Dealing with Footbag frustrations

jon · Post by **jon** » 16 Sep 2004 17:42

I get frustrated sometimes when I play footbag, and when I say sometimes I mean often :p I find it happens more often when I play with people than on my own and I need some methods to cope with it or stop it. Lately I have been getting frustrated cause the guy I shred with always wants to use a sand bag, always wants to play on bad surfaces (brick and lose gravel type places or slippery high traffic floors), and doesnt care about maintaining guitless strings. I know when I first started out I was told by more experienced players not to tilt and self serve and back than I thought it was foolish. Now I think tilting and guilting are awful, I only ever want to shred with a 32 panel, and stuff like what socks and shirts I wear while playing aswell as on what surface I play are VERY VERY important to me. I also get frustrated when I am not hitting tricks I know I can hit and that I feel are rather easy. Now all this pent up frustration would be fine but its not really pent up and all I end up doing is complaining most of the time when I shred which brings down a circle. So what should I do? Just shut up and bite my tongue, leave the circle, shred solo, meditate, ... Is anyone in a similar situation or gets easily frustrated? any help is appreciated

thanks

joplick · Post by **joplick** » 16 Sep 2004 18:04

self serving is a problem. tell them to stop if thats what their doing. if they are tilting and guilting thats their problem not yours, if you want to push yourself to the limit, go for it. if they dont, its not your problem. about the bag problem. just make a compromise with him. use the sandbag sometimes and use the 32 sometimes. its not going to make you worse in the long run if you play with a sandbag. besides, its your 32, you can play with it whenever you want. use the power of suggestion when it comes to surfaces. tell them "hey, my feet hurt today lets play on something softer like grass or something." or just blatantly point out a spot that you want to shred and say "why dont we shred over there?" im sure nobody would mind moving the circle. i can never hit the tricks i want whenever i want to, and it frustrates me too. but even if i have the shittiest session in the world, i keep in mind that i got a little better.

hope this helps

zachatree · Post by **zachatree** » 16 Sep 2004 18:15

i kinda understand some what you mean about 2 things, i get frustrated to sometimes when a hit a trick one day then the next time i try it i have truble and have to re learn it i get very frustrated an also when i am learning if im not geting close at all or if im just worn out from drilling an drilling i get frustrated. What i like to do is sit down or just relax my legs at least just dont be standing, and like u said meditate just sit relax and think " if i can hit it i know i can " and if u dont then u just arent that day if u truly know u are cabaule of it it never bugs me, bc in side i know i can do it... now if its a new move and ur have truble and just is one them moves u hit 1 out of every 30 then i just like to think " one day ".

now the other thing, where i live i am the only freestyler every one else are just geting in to kicking now that they see me, so every one is starting to pick up knit bags and every one wants me to kick with there bag at circles... i hate it !!! some ppl like to use my bags bc they like them more bc they understand they are better, but some ppl are nieave and you just cant argue them, now ur talking useing a 32 pannle and being picky about useing there sandbags... think how i feel
all tho i just use my bag for 5 laps then theres for 5

it works

hope this means something.

Zach

sampotter · Post by **sampotter** » 16 Sep 2004 18:16

I get easily fed up with a number of things when I play. When I play solo, I'll get fed up if moves I'm schooling aren't progressing as much as I'd like. In a circle, I get fed up when the circle's too big and there's nothing I can do about it (5 or 6 people shredding total, so people don't want to break off and start new circles), so I can't get warmed up and get some good practice and playing in. It sucks because I know over the course of say 3 or 4 hours I'll only get the bag for less than I would in an hour long schooling session.

Instead of complaining, I would just be determined. "Sorry, I can't play on brick, it hurts too much.", "Let's play with the 32, it'll help both of our games in the long run.", etc.

As for the tilting... Where is his game at? If he needs to tilt, there's no reason why he shouldn't. Someone who's picking up the basic 2-adds needs to tilt to have a chance to hit their moves as much as possible when linking is hard for them. As they become more comfortable with the moves, linking comes naturally... But it doesn't sound like that's the case. It sounds like he's capable of going tiltless if not guiltless and just doesn't want to. If that's so, just say he needs to stop hogging the bag by tilting and guilting and establish a level of play to meet.

Johnny · Post by **Johnny** » 16 Sep 2004 19:05

jon wrote:Lately I have been getting frustrated cause the guy I shred with always wants to use a sand bag, always wants to play on bad surfaces (brick and lose gravel type places or slippery high traffic floors), and doesnt care about maintaining guitless strings

Like already suggested, just ask if he wants to use a 32, or just go 50-50 sand/32. I'm sure he would be willing to do that much. And remember that what you are playing with doesn't have that big of an effect how you play, sometimes its more of a mental thing, than physical. Suggest different shredding spots.

Also remember that his strings are his strings. If he wants to tilt then he can tilt, remember that you could always play alone if you prefer.

Just remember to relax, because a lot of the things you seem to be getting angry over aren't really that big of a deal. Just breathe more or less, and "Enjoy Footbag" (gotta get me one of those shirts).

If you can't hit something that you normally can, just think of why you can't hit it. Sometimes its just trying to hard, or sometimes you just need to take a break from some tricks so that you aren't overthinking them.

Good luck jon. Hopefully we can shred soon. I promise I won't tilt.

max · Post by **max** » 16 Sep 2004 23:47

hey we sometimes have cirles of 3 shredders with 3 different bags. To be honest this happens mostly when we're beaking in 32s...

mosher · Post by **mosher** » 17 Sep 2004 07:15

Like an assembly line!

Man jon, I know your frustration deal.

Try just stopping everything you're doing/thinking and just remember what it feels to do it right, then just do it!

But I think that just focus and concentration can ward off any demons. I am volatile occasionally, I used to blow up all the time skateboarding and throw my stuff around breaking stuff. But with footbag I find I can put all that away and just focus on throwing down.

As for the dude.. psh.. I don't know. I'd just be grateful to have someone to bust with.

Laroche · Post by **Laroche** » 17 Sep 2004 09:51

Tom why dont you come down to montreal for a weekend for a tam-tam jam before it gets too cold?

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Dealing with Footbag frustrations

Dealing with Footbag frustrations

Re: Dealing with Footbag frustrations