Zjeezy wrote:The new house is awesome. We just got internet setup so I will start posting again (maybe).
I have been playing footbag 2 or 3 days a week for 30-40 minutes at a time. I don't want to push it too hard and injure something again. The ankle feels pretty good, but because of all the extra weight I put on while not being able to do anything it is affecting my knees a little.
Been doing a lot of reading. I'm really into this author Charlie Houston. So far I have read his books, Caught Stealing, and The Mystic Art of Erasing All Signs of Death. If anyone is looking for a quick read that is very enjoyable I suggest reading either one of these.
Tomorrow morning I leave for the Whirlyball National Championships. My team is in the lowest division, but we are the top seed. If we win our division we move up to the next division. So I have a possibility of winning two championships this year.
So I got back late last night from the Whirlyball National Championships.
We won the D division, We went undefeated, We only were losing for 2 minutes the entire tournament.
We have 12 seeding game, all of which we won by at least 10 points (most where more like winning by 20-30 points). Then we won every game in the Tournament bracket.
The Championship game was the best, it was the first game that we got tested. I nailed a 3 at the beginning for my team to take the first lead of the game. Then with 6 seconds left in the game I got the ball and made the game winning shot just before the buzzer for us to win!!
The next day we got bumped up to the C division. We lost our first game against the 2 seed team. But we played an amazing game and we had the other team worried.
After that in the losers bracket we beat the Cleveland C team 40-20 and eliminated them from the tournament.
Shortly after that the first seeded team lost their game, which meant that we then had to play them. We played our best game of the tournament against them. We ended up losing by 6 points again, but we were proud of how we played.
All in all our record was 16-2 with 15 wins in a row and a D championship and 5th place in C. I am super happy with that and so is the rest of our team. I am proud of myself and how my team played, and all the players in on my team. Now its time to start getting ready for next year when we dominate C.
I know its a footblog and most people that will read this have no idea what whirlyball is, but its was a big deal to me and I wanted to share it with anyone who cared.
"...You have to get, really, practice, like eight hours every day. Then you get good level and then you can compete....There is no money, so players are like big family and that is what I -like" -Vasek-
I have been playing more and more. finally feels like im starting to get it back.
Had an awesome session on Sunday where Hollis came over, also Adam Keith, and Donovon came up from Toledo.
We played for about 3 hours at some tennis courts by my house.
Adam had some really good looks at nemesis, and he also hit shooting star. It was thin (its still a 6)
Hollis was going off early, and I was struggling but then Hollis said he can hit more 6's than me, so we battled.
Me:
whirlygig
spinning blender
mullet
alpine blurry whirl
maelstrom
food processor
whirlwind
alpine reactor
fusion
and for fun montage
Hollis:
whirlygig bs
spinning blender
food processor
alpine blurry whirl
maelstrom
backside bed
pdx massacre > plasma
fusion bs
and for fun blurry massacre
he beat me by 2, but i didnt even attempt anything both sides. It was a fun battle, after that I played very well.
I had
spinning pdx dlo bsos
ps whirl and spinning whirl bsos same string
and some good long runs.
I played again today and I switched shoes because my old lavers are pretty much trashed. I had my old red pair from worlds '07 that I played in that arent in too bad of shape. I am buying a new pair this week.
I also just had some really long strings, which is what I have been working on. Overall I felt really smooth today, which was a nice change, instead of being really sloppy with most moves.
if i want one thing for my birthday (august 30th), its some footage of you hitting stuff like that in your old red lavers. that would be the sexiest footage i have seen in awhile. please???
Cale, if I can get my hands on a camera, I will make a video just for you.
Played Friday with Mark Shwartz (how many people remember him?)
It was his first time playing in about 2 years, and for being pretty rusty he hit some good stuff.
Mark:
ps whirl
pdx blender bs
pdx torque
stepping ducking clip
ripwalk x6
and some decent strings. If he played a little more he would get it back quickly, he has good form just off balance on most stuff and isn't in the groove.
I hit:
gyro whirl > ps whirl bsos
blurriest and scorp in the same string
lots of 30 contact strings
and thats all I can remember
My friend from out of town came in for the weekend and stayed with me. I had a pretty crazy weekend, but we wont get into that, mostly because I don't remember most of it.
Played again today for 45 minutes to an hour, I lost track of time.
worked on my drifters a lot and also work on my spinning. my strong side was feeling weird so I focused on setting then spinning.
I had one string where I had pdx dlo, pdx egg, pdx whirl, pdx drifter, and both barflies all in one string (mostly bops).
so I last posted on Monday. Since then I have played 5 times (everyday except Wednesday, But I played twice Tuesday)
It feels great to be playing this much again, I am playing well which makes it even better. I feel like my body is getting used to shred again. I have been sore everyday, but not too bad. At least not enough to make me not play.
Tuesday Hollis came down and we have an hour and a half shred at the tennis courts by my house. Then we watched some videos and played some darts then had another 1 hour shred. By the end of the second session the hole in my red lavers was pretty bad so I decided to stop playing in them (they have to have enough life for me to make a video for cale). I also had to retire 3 bags because they the holes in them where getting bigger. Bad day for equiptment.
Wednesday I took off.
Thursday I played for an hour and just when I was about to wind down it started to rain really hard, and I had to cut it short. Then after I got done playing I got a call from Tom who had missed his flight due to weather and was at the Detroit airport. So I went and picked him and chilled with him the rest of the night. Played in quantums this day too. It was the best I have ever played in quantums. I am now a big fan of them and want to get a new pair.
Friday Tom and I had a shred, and Mike Hollis came over to join us. We played for about an hour in my garage because it was raining. It was so humid in the garage that we were all dripping in sweat. Then the rain stopped on the sun came out and we continued to play in the driveway for another half an hour. This was also the first session in my new Lavers.
Saturday (today) I played solo for about an hour. The lavers are breaking in nicely and I felt really smooth and controlled.
Highlights from this week.
gyro whirl - blurry whirl
gyro whirl - ps whirl bsos
pdx whirl - swirl bsos
rev swirl - pdx whirl bsos
drifter - swirl - rpt (TJ challenged me to this years ago, and I hit it first try today)
gyro diving whirl bs
gyro diving symp whirl (footed flip)
scorpions tail bsos
pdx whirl - pdx dlo bsos
mobius bsos
vortex bsos
gyro whirl b2b
pdx blender - gyro clip bsos
and thats about all I can remember. I should post right after I play so I can remember it all.
Ashley came to visit about 3 weeks ago. I should have wrote something about it shortly after but i got lazy.
It was a lot of fun while she was here. We played some footbag and some 2-square. We went out and did something and I showed her what Michigan has to offer.
I have been playing a lot again. My knee is finally starting to feel better. I'm will not stepping on that side in fear of hurting it again.
Ive decided to need to start trying to get better again instead of just playing and hoping I get better. So I have started doing something new when I play. I pick a concept for the day and start every run with that. Also I try and make combos involving that concept, if I hit it, I do a normal run, then try and hit it again. So far it is working pretty well, I feel like I am getting better, if nothing more it is increasing my variety and im not just doing the same combos as I always do.
I had a good session today with Hollis, played for almost 2 hours out in the sun.
pdx blender - tomahawk (footed flip)
PLO - Magellan - rpt - pixie same mirage - smear - rpt
ss butter swirl bs
maelstrom (footed flip for bsos)
symp whirl - symp rev whirl bs
pdx flail - symp whirl - almost got the rpt
5 contacts of pdx dlo - atom - legbeater - rpt
pdx dlo - flip smear - flip dimwalk (really proud of how my flip pixie is coming along)
pdx blender - ripwalk
Vortex bs
clip near dso bs
flip matador
my runs have been getting a lot longer and my endurance has been increasing. Been working flip pixie and flip fairy a lot too, trying to use my flip toe more.
been playing pretty well since my last post which is always nice
Cale: I don't have a camera, so I cant exactly make a video. If I can get my hands on one I will make a video just for you.
Played today for about an hour. Played really crappy, It was the first time I have played in the colder weather this year. Could have been why I played poorly. Didn't really let it get to me, just kept playing for the workout.
Flip tapping dlo (probably hit this before but maybe not)
After playing I cleaned out the garage so I would have a spot to play once the weather get too cold for outside.
I have also been lifting weights a lot and it feels really good, even though I'm always sore because of it now.
Hopefully going to play tomorrow or Saturday and hope to play better. Going to play with Hollis on Sunday evening, will post after that.
Had and awesome session with Hollis on Sunday. It was one of the most intense sessions I have had in a long time. Hollis and I are usually talking a lot when we shred and making jokes and whatnot, this day we were both just really into playing. Our strings were so long and dense that we didnt have the breathe or energy to talk in between playing.
Played for a little over 2 hours non-stop
Hollis:
Swifter bs
flip flurry
spinning pdx DLO
blurry whirl - spikehammer - run
flip pdx blender x 2
flip pdx blender - blur - run
jani bsos
whirr - blurry whirl - run
ripstien
blurry drifter bs
blubberman
string with both ps whirls and both superflies
barfly - ddd- rpt
legbeater swirl
blurry guay - symp rev swirl
alpine blurry whirl
pixie inspin clip
inspin clip b2b
blurry whirl - stepping whirl bs
run starting with flip sumo, had both spinning whirls, both gyro whirls, and both tomahawks
run with superfly, shaft, and blackula
also footed a whole bunch of tricks and combos, blurtigo, blurry whirling swirl, pdx torque - pdx blender, barraging same osis, double spin whirl, scorpions tail - stepping blender.
Zach:
My flip stepping was really on today, which is good. I lost it for a while and now I feel like i'm getting it back.
spinning whirl - blurry whirl (flip stepping)
spinning whirl - stepping whirl
fog, blurrier, blurry drifter, blurry torque, food, stepping whirl, ripped warrior, all done with flip stepping.
food - spinning blender
muted parkwalk swirl
dimmiest bs
scorpions tail - DDD
flip blurry whirl - stepping whirl - blurry drop
blur - reactor
ripwalk - spin clip - rpt - run
flip blurry whirl - spin osis - ripwalk - drop on last contact of rpt
dragonflyer - symp swirl
spinning whirl - ps whirl bs
stepping same mirage - atom - tapdown - rpt, drop on last tapdown
toe inspin clip midstring
pdx whirl - ripwalk - ripwalk - rpt
barfly - ripwalk - ripwalk
ripwalk - ripwalk - blurry whirl - rpt - run
gyro symp swirl midstring
also footed a bunch of tricks and combos, paradon swirl, legbeater - infinity swirl - flail, downtime whirlygig, your mom, symp tapping symp legover, pixie muted diving swirl, infinity swirl b2b, far swirl - spinning swirl bs.
Spent a lot of time near the end of the session just doing flip stepping. I think I know what I was doing wrong. So I might be able to add shuffle back into my game.
I have been working with my Dad this week doing a tile job at a Ford dealership. Everything that could go wrong with the job pretty much has. It has been a nightmare and I've been so tired every night this week from working so hard. Tomorrow have I have to spend a couple more hours at the job, come home real quick, then go to my other job for a 12 hour shift. Then up early again Sunday, Ugh. Real life sucks.
Last week I ordered a pair of Quantums 3's that Sunny had posted about that had a defect in it. I got them and the sole isn't glued on all the way, but they are not to bad. I have had 2 sessions in them now, one short 20 minute session late at night, with rolled up pajama pants. And one today that was supposed to be a short 30 minute session, that turned into a exhausting 1 hour session.
Highlights:
blur - dimwalk - blurry whirl - stepping clip bs
Run with both DSO's and both pdx drifters really smooth and controlled into a long run sealed with spinning ducking osis - pdx blender
ripwalk - spinning blender bs
Vortex - spinning blender (Never even tried that!)
gyro mirage - paradon - rpt - merkon - whirl - rpt
pdx whirl - rev whirl bsos
spin osis - gyro clip - spin clip - gyro clip - rpt - spin butter - gyro clip - rpt
Mobius bs
Vortex bs
spin clip - spin duck clip - gyro clip bsos
Double switch's where very relaxed and controlled
footed atomic DSO
Food - mobius
So after 2 session in Quantum's I have played well. I'm not sure if I want to switch to them full time or not. Everything I can do in laver's I can do in Quantum's and vise versa. I wish I had a camera to see if my style is any different in them.
P.S. A new page should be coming up in my blog. If I don't get it, whoever does should post a new pic. Something along the lines of what Holly posted on this page
