8 Bit Blog - not in a good footbag place right now...

renke · Post by **renke** » 27 Jul 2009 08:27

Mgrant wrote: I wish I had the patience to learn to stitch my own bags but I don't see that happeneing to be honest.

haha i totally recognize this thought

Question: What are you doing to drill clippers, esepecially flip side?

have you watched the david clavens clipper tutorial?
the answer can be found on youtube!

and to nick, props on the 9 tiltless contacts!
when you write things you hit, i always wonder if i'm able to hit them too, so this blog is kind of an inspiration

maverick-morley · Post by **maverick-morley** » 28 Jul 2009 06:38

if your worried about mixing drugs i can understand that, many people are.

for you head try LAVANDER OIL (my mum uses it for her head because she suffers from miagrains) that frees you up to use ibroprofen wheich will help with your knee AND your head.

mike is right too, ice works good, just as well as heat patches. and ironically speaking from experience due to MANY footy injurys!!!

all the best man,

btw the bag looks SICK!!!!!

the_8_bit_kid · Post by **the_8_bit_kid** » 28 Jul 2009 16:17

I had a pretty good session today but my knee was realy playing up

I mainly just freestyled, staying away from drills that would aggrevate my knee. I hit a few decent strings but nothing amazing,but i did managed to throw in a few butterflies which i was pretty pleased with

I also filmed my first vid,which is over in the video section now,any comments are welcome!
Ive got my first session with matt now hes back from worlds tomorrow,which im realy looking forward to, i just hope my knee holds out. I think ill give footbag a rest for a few days after to let it recover, maybe start work on a new bag or 2

the_8_bit_kid · Post by **the_8_bit_kid** » 30 Jul 2009 04:05

PLayed with matt yesterday for the first time since he got back from worlds. I cant believe how much hes improved in a week,its insane! I played ok but my knee was realy giving me grief. It was the first time ive played two days in a row since hurting it about a week and a half ago. At first things didnt go to well. I think i was still tired from playing the day before, and was very conscious that my knee just didnt feel right. Once i seemed to warm up a bit i was able to forget about my knee and pull off some half decent freestyle. Though the shred wasnt amazing i had a great time listening to all matts stories about his adventures in germany, i was so jealous!

Jordan · Post by **Jordan** » 31 Jul 2009 22:54

hey man.

I see your from England and your display name is 8 Bit Kid.

I was wondering if you listened to 8 Bit Music? Or Chip Tunes as some call it.

Have you ever heard of Unicorn Kid? He plays that kinda music and is from Scotland. The UK is actually pretty popular with that style of music.

I know its off topic, but I was just wondering. Take care bud

the_8_bit_kid · Post by **the_8_bit_kid** » 01 Aug 2009 07:38

Jordan wrote:hey man.

I see your from England and your display name is 8 Bit Kid.

I was wondering if you listened to 8 Bit Music? Or Chip Tunes as some call it.

Have you ever heard of Unicorn Kid? He plays that kinda music and is from Scotland. The UK is actually pretty popular with that style of music.

I know its off topic, but I was just wondering. Take care bud

hey Jordan. Yes I do listen to chiptune! Have you heard of sabrepulse? He's also from Scotland, though I don't think me makes music anymore. His stuff is beyond awesome! I actually stole my username from one of his tracks! Chiptune is pretty popular over here. Some clubs are even putting 8bit nights on which is pretty cool! There also some pretty cool 8 bit stuff coming out of japan at the minute.

Jordan · Post by **Jordan** » 01 Aug 2009 08:05

Haha KNEW IT!

well thats rad that you listen to it, I always thought it sounded cool. My fav artist in that genre is Motherchip.

http://www.myspace.com/motherchip

my fav. track is Crickets at War ^^

anywho! I watched that short vid of you playing footbag, and here are my thoughts...

Fix your posture. You can learn this by playing non-stop and alterating it to a way in which you feel more confortable and more balanced. Or, you can watch tons of videos and copy peoples styles... Thats your decision.

Stalling the bag more is also critical. I still have this problem with my clippers, but I try my hardest to make every delay count, and you should also

For your toe stalls... Find a "body mirror" (a mirror that will reflect an image of your whole body if you will) and turn to your side while looking at it, almost like a silhouette view of yourself. Now, WITHOUT a footbag in your hand... Lift your leg up (any leg, but I would perfer your stong leg so you can understand it better, and make a right angle with your knee. Almost like your kneeing yourself in the stomach. And now, practice that motion both sides, but as if your stalling a footbag. Once you understand this, try it with the bag. I feel this is really good advice for anyone, because its the most effective way to set a toe stall trick and not have to use a lot of force. And less force=a less tired 8 Bit Kid

ya dig?

Let me know if you want anymore advice.

the_8_bit_kid · Post by **the_8_bit_kid** » 09 Aug 2009 13:50

Its been a while since ive posted on here,but ive still be playing.
Thanks to the feedback I got from my vid and the excellent tips from jordan (thanks dude!) ive been working alot on both my posture and delays between tricks. Though neither are near where i would like them to be, there alot better than where i was the video!
Ive also hit a few new drills:

Mirage>ss mirage repeat
toe>ss clipper>near legover>op clipper> near legover
clipper> far legover>ss mirage>op clipper> far legover>ss mirage

Ive also somehow got loads better at paradox mirage, though ive have done literally no practice on them ??!! I think its as ive started to sort out my posture that im finding the harder tricks alot easier.
The last day or 2 ive been trying to hit butterfly to paradox mirage. I think I will hit it in the next session or 2.
Ive worked alot on my flipside clippers and theyve come on loads. I can throw them into my strings reasonably comfortably.

Yesterday me and matt hiked for what seemed like ages through fields to get to an awesome shred spot he found. While there we filmed a new video which we hope to have edited by the end of the week. I dont want to give to much away but it was probably the best shred spot ive played in, and we got some awesome footage of us playing as the sun went down!

the_8_bit_kid · Post by **the_8_bit_kid** » 18 Aug 2009 15:31

Ok...Im currently finding it pretty hard to stay motivated about playing footbag. The problems im having with my knee mean i can only play a couple of times a week. These sessions are usually with matt and im not getting any time to work on technique, something i would do when i play by myself. Im trying to work on both my posture and my general technique re the comments i received on my last video. The problem is I dont seem to be making much progress. No. In realitly i dont seem to be making any progress. I played with matt today and some times I even think im getting worse. My style is neither here no there since in conscious of exaggerating my delays and improving my posture, and therefore I cant string together more than two or three tricks. When we try and drill I cant hit things I should easily be able to hit. Taking all this into account I just end up getting angry and effectively give in. Footbag used to make so happy. It gave something to work towards and look forward to. It gave me the motivation to quit smoking and generally sort my life out. Now it just pisses me off and puts me in a bad mood. I end up getting angry with one of my best friends just because I cant hit simple drills. Im not sure what to do anymore...

Corey · Post by **Corey** » 18 Aug 2009 15:51

i was frusturated for a while i was hitting some difficult tricks but i couldnt like any now i take more pride in string length it that that mean through in a toe stall now and then to keep the run going so be it...

also if your drilling a move break it down lets take ducking butterfly work on cllippers ducking and your atw out in break down each componet of the move and have that solid before then do the whole trick thats how i approach learning a new trick and improving old ones

JeffOverbo · Post by **JeffOverbo** » 18 Aug 2009 16:34

I don't quite agree with footbagger007. You should not use a toe stall in a run to save it as a so-be-it method. Try to make your shred flow with an difficulty you are comfortable with, then work your way up. Doing a big trick to clipper and having it hit sloppily just to save it with a toe is not good.

Corey · Post by **Corey** » 18 Aug 2009 16:39

oh if thats the vibe my post gave off then i disagree with it too but what i meant is that a bail to toe is better then letting it drop (in my opinion) and keeping the run going

PoisonTaffy · Post by **PoisonTaffy** » 18 Aug 2009 23:32

[peptalk]
I think everyone will confess periods of no apparent progress and even regression in their game. It's actually common and expected.

If your progress was a graph, it wouldn't be a constant upward slope. It will definitely consist of hills and valleys. You should remember that these regressions are a natural and essential part of your learning. Learn to live with them and play through them, they're there to stay.

I remember reading on Ken's blog (C-Fan) that he was having a period of bad sessions, and he had to keep reminding himself that even though it doesn't feel that way, he knew that he is progressing. Even bad sessions are good for your game. That stuck with me and helped me through my periods of self doubt.
[/peptalk]

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 18 Aug 2009 23:52

what a lot of players say if a session is not so great, is that's it's still worthwhile because it's adds on the shoes. They all add up

WyrmFyre · Post by **WyrmFyre** » 19 Aug 2009 03:22

I can fully sympathise with how your feeling right now Nick. A couple of weeks back (ish) I was feeling the very same thing regarding dex moves. Yeah I had the wrong shoes, and a sub-standard bag but still I felt that somehow, I should have been able to get at least one, but despite multiple sessions, sometimes up to two hours at a time focusing on nothing but one move, I couldnt hit it. I was losing motivation and interest very very quickly.

Then, eventually, one day I did. One ATW, flakey maybe, but an ATW none the less and that was it, I was back and hooked again. With anything that involves learning something new often people will quote the three P's, Practice, Practice and Practice. Id like to swap two of those out though, and put Perserverance (sp?) and Patience in their place.

Practice goes without saying, but I find its perserverance at that practice, and the patience involved in waiting and working for the results your after that are just as important. I approach every session now with no expectations. I may not string together 10 ss clippers today, but im going to try, and if i dont, ill just try again the next day, and the next, until I do, because I now realise that given my version of the three P's it will come in its own time.

With regards to the frustration at not being able to hit moves you know you should, again, dont worry about it. If I ever feel that frustration is overtaking my joy of what im doing, I stop drilling and just shred. its important to remember that (hopefully anyway

) we play this game not just to get better, but because its one hell of a laugh too.

Failing that, just stand near me on Sunday. Next to me, you'll look like Vasek