Chris Tristano

[christisgodlike]

My osises are feeling less atrocious. That sweet spot on my right clipper is feeling much more consistent. I worked on the level 2 badge and it has significantly improved my osis already.

My sessions have become dreadfully monotonous. I am improving and kicking as often as possible. But there are not many places to kick where I live so I go to the same place which is not the nicest location. And playing alone is kind of a drag. It's nice to kick alone to drill and work on new stuff but it's nice to show off your style while learning some new things from others. Once I start working it will probably become harder to motivate myself to kick.

Highlights:

10x osis (PR yeah boi!)
2x osis>pdx mirage>ss butterfly

new links:

flipside calf roll>leg squeeze>pickup knee stall> leg over

new moves:
pixie leg squeeze
stepping leg squeeze
clipper>gyro mirage
pixie ss pickup BS

[christisgodlike]

My effin shins...so much pain. I dont know what the deal is.

Anyways. I drilled some osis and clippers again. Not much progression on that front. I felt a little more control but nothing significant. I also worked on some pixies and I definitely felt an improvement. I had a break through when I decided to pixie without using my planted foot to hop up. This allowed me to get a higher regular pixie so when I did hop, It launched. I had some pixie ducking action going on.

Highlights:

24x ATW flipside (in to out) PR

new links:
pixie ss pickup>ducking osis
pixie ss pickup>pixie ss mirage BS
osis>ripwalk BS

new moves:
dyno (right foot delay)
pixie ducking osis (woot 2nd 5-add trick!)
----short vid of the trick!! -- http://instagram.com/p/xGSOGOBvIW/

I am noticing that the bottom of my shoes are wearing pretty fast. Hopefully they will last the summer.

[boyle]

Good moves. Be very careful with your shins. I am hoping to go to Melbourne in about 2 weeks. I think Juho should be there then as well. I will keep you up to date.

Osis-ripwalk is a very good combo. And awesome stuff on pixie ducking. That's a huge improvement in a pretty short time.

[christisgodlike]

boyle: Woah! Yeah let me know. That would a great experience for me.

I watched this video of Juho (That last move wtf?!):
Apparently he's kinda OK at footbag.

I realized that it has been 7 months since I have started to footbag (According to Boatz' first post that I was in). It feels like years though. I used to kick those shitty bags for a short time in highschool (10 years ago) but I don't really count that. I wish I was getting better faster but I think I am already improving quickly enough. Or I want to become more consistent but my thirst for bigger tricks is hard to suppress. I don't really know where I am going with this so I am just going to end it here.

So my shins hurt pretty bad my last session. I have decided to take a week or more off in hopes of being in better condition to kick with Juho and Daniel (hopefully that works out).

Is there any way to practice without kicking? Is ok to ghost swirls and other tricks so it won't hurt my shins? Maybe I'll just lay on the floor and flail my legs around lol.

Oh yeah so I can spin books and pillows and other rectangular objects of specific weight on my hands. So I tried to do it with my feet and I got surprisingly close with it. Maybe I'll do that as training instead haha.

[MetZelRio]

Maybe I'll just lay on the floor and flail my legs around lol.

*giggle*

Have no fear about your improvement. I remember seeing recent videos of your early practices. Nothing compared to what you're doing today. You and Kyle and some of you other sort of relatively new-ish players just growing by leaps and bounds.

[Kylescook]

boyle: Woah! Yeah let me know. That would a great experience for me.

I watched this video of Juho (That last move wtf?).

last move hit was high plains drifter swirl. I've watched that video so many times these last few weeks. That video series is really great.

I'm getting jealous of some of your moves. I'm gonna need to start training stepping and pixie if I wanna keep up.

[christisgodlike]

But Kyle, I ain't got nothing on those drifters. Mine a very few and far between. I am also jealous of those sole stalls, I am not even close to those yet.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

A few thingies yo...

First thingy! I might know why you have shin pain... Have you replaced your laver insoles with athletic insoles yet? The minute a player starts doing uptime sets, it's pretty necessary for them to buy athletic insoles. If you play on your toes, have good posture, and eat your vegetables, those insoles will take away your pain.

Second thingy.. 5 ADDs are only cool if you can do them on both sides


Third thingy... Shit. I forget the third thingy. Oh well, first and second thingy is so important. If I remember third thingy, I'll let you know.

[christisgodlike]

nick: I have not replace the soles. Are there any specific brand that are better than others? I was thinking this may be a problem but I don't really have the funds to invest quite yet.

And I'm working on the flipside 5's ha. I have to conquer the pixie first. Now that I better understand it on my strong I will mimic it on my flip.

[christisgodlike]

Happy New Year Peeps!

I had a session yesterday in the parking garage which was cut short because it was dusty as hell down there. I couldn't kick outside due to 105 degree weather. It was my first back kicking in about a week. Nothing special happened. My shins were not loving it. I still need to get some insoles.

Today I decided to switch shoes. I went back to the new style heavy lavers. I laced them up like when I first started. I definitely discovered some things. The new lavers are way more comfortable. Yes they are heavy and all that but they fit better IMO. That may be because I bought a used pair of the old style ones. so it is not definitive. Another thing is that for some reason my flip clippers are so much better in the new ones. This helped lengthen my strings a bit. They also didn't put any stress on my shins. This was definitely a relief.

Another thing is it that it forces me to stay within my skill range and not go for big tricks. They are heavy so that is a big deterrent. So I may stick with the new lavs for a little bit.

I did BSOS DATW for the first time so that is a good sign.

I got a vid of some of the runs I went on. Nothing gigantic but it did feel good.

I found a new place to kick that is much closer to my apartment. It is a nice little spot. I like it.

[boyle]

I think Caroline and Juho will both be down there in about 1 week, maybe a little bit more, so you should have some kicking buddies for a few days at least.

[christisgodlike]

Boyle: That is exciting!

Today I changed up my session a little. I did an ab workout and some push ups before kicking. I also stretched longer. I think it will help in the long run.

I used the new lavs again. It was pretty good. They are definitely heavier though which sucks. It definitely is harder to do sets so it is steering me away from them (this may be beneficial).

I was working on long strings today to start out. Even if I bailed to toe I just kept trying to keep it up. I did alright. Worked on some ducks. I also worked on swirls and rev swirls. I definitely made some ground on rev swirls. I can now freeze it instead of flicking it. So this has allowed me to start doing links out of them. . I don't have swirls though. I think I have figured out why they are harder or maybe one reason why they are.

(my attempt an explaining a concept via paint)


So because my ankle is not exactly parallel to the ground it creates this scenario. So on the left describes my rev swirls. When my foot comes in from this side the bag is pushing into that angle on the inside of my foot. On the right side is my swirls. When my foot comes from this side the bag wants to roll down the angle of my foot rather than stay put as in the rev swirls.

This only means I either have to stop motion completely before stalling or flatten out that angle. or both. ***this is just an observation not an excuse

Highlights:
15x clipper flipside
rev swirl>rev swirl flipside only....what does this mean??!?
rev swirl>osis BS
rev swirl>near mirage
rev swirl>osis>rev swirl (only in one direction)

Here is a little clip I posted on insta. It wasn't my best ones of these but it is what it is.

http://instagram.com/p/xgeAWGhvPe/?modal=false

[Add Block]

If you have a good form on a set, it might actually be beneficial to practice it further with heavier shoes. Not sure how it goes for learning new sets, but I did the switch and learned Quantums, so it can't be that bad I hope.

Good swirls, took me a while to understand that picture.

[christisgodlike]

haha yeah I am not to good at explaining things via text and paint.

So I have been laying off the drilling and just shredding. It's weird how drilling just dominates the kicking then when I go to shred I draw blanks and drop all the time. I have been improving on the shred part. My strings are lengthening and becoming little more dense. I am starting to use basic tricks that I forgot about like near legover or far pickup. It is pretty nice feeling to just freestyle it up.

I took today off to mod the inside and toe of the old style lavs. I wasn't sure if it was better to remove the inside or the outside mesh of the insides. I read some stuff and I decided to remove the outside mesh. I left the mesh on the toe. I am excited about the toe because it is so much softer and it probably helps a bunch to feel the bag. Hopefully the inside mod helps too.

I still need to go get insoles. I have been lazy and haven't went to find an athletic shoe store which sells them. We will see if I am motivated tomorrow or not.

I am also very jealous of all this NYJ talk. It seemed like it was a ton of fun. Maybe I will try to make it next year if I am back in the states. It just reminds me of kickin with boatz all the time. I miss that shit.

[christisgodlike]

I had a few sessions in the past few days. I didn't have much to talk about on the first 2 because I broke no new ground. I was using my new style lavers and I was just straight shredding.

Today I put on my newly modded old style lavers. Man, that toe mod is a godsend. I didn't notice too much of a difference on the clipper department with the inside mod. There might be an osis improvement but nothing that noticeable yet.

So I was fuckin around with reverse swirls again. They are feeling better. Slowly but surely. Did a little ducking action. A little improvement on that front. Worked on the osis ish. Some improvement on that. Was raking dem leaves also. bagged them pretty well. Some DATW ish too.

I decided to do a little pixie action and that's where I broke out. I was trying hard to get my flip and it wasn't connecting at first. So I decided just to slow it down, relax and stand up straight and it felt so good. I think standing up straight for pixies was my biggest issue. There is no body to get in the way. A big plus was the toe mod. Being able to feel the bag, I was capable of better determining the location of the set. It felt great. And I know I was doing it right(or closer to proper) cause my shins didn't hurt and I haven't picked up the insoles yet.

Highlights from past couple sessions:
pixie muted clipper>reverse swirl>far legover
5x pixie LO B2B PR
-I am not sure if I ever even bsosed it before today
smear BSOS (I am not sure if I have done this before)
8x illusion PR (i think)
8x illusion flipside PR

here is some footage:
http://instagram.com/p/xwAnEThvML/?modal=true

[ianek]

Hi Chris, i'm the one who created Level1-2-3. i just saw your video of Level 1 and i was impressed. you did a really good job. David Owen Beyers told me you started last summer, you have learned very fast! the only trick that looked difficult was osis, it's pretty normal. look at it as a downtime gyro clipper, don't ''scoop'' the bag, then ending of an osis is a straight up and down clipper. anyway, keep shredding. we'll probably get to shred together at some point, i'm from Montreal, i'm planning on going to shred with NYFA this year.

[christisgodlike]

ianek: Hey man thanks! Yeah at the time I did the badge I was struggling with osis. I started to freeze them and now I think that is helping to do them like you are saying (more like a clipper). I am not sure I'll be in North America in 2015 but I will definitely be there in 2016 so I'll definitely kick with you at some point.

Starting the level two badge is proving way more difficult. That first drill is rough for me: osis>far mirage>ss butterfly rpt. My weak osis shows in this drill right away. They are getting better, just not enough yet!

Oh yeah, props on creating the level badges. I think it is a very attractive thing for beginners who footbag since it is an internet heavy sport.

[boyle]

You are really improving quickly. Can't wait to kick again with you. Will you come to Narooma? Has Caroline been in touch with you? I commented on the facebook group that you must be the first one to do the level one badge in Australia!

[christisgodlike]

boyle: Unfortunately Narooma is looking bleak for me. Finding a job is proving way more difficult than we thought. Apparently everyone is on vacation til the end of January. I have not been in touch with Caroline. Did you give her my number? I deleted my facebook a little while ago so I am no longer contactable on that front. I was getting too pissed about their control over my news feed and my information.

So I had a pretty good session today. I landed the LOTW fairly quickly. I actually landed it flip first which was a weird feeling. I worked hard on osis and I think I had a break through. I think I got it in my head to make it more downtime gyro-y. They were definitely feeling more comfortable by the end of the session.

Highlights:

-new links:
far mirage> dim walk BS
ripwalk B2B (in both directions!!)

This ripwalk breakthrough is huge!! back to back?! crazy! I haven't touched ripwalks in a while. I tried to relax it and slow it down to not put so much stress on my shins. It actually helped alot. I had an issue of the bag hitting me in the chest on the way up. This is obviously due to my slouch when performing the trick. It took a lot of effort to break this habit today. But when I did it felt so right. Consecutive ripwalks here I come!

The only and not so little issue is that I was kicking through some major shin pain. I wanted it so bad I didn't want to stop. Now I am regretting it. I need to get those insoles. I will be handing out resumes tomorrow and hopefully I'll find a store.

A little insta footage:

http://instagram.com/p/xy3dgpBvOL/?modal=true

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

The only and not so little issue is that I was kicking through some major shin pain. I wanted it so bad I didn't want to stop. Now I am regretting it. I need to get those insoles. I will be handing out resumes tomorrow and hopefully I'll find a store.

Dude, this is really really important... Your body is not invincible. You may feel like it is... It's ok to admit it, I thought mine was invincible at one point too. Then I got injured. Shin splints. Chronic shin splints, at that. So bad, that I kept taking 2 weeks off, then trying to play again.. lots of pain... then 2 more weeks off, then trying to play... pain.. that repeated for almost a whole year. Some don't get so lucky. The shin splints turn into stress fractures. And that shit is so bad.

I highly suggest that you hang up the Lavers for 2 to 3 weeks right now, get good insoles, let your legs heal, try to do as little walking as possible for those few weeks, then come back and hopefully your legs will feel fresh. You can still practice in your head. Some of my biggest breakthroughs have happened when I was taking a break from footbag. Mental game is really important, too.

You're an important part of the new generation of up'n'comers right now. I would hate for you to miss out on getting really good because you went too hard too soon.