Israel Footblog - Training program

Rieferman · Post by **Rieferman** » 16 Feb 2010 08:33

hey roy, just got a chance to watch your vid. You remind me of Sebastien Duschenes sort of when you do eggbeaters (that's a good thing). I also think spinning will be a very good concept for you as you progress, it's very fast and tight spin already. I think another approach to your progression isn't to necessarily remove tilts, as to do different tilts. There were a lot of legovers and ss legovers, but I'll bet alternating clippers and pickups, and bubba, etc. etc. would mix it up nicely. overall, good job!!

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 16 Feb 2010 12:25

Thanks for the feedback, Bob! I've never seen (or heard of) Sebastien Duschenes.
I've tried removing tilts completely today and it was a lot harder and less fun than I expected. I suppose you're right, a more natural and helpful approach would be to shuffle things up and drop my usual bails (legover, mirage, near pickup, ss clipper are on the hit list).
Any chance you'll be making worlds this year?

I've spent extra time on ducking today when warming up. First focused on perfect sets and stalls, then consecutives, then linking with bops. Felt like a constructive practice.
I hope that increasing my 3 add links vocabulary will set me on the road for a better, more interesting game.

I'm very happy I made this video, where I am in the game is very clear to me now.

Rieferman · Post by **Rieferman** » 16 Feb 2010 13:22

oh wow, you don't know seb? aka "hurricane". nicest guy ever, sooo good at footbag.

Dug around a little on youtube, I'm sure you can find much better clips, but seb's at the start of this clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqpbPjPUMx8

worlds... i'm interested.. my sister lives there... could be. then again, I'm taking a week off in April to learn woodworking from a master woodworker, so my vacation days are a little burned. We'll see.

btw, another approach you can take in addition to mixing the easier tricks up a bit, is to do them in different combinations (duhh, you knew that) and to limit how many easy tricks you do between harder tricks.

I think string length is important personally, so if you have to bail a little right now, that's ok. You can remove the bails systematically over time. Developing the knack of keeping the ball off the ground is a good skill

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 17 Feb 2010 01:21

I think a good way to add to your tilt base is doing things like pixie inside stall, stepping inside, inside set mirage, atw landing on outside, stepping pincher...just things that aren't your running of the mill toe/clipper based string moves. This gives your opportunity to increase the tiltless string length.

Asmus · Post by **Asmus** » 17 Feb 2010 02:24

I finally got around to watching your video. Really enjoyed it.
The last trick, spinning whirl and the super controlled flapper was my favorite.

This is 100% my personal opinion and I know alot of people disagree:
I don't think adding more dlos, butterflies, whirls, osis and pdx mirages will make your game any more interesting.
It would help on your ability to do more shuffle and bigger tricks though.
I think what would help your game would be flip spins, more ducks on both sides and better ability to change the pace of your game.
Also adding something easy and styley that is easy to play out of like guay, rake or symple legovers would be good.

Wanna race to 100 tiltless?
I never drill so I will only attempt it for fun a couple of times during each session.

Here is another video of Seb:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORfTSfIFrXw
[/youtube]Really an epic guy. Haven't you met him at some worlds? I think I met him twice, don't remember how many times you have come to worlds though.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 17 Feb 2010 08:52

Bob - Yeah taking two hobbies seriously is a tough job. I had to quit Aikido because I couldn't focus on that and footbag at the same time. It became pretty frustrating, where investment in one meant neglect of the other.

Dan - I always favor players who do unique stuff even if it's 'easier' stuff, but these moves take a lot of brain power midstring when I'm not used to them, so in order to fit them in I need to do them a lot. In my video I've seen plenty of more classic base moves I think I should be focusing on right now. I'll try to remember some of these suggestions for more casual shred opportunities, see how they work out

Asmus - Thanks, means a lot to me that you liked it! I agree that dlos butters etc don't make for an interesting game. But in the video I've seen I have strong habits to do a certain move after a certain move. I'd like to break that habit, hence my plan to work on new 3 add links.

Bigger tricks are always something rewarding to work on, though. Any suggestions?
And 100 tiltless? I dunno if I have the stamina. But sure, you're on!

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 18 Feb 2010 01:31

Had a session last night with the Raanana kids. They're hitting paradox mirage now!
For some reason my foot was destroyed during the session so I'm skipping today to let it heal up.

New 3dex trick: Frantic legover

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 18 Feb 2010 22:33

nice work on the three dex trick, I still haven't done so many of them myself.

I would also like to join the race to 100 tiltless. I think my current best is 62.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 21 Feb 2010 14:18

Thanks Dan! What 3 dexes can you hit? Why don't you go for more? Seeing how you kick my ass in footbag, I'm sure you can hit every one I can. I'm casually trying to hit matador. You make them look awesome. I got somewhat close today with a clean nuclear set, but wasn't fast enough for the butterfly.

Today I hit a really clean Yoda (frantic butterfly) with deep dexes, or so it felt. I promised myself to catch it in high speed. I wonder what other stuff I can do out of frantic. I suppose mirage would be the next easiest after butter and lo. alpine yoda would be epic. With a high risk of hitting my face with one of my feet, I'll give it a shot. I have a feeling it'll be much harder than my optimistic imagination promises me right now.

So I've had a terrible session on Saturday, forced myself to play for 30 minutes and drill ducking, and a great session today. Amazing what settings and frame of mind can do (Saturday-solo shred at home, Today, solo shred outdoors in front of people). More ducking drills followed by some pure, classic guiltless runs. Reached ~45 in my one attempt to make 100 tiltless. The psychological barrier is huge, but I think I can do it if I allow myself to do only really easy stuff. I can clear 50 with just alternative legovers, but that would be cheating.

I've tried lots of ducking pdx whirl (I assume all ducking whirls are pdx?) and diving whirl, footed them often on my strong side and wasn't even close on my flip.

How do you hit whirl from a high set? Is there a secret to it?

I'm getting kind of excited about worlds already; Can't wait to see everybody and meet some new people. I was also reminded by my Raanana buddies that JORDEN MOIR is supposed to come here next month. We haven't talked in a while so I find it hard to convince myself it'll happen. I hope he has a good time here and that he'll help me blow away spectators with pure awesomeness like Jon Schneider did on his visit.
Before Jon came I couldn't really get the kids excited about him because of lack of proper footage, but once they actually saw him play he's one of their favorite players. They think his stepping are the best and has a very smooth and laid back style to his game in general. Can't help but agree, he's taken a unique approach to footbag and worked on it for countless hours, and it shows. I wish he played more often.

And finally, about a year and a half ago I was contacted by a professional photographer for a session of shooting for a sports book he was making. He contacted me again today. If anything comes out of it, you'll probably see a new forum avatar for me.

Wow I was just gonna write "so I hit a good yoda today!", I don't know where everything else came from.

Matt K · Post by **Matt K** » 21 Feb 2010 20:19

To learn higher whirls, do a clipper set a little higher than your normal whirl, wait (ie plant both feet), then whirl on the way down. This teaches you how to whirl completely downtime, and as you get more comfortable, start setting higher and higher You'll eventually be up to your shoulder, which is how you would do a tomahwak.

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 21 Feb 2010 20:40

I can hit a reasonable amount of 3 dex tricks these days, but it took me a long time to learn them. I can hit fog, bedwetter, pixie dso and blurry reaper (all on just one side with a reasonable amount of consistency). There's a few others I've hit a few times, the first I ever hit was pixie ss eggbeater and I once hit dimwalk rev swirl. I've hit things like smog and pigbeater, but not very often. I can't do frantic, because my quantum is terrible.

I'm thinking there won't be time for an Israel visit on my trip this year. Looks like I'll only be going for a couple of weeks, if I can even get that time off, then I'm still hoping to go to worlds, but we'll have to see about that. I might have to chuck a Cope...

Also, a friend of mine got arrested in the Palestinian territories and became an item of national news here in Australia (fairly sure this would be a regular even in Israel and not make the news at all)- maybe something along the lines of "kangaroo seen in Australia". According to the newspaper reports it has sparked a "rare moment of tension" between Australia and Israel.

Anyhow, hopefully I will see you at worlds.

Asmus · Post by **Asmus** » 22 Feb 2010 00:33

I couldn't get past 30 last night (with 3 and 4s mixed in) but I think my record is 64 from a long time ago.

Wasn't it E-Walk and not Yoda you did?

E-Walk (ADD 5)
Frantic Butterfly
Pixie Quantum Butterfly
Toe > Same In (DEX) > Op In (DEX) >> Op Out (DEX) > Op Clip (XBD)(DEL)

Yoda (ADD 5)
Pixie Miraging (Plant) Butterfly
Toe > Same In (DEX) >> Op In (DEX) > Plant > Op Out (DEX) > Op Clip (XBD)(DEL)

I miss Jorden, wish I was the one who is gonna play with him soon.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 22 Feb 2010 00:54

I have no idea how these two are different. I thought Quantum is miraging?

What I do is both the pixie and quantum at roughly the same time (both feet in air), land with both feet and then do a butterfly.

The butter dex is with the quantum foot, so maybe it's ss out and it's neither.

Dang. Hitting moves with a nickname is somewhat more rewarding.

Asmus · Post by **Asmus** » 22 Feb 2010 07:12

>> is when the bag peaks. So in Yoda the Miraging is done downtime.
Atleast that what the description indicates.
But what you are doing is neither. I would call it Pixie Sidewalk for short.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 22 Feb 2010 07:36

Ok I learned something new. I didn't even notice the >>!

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 28 Feb 2010 04:53

I haven't played footbag in nearly a week. I feel fat and lazy. It's been really wintery here lately, and my schedule is geared towards outdoor practicer. I bet by the time I start getting used to indoor practice, it'll be sunshine all over again.

Anyways, I just read a post on Scoot Davidson's blog, where he talks about alternative names he had for pixie and fairy before they were invented. The names are Lightning and Thunder respectively. And I really like 'em & I'm gonna try to adopt them.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 28 Feb 2010 06:06

I forgot to mention that:

A) I'm supposed to meet with the head of the footbag Israel club (a dear hacker named Oren) to start organizing the 2010 Israeli footbag championships. Last year we didn't have championships.

B) We both were invited to talk on a student radio station about footbag on Thursday.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 01 Mar 2010 12:39

First session with Nucleus shoes!

Early impressions (that might change as I get more time with them):
The good: They look awesome, they're very comfortable with spenco insoles, and they seem a lot more sturdy than Quantums (at least the 03 that break apart in a second).
Further, so far I feel like they have better toe control than my lavers, but it's too early to really tell. I hit 3 datw in a row, and later with my lavers I struggled with getting a perfect one. The set from toe seems better in nucleus, although the surface is a bit smaller.

The bad: Inside surface is disappointing. Small, rolly surface. Getting to 20 consecutive inside stalls took me 3 tries. Granted I wasn't very concentrated on my first 2 tries, but with lavers I don't drop insides even while talking on the phone.
Not to mention how it went when I moved to clipper. I kept missing duckings and had the bag roll off often in butters. Forgiving these shoes are not.

Queency wrote that these shoes will help develop correct form. Well, having the clipper surface a tiny slippery bullseye sure has training benefits for players with a good crank, but I need the assistance of a large, soft, perfectly curved laver inside. My clipper will have to get knocked up several notches for me to be able to get a decent string length with Nucleus.

I'll be using them for warm ups and drills, but I won't shred in them for now. The clipper makes for a frustrating game.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 04 Mar 2010 07:57

So we're going to have the Israeli footbag championships at the end of this month. Hopefully Jorden Moir will be able to be a celebrity judge, as the event will take place where he'll be running juggling workshops.

Today me and Oren, the Head of Footbag Israel, were interviewed on a local radio station. It was an hour long, and it went very smooth, or so it felt. We talk about footbag history, its history in Israel, different footbag sports, what it takes to be good, etc. I slipped in a few jokes and stories from my footbag escapades, not a dull moment.
I did a little shred outside the studio and people from the station gathered to gawk. Definitely a fun, positive experience, which hopefully repeat itself on a national station.

I'm off to an office party. 3 million users! Free booze! I have to drive home

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 09 Mar 2010 14:14

There's something very odd about this game. I can be on top of my game, and then a week or two of playing less or shredding without too much purpose and I discover my game is a wreck. This is a repeating theme in my footbag life.

Anyways, I've decided to take charge of my game, seeing how the Israeli championships are at the end of this month. I plan to be on top of my game until the competition by shredding often and in practicing with intent.

I've chosen a song. If it works for the Israeli championships, I may use it at worlds if I choose to compete. Problem is that working on routines makes me bored. I hope I find the inner strength to get something done in time.