Double AA's Footblog - Feeling Lost!!!

[akprice]

well, i had a shit sesh last night. my wife was nice enough to take care of taylor so i could drill some. worked on a little bit of everything...legovers, mirage, clipper, osis and ducking. nothing was really coming together. i filmed a little of all of those at the end of my session (i was really tired at the end and i need to start filming in the middle and not at the end when my legs are done). so here is the horrible video. i will give you my thoughts on what i'm doing wrong but i would love some feedback from ya'll as well.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ALsfZplPiE[/youtube]

first off, i have been noticing that my toe stall still need work. i think sometimes ignore them since i know how to do them but a lot of game right now is based of the toe. so i need to keep drilling those just by themselves.

legover - i believe my dexes are WAY too big. it also appears that i'm dexing with my foot instead of my calf. is this dex sort of like mirage where i'm making a hole for the bag to fall through with my knee and calf and then just getting my foot back under it? i am landing them quite a bit but just seems like i'm doing too much work. here is a frame from the vid that shows how high my foot is going during the dex.



mirage - same thing here... dexes are too big. i am really trying to keep my foot closer to the ground and just dex with my knee and not my foot. another capture to show where my foot is during the dex.



clipper - this mother fucker is just killing me! i feel like i haven't made any progress with clipper at all. i have been working on it for nearly a month and a half. i know in this vid that i'm not on my toes and also slouching. i'm still having setting problems and still can't get consecutives going either.

osis - i just started fucking around with these. it seems like i'm catching the bag way too low. not sure if this is the case for all of the ones i've been doing or if my legs were just tired.

ducking - too slouched over but prob because i'm having issues on setting the bag that high. again, just started messing around with these.

if you guys see anything that i am missing, please let me know.

[Cass]

Never ignore toe stalls! I'm pretty sure I've got them down but I still drill at least 100 basic stalls every session before I even touch dexes. It's a good warm up and even the best players have room to improve.

As for the dexes being too big I think they will become tighter with practice. I don't see anything horribly wrong with your legovers. But yeah I think you should be dexing more with the calf than the foot for those.

Do you always drill clipper from toe stall? I'm not sure this is the best way just because of the inconsistency of your toe set. When I first learned clipper I drilled it by dropping it straight from my hand into clipper position. That eliminates the variable of a poor set almost completely so you can just focus on clipper form. Try drilling Clipper>Handcatch rpt. Tbh I just skimmed the video quickly but I didn't see any flip clippers. Make sure you practice those extra so you can have both sides equally strong.

My recommendation is to not worry about osis or ducking right now. If you want more variety I would recommend practicing stuff like outside stalls, knee bumps, pinchers, rakes etc.

Check out the level 1 badge requirements. It's not a bad idea to work towards getting that. (http://modified.in/footbag/badges/)

Don't give up, you are getting better

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

I think the level 1badge would be great D for you. It would give you just a nudge in the right direction. Plus you'll actually have goals to shoot for.

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk

[akprice]

nick & cass - thx so much. i agree with trying to achieve the level 1 badge as well. all of those tricks that i'm trying right now besides ducking is on the level 1.

cass - i have been working more on flip clip (not as much as i should cause i'm still trying to get the correct form on strongside). i also drill the clipper with just dropping and hand catching. i am much better that way but wanted to try getting clipper from an actual component instead of just dropping it. i'll try more hand catch though.

[MetZelRio]

I just saw your video and had to stop it at 3 minutes and 20 seconds because I saw you hit that CLEAN OSIS. omgosh! plus all of the improvements I see that you have achieved since I've seen your last video, amazing!

[Derek]

Shit sesh? Nuh uh. You jerked it at the end, musta dug something. Ha. Toes and Insides for EVER. You can never do enough of them. Like Cass said, I always do a minimum of 100 basic stalls(1adds), before dabbling in anything else. Once sets become more consistent, then you can focus on tightening up the dexes, which didn't seem that big. How are your ATWs or Orbits? Those are what I drilled to keep things nice and tight. Your clippers are a hell of a lot better than mine, in comparison to play time.

[Muffinman]

I made some notes from watching your video before reading any of your comments afterward. If they're not clear, let me know and I can try to clarify. It seems like you have two major problems: you need to implement the magic hop (that is why you're struggling with legover and mirage) and you need to hold and cushion your stalls more. I also agree that doing the level 1 badge will help a TON. Don't be frustrated if you can't do it all either. I seriously struggled a lot with it myself!! But most of the stuff in there is just SUPER vital for developing a solid foundation! Here's what I jotted down while watching your video:



-toe stall: cushion deeper, hold longer, move slower
-practice magic hop. You do them for your toe stalls, which might be working against you in terms of developing balance/control, but you don't do them for the legovers which is where it will be most helpful!
-for the magic hop on legover try thinking symple. Symple is kind of like fakey symposium. So start the legover as if it was going to be symposium -- attack the dex earlier. the magic hop will help a ton with this and if you THINK symposium it might be easier to wrap your head around and actually do the hop
-your legovers are taking way more energy than they need to without the magic hop
-even your mirage is kind of lacking the hop, which is strange because that's a trick that really requires it.

-practice toe stalls 2 ways: 1) slowly, deeply, focusing on cushioning each. Don't worry about reps as much as form on each one, and remember to set straight up, not in front of you; 2) practice toe stalls with the magic hop like you are, but exaggerate it more -- then apply that hop to your 2s

-for clippers, the same thing -- cushion the stall more, hold the stall slightly longer, work on balance. Maybe try an exercise like putting the bag in clipper position and just seeing how long you can stand there without falling over, or practice wrap > reverse wrap over and over. For clipper, it's tough but try to aim for the "sweet spot" every time -- again aim for form over reps. You won't get high consecutive clippers before you can do them properly with good form

-don't work on osis before you solidify your clipper. can you do 20 alternating clippers? Prolly a prerequisite before starting to think about osis. Practice clipper a crapload and practice your basic 2s (ATW, orbit, mirage, illusion, legover, pickup) all from toe and clipper (when applicable), near and far

-practice flip clipper!

[Muffinman]

After reading your last post, too, FOCUS ON FLIP CLIPPER. Not only will it make you more bothsided and quicken your overall progression, BUT the most valuable thing you may get from practicing it is insight into what you might be doing wrong on your good side! When I struggle with flipside stuff, trying it on flip often helps me realize what I'm doing wrong. Maybe my hips aren't twisting in the way that they should be, or maybe I'm not bringing my foot down deep enough on the stall, or maybe I'm pointing my knee the wrong way, or my toes... analyze the differences between your two sides and that might help a lot! Analyzing good side might help with your bad side, but analyzing your bad side might also help you get better at your good side! Don't discount anything!

[Cass]

FOCUS ON FLIP CLIPPER.

Good advice Erik!! I don't know how I missed the magic hop thing. Makes everything SO MUCH EASIER.


But seriously. If you tell yourself you will practice the flip once you've learned the good side you are destined to be one sided because your flip will never catch up. PRACTICE YOUR FLIPSIDE. DO IT.

[akprice]

paul - thx so much for the kudos. i need to remember how far i've come in not a lot of time. i'm just really hard on myself. it's like, i know what to do but my body doesn't. oh, and there is no way for you to have known this but "kish" is a word my friend made up. it's not a nickname. kish means - i'm out, later, cya, i'm done, enough. it's very addictive. try using it in your vocab and you will love it. once you get the hang of it then you can expand on it. we could be at a bar and were ready to leave. i say kish and then you could say kosh. try it, you'll like it!

derek - thx for watching. i've seen a few of your clips and i like your "bouncey" game! you've got some good shit in your arsenal. i agree with you can cass about drilling more 1add stalls. i especially need to drill more insides again. i had to take a break from them because they gave me jumpers knee. knee is doing better now and my insides really suck (flip is just horrible). i can't not for the life of me string them together. atw i can do strong side but not flipside yet (need to drill both more especially flip). can't do orbit yet. foot doesn't want to dex that way, ha! i'll start fucking around with them. thx again for the feedback!

erik - holy shit...thx for the serious write up! good call on the magic hop. that's so weird because i consciously am thinking about it but watching the vid again you can see that i start the hop with the toe stall but then stop when i try the legover or mirage. gonna have to work on that. also, what do you mean my symple and symposium? i don't have all my footbag terms down yet. doesn't symp mean that you are dexing off of the same foot you set from? let me know about that.

i like your idea with the toe stalls as far as exaggerating them more and focusing on form instead of reps. i am not a patient person and i think that i'm moving too fast in my game. i think i need to just chill and focus more on the basics. that's what your videos say. if i can't do 50 cons of each then i shouldn't be moving on to 2adds yet. i will still fuck around with the clipper since that is such an important move to get down for freestyle. i really need to get my insides down better (especially flipside). thank you so much for your critique. means the world to me! this community fucking rocks!!!

If you tell yourself you will practice the flip once you've learned the good side you are destined to be one sided because your flip will never catch up.

cass - you are completely correct. DRILL YOUR FLIPSIDE YOU FUCKING IDIOT!!!!!

-kish

[Muffinman]

Yeah, sorry, I wasn't sure if you would get that reference or not. Symposium is where you jump off of and land on the same leg that you're dexing with, so you have to kind of flail extra hard, but it's easier to move faster because you have to do it all in the air. I don't remember ever watching the original Karate Kid, but it's like the jump kick he does when he breaks his one leg or whatever and has to do everything with his good leg.


So mirage is:
-Set the bag from toe
-plant setting leg by hopping onto it while simultaneously lifting the opposite leg
-dex in-to-out with the non-setting leg -- planting that dexing leg again while simultaneously hopping off the original setting leg in the reverse motion as the previous step
-stall on original setting foot

Symposium mirage is the same thing, BUT the original setting leg is never planted, so the dexing leg has to dex after jumped off of and while completely in the air. Try it without the bag to get a feel for it. Then maybe you can understand how you'd apply that extra UMPH to your dex by attacking it earlier. I hope that makes sense and doesn't just confuse you further with more advanced concepts

[akprice]

kind of confused me. just had to see a video on it (visual person). i'll give it a try with mirage and see if that also helps with dexing faster on my legovers.

[Asmus]

Normal Mirage:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJrfGFm2ZD4[/youtube]

Symposium Mirage
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhO5I8Fme7A[/youtube]

I don't really think that symposium helps with being faster also the important thing when hitting Mirage is not being fast when dexing but when changing your feet. Also it is important to not make the motion too big and getting the timing right. You can see all that studying the video above. Anz tutorial is also really good.

[akprice]

thx asmus...that symp mirage video is actually the one i found. i gotta work on getting the dex tighter.

[akprice]

so i drilled sat and sun. first time i've ever drilled two days in a row (besides jamps, if you wanna call it that). it was very productive. legovers and getting there but now i am seriously struggling with mirages. i just can't seem to catch it on my toe. it constantly just bounces off or if i do catch it, i'm having issues setting back up so i can continue into something else.

continued working on toe stalls quite a bit, clipper bs and fucked around with osis again. in fact, i fucking hit toe>flipclip>osis>hand. even showed my wife and did it on command. now i need to get my flip osis going so i can do it out of my strong clipper.

here are a few highlights from the weekend:

64 toe b2b (new pr) also had another run of over 50 at end of sesh - wasn't counting
11 inside stalls b2b (new pr) need to drill these more
clipper is getting much better. able to jump in and jump out of it much better. flip is getting much better as well. my crank isn't as good but can't complain about hitting it from toe and then to osis!
legovers - utilizing magic hop better. still think my dex is too big
mirages - can't figure out the magic hop with these. i've watched clavens video but it's just not clicking.

gonna try and get a couple sesh's in this week as well. legs are tired from the weekend and my right shin was really sore after sundays sesh. not good. i hope i don't start getting shin splints. i used to get them bad from running.

-kish

[MetZelRio]

11 consecutive alternating insides? Better than me, dang... I drop at about zero. My best is whatever was on level one badge, probably six. I also had to read twice when I saw sixty something toes. You'll have 100 as a warmup pretty quick. OSIS on demand!

[akprice]

had a sesh last night. not very good. jumpers knee has flared up again in both knees. so i wasn't able to bend them very much so pay no attention to the shitty ass clippers in the vid. may have to take a week off... sucks ass!!!

i did have some good highlights though:

95 toe stalls b2b (got to 90 and said don't drop the fucking bag, make it to 100... yep drop on 95. i was pissed!!!)
atw 4x strong side
mirage - much better with lower set height
legovers - ditto

my set height is still too high though. watching the vid it's around my waist. need to get it lower than that.

also, i changed my style on toe stalls. so i've been noticing that elite players stall the bag longer and then looks like they set back up with almost a reverse bicycle motion. you can see me doing this in the vid. is this the way i should be drilling toe stalls? before it was pretty much just straight up - straight down. i like this new way because i am basically throwing the bag back towards me. good example of this is evan gatesman.

as far as the clippers, i can't really take much from these since my knees were killing me. i did notice thought that my form on my flip is just horrible. i am able to stall it but i know that my crank is not any where near my strongside. i'll just have to keep drilling them.

i also noticed in the vid that i look uncomfortable when doing tricks (especially mirage and legovers). it's like my upper body tightens up or something. it looks horrible! maybe i just need to try and relax my muscles more, not sure. thoughts? i'm sure i'll get more comfortable when i start nailing these tricks down.

oh... and 32 days smoke free today! i think i can officially call myself an ex-smoker!!!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxr-V05_gg4[/youtube]

[KRyan]

the slower toe stalls become normal for when we want to bail to stuff I feel as its a lot easier to do that slow rotation after a hard move. I don't think your flip clipper is horrible. the actual technique isn't bad I just feel that when doing consecutives you need to remember to hop a little with the support (your chucking the bag behind you with just the delaying leg, this may take a while to get the hop in but its so much better)
Your upper body is tight as this is still a relatively new technique, it took me maybe a few years to be able to relax parts of my body while doing tricks so that I can adjust them, however I wasn't really videoing myself much and analysing my form.
Maybe a more upright posture will benefit, the other thing is check how people hold themselves when doing clippers (focus on arm positions and upper body) and you might notice how to change your posture to a way you feel and looks better?
The reason I say this is everyone complains about crank, yes crank can help but its not what makes someone a good player (it does help) but someone who has correct positioning will be a much better player than someone who can only crank it hard. Think about them long strings!
That's really all I could come up with, but congrats on the 32 days smoke free! Every days a win to be honest and footbag along side it will make it so much better. GJ on the toe stalls too! Don't worry soon you will think 100 is boring haha

[akprice]

hey ryan, thx for taking the time to read my blog and watch my vid. appreciate your feedback! i incorporate the hop much better on my strong side clippers but my knees were killing me so these were not very good at all. i will check out some clipper form to see what my upper body should be doing. i have heard that is just as important as crank, like you said. thx again!

[Muffinman]

-try to stay more on your toes (mirages look like you're landing on your heel)
-try to emphasize the plant when you switch feet on mirage. Bring down your setting foot faster and plant it as soon as possible. You're being a bit too casual about it. Think about it this way -- you never want both your feet on the ground at the same time -- you have to hop and swap planting feet simultaneously. Think about the ground being electrically charged and you'll get shocked if your feet both touch at the same time. This is how I was taught to do a more advanced trick that uses the mirage dex
-use this same conceptualization for your legovers. That's kind of what I meant when I was trying to use the symposium analogy, but this is probably easier for you to relate to
-for clipper, practice inside stalls, practice wraps, and practice holding the bag on your clipper and moving your clipper foot up and down -- this can help with balance and also getting used to cushioning the bag and the range of motion required for a well-cushioned stall -- crank too
-turn your shoulders toward your clipper stall -- this will in turn help open up your hips to the bag and help flatten the stalling surface
-also try stalling your clipper a bit further behind you. Rather than thinking clipper right beside you at a 90-degree angle, think slightly behind you at more of a 45-degree angle, if that makes sense. This will help flatten your clipper surface too. I was taught this for a more advanced clipper trick where the dex happens back there too
-for ATW, try to think about separating the set from the dex more. Set straight up and THEN start dexing. It's a bit different from other 2 add tricks. Thinking about a good, straight, controlled set is really important for this trick. I know because it's one of my foundations that's really weak and I'm trying to improve it
-osis is prolly just a fun trick, but don't get frustrated about it -- it's beyond your level right now and you shouldn't be worrying about it seriously yet

EDIT: Let me know if it would help if I made a video trying to show the difference between some of these things. Like the difference between legover with and without the magic hop and the speed for planting on mirage, the separation between set and dex for ATW, etc. Or if there are any specific things you want to see