Dorota's lovely footblog

[Dorota]

Hello modified!

I've decided to start writing here so you could see my progress and better know me. I'm sure you have no idea who I am so a short introduction would be necessary.

Let me introduce myself: my name's Dorota and I'm currently 19 years old. It's been nearly two years since I started to play footbag and I'm still improving my skills.
I live in Płońsk situated about 60 km from Warsaw... and 20 km from Nowe Miasto - village that Kuba and Gielnik are from. It's Kuba who encouraged me to play and now I'm very thankful of that
I usually play at the basement of my block (there is a spacious laundry room which is notoriously being occupied by me) or, if the weather is nice I can shred outside, in front of the building.
Some of you might have seen me in Prague last year, as I was competing in Mixed Doubles (with Kuba) and shredding on the stadium.

Things I'm able to do without any bigger problems:
* both ATW in two directions
* mirage/ss mirage BS
* LO/ss LO BS
* pickup and guay BS
* both butterflies and ss butterflies (from toe, clipper set ss butterfly still seems rather hard for me)
* pdx mirage BS
* illusion BS
* symp. mirage (only strong side)
* wraps, walkovers etc

Tricks I hit several times:
2-ADD:
* bubba
* hop over
* rake (BS)

3-ADD:
* double ATW
* DLO
* pdx illusion (BS)
* osis (BS)
* swirl
* pixie LO (BS)
* ducking clipper
* ss symp mirage

4-ADD:
* PS mirage

Some links/combos I'm proud of:
* pixie LO b2b
* butterfly > ss butterfly > rpt
* butterfly > pdx mirage > symp. mirage BS
* butterfly>mirage>butterfly>pickup>rpt
* butterfly>osis>pdx mirage
* osis > osis

As you can see, I learned some new stuff since last worlds and I'm gonna train more to reach new goals. At the moment I'm working on whirls, drifters and others. I'm also trying to improve my technique to not weigh down my legs too much.

My routine for this year's euros and worlds is ready and I hope to see some of you there!

PS. sorry for my English, I'm only a Pole

[Dorota]

Today was quite an unlucky session with Kuba.

As we went outside to shred in front of my house, the rain began to fall. In this situation we decided to move to the basement. Then, the speakers brought by Kuba broke down and I was forced to go upstairs for another equipment. Furthermore, my left knee was hurting... not so much, but it was enough to make me angry.

We didn't have much time so after a short warm-up we started the shred. At the very beginning I hit some good combos which I can't remember (as usual), but believe me - they were good Then, I showed Kuba my new routine (he was impressed) and we were playing some double for the Saturday's presentation.
Yes, we're going to make a little demonstration for a nearby village. The workshop for kids is also anticipated so we are pretty excited about that.

I didn't say anything about our double so I'll fix that mistake because we play it more and more often. I write it for people on modi interested in mixed doubles - frankly speaking, only Wiktor and Gosia take it seriously in Poland.
We're currently working on our routine for euros and worlds, we made a great progress since last year and, what's the most important, I started to like it for real.

Tricks we made recently:
front passage>front passage
passage>front passage BG
skoczek>skoczek>toe>skoczek>skoczek (including two "skoczek's" in a row hit by me)

("skoczek" means "jumper", no idea how you call it in English ? Wiktor, help me! )

passage rev skoczek (Kuba)
front passage skoczek (Kuba)

LO in double (me)
some kind of dexcut skoczek (dexcut made the same leg as mirage in skoczek) - me
passage LO (me)
front passage mirage (me)

Oh, it looks so messy... I hope you'll understand

[Ners]

Cheers Dorota! Props for the doubles

Pozdrawiam
Szymon Kałwak (Ners)

[Dorota]

wow, today's session was nice!

I hit my longest guiltless run ever which was: butterfly > pdx mirage > symp. mirage > butterfly > pdx mirage. Maybe not so good, but I feel satisfied.

Then I tried my routine a bit and... guess what? the rain began to fall!
Yeah, I love it.

PS. thanks Ners!

[Muffinman]

front passage>front passage

That sounds pretty physically challenging. MUHAHA!


Umm... it was nice to meet you in Prague

[TomTilly]

Yeah, I also remember you, one time we had a short shred together in Prague Keep practicing!

[Dorota]

It was fun to meet you guys in Prague too! I remember our shred Tilly, I also remember playing with Marita

Today took place the workshops for kids I meant in last post. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough space for a good presentation, but I think we scraped along. Gielnik presented his routine, then me and Kuba showed them double.

After this short introduction we started to teach kids various kicks and stalls. Some of them hit ATW and a couple of boys did a combo in double! There were some girls too, it'd be awesome if only one of them decided to play footbag.
Despite the weather (it rains since a month?!), golf was the best part of that meeting. And the little tournament of kicking, of course. The best competitor win a bag sewed by Kuba.

To sum up, the workshops were a brilliant idea, I like them much more than an average "demonstration". We could spent some time with that people, tell them more about the sport and its basics.

[Muffinman]

Haha, yeah, Marita loved shredding with you
That was totally her first time playing with someone who was not me! (like without me I mean)
Umm, hey, so I'm doing a kids workshop in a couple weeks too. Do you have any tips? We're gonna try to piece together some stuff today. I just picked up some crappy hacky sacks at the dollar store for them yesterday. What kind of stuff did they like most?

[Dorota]

Actually, the kids we were working with weren't so small, don't know how old are "your" kids They were teenagers so not much younger than us.
Do I have any tips... don't have any experience in working with children (except this time) but I think the most important thing is to get their attention. So, do what they also could do. Of course, you can show them how good you play footbag at the beginning but not for a long time. They will try to do what you did (I mean: hard tricks) and won't succeed... and finally become discouraged. Teach them basic stalls (I don't think they'll succeed at it as well) and kick with them. Kicking is something everybody can do, even if he has normal (non-footbag) shoes and jeans. Kicking in a circle is a good idea. And cry them up as often as possible, after every little progress. I'm sure kids like it.
As I said, we showed our kids freestyle (single and double) and then played some golf. They loved golf! It's easy and they could beat even a world champion at it. But remember to give them some crappy, as you said, bags for golf - facile bags may damage quickly.
What's more... it would be good if you told kids to take shorts and trainers with them. Especially if you're looking for someone who would play footbag more seriously. For simple fun, crappy footbags (yeah, I like this word ) will be ok.
Hmm, that's all I know, I'm sure you'll manage to do that workshop and kids will have fun. It's you who should give tips, not me!

And now... I'm gonna shred a little bit, bye!

--------------
EDIT:

Here you are some hot stuff from today's session:
pixie LO > symp mirage
butterfly > butterfly > mirage >rpt
butterfly > mirage > butterfly > pdx mirage > rpt
butterfly > pdx illusion > rpt

[Dorota]

The fact I haven't written for a while doesn't mean I had a rest... by contrast, I had tree sessions since last post!

Unfortunately, I had to play with my eye 'ill'. I injured it while putting my contact lenses on and now I see things hazy. That means an eye dressing until tomorrow and no contacts for at least one week. I hope to see more clearly on euros and I'd like not to wear glasses in Strzelin.

Despite my little injury I played quite good, and today hit osis > ss clipper > rpt
We also tried a 'passing' game in which I had to repeat Kuba's combos, for example I did mirage > pixie LO, which wasn't as easy as it seemed...

I'm very excited about next weekend, euros would be a cool event for sure. Hope to see you there!

PS. We'll organize a jam in Nowe Miasto called 'Mazowiecki Jam 2' (it's from our region's name) two weeks after Strzelin... also excited about that!

[Dorota]

Welcome back!

Last weekend was an unforgettable event! Thanks to devoted organizers and all the habitants of Strzelin who created the atmosphere, this year's Euros become the best tournament I've ever seen. Pity that there wasn't so many foreign players, they will definitely regret their decision

I feel pretty satisfied with our team's performances. Me, Kuba and Damian won medals in 6 competitions: bronze in open singles (Gielnik), gold in open doubles (Kuba&Damian), bronze in mixed doubles (me&Kuba), gold in request contest (Gielnik), silver in circle contest (Gielnik), bronze in Sick3 (Gielnik)

It's fun to have Gielnik in our team!

I'm proud of my single routine which gave me the 5th place in Europe (if only I checked the results properly - we're still waiting for the official results).

I'm also waiting for the pictures from Strzelin and the videos. Here you have some pics from my camera (unfortunately bad quality and no photos from finals) - http://www.footbag.org/gallery/showset/eurosfootbag09 Hopefully there were many other (and better) cameras. See also Hania's pictures on facebook.

Thanks one more time for euros. can't wait to see you again in Berlin!

[Dorota]

Hello everyone!

I haven't played much since euros because of my bag which totally broke down. As a result I practiced my routine for worlds 0 times

Hopefully I've bought a new one from Cod during our footbag jam in Nowe Miasto this weekend. Mazowiecki Jam 2, which was partly organized by myself, turned out to be a fun event!
The first day we played 2 squares in a park and then ran some freestyle competitions at the gym. We decided to run most rippin run, sick 3 and request contest. Gielnik didn't compete in request as he was demonstrating the combos so finally Ners won it.

The second day we were chilling and sun bathing near the dam in Nowe Miasto. Of course, some of us were shredding. Then, Ners taught me how to do whirls and... I hit it both sides! He's such a good trainer

I've uploaded some pictures from the jam at f.org. http://www.footbag.org/gallery/showset/mazowieckijam2
Check out the 2 squares pics!

Only couple of days left until worlds, yeah!

[Dorota]

Hey,
today's session seemed to be the last one before worlds - I'm gonna leave for Berlin Saturday morning! I could play tomorrow but have so many things to do and don't want to be exhausted at the very beginning of the tournament... we may only try our double routine a little.

Talking about today's shred:
I feel like I'm not the same person anymore since I've hit whirl BS! I was practicing my routine ( there's nothing more I can do about it so I didn't play much ) and hit some new stuff:
butterfly > whirl > mirage > ...
butterfly > butterfly > pdx mirage > ss mirage > rpt (first try!)
pixie LO > ss mirage > run with pdx mirage

I had also footed one new drill but will write about it when I hit it

Hope to see you guys in Berlin!

[Dorota]

Ok, time for an update.

I spend whole week in Berlin and it was EPIC! 30th IFPA World Footbag Championships really hit the spot. Of course, there will be always some defects but however, FC Footstar crew raised the bar for the next organizers of worlds (so, for who?)

Some pluses of this year's worlds:
+ very wall organized event site - football pitch for net players, tennis court for freestylers and park for golf - all of them close to each one
+ gym in case of rain non-stop available
+ players' canteen on site serving 2 delicious dishes every day
+ water and fruits for players all the time FOR FREE
+ Arena Berlin and Glashaus where the finals and after parties took place just on the other side of the street
+ swimming pool for players FOR FREE
+ drinks for players in lower prices
+ all the final gala with stage, TV cameras and the audience (which actually paid for the entry!)
+ live transmission of the finals
+ hand-sculptured wooden statuettes for the winners
+ best quality player's booklet and player's package
+ cheep kebabs on every corner of the street
+ Matt Cross, Ken Somolinos calling my name even though I never talked to them!

There were minuses as well:
- huge delay during the small final (some players have to perform at midnight)
- lack of some good US players
- bad connection between the event site and the sleeping gym
- the baguette in WC at the sleeping gym
- some bad decisions of the judges
- final ceremony at 4 am. (there's a gossip that we had to wait for the statuettes to be sculptured)
- too short!
- too little medals for Poles!

Photos from the event on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 507&ref=mf

Some non Berlin related infos:
I've visited my ophthalmologist - the matter seems to be finished! I can wear my contacts again but have to be cautious. Hopefully there's no need to change my glasses.
I've found a flat in Warsaw! Actually, half a room for me in a flat found by my friend... anyways, I'll be living and shreding in the capital city soon.
I'm gonna sun bath at the see side very soon. We're leaving for Krynica Morska by the Baltic See tomorrow! I take shred-stuff with myself.

Will be back next week - greets!

[PoisonTaffy]

- some bad decisions of the judges

Yeah I agree. The new live scoring software revealed some problematic calls by some of the judges.

[Dorota]

Hey!
I haven't been here for a while but lot of things was happening. Most of all, I was busy with cleaning/decorating my 'new apartment' and then I visited Białystok where Polish Footbag Championships took place.

I enjoyed the tournament a lot and think that our team (I mean, me, Kuba and Damian) gave great performances. Me and Kuba went up a little bit against last year - he's now 8th instead of 9th and I'm 4th instead of 5th, only Damian didn't progress Boys have also defended the title of Polish Masters in Open Doubles!
I took some pictures that you can see here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... &ref=share

As for shredding, I'm on form these days! Just after worlds and later, on the seaside, I played horrible but it changed before the departure to Białystok. Last session before the championships was full of pickups, as you can see from these drills:
mirage>pickup>rpt
ss mirage>ss pickup>rpt
pickup>ss pickup>rpt

I met Szymon in Białystok - it always improves my skills. This time wasn't different: I took some instructions and learned some useful exercises for the next tricks, for example pixie and DLO. Well, we'll see

I saw a video by Tanja Salakka on facebook yesterday and felt depressed with the fact that a girl playing no longer than me was doing DSO b2b and paradon! Hopefully, I turned my blues into motivation and shredded today.
Unfortunately, I overplayed my hand and had to stop playing because of the hurting hip. However, I did some double ATWs sooo easily (is it thanks to the pixie exercises?) and one big drill:
LO > ss LO > rpt > ss mirage > mirage > rpt > mirage > pickup > rpt.

I'm going to show a new routine (I've had enough of the last one!) during Wilanów Cup in October and improve my skills a little until then. Be in touch!

[Dorota]

Hello!

I've just spent two lovely days in Nowe Miasto, chilling and shredding with Damian, Kuba and Radek (Kuba's brother).
First day we were playing on a new football pitch with artificial sward and it was epic! I hit DATW out-in for the first time - trying to do Ners' challenge which is DATW both directions both sides.

The second day wasn't as nice as the previous one, we didn't have access to the pitch. Tried some footbag golf instead... and it turned out to be pretty nice while playing with 3 other people. Remember I usually play only with Kuba or all alone However, Damian was always the best... I don't think I'll be good in golf one day (can't kick)

Now we have one day out but will take advantage of the last month of holidays (we're gonna start our studies in October) and do the best we can. Next tournament in Warsaw - Wilanów Cup will take place at the beginning of October

greets!

[Kuba]

You're still progresing, Dorota! Hardness and dencity of your combos are getting better and better. DATW out was clean and nice. Big props!:)

Shreding with 3 other people was epic! Thank you for visiting Nowe Miasto!

[Dorota]

ok, time for an update!

I know it's been a month since I wrote here for the last time but believe me, I had so much to do. 1st of October I started my studies at Warsaw School of Economics and it took some time for me to acclimatize. Moreover, I didn't have access to the Internet in my apartment so the only opportunity to check modified was at school (or in Płońsk, during the weekend). I thing next Wednesday will be a big day as then the net is going to start working

The fact that I study in capital city gives my a possibility to shred with all Warsaw crew, including Wiktor, Michał, Mariusz, Krzysiek, Marcin etc... and of course with Gosia. In fact, I played only once with Mariusz and Krzysiek but I promise to do it more often in future. Now, I have to organize my week a bit. I think every Wednesday I'll manage to go to the district sports club where Warsaw players have a hall for themselves. In addition, I can play every weekend at home (at the basement, actually) and every Monday during Kuba's PE. It's a funny story about his PE: he's officially inscribed on table tennis classes but his tutor allowed him to play footbag instead of ping pong. And then allowed me to join him

Apart from studying and organizing my time I participated in Wilanów Open, and was second in women's competition! It's my first medal got without Kuba's help. Thanks one more time for that event. Here you can see my silver routine (as well as other girls' performances): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rl6hQMBIAU

And now my last highlights.
Here you have some older drills:
toe ss butterfly > ss LO > pickup > rpt
butterfly > ss butterfly > pdx mirage > rpt

And one new 4-ADD move:
Dimwalk (hit on Monday's session)

My current goal is to recover from my sudden flu and then play as often as possible

[Dorota]

Hey,
I was so busy with studying and, more generally, living in Warsaw that there was such a long pause in writing here... again.

Hopefully, my studies turned out to be rather enjoyable, at least at the very beginning so I benefit from the free time as more as possible. I developed kind of weekly plan of shreds and try to realize it. I usually play 3 times a week: Monday (with Kuba during his PE), Wednesday (with Warsaw shredders) and at the weekend. So it's not so bad with me, and playing still gives me pleasure.

As for my progress, I believe my combos got a little bit better since last tournament but it's still too little for me!

Today I was shredding alone and managed to hit some new stuff:
dimwalk (flipside)
whirl x2
smear

This weekend I'm going to Wrocław for Zocha Jam! I'll publish a write-up when I come back