Coping with presure

420FootBager · Post by **420FootBager** » 17 Sep 2004 12:08

When I bag by my self I hit all kinds of cool stuff but when I finnally get to be in a circle with my friends I choke and am lucky if I can land a STALL!!!

this sereosly sucks

... I wanna show my skill but can't..... have any ways to help this or cope with it????

I would smoke pot first because that helps but I usually get in circles at school so that isn't a option for me

Iain · Post by **Iain** » 17 Sep 2004 13:13

its simple, play for urself. Not for others.

420FootBager · Post by **420FootBager** » 17 Sep 2004 13:23

easier said then done...

people exspect things from me... and I expect things from myself....

Iain · Post by **Iain** » 17 Sep 2004 14:39

420FootBager wrote:easier said then done...

people exspect things from me... and I expect things from myself....

If the reason y u can't play when people are around is that they expect things from u, then ur also saying u can't play around urself. I'm not following.

Anyways, if u want to impress ur friends, then show them some vids of worlds routines or another video. Show them what footbag is all about. Then they won't expect as much from u because from the untrained eye, it all looks the same. I don't know y it bugs u so much when people watch u, but mabey if u become more comfortable with ur foundations, u won't feel that tension. When I get the bag, I don't even realize anyone is there or anything is around me. I'm focused on what i'm gonna hit next and don't have room or the ability to think of anything else.

Anyways, i hope u find something that works.

lightningbolt · Post by **lightningbolt** » 17 Sep 2004 15:15

Edited because I am stupid and just repeat what other people said.

FlexThis · Post by **FlexThis** » 17 Sep 2004 15:40

AIvanyo · Post by **AIvanyo** » 17 Sep 2004 16:35

Nobody is really expecting things out of you, they just want to see what you got.

ShredPirate · Post by **ShredPirate** » 17 Sep 2004 19:25

nervousness decreases your performance by at least 20%.
if i think of any good ways to lessen stress/nervousness, ill re-post here.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 17 Sep 2004 19:53

A couple of things.

Have a routine when warming up etc. Use this routine all the time - no matter who is with you, this will make you feel more comfortable because it will feel like you're in the same situation each time. When I say routine I don't mean a 2 minute thing to music - I just mean following the same stretches, warm up drills etc. This will also help you stay focused.

Also be prepared - try to visualise the situation in the days leading up to it. Think about what could go wrong and plan ways of dealing with those problems. Maybe write some lists etc. Also think about the variables - not necessarily things that could go wrong but might be different. Maybe set some goals but keep them positive - such as "Always pass the bag" rather than "never self serve"

I learnt these when I was playing Touch Football (rugby) at a national level and it really helped - especially for big tournaments etc. when it's easy to lose focus at some situations. I'm not sure if you want to use all of these - I still follow some of them and if I was going to a big tournament that I wanted to do really well in, I may do all the stuff I've mentioned, although I guess for me footbag has never really been about winning so I can't imagine getting too stressed about competitions.

Jas · Post by **Jas** » 17 Sep 2004 21:04

yeh i get shit nervous aswell when i try to show off in front of other people. For example, i was at school doin some of my normal footbaging and then one of my friends told a teacher to come here and look at what i can do, and as soon as he was watching i dropped the bag nearly after every move i did... It really shits me sometimes, but i just cant think about thinking of showing off... (if that makes sense).
But i kick fine when someone knows how i kick. I had my first ever group session and i was the biggest newbie and i was playing shit when we were starting to kick, but like 30mins later i started to play heaps better coz i didnt really care about how the other kickers thought about me nemore...

Jas

SlashC · Post by **SlashC** » 17 Sep 2004 22:36

Strangely enough, I can usually play pretty well for people that know nothing about footbag (i.e spectators). I get this kinda weird energy when people watch I don't know quite how to explain. This may have something to do with me having learning how to freestyle on a stage in a mall... I remember at first I was really self-conscious, but just after doing it awhile I learned to feed off it... or something.

I do however get nervous when playing with new footbag players though. One thing I do when I get like this is just do something really easy for me... usually mirage>legover drill.

Jas · Post by **Jas** » 18 Sep 2004 00:10

yeh thats the same with me. I think i stuff up when i showoff coz sometimes im trying to think of doing the hardest and coolest move i can possibley do and i end up stuffing it up, and then i end up stuffing up everything i do. But starting off with maybe easy consecs of atw and getting pumped by it will lead u to big tricks and length of string and so one...
basically i can put all this stuff i wrote down in 6 words... "I can't do things on demand"

Jason

ShredPirate · Post by **ShredPirate** » 18 Sep 2004 02:27

just dont think about things like that.
think about all the people in the world with disease and hunger, and how you shouldn't be nervous cause of playing hack

cause nervousness is something that prevents us from doing dangerous things, and footbag isnt that dangerous. just think of it like that maybe.

JFootbagger · Post by **JFootbagger** » 18 Sep 2004 20:00

WOW...the "people in the world with disease and hunger" should DEFINATELY get that nervousness out of your mind. LOL. Good one. Yeah, shredding in front of people is hard, but just don't think of them watching, think of what your DOING! Concentrate.

OR you can do the opposite approach, THINK of them watching you, and what you can do to impress them, and use that as a boost to do EVEN better. It depends on how you want to approach it.

I've done it both ways

Once, I had to show off in front of my Grandparents, Uncle and Aunt, and my 2 cousins, and I just BOMBED. It was terrible.

Then one time, I was at Bruster's with a friend, kickin' it, and I got a crowd of people watching me that were in line for ice cream (also got the hott blonde Bruster chicks to admire me too *Sc-sc-SCORE!*

) and that motivated me to bust something impressive. Ended up doing a pretty long tiltless run.

it twas fun

*Jethro* · Post by ***Jethro*** » 18 Sep 2004 22:35

Last friday at my school there was a talent quest thingo and i decided to do footbag. There were 17 people competing and my whole highschool in the crowd (about 500 peeps). I was so damn nervous until i was introduced because the crowd went nuts! That shattered my nervousness. I had originally chosen a song by the beastie boys for my routine but because it had swearing in it the put on the chicken dance

I did a massive first run and hit phoenix and DATW about half way through

That really set the crowd off. I got to the end and was feeling pretty sore but i wanted to finish well. So i put my index finger up (indicating that this was going to be decent (even though this move isnt that good)) and i busted pixie whirl on the spot. By this time everyone was going nuts and i scored a 10,8,7,7! This placed me in fourth, 1 point behind my bro who played guitar with his mate and 4 points behind first. So in different situtations pressure can be eased quite easily.
hope this helped in some way

Jesse

King Monkey · Post by **King Monkey** » 19 Sep 2004 02:01

A good idea when showing moves to people who know very little about footbag, is to just do things you KNOW you can hit without too much trouble. Dont try to hit the best moves you can (as you may do when shredding with other footbaggers, or at a tournament etc), just do easy stuff. Most people dont know anything about it, so clippers impress them, and mirages and similar things. Doing these moves is better than anything they can do, so they will be impressed and you dont have to stress as much.

Juice · Post by **Juice** » 19 Sep 2004 04:40

Good point Ian!

I tend to always drop while trying harder moves infront of people. So it is a good idea to just do the easy stuff because you'll also keep the bag in the air much longer which looks good.

Atom · Post by **Atom** » 19 Sep 2004 07:19

i think it depends on the feeling you get off your spectators, or fellow shredders.....i know if someone is watching to see me hit something, i won't....but if someone is watching just to see what happens next it's all good. i guess i'm saying expectation is bad for your concentration, but appreciation calms you down. i had two sessions yesterday, one with expectation, and one with appreciation, and i know how they went.

millenniumtree · Post by **millenniumtree** » 19 Sep 2004 08:20

Normally, I don't get nervous around people. I shred anywhere, in the grocery store isles, in restaurants waiting for a table, on street corners, outside my school, etc. People walk by, don't pay any attention, and I don't care. Sometimes I'll get a spectator or two when I'm playing by myself and I like that. I try to show off a bit, but showing off for me is doing alternating op clippers. :P

But... the other day, my mom was over for the day and I wanted to show her what I could do... She'd never seen me shred before. I wasn't nervous at all until I started. I only did about 3 or 4 ATWs in a row, then went into op clippers... 4 or 5 in a row... Never did drop the bag, but after only that, my heart was racing so bad I had to go outside and sit down for a few minutes. I dunno what happened for sure, but it may have been a combination of things:

My nieces and nephews were around, and had never seen me shred before, my mom was there, we were in a restaurant lobby with other spectators, and I was actually trying to take 2 weeks off because I might hurt my achilles tendons more by shredding.

I had never gotten so much adrenalin before... I was literally shaking. :P

Normally though, I could probably shred in the middle of Piccadilly Circus and not get that nervous. It's funny what sets nervousness off... The other day, I spoke in front of 185 new students in a huge hall, I was nervous for the first 5 minutes, and by the end I was reaching for the mic because I had stuff to say! Less than 30 seconds with a footbag shouldn't have done that to me, but it did. :P

I think the trick is just to shred in open places with lots of spectators as much as you possibly can. Don't expect to hit everything, expect to drop the bag all the time, and just don't care what others think of it. It is what it is.

Sorry for the enormous post, I hope it was enlightening.

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 20 Sep 2004 23:25

When playing in front of a large crowd, I find one thing that relaxes me is imagining that everybody watching me is naked. Then I find the nearest bathroom, and.... um

, anyway, do what you need to get relaxed. Playing relaxed is the best.