The importance of playing with others.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » 10 Apr 2012 19:44

I am always told how important it is to play with others, but in the 4 years that I have been playing off and on, it has mainly been just me. I wanted to know how bad I am hurting myself by shredding on my own, if I am. I ALWAYS try and get people to get down, but no one is really game or gets intimidated by my "skills". I would love to get down with people who are better than me, but anyone who is good is far away.

F[uns]tylin' Eclectic · Post by **F[uns]tylin' Eclectic** » 11 Apr 2012 04:59

You're not hurting yourself really. But if you had better people to play with, you would definitely progress much quicker. I played solo for a few years, then found a guiltless crew to kick with. After that, I started progressing pretty quickly. So it definitely helps, but I know Mark Monistere has only played with a few people since he started (aside from his first tournament this year) and he got really good all by himself, except for one time he was visited by Dave Clavens and Jon Schneider.

So how far is the closest group of good players? If it's under 3 hours, it's worth the trip. Maybe you could crash with someone for the weekend. You will learn so much, plus you'll make some new friends.

fatbagger · Post by **fatbagger** » 11 Apr 2012 05:22

I agree with Nick but I'll add one more thing. Unless you film everything I'd say the constructive criticism you receive from others is very valuable. You can preform a lot of tricks fairly consistently while doing them wrong and not find out about it till you get injured. + you don't want your tricks to be THE.

F[uns]tylin' Eclectic · Post by **F[uns]tylin' Eclectic** » 11 Apr 2012 06:58

fatbagger wrote:You can preform a lot of tricks fairly consistently while doing them wrong and not find out about it till you get injured.

This is why I haven't had a real session in a good handful of weeks :\ Improper form on atomic sets.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » 11 Apr 2012 08:40

Nick: I'm always down for a road trip, but I think the closest skilled freestylers are all outside of 3 hours(Probably more like 5). I wanna go down to SoCal, but that's a mission. I've tried hittin' up some members of the Chaos crew in Frisco, but no one gets back to me. I should check if anyone is gettin' down in Reno or Carson City.

Dan: I have been considering filming my sessions for some input. I really don't wanna end up gettin' into the habit of hitting a move wrong. I really try to mirror whatever it is I'm trying to hit based off of an Anssi or Mathew Cross video.

Nathan · Post by **Nathan** » 11 Apr 2012 08:47

As far as SF goes, I'm pretty sure the Chaos crew is the net players. Look for the Stanford Footbag Club, or maybe shoot "brianbear" a PM on here.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » 11 Apr 2012 09:01

Nathan: The main part of Chaos is net, but they have a freestyle crew as well. Or at least that's what it says on footbag.org. He actually invited me to come down and shred sometime, which is the closest place for me. And holy crap balls, thank you for reminding me. I always forget how close Stanford really is.

boyle · Post by **boyle** » 11 Apr 2012 18:24

the thing with playing with others is that you are also inspired to go and kick, because not only are you trying to improve your game, but you see your friends and can go for a drink afterwards or things like that.

The best thing to do is to go to tournaments every now and then, that is a great chance to meet a whole bunch of people, and can be worth a serious roadtrip (or plane trip) to get there.

Filming yourself is a great way to get feedback, but if you are consistently getting out there and playing yourself, it's a pretty good sign that you are passionate about the sport.

Pasquar · Post by **Pasquar** » 12 Apr 2012 04:34

Stanford crew ftw!

brianbear · Post by **brianbear** » 12 Apr 2012 08:23

We are Stanford, and we rock the house!

You are only about 2 hours away from us duude, come shred!

F[uns]tylin' Eclectic · Post by **F[uns]tylin' Eclectic** » 12 Apr 2012 12:01

Nice. They win.

landon palmer · Post by **landon palmer** » 12 Apr 2012 13:10

Most of the time I like shredin' by myself, but I am weird I guess. I don't find footbag as a "meditation" like most of you have said. I GET PISSED...... rage shred for real. So i guess kicking by myself is better? I don't like to ruin other peoples good vibes.

Swizzle · Post by **Swizzle** » 15 Apr 2012 14:40

I get pissed too. Footbag is hard. My butterfly's don't get better I don't understand.. But I wish i had someone to play with either way. Fuck their good mood vibe lol.. DEAL WITH MY RAGE!

k thanks.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » 15 Apr 2012 20:35

Can't thank you enough for the invite Brian!

Nick P: I don't follow?

Landon: I'm all for a ragin' session, it can be that push you need to hit something. And I think it's hard to interfere with someone's shred, you are kind of in your own world once that bag hits your foot.

Cory: I definitely can get pissed, I find it hard not to if you aren't hittin' what you want to hit. I feel you on that, company is usually makes for a bomb time. Even with rage.

F[uns]tylin' Eclectic · Post by **F[uns]tylin' Eclectic** » 16 Apr 2012 10:03

Derek wrote: Nick P: I don't follow?

No one does

Anton · Post by **Anton** » 14 May 2012 07:50

I find that having others to play with increases your rate of progression, as well as diversifying your trick arsenal.

As a (mostly) self taught player I find that I really loose motivation without fellow players who can, for instance, appreciate and give props to new styles and milestones. However, because I have no one to play with in a 100mile radius, I find my primary objective when going to jams and tournies is simply absorbing as much as possible.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » 07 Sep 2012 00:49

Never did notice this, whoops.
Anton: I completely agree(Except about the motivation to play without people). You get a different perspective on things, and that's always a good thing. I'm a bit bummed that I didn't catch on to some of the tournaments that happened this summer, but that's a definite must for the next one(If I make it

). Because Green Cup blew my mind.

Boyle: I did not mean to ignore you, just saw your post. I was filming myself, till I broke the camera. May ask my sister to start using her old one, cause feedback would be lovely.

but if you are consistently getting out there and playing yourself, it's a pretty good sign that you are passionate about the sport.

Thank you for the kind words.

rjadamson · Post by **rjadamson** » 07 Sep 2012 12:46

I think about this quite a bit. Personally I love having an active club that regularly kicks together. It motivates me to play and I have plenty of constructive criticism at my disposal.

The one personal downside I can find is that it may set a bar for what skill level I aspire to get to. Justin Dale is the best in our Seattle club. If I stick with playing perhaps I will get to his level one day, but if I'm conditioned each week for years to notice the moves he finds difficult I might perceive them the same way even if my body type would otherwise allow me to do them more easily. Basically it may be harder to push past that point than it would be compared to if I were playing with someone else every day. If I played with Kevin Regamey every week would I unconsciously mentally prime myself to achieve astounding toe game, but at the same time find clipper stuff harder?

My favorite guitarist Shawn Lane was known for, among other things, being arguably the fastest shredder (different context here) to live. There's a clip floating around on the Internet of him talking at a guitar clinic about how the very eccentric guitarist Buckethead had once heard Lane's own recording of what was really many layers of note patterns dubbed over each other. Buckethead, thinking this was a live recording, proceeded to on his own learn how to crank out a damn close version of what someone with a more informed perspective may have passed off as impossible.

Now that the Internet has made sharing video so easy perhaps this isn't so much the case. Though I potentially set a bar for myself by playing with Justin and the rest of the club regularly I still have access to the world's top shred. Sorry if that was on the abstract side.

The importance of playing with others.

The importance of playing with others.

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