Take a Fresh-Starting Footbagger Under Your Wing?

F[uns]tylin' Eclectic · Post by **F[uns]tylin' Eclectic** » 06 Feb 2010 16:21

Hey, I'm kinda new to modified, but not to the footbag world. This is my first Topic, so I was just wondering if anyone ever took a just-beginning footbag player under their wing and if you had any words/anecdotes/stories about it?

I'm 19 and this is my 5th year playing footbag; 2nd year getting really serious and dedicating a lot of time to it. Through my footbagging, I've influenced some high schoolers to start playing. Three of them, to be exact. One is now a senior, and two of them are sophomores.

The senior, Darren, is doing pretty well with it, he kicks every now and again. Not as serious with it yet, I don't think, he'll get there, I can tell. He's got style, just needs to work on it.

The one sophomore, Logan, is really beginner, he's not doing too badly though. He just texted me the other day freaking out that he got his first clipper, I was real stoked for him haha.

Then there's the other sophomore, Corey... I'm completely amazed at how far he's come. He's only been bagging for about half a year, and I already taught him torques, and double legovers and he's been hitting them like a champ. He's also got some tricks that I can't even hit yet.

Most recently, I met a kid at my college campus, Tyler, who was really into hackysack and soccer, but never heard of footbag. I showed him some basic tricks (toe, inside, outside delay, mirage, illusion, butterfly) and he was nailing all of them after only a few tries. I gave him my old Quantums a few months ago and he bought his first bag the other day and he's been killing it lately. The last 2 dudes are like my footbag-frankensteins, in the nicest way possible haha.

The point of this post is that it feels really good to become like the footbagging big brother to these dudes, and to see them practicing and getting better every time we shred, is so self-rewarding. If you haven't done it, try it, it rules.

jay7 · Post by **jay7** » 06 Feb 2010 18:19

I'm on the reverse end of this arrangement. The wing I was initially under was a man named Matthias Thier, while I first learned everything in Germany, and then my consecutive Wing-givers were Jorden Moir, Johnny Suderman and Anssi Sundberg.

I've had some good wings. I must also explain that they are all also the coolest people on the planet. No joke.

F[uns]tylin' Eclectic · Post by **F[uns]tylin' Eclectic** » 06 Feb 2010 20:48

Wow, those are some pretty mighty wings. That definitely shows in your footbag skill, Jay. You seriously amazed me at Funtastik. That was outstanding.

Fade2black · Post by **Fade2black** » 06 Feb 2010 20:49

I have the feeling Jay is gonna be the wing to a lot of guys after seeing all the training footage he is donating to shredglobal...

Jay is the man!

EoghanMcDowell · Post by **EoghanMcDowell** » 22 Mar 2010 16:08

I was just reading through this and I totally agree with you Nick concerning the feeling of "footbag big brother." Last year I influenced a lot of people at my high school, even selling bags and giving away shoes to friends. Their interest in the game has waned now, but I've left my mark. It seems like you're really spreading the word and being a helpful facilitator for the magic that is footbag to reach new souls. Everyone, myself included I'm sure appreciates what you're doing. I know know that Cale and I would've loved to have someone around that could've mentored us when we were starting out. So cudos to you my friend, and I hope you continue to fan the footbag flame in those that are chilly and cold

.

Eoghan

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 23 Mar 2010 01:02

I've taken some people under my wing over my 3 years of footbag. I certainly feel more confident promoting and teaching footbag rather than pursuing a competitive career.
Right now I have my best run yet with three 13-14 year old kids who are pretty dedicated and definitely more talented than I am. They all own lavers and can hit impressive tiltless runs.

I'm on the fence on how much escort I should provide them with. I think my dedication came from being a freestyle footbag pioneer in my country and having to figure it the hard way. I.E, I invested a lot and being undedicated would be throwing this investment away. I fear that if they have it too easy and accessible, and have a grown up player nagging them every week to shred, they simply won't develop the amount of dedication required to get somewhere in this sport.

Any thoughts?

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 23 Mar 2010 07:30

You can teach players to stall or spike but you can not teach them to love the sport. It is my personal opinion that players have to have find that dedication and initiative themselves. There's only so much you can do to show them how awesome footbag can be, but ultimately, it's their decision whether or not to stick to the sport through all it's ups and downs.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 23 Mar 2010 07:36

Zeke, definitely agree. But surely there are actions I can take or refrain from taking to increase the chance of footbag catching on with them. I suppose it's per-individual and I shouldn't worry too much about it, but I'm still curious to hear how other people deal with this issue.

WyrmFyre · Post by **WyrmFyre** » 23 Mar 2010 08:01

I wouldnt worry too much. Just make every session with them as enjoyable as you possibly can, and if its something they want to take seriously, they will do.

I remember talking to Matt about younger children and footbag. He felt, quite rightly, that younger children cant grasp some of the more technical side of the sport (beyond tiltless) and therefore lose interest quickly, because by not learning anything new, they feel there is no progression.

That, and possibly girls, school, general growing up stuff.... but i digress.....

I think thats true, but you do see on here, and on footbag.org a post will crop up from time to time that says "im 16-20 years old, i used to hack at school, i found a hackysack in my closet and im looking to get back into the game" kind of posts. I think at that point, with a more mature mindset, they would be more likely to take it seriously.

This is all pure speculation on my part, I could be completely wrong, and there are always exceptions to the rule.

Zeke · Post by **Zeke** » 23 Mar 2010 08:04

I don't know if it would help in every case, but hanging out and doing other things together that we enjoyed gave more depth to our sessions and created more incentive to come out and keep coming out. It's easy to draw people back when they are having fun.

thedudeman · Post by **thedudeman** » 23 Mar 2010 21:08

im only 3 months in and i suck ass, i can barely do a run, but the hacky sackers at my school, theres a lot of em, see me doing some runs and are amazed and always ask about it, and ive gotten a few of them interested in buying bags and ive got two guys thinking about coming to the stanford shred sessions, and im teaching one friend of mine the basics to freestyle, although i dont think hes super into it, im personally not a fan, i dont like teaching, i like playing with other freestylers and watching them so i can improve, i guess im more of a pupil, always have been, but i really would like to have a daily shred circle, so i suck it up and teach whenever somebody asks, hoping theyll get the footbag fever and be ill for life

F[uns]tylin' Eclectic · Post by **F[uns]tylin' Eclectic** » 22 Apr 2010 08:34

It's been a little while since I've posted on this one, and my "students" are kicking serious ass! I'm truley amazed at what these guys are now hitting. Double rtw's, paradox whirls, symposium whirls, ducking butterflys, torques... shit seriously is so rad to see go down with these kids i've been teaching. My one "student", Corey is pretty much at my level now. We shred every weekend and he's improved so much. And Tyler's getting spins down now, which is really cool to see too. Darren's recently been hitting torque. Logan's just getting round the worlds on both legs. Most recently my best friend, Leon, who oddly enough was the one who got me into footbag in the first place, (by showing me the toe stall, inside, outside, and flying clipper), is just now starting to get into the sport, and is already hitting some real decent stuff. He influenced me and now I've influenced him. Really cool, but really odd. And the newest member to my crew has a very interesting story behind how we met, which I'm going to post a story about in "General Footbag" in a little. You should read it, it's a really cool (TRUE) story about how two footbaggers met eachother... twice.

Along with what everyone was saying, the best way to stoke em up and keep em enjoying footbag is to get mad stoked when they have a real clean string and be enthusiastic. When someone hits something nice, I just like grab my hair and yell something like "WHAT!!!?? YEAH DUDE!!! THAT WAS GNARLY! Seriously good string right there!" (then a high five). With that string that they just did, I also critique it a little, tell em how to make it look cooler/cleaner and I also might say "instead of doing this after the osis, do this instead. That would look awesome." And most of the time, that really works and they end up hitting it after a few tries. I think the key to keeping them interested is to be enthusiastic and always positive, but critique is key.