AdAstra's Footblog: Hopefully be back soon

[AdAstra]

Man, we're about 5 hours away from each other. We ought to get together sometime.

Yeah maybe!

I'm in Cincinnati sometimes, which may be closer depending where you're from.

[AdAstra]

13 Jan 2016

Today I hit my first clipper with my previously injured right foot. It's been a long time coming. I've been doing every conceivable leg and core exercise to improve my ability; calf raises, Footbag drills, squats, sit-ups, and resistance band training on my various leg/ankle regions. Finally I feel like it's coming together.

Other than that I drilled super basic stuff like kicks and toe stalls to build up my control. I also drilled my left foot clipper to improve my ability to set the bag where I want it.

Finally, I drilled my flip side ATWs and Orbits which are still not back to where they were, yet alone better. I'll get there, though.

Edit: my new phone background:

[AdAstra]

14 Jan 2016

Practiced my flip side ATWs, orbits, and clippers today. Was really too sore from yesterday to practice for long. Also not feeling well either :/

Added a running list of places I've shredded at to my first footblog post. Kind of a cool idea, I think. Would be cool to have a map online that I could edit. Anyone know of a tool like that?

ALSO: ordered my first pair of lavers!

[Tjuggles]

Lavers are going to change your life forever. Awesome!

I like the idea about keeping track of places you have played. It would be cool to incorparate them into a video or something.

I also think it would be sweet to keep track of how many sessions you have had.

[AdAstra]

15 Jan 2016

Drilled flip side today, but was too sore to do so for long. Hopefully the soreness goes away soon I really wanna drill flip side. I'm getting better!

Also: I'll be headed somewhere else for grad school, to be determined. Hopefully i'll end up somewhere with other players! Currently possible places:

Tucson, Az
Columbus, OH
Ithaca, NY
Chapel Hill, NC
Baltimore, MD ish
A few more.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Tucson, Az (No active players)
Columbus, OH (1 guy who will play every now and then, but he has a kid now, so it's hard for him)
Ithaca, NY (no idea of active players)
Chapel Hill, NC (I think Aaron Price lives near here. Paul Gressett might not be far either)
Baltimore, MD ish (ME!!!!) I'm only about a 40 minute drive from MD at my new place. Go to Maryland lol I'll teach you how to do Mobius and stuff

Hey, so now I'll be keeping track of your sessions, since I know this blog exists.

[AdAstra]

Good deal! Thank you! Also, that would be really cool if I got Maryland. I feel like we would get along well haha. I enjoyed your post about George the cow(s). And make sure to change your business card to Nick Polini- Biologist, Footbag Marketing Director, Cow Whisperer Extraordinaire. Ha

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

Cow whispering EXTRAORDINAIRE? *blushes*

Yeah man, if you get into the MD school, depending on how far it is, I'd definitely be able to meet up with you and have sessions. That would be sick. Keep me posted on which school(s) you were looking into. We've kind of got a scene here'ish. There are a few players that live about an hour away from me.

[AdAstra]

Cow whispering EXTRAORDINAIRE? *blushes*

Yeah man, if you get into the MD school, depending on how far it is, I'd definitely be able to meet up with you and have sessions. That would be sick. Keep me posted on which school(s) you were looking into. We've kind of got a scene here'ish. There are a few players that live about an hour away from me.

It's UMD, which is like halfway between Baltimore and DC.

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

I just google mapped it. You'd be about an hour and 40 minutes away from me. Not terrible. We could still do a half-way drive and meet up occasionally.

[AdAstra]

Definitely! I'll keep you updated!

[AdAstra]

16 Jan 2016

Drilled flipside ATWs, Orbits, and Clippers. Still not great at them. I still have trouble with the right ankle crank as well. Nick challenged me to do 100 flipside clippers and I'm at 69 right now. Hopefully I'll get to 100 tomorrow. The soreness is real and has kept my practices short the past couple days, but I think I'll be good to go by tomorrow.

Also hit a couple strong side butterflies because I think they look cool. Not really drilling them for a while though. I also worked a bit on leg overs. My flipside is getting better to the point that I can almost hit it. Strong side is fairly good. I also tried to hit a Mirage just to see if I could hit it, and I managed to hit one.

Still drilling normal toe stalls because my fundamentals don't seem to be where they should be, though that may just be my performance suffering from soreness. Good to practice them nonetheless.

Finally, I was screwing around and ended up hitting a mirage but stalling the bag on a clipper stall of the dexing leg. I somehow managed to hit it even though the bag rolled down my leg a bit. What is this trick?

[F[uns]tylin' Eclectic]

If you know what the trick is, don't tell him yet. We made a deal about it

That's awesome that you're starting to almost be able to hit flip Legovers. If you film some attempts, I can help you to critique it, if you'd like. Keep trying them and try to mimic exactly how another player on a video is doing them. If you try enough of them, your legs will get used to the motion. The timing is strange on that trick at first. I used to be really bad at them. Coming up on your toes while going for the dex helped me a lot. Good luck dude, but solid stuff, specifically the 69 Clippers. Try to hit the remaining 31 flipside Clippers without a hand catch, but rather, do them to a toe stall. This will get you jump-started building your strings and your control.

[AdAstra]

17 Jan 2016

Really good practice today. Soreness was still there but easily manageable. I played a lot cleaner because of that I think. I worked on strong side wraps just for fun, they weren't too bad. Lavers will no doubt help. I managed to hit my first flipside legover and then BSOS legovers which felt amazing! I also drilled a tiny bit of strong side orbits and ATWs since I've been neglecting them lately.

The vast majority of my practice, though, was spent on flipside ATWs, Orbits, and Clippers.

My Flipside ATWs have improved markedly and they're finally better than when I left off during the break I took for school stuff. I hit 4 in a row and my consistency has gotten much better. Hit a total of 50 during my drills.

My flipside clippers are still not great. Worked on transitioning them to toe stalls and I hit like only 1/3 of the strings. I was thinking today and realized that I don't remember the transition from my ugly strong side clipper to my smoother ankle crank version of it. It seemingly happened overnight. Still chipping away at flipside though. I ended up with the 31 I needed for my goal of 100. Made my last one really good. Ended up going clipper > ss toe stall > legover > ss clipper > ss toe stall > Orbit > ss Clipper. Kept it flowing well, too. I'm worn out.

My flipside orbits aren't great. I've consistently struggled with them. They are getting better though. They will be the next move I drill. Hit 15 of them today during drills.

I always end my session by just messing around for a few minutes and I hit a couple butterflies and sole stalls on strong side. I also hit my first pickup. So that was fun.

Next goals: work towards 100x alternating toe stalls and work on flipside orbit.

[AdAstra]

18 Jan 2016

Took it easy today since my practice yesterday was so intense. Practiced alternating toe stalls for a bit and hit my first clipper > op clipper which was really cool. Still not consistent enough on my right foot clippers, so I worked on them. I drilled ATWs and orbits both sides, and worked a little bit on flipside legovers.

Online tracking indicates that the lavers will be here tomorrow, possibly! Can't wait!

[AdAstra]

19 Jan 2016

Got my Lavers today!



In other news, I was too excited to really drill anything today so I just went and tried all of my tricks and tried new ones. I hit pickup and legovers on strong side and flipside. Also, I hit a clipper into a pickup which I believe is called a Near Pickup. It felt great. I did drill a little bit of toe stalls though for Nick's challenge.

Speaking of toe stalls, I made my first mods to my Lavers with Nick's help; I made the small cuts up on the toe area. Next up is a re-lacing of the shoes but I'm too excited to take them off haha.

I hadn't realized how much my old shoes were screwing up my clipper. I can hit multiple in a row now on strong side. Flip side is easier too, though I still struggle with it. Strong side is just a question of setting the bag the right way, which I think I can drill rather easily.

Hit a string that felt cool: legover > clipper > near pickup > clipper > near pickup. All strong side though so I need to get better at flipside.

[Kylescook]

Cool to see you blogging so much. You also seem to be paying close attention to flipside so props for that and keep it up. The holes in your game only get smaller that way.

[AdAstra]

Cool to see you blogging so much. You also seem to be paying close attention to flipside so props for that and keep it up. The holes in your game only get smaller that way.

Thanks! Credit Nick for instilling the flipside awareness in me.

[AdAstra]

20 Jan 2016

So last night I had a dream about shredding. In it I hit a butterfly to a near pickup, which seemed neat.

Meanwhile in real life: I hit a flipside near pickup today! Sooner than I thought I would. Flipside clipper is getting better too! (My left calf muscle is so much bigger than my right so I'll really need to push my right leg to get a better crank.)

Too sore to do much today though, so I took it easy. Really just posting today to do a shoutout to Nick- Thanks for all the help man, I really appreciate it!

[AdAstra]

21 Jan 2016

Hit another BSOS legover today. They feel like I'm actually making progress which is great. Am I using BSOS right in this case? Both sides one string, correct?

Anyway still sore so taking it easy. Drilled toe stalls today to improve my fundamentals.

Hit my first near legover today too! Also hit Clipper > Flapper I think it's called.

Anyway I am saving my energy for tomorrow: Kentucky looks like it will be hit by a blizzard, at least compared to what we're used to. 12 inches of snow. I'll have nothing to do so I'll probably try to drill flipside everything.