Israel Footblog - Training program

Matt K · Post by **Matt K** » 09 Mar 2010 16:00

If routines make you bored but your goal is to be at the top of your game, know that routines make you a much better player. The stamina and consistency that they require is directly proportional to your normal shred. Look at all the top players, and compare how they do in routines; you'll see a pattern.

Looking forward to meeting you this summer. Hope you do well at the championship.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 10 Mar 2010 00:28

Yep, totally agree. I recently saw Ryan Mulroney's video where he does his routine at a honda surrounding, and I have no idea if it's true or not, but it seems as though he has done his routine so many times, that he could just pull it out and perform it reasonably well, irregardless of how out of practice he is. I'm no Mulroney, but it kind of convinced me that having a good routine under my belt would be beneficial to me.

Asmus · Post by **Asmus** » 10 Mar 2010 01:12

Matt K wrote:If routines make you bored but your goal is to be at the top of your game, know that routines make you a much better player. The stamina and consistency that they require is directly proportional to your normal shred. Look at all the top players, and compare how they do in routines; you'll see a pattern.

Isn't it the other way round?
When you can already bust really long hard strings it's much easier to do a good routine (obviously).
And if you have already gotten good at shred it's because you work hard.
And when you worked hard on your shred you want recognition.
And then you work hard at a routine.

I agree on working on routines to be boring.
But I also agree having a good one under your belt is sweet.

g00d33 · Post by **g00d33** » 10 Mar 2010 06:54

Asmus wrote:
Matt K wrote:If routines make you bored but your goal is to be at the top of your game, know that routines make you a much better player. The stamina and consistency that they require is directly proportional to your normal shred. Look at all the top players, and compare how they do in routines; you'll see a pattern.
Isn't it the other way round?
When you can already bust really long hard strings it's much easier to do a good routine (obviously).
And if you have already gotten good at shred it's because you work hard.
And when you worked hard on your shred you want recognition.
And then you work hard at a routine.

I agree on working on routines to be boring.
But I also agree having a good one under your belt is sweet.

Reid Strellner told me the same thing a few months ago. A really good way to build up endurance and string length is to practice a routine. It forces you to be able to keep the bag off the ground, which can then transition into strings

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 10 Mar 2010 22:52

On the first page of the blog I promised to share cool things that happened to me thanks to footbag and not just dry accounts of my practice sessions.
Gladly, today I have two cool stories to share!

Yesterday I met the 3 Raanana kids: Matan Ron and Yuval, which I haven't seen in two weeks, and they were all like Happy birthday!!! And I jokingly said "thanks but it's not a real happy birthday until I get gifts." and sure enough, they bought me a gift! I was totally touched. I'm always worried about my performance as a guide/mentor to young people when I have to fulfill that role. These kids consider me both a teacher and a friend, and to me that's the best role I could fill.
I tried to get them to come to worlds but they're reluctant since they feel they're not good enough. I didn't tell them but I kind of agree that next year would probably be a better experience for them. I had a rough time at my first worlds due to my level, and what saved me was good roommates and good English. They won't have neither.

Second, today I had a photo session with a professional photographer who was interested in footbag after he read the newspaper article about me last year. We did meet last year, and he contacted me again for another round. I had to wake up at 7 am for it, but it went good, and if anything interesting comes out of it I'll be sure to share.

Asmus · Post by **Asmus** » 11 Mar 2010 01:36

I liked those two small stories Roy.
We should hangover more at the next tournament where we both are.
(I always have way too many people I wanna hang out with all week)

Hi-jack continued:

g00d33 wrote:Reid Strellner told me the same thing a few months ago. A really good way to build up endurance and string length is to practice a routine. It forces you to be able to keep the bag off the ground, which can then transition into strings

Yeah that is pretty obvious. That practicing to keep playing for two minutes are good for your strings. Im just saying that if you can't do a 30 contact string it will probably be more fruitful to practice that than routines.
I don't think anybody has gotten good at shred only because of routines.
But I think alot of people have become good at routines mainly because of shred-practice.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 11 Mar 2010 01:54

Routines may give a different practice opportunity due to two factors, one being psychological and one physical.
The psychological is obvious; the knowledge that what you're practicing will be performed on stage and judged and has to be top notch. That drives a special attention to minute details that is missing in normal shred (at least, for me).
The physical one is the one I initially talked about, and that's the work on a specific set of predefined tricks, rather than a "what comes to mind" shred. I suspect that knowing what comes next releases more brain power for paying attention to details.

And Asmus, last worlds our only serious chat was when you were drunk and the subject was girls. Let's do that again!

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 17 Mar 2010 15:34

Ever since my RSS reader got broken and took with it my feeds list, I've been out of touch with modified. I forget to surf most of my favorite websites, and become so much more productive at work. This has got to stop.

Working on my routine is a total drag. I don't enjoy it half as much as I hoped and my motivation's in a free fall. I can't wait until this is over and I can just play for fun again.

Plus the fact that J.M is going to be here soon adds to the pressure. I know there's nothing I can do to not suck in comparison, but on top of that I feel like working on my routine ruins my shred game, so I'm like actively working towards being worse. Great. I seriously fear playing with this guy. I idiotically tell myself I've achieved a lot in my life, I'm probably better than him in other things and I have no reason to be ashamed of myself, just focus on having fun and all that, but that's totally not really bleeding through. Lon Smith wrote he did that amazing ducking shred at worlds 2007 because he was worried he was getting Moir bored in the circle. Eek.

On top of that, my left achilles tendon is aching for days after I play, doesn't matter how hard or easy I shred. It's been going on for months, and when I quit for a week the pain goes away. I suppose I should see a doctor, but the bureaucracy in Israel of getting to the doctor who can actually help me is tedious. I first have to see a whole bunch of unrelated doctors who will move me down the chain till I get to a specialist, who I'm positive will say "just don't stress it for a month and it'll be fine".

So yeah footbag is not going dandy, but I'm sure it'll pick up once all the pressure's off and I can do whatever I want again and not play to the sound of the same stupid song repeatedly.

I bought an apartment in Tel Aviv and it's been in construction for ages. I was hoping it'll be ready in time for J.M but I'll probably be able to move in only a week or two after he leaves. My boss is lending me his apartment in TLV while he's away on vacation so someone feeds his cat, though, so I'll still have a city pad while J.M's here, and we can trash someone else's place rather than my new place. Things turned out good on that end.

I've been having day dreams about worlds. There are so many people I wish would attend, that I know I'll be disappointed for sure when some of them won't. I also can't wait to get to know the N.A scene more in-depth.

And finally, a coworker got me addicted to Battlefield bad company 2. We are seriously playing this thing. Squad, VOIP and all that stuff I always wanted to do in a multiplayer game. It's loads of fun. If anyone's into that, tell me your soldier name there so I can friend you and/or kill you with a combat knife.

Asmus · Post by **Asmus** » 18 Mar 2010 03:05

Back in 2006 Jorden was in Denmark for the danish champs. I hadn't played for a month due to an injury and I basicly wasn't able to string 3 tiltless tricks. We still played for hours during that weekend. I wouldn't be too worried.
Say hi from me.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 19 Mar 2010 06:29

Screw routines, I'm shredding again.
Played outside in the sun and felt great, even though my favorite bag lost its softness. I suppose I should wash it.
Highlights:
Blurry whirl, I'm 80% sure this was my first time sealing it.
Muted whirl bs.
Barfly
double switch over-> double over down

In previous weeks I worked on guiltless links, like ducking->whirl and osis->ducking and I find that the links I worked on are almost bail moves now. It totally paid off.
Started working on drifter, a move I never seriously worked on. My flip is terrible.

Thanks for that little story Asmus, it actually helped!

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 24 Mar 2010 06:54

Footed blurriest several times last night. I'm sure I'll hit it soon if I try!

Why doesn't it get a pdx add?

Dropped drifter. Will still work on it a bit but not as focused as I planned. I'll try working on some more 3 add links, involving pdx mirage.

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 27 Mar 2010 01:04

butterfly, double downs and swirls don't get paradox adds. Sounds like you're hitting some sweet stuff. Keep up the good work.

You should always try to make your footbag training enjoyable. If doing routines is making you want to end your life, its' better to practice on your shred (but maybe parts that will be involved in the routine).

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 27 Mar 2010 01:04

butterfly, double downs and swirls don't get paradox adds. Sounds like you're hitting some sweet stuff. Keep up the good work.

You should always try to make your footbag training enjoyable. If doing routines is making you want to end your life, its' better to practice on your shred (but maybe parts that will be involved in the routine). Hope you're enjoying having Jorden around, if he's there already.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 31 Mar 2010 10:17

I just got back from the first day of the Israeli Juggling Convention, that had Jorden Moir as a guest performer. I'll get into details later when I have the time, but in short I can say that hanging out and playing with Jorden has been a serious blast. Every word of his criticism is weighted in gold. I'm still kind of baffled by the fortune that befell on me that I get to have one on one sessions with him.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 08 Apr 2010 07:12

So I just got to spend some time with the Destroyer.

If you followed my previous posts, you know I was pretty anxious about playing with him. I didn't have to worry at all, not because he's super nice and supportive etc etc, but because on our very first shred Jorden gave me game changing criticism and advice that had me going back to the very basics from then on.

Turns out that beyond being a top shredder, an innovator and an overall cool guy, Jorden is also an extremely gifted teacher. He has the ability to see the minute details of how one's body interacts with the bag and see what's wrong with it. Not just that, sometimes he starts with an advice that's hard to follow, and immediately comes up with an analogy or a simpler way to describe his intentions that makes everything click immediately. I suspect that this ability of his has had a big part in making him so good and so unique.

Seeing him pointing out problems and providing solutions to them with so many people and on the spot was more impressive than any shredding or juggling he could've done.

Further, Jorden has situated himself as an oddball in footbag terms. We've all seen his circus routine (I got to see it live, too!) and his routine at todexon. This past week, which involved conversations about these things, several days at the Israeli juggling convention and a chance to see how the world looks through his eyes, gave me a new perspective on footbag freestyle as a whole. I believe that this new perspective will contribute to a pursuit of a totally different game on my part. I'm very curious to see where it'll lead me.

The aftermath of the visit leaves me feeling very inadequate in my game, and also very enthusiastic to start working on remedying that. I also feel that footbag in Israel got a serious positive push, largely due to lots of good connections that have been made with the huge juggling community here, that I'm now in charge of using for the benefit of both of our communities.

I can't believe I got so lucky to have had a constant stream of players just coming over to my back yard. Who's it gonna be next?

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 26 May 2010 01:05

Long time, no update Roy....what's news from Israel?

Australia recently expelled a high level Israeli diplomat was thrown out the country, it was something to do with Australian passports being forged in an assanation in Dubai. It is claimed that it was Mossad officials doing the assassinating.

In response to this debacle, one of the people in opposition, Julie Bishop claimed Israel are not the only country forging passports, and that Australia participates in such activities. Not so surprisingly, that has been big news this week.

What are your plans for worlds? Dates etc.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 26 May 2010 01:47

I thought I was the only one acutely aware of the lack of updates!

Footbag has been occupying a smaller part of my life lately due to a priority shift. I still practice a minimum of twice a week, and I spend my practice time doing different things than what I've done so far. I've been meaning to write about that, and will do it when I figure out if what I'm doing is good or bad. At the moment I don't even know!

Concerning worlds, at some point I considered not going, since it's an expensive flight, pointless to take it for just a week, and I don't want to spend any more of my few precious days off in the states, I'd rather spend them elsewhere. Plus, I don't want to compete. So the only reason for me to go is to meet my friends and hopefully make some new ones.

Right now I'm leaning again towards thinking it'll be worth it.

Concerning the diplomatic issue you talked about, I've been following it, too. Whether the use of forged foreign passports is right or wrong (and whether the methods they obtained the passports for forgery is legitimate or not..) is one issue that I won't debate because it's pointless.
The other issue, which is the point in my opinion, is the exposure of the double standards the western world systematically adopts when dealing with anything Israel.
For one, both Britain and Austrlia took very public and loud measures against Israeli diplomats before the investigation was over and an Israeli foul play has been proved.
Second, like the opposition party mentioned, it is hardly a secret that every country with a secret service employs these questionable methods. Some of them have been caught doing so, too, and no public outcry ensued.
That reminds me of the the "Cast lead" war that Israel carried against the Hammas in late 2008. Israel seems to be the only country capable of committing war crimes during a war. Again, the point is not whether the war was justified or not (the critics didn't even bother debating this question), but why does Israel get publicly lashed for going to a retaliation war against a terrorist organization attacking Israel's territory, while halfway across the world, NATO planes eradicate entire villages in Afghanistan, a country not even remotely bordering with NATO countries, without even the slightest public outcry.

That's it. Double standards is infuriating. Makes it hard for me to criticize my government for doing these stupid, outrageous things in the first place.

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 26 May 2010 04:11

Interesting point, one I don't really have an answer to, I was just thinking of putting in a reference to Israeli art dealers

instead.

I think you should come to Worlds. I've been on and off about it too, especially because I just did a trip. However, in my mind I'm at 90% yes, and I think I'll be buying my tickets next fortnight.

It is a long way to go for just a week though, but I think it will be worthwhile.

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 30 May 2010 04:47

So lately I've been working on polishing my game. I haven't learned any new tricks, but rather tried to get rid of bad habits, as pointed out to me by Jorden.
The first bad habit I worked on getting rid of is that when I dex with the op foot, I used to set the bag, bring the setting leg down, and only then bring the dexing leg up. Jorden said it's a lot more efficient to Bring the dexing leg up as the setting leg starts descending.

As this affects even simple tricks, my game was in shambles. I had to think about everything I do. I've had a few weeks of serious frustration as I could hardly play tiltless anymore.
Once I got used to Jorden's method, I've been reaping lots of benefits in double dex moves like DLO, egg beater, paradon etc, which are a lot easier now to pull off.

The second bad habit I'm working on getting rid of, is playing hastily. I now work on letting the bag reach a complete stop before setting it up again. It's still work in progress, but when I manage to maintain this control during a session, I can reach 40+ contacts easily, something that was pretty rare for me up until now.

I've been trying to adopt good habits, too.
One good habit is warming up by going over tricks I know. If I hit each trick 2-3 times, and if I see it's a little shaky, I spent a little time on it before moving on.
Another good habit I'm working on adopting is reducing the amount of time I spend on tricks I already know during practice.

Obviously all of these were pointed out to me by Jorden, and they've been a bitch to implement. I wish I had him around for session even once a month, to keep me on the right path. It's amazing to me how much benefit I've reaped from the few sessions we've had.

The one thing that still bothers me is that I feel like I reached a glass ceiling in terms of difficulty of tricks. Even if I meet all my get-rid-of-bad and adopt-good habits, I don't see myself learning any new difficult tricks any time soon.

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 30 May 2010 15:22

I know the feeling about playing hastily, rushing your tricks. This is probably my worst habit.

Coming to worlds will improve you

ps, if you want to go into a room we have a space available in the hotel (me, Kevin Regamey, Ryan Richardson who is also from Aust).