Tapdown , new trick on first try (move does not compute on strong side, tried to hit it but ended up hitting legbeater each time by mistake, where the hell is Cody Carter when you need him?)
Flip Eggplant, new trick, first try into run footing strong eggplant
Several Atomsmashers and Legbeaters both sides
Mid-run flip atomsmasher, first mid-run atomic move
Footed flip atom > atom

My flipside is quickly becoming my new strong side on atomic. I have to put more thought into keeping the dex compact on strong side, and the unwind/hip-pivot out of the set is slower on strong side.

Wednesday session with Cody should be FUN.

Interview tomorrow. I'm about as prepared as I can get. Any positive thoughts you can think for me would be much appreciated.

[PoisonTaffy]

Spinning ducking is the stuff my footbag are made of! So envious

Good luck with the interview! I wish I had some tips but I have a feeling that interviews in Israel and the states are two different worlds.

[Reid]

What is eggplant?

[Pyroman924]

If I remember correctly... Eggplant is Atomic SS Legover. I haven't done one since last year though so I may be wrong. If I'm right though, then Ben gets a fucking high five! You've progressed a lot man. I'm glad to see you are still working hard. Not to mention all those Atomics. Maybe I should start playing again...

I did the same thing with my Flip Atomic. Trying to school Atomsmasher is what did it for me. Just make sure you work 'em both. But at this point I'm preaching to the choir.
Good call man. Glad to see you're doing well. Good luck with that interview!

[Iron Clad Ben]

Whoah, left you guys hanging here. Eggplant is atomic legover.

So I know last post I was alluding to this interview, blah blah blah. Well, some very good news. I riggity-ROCKED the interview!~ A week after that they gave me an offer. I was pretty shocked at how good it is, very decent pay bump vs. what I'm making now. Better company, people I interviewed with seemed sharp. So obviously, I took it. It was such a relief to put in my notice at my current job. I still have 2 weeks to go there, but it's the first two weeks of the new year, things should be super slow.

This new company is sooo much better than current one. I don't want to go into too much detail. The thing I'm real stoked about it is it's DOWNTOWN and I'll be able to take the bus or BIKE there. W00h00! I've always wanted to bike commute and now I finally get to do it. My mom sent me a new portable pump, a bunch of new tubes and some slime for Chanukah, so I now I am totally prepared for urban commuting.

Anyway, the day I got the offer I came down with the flu really badly. I've been slowly getting better since, but I still have the sniffles. I've only been able to shred once a week, but I've been having really good sessions. Yesterday, we had a 4-man session with Cody, James and Luis making it out. It was good!

My Highlights:
atomsmashers and legbeaters both sides no problem, but nothing mid-run
toe set opp muted XBD rake BSOS
Spin > Duck > RPT > run > Dive > Duck > RPT (never hit both drills in 1 run)
Ripwalk > Blur mid run a few times. Stepping set was cooperating
Legbeater > Ripwalk > run
Spinning Ducking Butterfly BSOS

The crazy thing about the last highlight was I hit it flip, like 3rd try into a run. I've never hit it in on flip before. Then, during the run I decided to huck it strong side, even though I've only ever hit it once on that side. BOOM! BSOS to handcatch! Cody verified the first one was clean and James verified the 2nd. W00t w00t! My first BSOS 5, and my 2nd flip 5.

Anyway, HOPEFULLY with work slowing down and me no longer sick I can get in some more footbag and start busting this atomic set mid run!

Happy Holidays!

[windsen]

hey ben, congrats on the new job offer. i remember you were sick last time i saw you. didn't know you had gotten a the job offer then. best wishes for the new year for ya dude.

man, i'm bummed i missed out on yesterday's sessions. spinning ducking butterfly bsos is nice. props on that. hopefully ill get to meet up with you guys sometime again.

[Iron Clad Ben]

Hi everybody, hope you are all doing OK.

Things are strange right now. I've been working my new job for a weeks which is great, more money, more stable company, easier commute, lower stress. I really can't complain. But it feels like something is missing.

I've only been playing footbag once a week, up until the other day when I played Sunday and Monday. Cody is really busy finishing up school, so between the two of us, motivation to have sessions and get out and play has been tough. My atomics are getting better, but my fundamentals are atrophying a little bit. I worked on osis some the other night, but it was just relearning what I've forgotten and relearned so many times, to use the support leg more.

I'm going to try to get back to playing for just an hour every possible day. We'll see if my body can take it.

I want to get back more involved with the footbag community, but modified is just information overload with a really poor signal to noise ratio. Every time I come, I just feel overwhelmed with all the stuff on here and just leave. I can't take it. All the blogs, all the videos, all the new tricks, I feel like I can't keep up. Sometimes I feel like the world these days in the information age is sensory overload, I have a hard time coping. I want to make it out to more tournaments this year, but I just don't think I'll have the money to do it.

EDIT: P.S. http://WWW.AUSTINHACK.COM is up and running. Wordpress is the shit! Now, to just actually have some CONTENT to add.

[Iron Clad Ben]

Really want to wax nostalgic about Wednesday night sessions over the past 2 years, but short on time, so...

Instead recent hits before I forget them, and for anyone who might be interested in what I've been up to footbag wise in the past week or two:

Spinning Butter x 3 BS
Spin x 3 > Duck x 3 > RPT w00t! (actually easier in triplicate in some ways)
Spin > Gyro > RPT --- FINALLY!
Ducking Butter > PDX DLO BS
Spinning Ducking Osis BS
Atomic Muted Clip BS
Legbeater BSOS
Dimwalk/Legbeater > Ducking Butter > Ducking PDX Mirage BS
Run with Spin > Duck > double RPT and Duck > Dive > double RPT
Ducking clip x 17 (can generally get 10 on command now)
Infinity x 26 (whhaaaaat?)
Spinning Ducking Clip x 2 BS
Spinning Ducking Clip > Gyro Diving Clip (so fun!)
Favorite run ever hit last saturday: Atom smasher > ss butter > spin > duck > duck > osis > zooming clip > osis > zooming clip > PDX Mirage > drop on pixie attempt
Footed GDLO BS several times, will get it soon (dream trick)

"Strong" diving and flip gyro need to be brought up to speed with the rest of my dexless game, they are weak points right now.

And craziest moment of all was:

For shitsngiggles attempting toe SS swirl... awfully close! try again... HIT! > handcatch > amazement > other toe > ss swirl (other side) > handcatch > utter disbelief. I've got the swirl motion good (Thanks Jay ) but I can't get a good set from clipper. So cool to finally hit swirl BS though!

I love footbag!

Next month is Marleyfest and Eeyore's, it will be great to bring a strong dexless game to hackyslacker circles

Stretching
Shredding
Spinning
Ducking
Stretching
Livin'
Lovin'
Stretchin
Shreddin
Kickin
Ducking
Diving
Surviving
Stretching
Spinning
Gyro-ing

...yeah.

[slapdash21]

1 word-

ill.

[C-Fan]

Yeah, props on dexless. I've been practicing it a lot lately too, and it's fun and challenging.

[Iron Clad Ben]

Yeah, props on dexless. I've been practicing it a lot lately too, and it's fun and challenging.

Fa sho'. I'm loving it. I think I've pretty much put shuffle tricks on the indefinite back burner. It doesn't feel natural for me and it's always high impact. I can stay pretty much pain free if I stay away from stepping, atomic and quantum. It's just high impact, unless you're Johnny Suderman or something. So now I mostly focus on ducks, dives, spins, gyros, DLOs and BOPs.

Wow, I have been enjoying footbag so much lately. I haven't had this much fun since I first found freestyle and start hitting my first 2 adds and such. When you first fall in love with footbag, you just have this fascination with the game where you think about it 24-7 and always love playing. I'm back to that. I'm not sure how. I rarely experience frustration any more. I just get out, hit what I want to hit and have fun. It's been nice to have hit probably 20 new tricks in the past couple months or so.

Most recently from last night:
Zooming Ducking clipper BSOS. First time ever trying it on either side.
Gyro DLO! into a ~12 contact guiltless run. I've wanted this trick for probably 2 years! It was actually flip side. Right clipper is my weak gyro and ending on left toe is my weak DLO. I got it off the foot so many times on strong side, but my dexes are way too big and the set is too high. I've gotta concentrate on containing it.

Also, another big breakthrough I had last night. Clenching your foot into a foot-fist on clipppers! I'd heard this advice before but never really applied it. Wow! I realized, I do it sometimes, but not all the time. When I consciously try to do it, clippers work WAY better, both catch and set. I was able to hit SS Butter > DLO > RPT for probably 15 contacts easy. Also, osis is way easier when I do this, and then of course zooming is easier a function of that. The main thing is that it prevents roll-off for me, which is HUGE.

Gahhh, can't wait to play again

[Iron Clad Ben]

Still been playing lots of footbag. Also, the website is helping grow the scene!

Recent hits:
Toe whirl
Ducking Clip > Spinning Ducking Clip > RPT (2nd time ever)
Infinity > Ducking Osis > RPT
Spinning osis > Spinning osis > handcatch

And now, I'm going to tell you a story.

I've spent the whole week writing down everything funny I think of. I use a program called list.it to keep notes of all these funny things. I have some pretty funny jokes written, at least they're funny to me. I stay up late at night in my room, rehearsing them, telling them to myself over and over again. I imagine I'm a famous comedian on a big stage telling people these jokes. They are laughing. I'm so funny. As I'm telling these jokes I ad-lib. I find little things to add to punch them up, and make them funnier. In reality, I'm really just in my bedroom. I've never told jokes on stage before. I'm just practicing trying to tell these jokes from memory rather than cheating by reading them off the screen on my laptop. I don't want to talk too loud and disturb my roommate. I go through my routine completely by rote. How long was that? I have four funny bits, each is probably a minute which is about right.

It's Friday. I have my first ever open mic performance tonight. I signed up for it, and the day is finally here? Am I ready? I've been practicing. Am I funny? The jokes are funny to me. My imaginary audience is laughing. I haven't told any friends my jokes. I want to save it for the stage. The night is here. My girlfriend, my roommate and I drive up to the venue. We stop at a gas station to get some drinks since the venue is BYOB. I get a 24 oz Lone Star beer. I've been doing NLP exercises to calm myself. I close my eyes and imagine a deep sensory experience where I'm up on stage relaxed and in the zone. I feel like it doesn't work. I'm still nervous. I constantly feel like I have to pee. I go the bathroom and can't get a drop out. I look at the list. Of ten people going on tonight I'm 3rd. THIRD!?!? That's scary. Still, I suppose I could me more nervous. I talk to one of the guys who is the host. I tell him his bit I saw a couple weeks ago about working in a shoe store is hilarious. He is taken aback "really, you thought that was funny? I didn't think it was any good". I introduce myself to some of the other open mic'ers. I mention it's my first time and they wish me luck. My biggest worry is that I'll get up there and forget my jokes.

People laugh at the first two guys. The host introduces me and says it's my first time. Thanks buddy I step up on stage. My hands are shaking. Who was the guy who said "feel the fear and do it anyway"? I look out in the audience, it's so dark I can't really see any faces. I start telling my first joke. "So I got this new job..." Something magical happens. Suddenly, all my fear and nervousness melts. I feel comfortable. I feel excited to tell my jokes that I've been working hard on. The NLP stuff worked! My first joke is going great. People are laughing so much I have to pause to let it die out before I can keep going. I ad-lib some more stuff I didn't even think of before. I have command of the audience. People are digging it. I go into my second bit. I'm on a roll. I feel great. I don't want this to stop. I begin my third bit. People laugh really hard about my "Handy Andy" joke. I didn't think it was THAT funny. I'm ready to go into my 4th bit. Suddenly they shine a flashlight at me. My time is up. I thank the audience but forget to say my name. People clap. I'm elated. Not because they loved me, but because I had such a great time doing it. I could have totally bombed but it beat my expectations by a longshot.

7 other people do their routines. Some are really funny, some are OK, some only get sympathy laughs. A black guy goes last, he is HILARIOUS. One girl in the audience must be rolling on E, because she is laughing at EVERYTHING. The show ends. Several other comedians congratulate me on a great first performance. Amber and Stephanie say they had no idea I was that funny and tell me I did great. Really? The black guy, the funniest guy there tells me he liked my routine. I'm amazed, I tell him his stuff was great too.

I ride home feeling like a million bucks. I have to do that again. I didn't even get to tell my 4th bit, which is better than the other 3 IMO. I come up with more joke ideas and write them down.

So it begins.

[jay7]

If that smile could get any bigger, that is what I would like to express. I'm really, really happy for you, and that you did a 'dropless' routine for your first time.

[windsen]

ben, congrats on a stellar first appearance. looking forward to kicking with you again in may.