Footbag - Mental or Physical?

B_Man · Post by **B_Man** » 17 Jun 2004 09:47

I just read a post made by Brad K (Splint) and he has within it:

A great man once said "This game is 50% mental, 50% physical, and 50% luck" (thanks Yogi).

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think footbag is all about having the right mind set, do you belive that luck has to be on your side or do you just have to have the athleticism?

Personally I think footbag is just as mental as it is physical. With the right mind set, you could probably achieve 90% of the tricks you want to hit (given time). I've had quite a few sessions where I went into it feeling "blah" and had nothing come out of it except getting mad because I couldn't hit anything. However, whenever I go into a session thinking "Oh man, this is going to kick so much ass! I want to try and hit a new trick/combo" and having the sense of accomplishment when the session is over, regardless if I hit the trick/combo or not.

As for being physical, I do think it plays an important role in footbag to be naturally athletic. Of course it takes a hell of a lot of flexibility and balance to do Dragons or one monstrously strong leg to pull off Stampede but in order to get to that point in your game I believe that it's your attitude that allows you to go that far.

In my eyes, if there are two freestylists of equal skill and potential, the one with the better attitude will ultimately dominate over the other.

reni · Post by **reni** » 17 Jun 2004 10:29

thats true. i think the mental preparation for routines is very important. im sure that you can do better routines with the right mental preparation. i saw that vasek and lots of other hardcore shredders often pass their last ten or five minutes alone and very concentrated.
its something you have to learn piece by piece. i havent done a really good routine yet but i think its worth to spend some time before your routine for a conscious preparation.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 17 Jun 2004 10:42

I would say footbag is more like 80% mental and 20% physical. I don't think luck plays any part in it (well I guess luck plays a small part, say 1% since you can fluke moves etc - but I have been trying to get my game much more consistant, so fluking doesn't count in my opinion and I don't think luck plays any part in getting consistant)

I believe I have the phsyical abilities to do pretty much any move I put my mind to, but the hard part is working out exactly what I'm supposed to do. A good example is shooting sets. I was trying to hit shooting butterfly one day and Brendan said to me - "you should try it like pogo atomic" and I hit it very next attempt and have since found shooting sets a lot easier (they still need work).

I think it's much easier to teach your legs to do the right thing then it is to find out what the right thing is.

richardabshire · Post by **richardabshire** » 17 Jun 2004 10:44

At first, footbag is very physical. The muscle memory has to be there first in order to progress. Then the mental game comes into play, understanding concepts and combos. At the highest level, the mental game takes over and commands the physical. The athleticism is a given at the highest level because without it, there is no way to even hit the tricks let alone fearless combos. Luck has never played a part in my game. The muscle memory make take longer on some moves than others, but by no means do I rely on luck to hit a move or combo. I work each part of a move until the memory is fluid and natural. This way an older player like myself can still progress with little or no injury to the body. Hope this helps,Richie

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 17 Jun 2004 11:02

I think if you look at the top players in the world, many of them are not incredibally athletic. Yes they are fit and in good shape, but I doubt they would be running fast sprint times, or jumping big distances. Ales Zelinka is very athletic - probably the most athletic top player in the world.

Being athletic is, of course, an advantage, but many players go a very long way (even winning world championships) without showing incredible athleticism (compared with other sports)

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 17 Jun 2004 11:55

Well, I've always approached everything with a saying that "Eh, it's all mental." ...That's how I got through ACL Surgery Recovery and School and everything so far, basically. It's how I psyche myself into or out of doing things that I do/don't want to do.

Applied to footbag, I'd say a big part of it is mental. I like Richie's post because it clearly explains that there's a physical element more present in the beginning stages, while the mental element takes precedent in later stages.

Senor Grommet · Post by **Senor Grommet** » 17 Jun 2004 18:44

I think that everything Richie said is completely correct.

However Jeremy, I DO think that most of the top players in footbag are VERY athletic.
chad d -b-ball
Sunil- sprinter
Teva Dave- Gymnastics
Lon Smith-Figure staking
etc . . .

(note: the last two are completely fallacious (a lie))

SmellMyFinger · Post by **SmellMyFinger** » 17 Jun 2004 18:49

oh man i wanna see Lon figure skate, that'd be great.

Shredxor · Post by **Shredxor** » 17 Jun 2004 20:50

i think it is pretty much all mental maybe like 10-15% physical. If you dont set limitations on your self it'll make your improvment ratio easier. If you set limitations your nerve impulses will not allow you to do it because you dont think you can. Like i remember Jermey's video of him saying "im going to hit ________" and he did of course he practiced it but it's close enough. it makes sense to me atleast.

ShredPirate · Post by **ShredPirate** » 17 Jun 2004 22:42

it depends on what moves you do. there are the athletic moves like triple dex's and symp stuff, and there are the practiced ones, like spinning osis.

footbag is whatever you make it.

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 17 Jun 2004 23:31

yeh i agree with all that.. mostly mental, some physical, but the physical can be improved/changed with time... you just have to believe you can, which is mental
mental also helps for being able to think why ur not hitting the move or hitting it wrong, and fixing the technique problem... rather than repeated attempts getting u nowhere
technique is pretty mental too..... you may have the physical capability to move ur leg in such and such a way, but if u dont realise u have to, then you prob wont (well not consistently anyway)

Luck has zero to do with it... hitting moves as flukes isnt exactly proving much to anyone or yourself, and u cant get consistent on luck, as jeremy said

BalinorNZ · Post by **BalinorNZ** » 18 Jun 2004 03:22

ShredPirate wrote:it depends on what moves you do. there are the athletic moves like triple dex's and symp stuff, and there are the practiced ones, like spinning osis.

footbag is whatever you make it.

I think hes got it right, the thing is, the way footbag is progressing, to be very good at a top compeditive level you need to be athletic (by this I assume you mean having a high level of fast twich fibre in your mussles or whatever its called) because sure you can spinning osis, or double spinning osis, but the guy who hits atomic spinning osis or double spinning torqe (spinning mobius) is gonna beat you, and those moves do require extreme leg speed and leg accelerationnn/agility.