Montreal Footblog

acxel22 · Post by **acxel22** » 02 Sep 2010 16:07

no tamtam for me, just moved in new house

but I will be able to shred in my computer room

Laroche · Post by **Laroche** » 06 Sep 2010 05:36

The Mental Game

While footbag is obviously a physical activity, I find that one of the hardest aspects and definitely the most lacking is the mental game you have to play in order to be creative with your strings.

Actually, before I get into that, there's something I'd like to qualify: Footbag is a dance. I don't care how uncomfortable you are about hearing the truth, or how un-macho it may make you feel, it's the truth. If it wasn't the truth, people wouldn't care as much about the stylishness of tricks/links, or just the look of a certain player when they play. That's not to say that foobag isn't sport, because it certainly is... it's just a dancing sport. That's also why we have no cheerleaders.

With that in mind, I believe it's a trend to NOT practice your mental game these days because of the importance of drills, which is definitely what pushed the technical level to what it is today... at the expense of style. When some kid discovers footbag, gets into it, and is learning on their own, all they do these days is drill. Someday, they think, I'll hit the tricks these guys are hitting, even if it takes me YEARS TO DRILL. They then show up at a tournament and in a circle, all they can do is rip-side rpt, whirl > pdx whirl rpt, etc..... and on and on.... and the perfect symmetry is making me sick the whole time.............

Now I'm not proposing to stop drilling, but rather to incorporate mental drills into your training sessions so that when it comes time to bust, you've sufficiently worked your noodle over on combos that your strings take a life of their own and are fun, unexpected, raw, fuck it's the way to go!!! It makes sense that if you want to get better at creative strings, that you'll need to take the time to work on them.

I'm going to take the time to write up some mental drills which I think if DRILLED PROPERLY will expand your game and open up what I consider to be the coolest aspect of footbag, something very little other trick based sports get to do, but we do: Links. This is the key.

I may know dick all about physical conditioning and drilling both sides of anything, but I do know about links. So, without further ado, I'm gonna post chapter-by-chapter all my thoughts and ideas about links and drilling creativity, in a post-by-post basis in this blog. Hope someone gets something out of these articles!

Expect the first one in a little bit later on today.

Cheerios!

Asmus · Post by **Asmus** » 06 Sep 2010 07:05

Looking forward to read this.
We clearly have the same look on how footbag should look.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 06 Sep 2010 07:10

Asmus wrote:Looking forward to read this.

Same here. I'm very interested to see what you have to say on the subject.

I totally agree there's something sickening with watching a string and knowing when the next trick is going to be the same as the last one, just op side.

Laroche · Post by **Laroche** » 06 Sep 2010 09:05

The Mental Game
Introduction â€“ The Do Nots

NOTE: A few caveats before we get this kicked off: Iâ€™d just like to mention first, to be clear, my definition of style in the context of this article is based on trick selection and trick selection alone. Secondly, I will initially be talking about the style of a given string on its own, and once thatâ€™s done weâ€™ll go through the style of runs relative to each other. Thirdly, the idea of style in this article is in a â€œBy the Player, for the Playerâ€

skankin · Post by **skankin** » 07 Sep 2010 18:34

I wended up not going, had the poutine festival on friday and saturday was a bit too hungover/broke to go to montreal.

Post by **Zac Miley** » 07 Sep 2010 19:13

This article you've started is great, and has some very important points (which I think I've already realized, but are nice to see written by someone with such good style). Obviously, everything you've written is easier said than done, though, so I think an important addition would be specifically how to train to not do the 'do nots'. If that makes sense...

Thanks Nick, looking forward to reading the rest.

Laroche · Post by **Laroche** » 08 Sep 2010 04:06

Zac Miley wrote:This article you've started is great, and has some very important points (which I think I've already realized, but are nice to see written by someone with such good style). Obviously, everything you've written is easier said than done, though, so I think an important addition would be specifically how to train to not do the 'do nots'. If that makes sense...

Thanks Nick, looking forward to reading the rest.

Thanks for taking the time to check it out - I'm working on the second part right now, and it's admittedly a lot harder then I would have expected to go further into it. Still, it's the thought process and discussion that counts, every second spent thinking about combos is a second spent working on your mental game (albeit in a small way).

I picked Bailey up a gym pass at a local community center, Centre Gadbois, and took the time to bring my smelly lavers and give it a shot. Gravity always seems to speed up when you don't play a lot, it's not fair... Still, it felt good to move around and it's the start of good habits and good things to come. I'm pretty goal oriented, and I'm very seriously considering putting in a bid for Worlds in MTL for 2012, which means that I have to shred my ass off in 2011 to make sure I'm in good enough shape to have a great time.

James! I'm calling you for a shred tomorrow.

Laroche · Post by **Laroche** » 08 Sep 2010 07:37

The Mental Game
Part Deux

As a sculptor, the â€œdo notâ€™sâ€

Laroche · Post by **Laroche** » 08 Sep 2010 09:17

Hey I just had a thought - Rippin runs can become boring, but a highlander rippin run competition would be fun to watch!

EDIT: This was a short post and annoyed me so I'm gonna add to it. Kick tonight with James and I'm looking forward to it. I bought myself a new roll of duct tape lol so I'm ready to tear it up! KICKASS is coming soon and I'm worried I'll be in terrible shape yet again. Ugh the saga continues,but a good training regiment is in order.

Playing mucho guitar these days which is a lot of fun, been makings tons of "guitar hop" beats. I can't believe how incredible amp simulation software is these days, I haven't tried anything like them since the old POD pedals first came out. I plug the guitar DI through the soundcard, fire up Amplitube, and BAM instant insane amount of guitar tones! Unreal.

DTank126 · Post by **DTank126** » 09 Sep 2010 17:04

I was just thinking about this very same concept a couple weeks ago! Links! That's where the $$$ is. I'm so glad you're taking the time to write all of this out. Very fun and interesting read!

Laroche · Post by **Laroche** » 14 Sep 2010 08:27

Links are definitely where its at!! thanks for the nice words Doug, glad you're enjoying my rants... er, "articles". I'll work on the next one soon, just need to take a break for a moment.

I gotta say I'm sad that this blog isn't being posted in by more MTL players. Is our scene that dead? Or are people to busy to post in here? My guess is leaning more towards the latter, seems like it's more like individual cliques then an actual scene. I know with other cities/scenes, everyone is like a family, you guys hang out together, eat together, laugh together, cry together, sleep together, etc., but we're more like a dysfunctional family unit.

Oh Footbag, where art thou?

My motivation is on the iffy side again. While I'm disappointed I won't be in good shape for KICKASS, if I was really motivated I would kick more. If we're being honest though, and at least I am, this is something which is kinda affecting my whole life. When I used to have to struggle and had lots of strife in my life, I was really on point with being militant about playing footbag and making music. I was just so focused, but right now, there is absolutely nothing wrong going on. I've become what I've most feared... an Office 9-5 worker.

God help me!

It's INCREDIBLY difficult to break a mold or coccoon of safety that you setup for yourself. I've had so many shitty breaks over the last few years, this feels like a rest and relaxation point of my life. I have no new projects on the horizons as well. I'm not listening to that much music. I'm just... being. And it's absolutely the worst feeling ever. It's like I'm trapped in this comfortable well paid job, counting days until the weekend, counting weeks until vacation, etc.

It's fucking awful, and I gotta snap out of it. It's like I need an event to happen, a goal, something to really inspire me to wake up and just be a better person. I'm very goal driven, and without goals I start to waver and lose interest. With footbag it was gettiing into BAP and shredding with the best. See, at the time BAP was all it was about, you saw them on VHS, and they really were the top of the top. Someday, I thought, I'll make it. And then I did make it (barely, actually lol), I competed in a few worlds but didn't really care about placing as all I wanted was circle recognition and pride in my own game. After Worlds 2004 and my goals were met that's when it all went downhill, a slow spiraling decline of lost interest, never to be found again....

OR maybe not? I'm apparently not allowed to talk about it but fuck you guys I will, there may be a serious bid put in for Worlds 2012 in MTL. If so, I'm going to do a massive job organizing freestyle. This excites me, not only sexually, but also footbaggly. I gotta be in shape for this! Still, this is an organizational goal and I need to find a footbag goal that I feel would be a major accomplishment. Once I do... world watch out... what could I do... that's what I keep asking, what is there to push for?

I guess everyone who plays for a while eventually asks themselves, "What else is there?".

If you have an answer, feel free to share, because I'm DYING to have something else to work for! I need some real, great goal that I'd be proud of, something that inspires.........

Until then, the beast lies dormant.

acxel22 · Post by **acxel22** » 14 Sep 2010 08:39

The scene is not dead, just that people don't play and post much

Don't forget, guys like Francois, Marc and Seb don't post, and they all play once in a while.

Mathieu is on fire and plays like crazy and asks for nothing but people to shred with.

Last I heard of Ianek (not from him) he does'nt play much these days

And as for me, I'm confused as I'm part of Montreal crew or not anymore, as I play by myself most of the time.

By the way, nice articles Slick Lowrider Nick Laroche

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 14 Sep 2010 09:11

Laroche wrote: Oh Footbag, where art thou?

My motivation is on the iffy side again.

I guess everyone who plays for a while eventually asks themselves, "What else is there?".

If you have an answer, feel free to share

For players who've been in the game a long time, and achieved a high level, it definitely can be hard to keep finding motivation to play. For me, the trick has been looking for challenges that interest me, and then setting goals around them. In many cases, once I've achieved a goal, I modify it by expanding it.

So for example, some of my motivational goals over the last 2 years have been:

1. Do a dropless routine. I'd never done one in 10 years of competing, and I knew it'd be a hard challenge. After I got one, my goal was to get another. And then I upped it so my goal was to do a dropless routine at Worlds. Etc.

2. Hit a beast. I'm not that good at sixes, so this was a hard challenge. Once I hit one, my goal was to hit 5. Then I upped it to 10. Then I upped it to 10 in HD. Then 20. Etc.

3. Take my weakest concept, and get good at it. For me, that was spinning. At first it was just learning to put basic spin tricks in my runs, then it was to hit hard spin tricks, then it was to make hard spin tricks consistent, then it was to link them, etc.

These are just a few examples of goals I set to motivate myself over the last couple years, and the way I expand my goals once I achieve them. This method has helped me stay interested in the sport, even after having played for 13 years. Hope this was of some help/interest to you.

jay7 · Post by **jay7** » 14 Sep 2010 10:59

HI, BILLY MAYES HERE FOR THE ULTRA FOOTBAG MOTIVATOR 2000, THE FAST AND EASY WAY TO PRESSURE AND COOK YOUR FOOTBAG MOTIVATION, THIS IS WHAT ALL THE CHILDREN ARE CRYING FOR. NO MORE BAD HABITS, NO MORE SLOPPY STYLE. WITH MOTIVATION, ALL YOU WILL WANT TO DO IS KICK IN YOUR COLD AND DIMLY LIT BASEMENT. THE UNIQUE RESULT OF MOTIVATION IS THAT YOU WILL WORK BOTH SIDES AND IN JUST THREE MINUTES YOU'LL BE PUMPING OUT MOUTH WATERING LINKS AND JUICY OSII. JUST USE A 32, A 14, OR ANY SANDMASTER. USE THEM IN DOUBLES, OR (1999) TRIPLES, AND JUST WATCH YOUR FANS SWOON! TOP WITH SHORT SHORTS, A HAT, AND FORGET THE SHIRT, YOUR REAL GOAL HERE IS TO PLEASE. THE BOTH SIDED MOTIVATION IS SO SLICK, ALL YOU'LL HEAR IS THE GIRLS CALLING THE NAME NICK. WHETHER IT IS TILTLESS, GUILTLESS, of GODLY, JUST SCOOP THAT OSIS, DIG THAT DOWN, NO CLIPPER CLIPPING, MEANS NO HASSLE. MAKE CLEAN DUCKS, GRIFTERS AND SWITCHES, AND JOIN THE CRAZE WITH ME, BILLY MAYES. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KBXcpJfmj4

But seriously, just do it for Juho.

MathieuGM · Post by **MathieuGM** » 14 Sep 2010 12:18

I gotta say I'm sad that this blog isn't being posted in by more MTL players. Is our scene that dead? Or are people to busy to post in here? My guess is leaning more towards the latter, seems like it's more like individual cliques then an actual scene. I know with other cities/scenes, everyone is like a family, you guys hang out together, eat together, laugh together, cry together, sleep together, etc., but we're more like a dysfunctional family unit.

This part is interesting. I feel that the scene isn't a matter of who actually post on modified, but who really play... You know, in my mind a guy like francois, who don't even know about modified but who play everyweek is much more important for the scene then those who post a lot, but don't play. It's only a matter of opinion.

For several motnhs, i kept calling basically everyone in montrael, at least once a week, to have a session. Sebastien and Francois were mainly the two who would come to have some session. James came few times too. But that's basically it...

I guess our scene, to be has good has it was before i played, need more peopl who actually play... Then we will be able to have all the social life that you are talking about around footbag...

On my side, i basically give up. I won't loose time to try to talk with other to make them play, as it obviously don't work

. Everybody know i play like everyday. so i'll just wait to have phone call of who ever want to play with me and i'll be more then happy to show up at least two time per motnh, even if your shred location is pretty far away from my place!

I simply love footbag. I would like to have more epople to play with. But i'll keep playing even if no else does. I'm not dependant of the reste of the people to play the game.

For your motivation, play with me

. You'll see the fire in my eye and you'll want to play more and mopre haha.

See you soon Nick!

Mat

acxel22 · Post by **acxel22** » 14 Sep 2010 13:40

MathieuGM wrote:

i'll be more then happy to show up at least two time per motnh, even if your shred location is pretty far away from my place!

Then come to Joliette twice a month

acxel22 · Post by **acxel22** » 14 Sep 2010 13:41

MathieuGM wrote:
i'll be more then happy to show up at least two time per motnh, even if your shred location is pretty far away from my place!

Then come to Joliette twice a month

MathieuGM · Post by **MathieuGM** » 14 Sep 2010 16:03

Joliette isn'T pretty far away, it's really far! Still 90% of the time someone drive there, i'm down for coming. I just need a car to get there LOL! Anyway we will rock a kcikass mathieu

.

CIC flurry · Post by **CIC flurry** » 14 Sep 2010 17:19

I'm glad to read your thoughts, Nick. I'm glad that you're back in footbag now, even if just posting.
I understand your lack of motivation when things in life are good or good enough. Life will have its ups and downs. Making the most out of the downs can be good in life I think.
As far as footbag goes: I would play with Mathieu. He's getting so good now, and is such a cool guy. I actually have the same situation here in chicago with Reid moving here. I want to get everyone to hang out again. We haven't done it that much the past few months. So a weekly meetup sounds good. We used to do this for years. And i think someone just posted about how important regular shred place and time is a la stanford.

Go Nick