So, to start this all off, I had an amazing time this weekend at East Coasts... I got 1st place in Intermediate Circle Competition!!! I met so many great people, experienced so much, and most of all I learned so many new things that I brought back home with me; which was the most important.
I want to thank all the awesome people that helped me out and pushed me to compete in this weekends intermediate circles comp. John Goode, Will Tuttle, and Drew Martin, you dudes are awesome for letting me room with you this weekend. Lots of laughs and ... Sticks on the ground* John and Drew challenged me to hit rev swirl and I was able to hit it both sides for the first time ever! It felt awesome! They gave me a lot of tips on osis and pdx illusion which helped a ton. Will was a super rad dude who makes awesome bags, so if youre looking for an affordable bag that shreds hard, hit him up... NOW!
John Schneider - You're a great dude and you put so much into the sport and the community, I really appreciate the effort you put into attracting new people to the sport. You have insane dragon stalls and your whirling swirls are so textbook. Thanks for pushing me to compete this weekend and by the way, your shirt design for the competition is so stellar!
Mark Monistere - You killed it this weekend dude.. Your first tournament and you swept it. The routine was extremely technical and your circle game was untouchable, you deserved it all because I know for a fact you work your ass off with this sport. Thanks for giving me tips on torque too! Hopefully we can shred again in the near future!
Nick Polini - It was awesome to finally meet you! You got me thinking about symp whirls now haha, you will be the first person I contact when I hit that bs. I was hoping I would get more time to shred with you but you're pretty nomadic when it comes to circle hopping so we need to get a session going soon before another tournament. Props on hitting jani !!!!
Mark Bull - Cool dude from the start, I think I spent the most time shredding with you and talking. It was great to compete against you, I had mad fun! And keep working on those rev whirls and refractions man, thats your style dude!
Chris Winkle - First off I need to say, FORKED RIVER REPRESENT! You were a really cool dude and I was incredibly stoked to meet you and find out that we lived in the same time! We better have some sessions in the near future and I shun John Goode for knowing you lived near me but not telling me haha. Your double downs are awesome and Im happy you got to see me compete before you left.
Thanks to Waylon for the awesome prize bag! Doug Tank for being an inspiration and having the coolest infinities that I try to copy (hehe), Josh Gayhart for being a rad dude and although we didnt get to shred together I watched you kick in some circles on sunday and you were insane!! Hacky Sack Jack for the Worlds stories, Bruce for the coolest trophies ever!, Tristan for the fun circle shred, Ted for helping put on the event, Nathan Pipenburg for the inspiration to have tighter dexs and create bigger windows (if possible for my short legs hahaha) and everyone else who helped me or the event in any way possible. You guys were great!
Okay, so a lot has been going through my head since the event has been over and done with and its something Ive been wanting to do for a while to get my game to the next level. I have decided that I am going to re-work all my tiltless. I will be working on Around/Orbit bs and both ways, Pickup/Legover bs/ss/near/far, and Mirage/Illusion bs/ss/near all till I feel comfortable with them and can drill them with ease. My goal is to do each trick to 100 contacts with under 10 drops before I move on. I want to work on my clipper to get my form as perfect as possible. And I will move on from there when this is complete. It will take time, but its what I want to do to get my game to where I want it to be in the future.
Overall, I am very happy with my game and I cant wait to see what its like in the upcoming month. Thanks for reading!
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All pictures taken by Amanda Mengotto at Gille Park in Forked River, NJ**
Ripwalk x's 4!!!!
Funtastiks is right around the bend! You and your friend still staying at my camper with us?