Footbang fo' life

[acxel22]

how about we play today?

[Johnny]

That's good to hear James! Maybe we'll shred at MSJ, if that happens...

[james]

Wow, almost 3 years to the day since I've posted in my footblog. I've been playing footbag for over ten years now. Some times have been more motivated than others. I used to have dreams of being an elite player, of even making BAP. But no matter how much I tried I couldn't gain a foothold on consistency, it prevented me from getting to the next level. So I pretty much haven't gotten any better than when I was 2-3 years in the sport.
I stopped trying to be competitive a long time ago, and it helped me enjoy playing a lot more. But there is still always the drive to get better and that's always been a struggle since I have such high standards for how good I should be.
There is just one thing lacking from my game, one thing stopping me from being a solid shredder that you'd like to watch. And I think that's timing. Patience, focus and timing.
How can I overcome something that I've never been able to before? Is it even possible? I don't want to settle.
This will take a lot of will power and dedication and determination. My goal isn't even very clear which doesn't aid the cause.
In any case, for the next month and a half I will pretty much be playing every day, starting easy. I've given myself one rule to start getting control on my game.
The rule is: don't miss osis, don't miss butterfly, ever.
I find that I always just get lazy or unfocused, thinking about the next move before consolidating the current one, and missing these 'breathing room' moves is inexcusable. I figure if I can actively make an effort to be solid on these moves ALL the time it will give me a starting point to build from.
I've had 4 sessions so far (after about 3-4 months of a break, and much longer since consistent training), the rust is still there. It's almost embarrassing seeing what gives me trouble right now. I'm doing such basic drills like:
butterfly>blur rpt
whirl>drifter rpt
combinations of drifters, osis and whirls
pixie shuffle (I don't spot on the inside of my knee on one side)
spinning is so unbalanced...ugh
ripwalks and sidewalks etc

anyway, taking my time, finding out/remembering how moves are supposed to feel and making it stick.

Ok, I have a simple goal, for mobius and pdx torque to be easy moves for me :p
I KNOW how to do them, just have to make my body do what It's supposed to.

Thanks for listening, I'll keep this updated as I go.


Footbag is awesome, I'll never abandon it.

[acxel22]

James don't be too hard on yourself, you have one of the smoothest styles out there, I'm looking forward to see it again

[jay7]

I remember the session we had in Montreal, at your place, beside the pool. I remember very vividly, being completely envious that when you did a butterfly->stepping set, it was a complete rewind. Like, perfectly symmetrical.

I also remember the advice you gave me, stretching tips, quick juggling demo, and you telling me to hit atomic torque, and getting it first try.

You taught me a lot about footbag that day. Thank you.

[james]

Mathieu: Thanks man! I'm feeling less depressed now :p Let's get a session in sometime soon, though now that we both have kids it's gonna be hard to get organized!

Jay: Yeah that was a rad sesh! I was impressed with your desire and determination to play with everyone when you came to town, and very pleased that you came to my place to do a two-man. I'm happy that you've taken your game to the level it's at and that your enthusiasm hasn't diminished a single quanta. The sport needs ya man.


So I had another sesh tonight in my apt. I've pretty much got the whole place to shred in now (due to circumstances I shan't get into here) so I can play AT WILL! Twice a day even! Yes, it may come to that. Goddamn I missed playing. I missed how goddamn hard this sport is, and the excitement and challenge of pushing what you can do. It's really not for the lazy of mind or body.
My new 'strategies' are working, at least so far. Getting rid of the rushing habit is one of the hardest things to do. My first rule is keeping me in line, but there is A LOT of work left to do. I've started keeping track when I remember exactly how something is supposed to be done, like for instance on any osis ending move, one of the key elements is to finish the spin completely, like really commit to it. Once I did that torques made sense again.
I hit mobius bs just cuz. Pdx torque is much harder I find.
Another obvious thing that one tends to forget during a string is to SET STRAIGHT. Really, could something this simple amount to missing tricks so much? The answer is yes. But rushing is definitely the NUMBER ONE reason a player will drop, ever. So keep that in mind if you're struggling like moi, and force yourself to see that bag rest gently a half second before going to the next move.
I've also realized that I will need to actually start drilling instead of dabbling all over the place every session. Maybe a drill session and a normal session in one day? Muahahahaha

Well, that's it for now, there won't be much to brag about in terms of what I'm hitting, but I think the insights in HOW to play will be worthwhile.

later gatorz

[james]

That last post of mine was pretty useful! Too bad I stopped playing again shortly after. Man I'm a noob. But hey, I have a kid n shit, responsibilities and what have you. In any case, due to Worlds coming to Montreal this summer I was propelled back into training. I'm now back to playing daily (unless it's raining), but still below my previous level. I somehow feel more consistent however, like, I've been getting 15-20 contact runs (granted there were a few too many BOPs in em, but it's a good start). My body is getting used to the intensity of constant footbag training again and it feels great. What a fucking fantastic thing to be able to do.
Anyway, nothing to post here yet, still sucking atm. But I'll sprinkle some videos on my FB in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

And I'm so looking forward to seeing all my long lost buddies this summer. The shred and party IS ON.

[DTank126]

Screw footbag. Lets just get booze and hang out at strip clubs all week.

Can't wait to see ya mang!

[C-Fan]

Looking forward to video. Glad to hear you're back at it.

[james]

Doug you know it man! Party like a rockstar, shred like a bawss.

Ken, I'll have those vids up shortly! So far I've just been training to get in shape, and no one is around to film, but I will have a recorded session soon.

Fuck, Worlds is deadly close...can you possibly ever be prepared enough? I haven't even started my routine yet. But at least I am making progress on my game. Like palpable progress. I started by just selecting a move I wanted to improve, do it fives times both sides each session and VOILA, it get's better each day. But that's just fine-tuning, I've always had problems with timing, and I'm constantly forcing my brain to actively combat my tendency to rush forward with my moves. Which has led me to this amazing feeling of absolute control while I'm playing (until I drop of course haha). I recently got my torques back on track as well.
I'm not neglecting kicks either. I do flapper kicks in all variations, knee bumps into spins into other kick-spin combinations. It's purdy damn fun. I definitely have some interesting elements to work into my routine.

Still need to kick it up a notch though. So, time for MOAR vids and MOAR training and MOAR footbag excitement.

[james]

What I find really depressing is how dead modified is. I remember days of refreshing the browser in anticipation of a new post. Sure, there's facebook groups, but it's a different experience, and one that is just not satisfying for me. Forums are still a widely used means of communication on teh webz, something needs to be done to make modified a mainstay for all active players.
That's all I got on that subject.
I'm still listening to the new Daft Punk album. After over a month, that's quite a length of time to keep an album in rotation. In other words, it's fantastic.

I've selected my song for my routine at Worlds. I am actually terrified that I registered as a competitor. I know I cannot even come close to competing with the upper echelons, or even the new up and comers. Everybody and their grandmother can hit 5s like a toddler counting. SO obviously I only registered for routines, which means I stand a chance of not finishing last. But that's not really the point, I want to craft an interesting display of footbag skillz and tricks. And I want to pull it off under the pressure of competition. As of now, I have roughly a month to prepare. You won't see ripsteins, whirrs or montages in my routine, what you will see, if all goes well, is a collection of footbag abilities strung together in an appealing and hopefully bad ass way.
Other than that, I just want to be on my game when I shred with all you crazy mofos.

More updates to come, much shredding to do.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Hi :B

Talked to you a little while back about worlds and a bunch of other stuff. I totally agree with you man, modified needs some sort of a boost in the right direction. We have a ton of freestylers involved in the facebook group, but that doesn't cut the cake. I kinda would love for someone to delete the facebook group but give a warning that everyone needs to sign up to modified so we can regain control of the footbag community in a dope and more organized way. I'd love for modified to come back. In fact, you've inspired me to try Looking forward to your routine, sounds like it will be fun to watch. See ya at worlds man.

[boyle]

I think routines are a great way to give a sort of "expression", without the need for huge tricks, but there can be many unique styles on display, and it's not too important how the result goes.