west of philly - bob
yeah zach, wednesday shred, I'm counting on it so you best show up!
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here's that vid from brian.. I could only watch it real fast here at the office, so I'd love it if I got a comment from ANYONE for a change of pace
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8emW1_1UiE[/youtube]
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here's that vid from brian.. I could only watch it real fast here at the office, so I'd love it if I got a comment from ANYONE for a change of pace
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8emW1_1UiE[/youtube]
Bob R.
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Frank_Sinatra
- Avenging Disco Godfather
- Posts: 1660
- Joined: 09 Jan 2007 12:43
- Location: Chicago, IL
Good stuff Bob. I like how few BOPs you do, and the use of pdx whirls & double downs. Pixie & stepping are both looking solid. It all looked controlled & solid.
Since we all know you are too busy (or cool) for NYJ, I'll just pass along my greetings through your pupils who are coming, and let's keep our fingers crossed that we'll play some hackysack again sometime.
Since we all know you are too busy (or cool) for NYJ, I'll just pass along my greetings through your pupils who are coming, and let's keep our fingers crossed that we'll play some hackysack again sometime.
I'm glad someone watched It's actually the couple of people that I guessed would watch.
Mat - yes, definitely improving still so I'm happy for that. And Brian has only ever played with me really, so I'm not surprised that you see similarities in some components.
Tony - my coworkers say that they think it's cool as hell, but they probably think it's the lamest thing ever. ha ha
drew - the practices have been great. As you know from my incessant text messaging last night, I was able to hit 20 pdx whirls on both sides last night in one hour. I really like the "do one side until you hit it, then switch to the other side" approach. It ends up giving reps to whichever side is your weaker side. Lots of times, I'd hit strongside pdx whirl on the first try, and then it would take me 20 on the other side to hit one. I tell you what though - when I was 10 minutes into practice and hadn't even hit one yet, I was a little worried. ha ha. Anyways, I think before last night I'd hit about 50 strong side pdx whirls lifetime, and had hit about 5 on weakside. So 20 on each was pretty positive for me.
It's actually the couple of people that I guessed would watch. Mat - yes, definitely improving still so I'm happy for that. And Brian has only ever played with me really, so I'm not surprised that you see similarities in some components.
Tony - my coworkers say that they think it's cool as hell, but they probably think it's the lamest thing ever. ha ha
drew - the practices have been great. As you know from my incessant text messaging last night, I was able to hit 20 pdx whirls on both sides last night in one hour. I really like the "do one side until you hit it, then switch to the other side" approach. It ends up giving reps to whichever side is your weaker side. Lots of times, I'd hit strongside pdx whirl on the first try, and then it would take me 20 on the other side to hit one. I tell you what though - when I was 10 minutes into practice and hadn't even hit one yet, I was a little worried. ha ha. Anyways, I think before last night I'd hit about 50 strong side pdx whirls lifetime, and had hit about 5 on weakside. So 20 on each was pretty positive for me.
Bob R.
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F[uns]tylin' Eclectic
- Post Master General
- Posts: 4092
- Joined: 05 Feb 2010 19:53
- Location: Drumore, PA
I watched and 
Where did that come from? Haven't had a chance to comment on this yet because of finals. But damn, you and Brian owned that session. Both of your shreds looked so much more powerful and longer. Really excellent stuff, Bob. Those symple swirls (*gulp*) actually looked really sweet thrown into your midstring like that. That means a lot coming from me. You know why 
Props though, awesome video. Can't wait to shred again. Cya man.
Where did that come from? Haven't had a chance to comment on this yet because of finals. But damn, you and Brian owned that session. Both of your shreds looked so much more powerful and longer. Really excellent stuff, Bob. Those symple swirls (*gulp*) actually looked really sweet thrown into your midstring like that. That means a lot coming from me. You know why Props though, awesome video. Can't wait to shred again. Cya man.
Fantastic video! Its probably the fourth or fifth time ive watched it now, but i made a point of giving it my full attention this time.
Its full of inspiration for me, there were more than a few guiltless links in there that I know i can hit the individual tricks for but just never thought about putting together. Ive already come up with two or three new drills Ill be putting into practice tonight. Barrage > Paradon was a great link, but i have to agree with Nick, symple swirl was beautifully controlled.
Its full of inspiration for me, there were more than a few guiltless links in there that I know i can hit the individual tricks for but just never thought about putting together. Ive already come up with two or three new drills Ill be putting into practice tonight. Barrage > Paradon was a great link, but i have to agree with Nick, symple swirl was beautifully controlled.
Thanks guys! Props are hard to come by sometimes, so it's motivating to me that you posted in here
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I got a bunch of free corian countertop material from my brother in law. The majority of it will be used to redo my kitchen, but I had this odd-shaped piece that was not going to be useful. So I made a "parts and fastener sorting station" (from now on, "the sorting station") in an otherwise unused corner of my woodshop. More bins and drawers will be added, but it's far enough along to post a fun picture. Side note: I made the slat wall that is used to hold those yellow bins from some scrap I had laying around. One of my favorite things about this barn is that I've been very resourceful in building it. This not only saves TONS of cash for me, but it's actually a greener way to build. Repurposing = recycling.
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I got a bunch of free corian countertop material from my brother in law. The majority of it will be used to redo my kitchen, but I had this odd-shaped piece that was not going to be useful. So I made a "parts and fastener sorting station" (from now on, "the sorting station") in an otherwise unused corner of my woodshop. More bins and drawers will be added, but it's far enough along to post a fun picture. Side note: I made the slat wall that is used to hold those yellow bins from some scrap I had laying around. One of my favorite things about this barn is that I've been very resourceful in building it. This not only saves TONS of cash for me, but it's actually a greener way to build. Repurposing = recycling.
Bob R.
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Frank_Sinatra
- Avenging Disco Godfather
- Posts: 1660
- Joined: 09 Jan 2007 12:43
- Location: Chicago, IL
Listen sir, I'm on to your clever ploy to get me to watch the video again. You did so do some double downs. Though yeah I guess the pdx whirls were Brian's... my bad. I remembered it wrong.Rieferman wrote:I didn't do any pdx whirls or double downs in that vid, so I think you actually like brian's game, not mine. I'll give him the props though.
I will not retract the general props.
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crazylegs32
- Egyptian Footgod
- Posts: 1341
- Joined: 02 Sep 2005 19:45
- Location: Palatine/Chicago Burbs
ok nathan, I accept your props wish I could be shredding with you at NYJ, but Nick and Zach will represent.
crazylegs, thanks for the comment!
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Kicked with Zach in the barn last night. He was sore as hell, and I was exhausted. So it was a mellow, no-pressure, hang out session. Which was just fine by both of us. Had a lot of fun despite no highlights, and got a good workout.
Picking up pump jacks after work. Pump jacks are an alternative to scaffolding systems. Basically, you run support poles next to your building, and the jacks climb the poles as you pump the lever. A plank rests on the pump jacks, so as you raise them, the plank raises too. In this manner, you can side an entire building without being up and down ladders all day. Anyways, in the spring, the siding on the barn will go on. This might rival the original barn structural work as the "biggest project bob has ever taken on". I'm really nervous about it actually.
wish I could be shredding with you at NYJ, but Nick and Zach will represent.crazylegs, thanks for the comment!
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Kicked with Zach in the barn last night. He was sore as hell, and I was exhausted. So it was a mellow, no-pressure, hang out session. Which was just fine by both of us. Had a lot of fun despite no highlights, and got a good workout.
Picking up pump jacks after work. Pump jacks are an alternative to scaffolding systems. Basically, you run support poles next to your building, and the jacks climb the poles as you pump the lever. A plank rests on the pump jacks, so as you raise them, the plank raises too. In this manner, you can side an entire building without being up and down ladders all day. Anyways, in the spring, the siding on the barn will go on. This might rival the original barn structural work as the "biggest project bob has ever taken on". I'm really nervous about it actually.
Bob R.
just watched the vid, really liked your double downs (the dex is very smooth) and very clean gyro mirage. really dig your spinning and admire the lack of BPOs as well.
I'd really like to get to shred with you sometime while I'm home on break (I live literally about a mile from polini). It would be an honor
I'd really like to get to shred with you sometime while I'm home on break (I live literally about a mile from polini). It would be an honor
Nick Pasquarello
Shred on
Shred on
Hey blog, haven't been writing lately. I've been "off shred", and "on drilling" lately. It's funny, when you hit a nice ramp up period, it's often followed by the extreme need to ramp up again. So, while my string length and link density (etc.) has been at its highest level ever (for me) I quickly became frustrated that stepping and atomic continue to be thorns in my side. The other problem is, that as a 34 year old guy with wife and kids and hobbies and career, I don't get 7 sessions per week, I get 3 sessions. When 2 of those sessions are shred sessions, drilling doesn't get very far. So, I've been drilling only. And I think it'll be that way for awhile actually. I did hit a couple hundred ripwalk > ripwalks the other night, and hit a shit ton of blurs the next drill session, and lots of pdx whirls, and lots of swirls (symple and regular), and today is back to atomic set practice. I think I need another 4 cycles through these drills to be able to throw it all midrun and get back to shred sessions. But, I told Zach and Nick I'd shred on Jan 8th, then back to drilling. Whatever, sort of not feeling it overall. It's tough to stay motivated as age catches up.
Bob R.
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F[uns]tylin' Eclectic
- Post Master General
- Posts: 4092
- Joined: 05 Feb 2010 19:53
- Location: Drumore, PA
I'm not sure much improvement will be visible yet, but I'm trying!
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yesterday was one of the hardest practices I've ever done. And you'll all laugh at what whupped my ass so bad. Ripwalk > blur. That's it. One hour of ripwalk > blur. When I hit it, try it on the other side until I hit it.
I could only get it 11 times on each side in one hour. Although it was the first time ever that I got that combo in weak direction, so moral victory. That's a lot of misses. I did hit several hundred ripwalks during the practice though! ha ha. I bet next time I do that drill I'll get it about 30 times per side.
Out to do swirls in about 30 minutes. Back to work tomorrow.
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tough practice today. Regular swirls slow me down big time. Symple swirls, just about first try each time. Regular, on weakside, about 30 tries to hit one. With no improvement at all throughout the practice.
anyways, taking a bunch more weeks away from shred circles to drill. brian was all pissed at me and giving me shit. whatever, sometimes you gotta drill, it is what it is. shrug.
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01/04/11
last night was an easy practice since I'd played a bunch of days in a row. No lifting, and I practiced stuff I can actually hit for a change. But, I practiced stuff that should be 100% hits, that are actually closer to being 50% right now. Specifically, weakside pixie ss mirage (which is on my right pixie) and weakside smear (which is on my left pixie). I hit 50 of each, and then hit 10 more of each where I added pdx mirage in front of it to make it a combo. I cooled down by hitting 15 of this combo alternating which side I started on throughout: butterfly > osis > pdx mirage > butterfly > infinity > osis > pdx mirage.
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1/6/11
last night, I did atomic op mirage practice. I think that's called leg beater. anyways, it beat my legs! ba dummm dummm. or just, dumm dumm. Anyways, when I did the practice last week, I got 10 on each side in one hour. So I was looking to improve on that. Last night, I barely got 5 on each side within the first 1/2 hour.. Yikes. Then I clicked again and got 15 on each side in the 2nd 1/2 hour. Nice. Doubled my output. I also did my pushups/situps/arms as usual. Right now I do 20 pushups per set, three sets. I'm ready to increase that to 25 per set next week. Goal is 50 per set ultimately. Btw, I do real pushups, man pushups. Straight body, all the way down, all the way up, no pause, no slowing down, breathing and focused throughout. Go ahead, try to crank out 20 good ones in a row. Even if you're the typical skinny little waif of a footbag freestyler, it's probably harder than you think. Then, do a set, a 1/2 hour footbag practice, another set, another 1/2 hour footbag practice, and one last set. You'll feel good after. Good and tired. Anyways, I think every other practice will be atomic for the next couple weeks. And ripwalk, blur, swirls, and pdx whirls will bt the others.
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01/08/10
saturday, after one day of rest on friday, I did atomic op mirage again. I think I was wrong above, and it's called atom smasher. whatever. In one hour, I hit 50 total this time, 25 on each side. Strong side is hit 1st or 2nd try mostly, and weakside takes much more attempts to hit one. But it's improving. After kicking we took the kids sledding at the high school hill and then just had family time the rest of the day. Sunday, I was supposed to play again, but got into a barn project and then sledding with the kids again ruined my legs. Tonight kicking with zach and possibly nick - I still need solo drilling, but they're going to be harder to link up with in the future so I want to chill with them while we can all do it still. I think I will suck very badly despite the intense hard work lately, because nothing is to that "locked down" point yet, and I haven't been shredding or doing strings at all. We'll see.
tomorrow night, blurs.
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01/10/11
played with zach and nick last night, we played for over 2 hours, my body is killing me all over. The guys thought I looked good, but I really felt so off. I couldn't freely freestyle, I was thinking through each run. And the longest string I could muster all night was a bop-heavy 14 contacts. Yikes. But, I will say that I was controlled and clean, and my stepping set was showing positive effects from recent practices. I did hit some symple style swirls in runs. and although my atomic set was being shy despite lots of work recently, I did show enough of an improvement there that at least the guys could see that it's coming along and should be a steady component for me soon. I hit a nice midrun pdx whirl without thinking about doing it, so that was good. Otherwise, I felt pretty off. But that's what happens after component drilling, and overall I feel like the work will payoff.
blurs tonight and lifting. then rest day tomorrow thank god.
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01/11/11
I forgot, I was doing atom smasher again last night, not blurs. blurs are on thursday this week. anyways, I did my hour of atom smashers which was incredibly tiring because of the long shred session the previous night. But, I beat my previous 50 by hitting 60 (30 on each side) last night. I still have another few practices like this to really have it, but it's maturing quickly. Once I have atom smasher, all the other atomic variations should be relatively easy to learn. Similar to how blur or stepping ss clipper are the best stepping tricks to learn first. Anyways, today is rest day thank god because I hurt like hell. Oh, and I also increased my pushup sets to 22 per set. Next week, 25 per set. Goal is 50 per set eventually. I'm getting stronger rapidly these days. I'm also getting bigger through the chest/shoulders. I'm aiming for being lean, but a little bulk will balance out the beer gut that's impossible to melt (ya know, impossible if you want to keep drinking beers on weekends that is).
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01/13/11
last night, I did one hour of blurs, and also ripwalk > ripwalk. I hit 25 of everything on both sides, which amounts to 50 total blurs, and 100 ripwalks hit. I also did my pushups/situps/arms. I've been pushing very hard for quite awhile now but haven't lost a single pound. That's very frustrating and depressing honestly. But they say you can't look at the scale always. If you're getting stronger and more muscular, you very well may be getting thinner without any effect on the scale. This must be what's happening to me because my face and body look different and my upper body is bigger. Well, it is what it is for an old guy that plays hacky sack.
tonight, installing the duct work for my dust collection system. Tomorrow, helping a friend install a ceiling. Sunday, back to kicking.
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01/18/11
Well, I worked really hard all weekend on barn stuff and on my buddy's garage. I did all the duct work for my dust collection system, and helped my buddy hang his drop ceiling in his enormous garage. So, no kicking, and then yesterday, I was so tired I literally could barely stand up to try to kick. So I quit after 20 minutes when I realized that injury and frustration were the only two possible outcomes. I'll try to play tonight. I'm really trying hard to stay motivated, but it's difficult being 15 years past your physical prime in a sport like this. I'm determined to get a little bit better at this game, but sometimes I'm just like "fuck it, who cares, let's go build something". We'll give it a little more time, but the thought that the window is closing occurs to me more and more frequently. I'd like to play one more summer trying to push for more difficulty. After that, all bets are off. Anyways, atom smasher tonight and thursday night and saturday and for as many damn sessions as it takes. I'm not doing anything besides that trick til I can do it, or until I quit. Period.
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01/18/11
well, last night, I did 30 minutes of atom smasher and it didn't go so well. I'm at the "refine it instead of muscle through it" phase that I get to with tricks. Usually, after this stage, I finally lock it down and own the trick. Unfortunately, nothing about atomic set is natural for me, and I don't lock tricks down as quickly as every other damn player that's ever tried this damn sport. damn. whatever. Anyways, the 2nd half hour of practice, I did stepping ss clipper and blur. Which are also in the same category of being annoyingly difficult for me despite the fact that novice players can do them very easily. whatthehellever. did my pushups/arms/situps as usual. still seeing zero positive results from continued hard work, so that's really damn motivating. i hate winter.
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01/20/11
Last night, did 1/2 hour of atom smasher, and a 1/2 hour of stepping ss clipper and blur. I got 16 of each trick on both sides in that time span. I also did my pushups/situps/arms as usual. My workout is brutal btw. I've felt like I'm looking stronger, but haven't had much positive reinforcement to keep me motivated. But I got on the scale and found that I've lost 3 pounds since about a week ago. So that's good. I was stuck at previous weight for about 6 weeks, so I was getting pretty bummed out. Gives me the needed motivation to ramp up pushups to the next level, and keep kicking.
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01/25/11
well, i haven't played since last thursday. My buddy was in town for the weekend so we just hung out with him and played with the kids and watched football. It was fun. I had the day off from work yesterday and was supposed to play with zach at 1:00 p.m. I texted him in the morning that 1:30 would be better because my wife had to run out. He texts me back at 1:15 saying he just woke up and will be "a little bit late". Knowing flaky young guys all too well, I cancelled because I'm too busy to have my day taken hostage (not meant to sound conceited... it's just really truly actually very busy to have kids/house/career etc.). Which, quite honestly, was very annoying. But he's been good usually, so this is just one strike.
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01/26/11
got back to kicking yesterday, which I really didn't feel like. felt like not playing ever again actually. But it's just the winter blues talking, so I forced myself out there. did an hour of atom smasher, blur, stepping ss clipper. It's really frustrating to continually work on stuff that all does not come easily to you. But, things are getting better. I'm to the "refining my technique" phase. Where I can hit the tricks, but am trying to make it effortless now. Which, of course, requires a lot of effort. I'll keep at it until I feel like I can do the tricks on command. All the other variations of atomic and stepping tricks will be far easier in the end.
I did allow myself to do one run for fun at the end.. First try, about 16 contacts, limited bops. So that was nice.
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01/27/11
Our kitchen flooded this week. Faulty dishwasher valve. Insurance should cover most of it, but we're out of pocket $1000. Ugh. So we had to eat out because we can't use the room while the flood team fixes it. It was a really nice dinner out with the kids. They had strawberry ice cream at the end and were well behaved at the restaurant. Anyways, by the time we got back home and settled the kids and I got out to kicking, I was wiped out, stressed out, emotionally drained. And then I went about a 1/2 hour hitting (literally) only 2 tricks. Miss, miss, miss, FUCK, repeat. I logically knew that my missing was due to the stress and being tired, but emotionally I was just bummed and pissed.
And then zach redeemed himself for oversleeping the other day. Out of the blue, in the middle of my personal rant-filled footbag session, he texts me. He can immediately tell I'm in a pissy ass mood. But by the end of the texting, we decided a shred month is just what I need. Lots of shred, way less drilling. I've pushed hard on the drills and they'll pay off. And I have more drilling to do, but sometimes you need to step away, have fun, get your energy back up, and come back at the issue with a fresh perspective. So, we're shredding tonight, and then I'm shredding with him and nick and jackson tomorrow. Aiming for two sessions per week with the guys, and one drilling session on my own too. Do that for the month of february and see where I am.
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01/31/11
well, kitchen is totally torn apart and will be entirely redone it looks like. It'll turn out great in the end, and we'll be ahead cost-wise.. But I'd never wish this rush planning on anyone, and my poor wife is raising two kids without a kitchen for the next several weeks?!? Ugh.
Anyways, shredded hard with Zach on friday night. It was really fun. He did my pushups/situps/arms with me too. We're going to try to shred together each week in addition to a session with more people (i.e. Nick and whoever he has with him). We're playing again tonight.
Saturday, I shredded with Nick and Jackson and Luis. Three hours of shred after I had a two hour session the night before. Ouch. But I played ok. Freestyle will come back to me soon. And atomic sets are fairly reliable, so I guess drilling worked.
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01/31/11
wow, it took almost a full month for my blog to be pushed to page two. that's a commentary on the state of modified I think. that is, this site is dead dead dead. but, I still enjoy keeping records for myself.
kicked with zach last night. he again did my full workout with me which was cool. we taught him drifters, and it turns out it's a perfect fit for his skills set. i was doing a lot of atomic, and was happy to foot atom smasher > atom smasher. I did hit atom smasher > legbeater which is sweet. and atom smasher > eggbeater. so, it appears atomic is finally something I can start to use. THANK GOD (and 4 weeks of ridiculous amounts of drilling). My stepping is stupid right now, so I'll drill it tonight to wake it back up. I did lots of drilling on that too, but for some reason, my body is forgetting something.
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02/07/11
well, I played last thursday and immediately tweaked my neck real bad. worst I've tweaked it in a year. I couldn't move. So I sadly sat and watched brian and zach shred. Of course, despite not really practicing or playing, and despite having no idea what tricks he's doing, brian is suddenly a bap candidate. yeah, so that was fun to watch while injured. zach's getting better and better.
anyways, I had to take friday off work to go to the doctor to get pain killers. By the end of the weekend I could move again. so, last night I had a light practice session with zach. strictly no ducks or spins, and I had to play very controlled to prevent re-injury. went well overall, it was fun.
this weekend demo work on the kitchen will be done. zach got roped into helping me.
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02/09/11
session with zach last night, still no lifting until next week. my neck is slightly sore today, but I was playing with about 85% effort last night without re-injury. The biggest deal right now is probably that all my atomic work has positively changed my game. Within the very near term, atomic will be mid-run easy, and I'll be able to play into and out of it however I want basically. So that's cool. Also, zach's been very good at helping me find flaws with tricks that are hard for me - I've never had a shred partner that helps me improve before, so it's a very welcome change. A couple days off for kitchen fixing now. No kicking til next week.
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yesterday was one of the hardest practices I've ever done. And you'll all laugh at what whupped my ass so bad. Ripwalk > blur. That's it. One hour of ripwalk > blur. When I hit it, try it on the other side until I hit it.
I could only get it 11 times on each side in one hour. Although it was the first time ever that I got that combo in weak direction, so moral victory. That's a lot of misses. I did hit several hundred ripwalks during the practice though! ha ha. I bet next time I do that drill I'll get it about 30 times per side.
Out to do swirls in about 30 minutes. Back to work tomorrow.
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tough practice today. Regular swirls slow me down big time. Symple swirls, just about first try each time. Regular, on weakside, about 30 tries to hit one. With no improvement at all throughout the practice.
anyways, taking a bunch more weeks away from shred circles to drill. brian was all pissed at me and giving me shit. whatever, sometimes you gotta drill, it is what it is. shrug.
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01/04/11
last night was an easy practice since I'd played a bunch of days in a row. No lifting, and I practiced stuff I can actually hit for a change. But, I practiced stuff that should be 100% hits, that are actually closer to being 50% right now. Specifically, weakside pixie ss mirage (which is on my right pixie) and weakside smear (which is on my left pixie). I hit 50 of each, and then hit 10 more of each where I added pdx mirage in front of it to make it a combo. I cooled down by hitting 15 of this combo alternating which side I started on throughout: butterfly > osis > pdx mirage > butterfly > infinity > osis > pdx mirage.
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1/6/11
last night, I did atomic op mirage practice. I think that's called leg beater. anyways, it beat my legs! ba dummm dummm. or just, dumm dumm. Anyways, when I did the practice last week, I got 10 on each side in one hour. So I was looking to improve on that. Last night, I barely got 5 on each side within the first 1/2 hour.. Yikes. Then I clicked again and got 15 on each side in the 2nd 1/2 hour. Nice. Doubled my output. I also did my pushups/situps/arms as usual. Right now I do 20 pushups per set, three sets. I'm ready to increase that to 25 per set next week. Goal is 50 per set ultimately. Btw, I do real pushups, man pushups. Straight body, all the way down, all the way up, no pause, no slowing down, breathing and focused throughout. Go ahead, try to crank out 20 good ones in a row. Even if you're the typical skinny little waif of a footbag freestyler, it's probably harder than you think. Then, do a set, a 1/2 hour footbag practice, another set, another 1/2 hour footbag practice, and one last set. You'll feel good after. Good and tired. Anyways, I think every other practice will be atomic for the next couple weeks. And ripwalk, blur, swirls, and pdx whirls will bt the others.
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01/08/10
saturday, after one day of rest on friday, I did atomic op mirage again. I think I was wrong above, and it's called atom smasher. whatever. In one hour, I hit 50 total this time, 25 on each side. Strong side is hit 1st or 2nd try mostly, and weakside takes much more attempts to hit one. But it's improving. After kicking we took the kids sledding at the high school hill and then just had family time the rest of the day. Sunday, I was supposed to play again, but got into a barn project and then sledding with the kids again ruined my legs. Tonight kicking with zach and possibly nick - I still need solo drilling, but they're going to be harder to link up with in the future so I want to chill with them while we can all do it still. I think I will suck very badly despite the intense hard work lately, because nothing is to that "locked down" point yet, and I haven't been shredding or doing strings at all. We'll see.
tomorrow night, blurs.
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01/10/11
played with zach and nick last night, we played for over 2 hours, my body is killing me all over. The guys thought I looked good, but I really felt so off. I couldn't freely freestyle, I was thinking through each run. And the longest string I could muster all night was a bop-heavy 14 contacts. Yikes. But, I will say that I was controlled and clean, and my stepping set was showing positive effects from recent practices. I did hit some symple style swirls in runs. and although my atomic set was being shy despite lots of work recently, I did show enough of an improvement there that at least the guys could see that it's coming along and should be a steady component for me soon. I hit a nice midrun pdx whirl without thinking about doing it, so that was good. Otherwise, I felt pretty off. But that's what happens after component drilling, and overall I feel like the work will payoff.
blurs tonight and lifting. then rest day tomorrow thank god.
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01/11/11
I forgot, I was doing atom smasher again last night, not blurs. blurs are on thursday this week. anyways, I did my hour of atom smashers which was incredibly tiring because of the long shred session the previous night. But, I beat my previous 50 by hitting 60 (30 on each side) last night. I still have another few practices like this to really have it, but it's maturing quickly. Once I have atom smasher, all the other atomic variations should be relatively easy to learn. Similar to how blur or stepping ss clipper are the best stepping tricks to learn first. Anyways, today is rest day thank god because I hurt like hell. Oh, and I also increased my pushup sets to 22 per set. Next week, 25 per set. Goal is 50 per set eventually. I'm getting stronger rapidly these days. I'm also getting bigger through the chest/shoulders. I'm aiming for being lean, but a little bulk will balance out the beer gut that's impossible to melt (ya know, impossible if you want to keep drinking beers on weekends that is).
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01/13/11
last night, I did one hour of blurs, and also ripwalk > ripwalk. I hit 25 of everything on both sides, which amounts to 50 total blurs, and 100 ripwalks hit. I also did my pushups/situps/arms. I've been pushing very hard for quite awhile now but haven't lost a single pound. That's very frustrating and depressing honestly. But they say you can't look at the scale always. If you're getting stronger and more muscular, you very well may be getting thinner without any effect on the scale. This must be what's happening to me because my face and body look different and my upper body is bigger. Well, it is what it is for an old guy that plays hacky sack.
tonight, installing the duct work for my dust collection system. Tomorrow, helping a friend install a ceiling. Sunday, back to kicking.
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01/18/11
Well, I worked really hard all weekend on barn stuff and on my buddy's garage. I did all the duct work for my dust collection system, and helped my buddy hang his drop ceiling in his enormous garage. So, no kicking, and then yesterday, I was so tired I literally could barely stand up to try to kick. So I quit after 20 minutes when I realized that injury and frustration were the only two possible outcomes. I'll try to play tonight. I'm really trying hard to stay motivated, but it's difficult being 15 years past your physical prime in a sport like this. I'm determined to get a little bit better at this game, but sometimes I'm just like "fuck it, who cares, let's go build something". We'll give it a little more time, but the thought that the window is closing occurs to me more and more frequently. I'd like to play one more summer trying to push for more difficulty. After that, all bets are off. Anyways, atom smasher tonight and thursday night and saturday and for as many damn sessions as it takes. I'm not doing anything besides that trick til I can do it, or until I quit. Period.
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01/18/11
well, last night, I did 30 minutes of atom smasher and it didn't go so well. I'm at the "refine it instead of muscle through it" phase that I get to with tricks. Usually, after this stage, I finally lock it down and own the trick. Unfortunately, nothing about atomic set is natural for me, and I don't lock tricks down as quickly as every other damn player that's ever tried this damn sport. damn. whatever. Anyways, the 2nd half hour of practice, I did stepping ss clipper and blur. Which are also in the same category of being annoyingly difficult for me despite the fact that novice players can do them very easily. whatthehellever. did my pushups/arms/situps as usual. still seeing zero positive results from continued hard work, so that's really damn motivating. i hate winter.
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01/20/11
Last night, did 1/2 hour of atom smasher, and a 1/2 hour of stepping ss clipper and blur. I got 16 of each trick on both sides in that time span. I also did my pushups/situps/arms as usual. My workout is brutal btw. I've felt like I'm looking stronger, but haven't had much positive reinforcement to keep me motivated. But I got on the scale and found that I've lost 3 pounds since about a week ago. So that's good. I was stuck at previous weight for about 6 weeks, so I was getting pretty bummed out. Gives me the needed motivation to ramp up pushups to the next level, and keep kicking.
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01/25/11
well, i haven't played since last thursday. My buddy was in town for the weekend so we just hung out with him and played with the kids and watched football. It was fun. I had the day off from work yesterday and was supposed to play with zach at 1:00 p.m. I texted him in the morning that 1:30 would be better because my wife had to run out. He texts me back at 1:15 saying he just woke up and will be "a little bit late". Knowing flaky young guys all too well, I cancelled because I'm too busy to have my day taken hostage (not meant to sound conceited... it's just really truly actually very busy to have kids/house/career etc.). Which, quite honestly, was very annoying. But he's been good usually, so this is just one strike.
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01/26/11
got back to kicking yesterday, which I really didn't feel like. felt like not playing ever again actually. But it's just the winter blues talking, so I forced myself out there. did an hour of atom smasher, blur, stepping ss clipper. It's really frustrating to continually work on stuff that all does not come easily to you. But, things are getting better. I'm to the "refining my technique" phase. Where I can hit the tricks, but am trying to make it effortless now. Which, of course, requires a lot of effort. I'll keep at it until I feel like I can do the tricks on command. All the other variations of atomic and stepping tricks will be far easier in the end.
I did allow myself to do one run for fun at the end.. First try, about 16 contacts, limited bops. So that was nice.
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01/27/11
Our kitchen flooded this week. Faulty dishwasher valve. Insurance should cover most of it, but we're out of pocket $1000. Ugh. So we had to eat out because we can't use the room while the flood team fixes it. It was a really nice dinner out with the kids. They had strawberry ice cream at the end and were well behaved at the restaurant. Anyways, by the time we got back home and settled the kids and I got out to kicking, I was wiped out, stressed out, emotionally drained. And then I went about a 1/2 hour hitting (literally) only 2 tricks. Miss, miss, miss, FUCK, repeat. I logically knew that my missing was due to the stress and being tired, but emotionally I was just bummed and pissed.
And then zach redeemed himself for oversleeping the other day. Out of the blue, in the middle of my personal rant-filled footbag session, he texts me. He can immediately tell I'm in a pissy ass mood. But by the end of the texting, we decided a shred month is just what I need. Lots of shred, way less drilling. I've pushed hard on the drills and they'll pay off. And I have more drilling to do, but sometimes you need to step away, have fun, get your energy back up, and come back at the issue with a fresh perspective. So, we're shredding tonight, and then I'm shredding with him and nick and jackson tomorrow. Aiming for two sessions per week with the guys, and one drilling session on my own too. Do that for the month of february and see where I am.
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01/31/11
well, kitchen is totally torn apart and will be entirely redone it looks like. It'll turn out great in the end, and we'll be ahead cost-wise.. But I'd never wish this rush planning on anyone, and my poor wife is raising two kids without a kitchen for the next several weeks?!? Ugh.
Anyways, shredded hard with Zach on friday night. It was really fun. He did my pushups/situps/arms with me too. We're going to try to shred together each week in addition to a session with more people (i.e. Nick and whoever he has with him). We're playing again tonight.
Saturday, I shredded with Nick and Jackson and Luis. Three hours of shred after I had a two hour session the night before. Ouch. But I played ok. Freestyle will come back to me soon. And atomic sets are fairly reliable, so I guess drilling worked.
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01/31/11
wow, it took almost a full month for my blog to be pushed to page two. that's a commentary on the state of modified I think. that is, this site is dead dead dead. but, I still enjoy keeping records for myself.
kicked with zach last night. he again did my full workout with me which was cool. we taught him drifters, and it turns out it's a perfect fit for his skills set. i was doing a lot of atomic, and was happy to foot atom smasher > atom smasher. I did hit atom smasher > legbeater which is sweet. and atom smasher > eggbeater. so, it appears atomic is finally something I can start to use. THANK GOD (and 4 weeks of ridiculous amounts of drilling). My stepping is stupid right now, so I'll drill it tonight to wake it back up. I did lots of drilling on that too, but for some reason, my body is forgetting something.
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02/07/11
well, I played last thursday and immediately tweaked my neck real bad. worst I've tweaked it in a year. I couldn't move. So I sadly sat and watched brian and zach shred. Of course, despite not really practicing or playing, and despite having no idea what tricks he's doing, brian is suddenly a bap candidate. yeah, so that was fun to watch while injured. zach's getting better and better.
anyways, I had to take friday off work to go to the doctor to get pain killers. By the end of the weekend I could move again. so, last night I had a light practice session with zach. strictly no ducks or spins, and I had to play very controlled to prevent re-injury. went well overall, it was fun.
this weekend demo work on the kitchen will be done. zach got roped into helping me.
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02/09/11
session with zach last night, still no lifting until next week. my neck is slightly sore today, but I was playing with about 85% effort last night without re-injury. The biggest deal right now is probably that all my atomic work has positively changed my game. Within the very near term, atomic will be mid-run easy, and I'll be able to play into and out of it however I want basically. So that's cool. Also, zach's been very good at helping me find flaws with tricks that are hard for me - I've never had a shred partner that helps me improve before, so it's a very welcome change. A couple days off for kitchen fixing now. No kicking til next week.
Bob R.
You funny, funny Rieferman...trying to keep your bloggo incognito.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D44pyeEv ... re=related[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D44pyeEv ... re=related[/youtube]