Dan Reed

[fatbagger]

Solo Session 7/28
long session, nothing but drilling single tricks & consecutives
I started with lots of BOP
then drilled,
mixer bs
smear bs
whirl bs (15 consecutive on strong side, twice)
ripwalk bs
ducking clip bs
blender bs
whip bs
paradon bs
dbl down bs
I'm spent;)

[fatbagger]

Solo Session 7/29
Started off drilling swirl bs and BOP for half an hour then decided to lay down some 5's.
shut whirl(x-dex?)
alpine shut down
spinning whirl
pdx blender
blurriest
spinning ducking down
spinning ducking osis
gyro diving osis
gyro diving down
spinning ducking pdx mirage
mobius
tomohawk bs
pheonix bs
open blender bs
open diving down bs
open ducking osis bs
open diving osis bs
open ducking whirl bs
dimmiest bs
motion bs
dbl down swirl>whirl(first time linking to a trick other than osis)
30 5's , by far the most 5's I have had in one session. that's 30 if shut op whirl gets x-dex which I think it should. Now I need to play in and out of each of them.
STOKED!!!

[fatbagger]

Sunday Session.
Small session, just Justin, Scott and Myself. I love kicking with Scott because he and myself are at pretty much the same level and we push eachothers game with mini challanges all session long(first to 20 guiltless, who can get more consec. down/osis/ mini drills, and harder tricks too). Makes for some really fun sessions. We kicked at Cal. Anderson Park and it started out like your typical Seattle day, raining. But once we got warmed up Justin laid down a craxy run and the footbag gods granted us sun. It remained sunny for the rest of the day. I swear the weather loves footbag. I hit tons of stuff but can't remember all of it.
37x infinity
18x whirl
dbl down and paradon both bsos in same run
smog bs
smog mid string
gyro diving down
shut whirl
mobius a couple times
pheonix bs
tomohawk bs
pheonix>tomohawk (footed flipside)
spinning whirl
dbl down swirl
lots of 15 contact guiltless strings
The solo sessions are really paying off, I can't wait for the USO.

[fatbagger]

Took yesterday off due to a soar foot and hip but feeling better today. Just picked my routine song and made my routine for int. USO. A little late to start but I wanted to push my level before making it.
Solo Session 8/3Nothing but 2 hrs of routine practice. Made it to the 1:10 mark twice. Also completed my 35 second start 4 times in a row. It's gonna be tight but I'm thinking I'll get the work in I need to be ready for USO.
Just over a week, can't wait.

[C-Fan]

Stoked to see you at USO. If you haven't been filming your routine practice, I suggest you do if you can. When I'm practicing a routine, I feel like I have to focus so hard on not dropping, that it's hard for me to remember later on whether or not I hit my cues, or where I dropped. Filming allows me to go back later and see where my problem spots are, and work on those.

[fatbagger]

Thanks for the advice Ken. I don't have a camera so I can't record it but I am working on my problem spots. I only have to go 1min30 for intermediate routines so I'm not having trouble remembering where I drop. What I'm having the most trouble with is if I drop I seem to lose my energy faster and am spent before the end and just keep droping. If I get a solid start I feel fine the whole routine. Routines are hard.

[fatbagger]

Solo Session 8/4
Once again all routine practice. I had 1 dropless, 2 with 1 drop and a few with 3 drops (not to mention the 20 or so with lots of drops). But I am seeing big progress from yesterday. It is a pretty easy routine but it's intermediate and I want to go dropless so oh well. If I get it down good enough in time I might add a little to it though. 1 week, can't wait.

[fatbagger]

no session today, I did a pdx whirl wrong. I got a bad set and the bag was to close and forward but I tried to hit it anyway. Not bad just a little discomfort when I do the whirl motion. I think I have done this before and it healed fine in a day or two and luckily it is my good knee so I am not that worried about it. I would just rather play on the safe side and not get injured right before the USO so today I rest.

[fatbagger]

Took a few sessions off so my knee could heal. Bumbed, I needed the practice.
Solo Sessions 8/9 and 8/10
light bop drilling and routine practice. Knee is 98%, still little pains occasionally during awkward positions. I'm not worried.(anymore)
Officially on vacation from work, leaving for Idaho tommorrow morning.

[C-Fan]

Took a few sessions off so my knee could heal. Bummed, I needed the practice..

That was me last week.

routine practice. Knee is 98%, still little pains occasionally during awkward positions. I'm not worried.(anymore).

And that was me this week! Except I have lower percentages both for the knee and degree of worriedness. In any case, it sounds like we'll both be able to play and compete this weekend, so I'm happy for that.

Looking forward to shredding with you tomorrow!

[fatbagger]

Yeah, it looks like we just made it. Hope you hold up fine during the weekend. Good luck with the competition. Now off to Idaho. No injuries allowed.

[fatbagger]

USO rocked, I just can't put it into words. I can't wait to go next year. I met lots of people and saw others I hadn't seen in years. Big props to Zack Miley and Matt Kemmer, both of you have great styles and mind blowing trick selections. Open plasma by zack and blazing torque by matt were my favorites. Everyone knows how great Jim is, the potatonater. Ken's routine was a blast to watch, Jim barely beat him. I'm so happy to see some very high level players that were 30+. Gives me hope that at 26 I still have time to get good. I have never seen a dropless routine live and now I have seen 2, very impressive. Jorden is constantly working on something, it's inspiring. And his routine was so much fun to watch, I want to see him do it dropless soooo bad. Not to mention he destroys. I'm so happy for Justin, he tore up circle and rippin run. In rippin run he had 2 consecutive 70 contact runs the second being bested by Nick Landes. I think he wanted to do better in his routine but he was consistant and still took 5th. He also hit alpine whirligig and alpine food in sick 1, and Jani>blurry whirl>mobius in sick 3. I can't get to everyone in this jumbled brain puke of a post but they all were great, esspecially Zeb and the rest of the Idaho crew. I will be back next year and thank you all for throwing such a great event.

As for me, I did about as good as I could have hoped. I wanted to do good in my routine but I still took second. I did pretty well in circle but dropped some strings early in density. Still managed to take the gold just barely. As for shredding I think I hit everything I have ever hit and then some. I had a 25+ contact tiltless string with assassin, spinning whirl and tomohawk in there. I hit barroque, pdx torque a couple times, pheonix>pdx blender and gyro mixer(thanks for the tips Ken, it won me a snow cone), barfly bsos in a guiltless run(only like 7 contacts) and maelstrom executed perfectly. All new stuff for me. I am happy. Now I drill till next year so I can compete with the big boys. First step is perfecting my clippers and destroying my core.

[fatbagger]

No footbag today. I think a few days off is needed after the US Open. So I just did some core work. Seeing/hearing about the way the top level players practice was inspiring. First thing I am going to do is fix/master my clippers, and get serious with my core. I really want to get good.

On a side note, something was kind of bugging me all night at work even though it probably shouldn't so I thought I'd mention it here just to let it out. Yesterday Justin made a post on facebook congradulating me on winning int. circle and coming in second in int. routines, and for some reason Milan Benda decided it was necessary to chime in and let me know how worthless the achievement was. I agree it is not the biggest accomplishment but I am still proud of it. I don't know why he made a post that was aimed at making someone feel less about themselves. What was the point? Apparently Intermediates don't deserve to feel good about their game. I've never met him but now I think he is nothing but an ass. All I can say is that I will not be watching or buying any videos with him in them and I don't care to ever meet him. I will use this like I use everything. Thanks Magatroll.

[C-Fan]

No footbag today. I think a few days off is needed after the US Open. So I just did some core work. .

Good for you. I'm taking at least a couple weeks off of footbag after USO...but I'm replacing footbag with beer and Team Fortress 2.

for some reason Milan Benda decided it was necessary to chime in and let me know how worthless the achievement was.

I'm not defending him at all, so much as rounding out the picture to provide some context. While Milan's comment wasn't very nice, I wouldn't take it very personally either. I suspect Milan just gets drunk, surfs facebook, and makes insulting/nonsensical comments on any footbag posts he finds. After USO I posted that I went dropless and took 2nd in circles and routines, and he made some non-sensical remark about my girlfriend as a response. It didn't even make sense. The way I see it, he embarrasses himself with posts like that, and he does it to everybody, so don't take it personally.

As an NBA fan, I long ago learned that an athlete can be amazing at his sport, but also an ass/rapist/felon/hypocrite/etc. Personally, I do find it more enjoyable to root for somebody, knowing they are also a cool guy (my two favorite Suns are Grant Hill and Steve Nash). That said, I also can still appreciate the skill when Kobe takes over a game, even though he seems like a jerk and is a rapist. In footbag, we're lucky that so many top players are indeed nice. It's still a mistake though to assume that just because a player is skilled with a beanbag, they are also good people.

While I'm here, I also just wanted to give you props for playing so well at USO. I'm sorry we didn't get to play together; competition ate most of my playing time, and then the third day I was just exhausted. Hopefully we'll both recover from our injuries and come back even stronger next year.

[fatbagger]

Yeah, I figured it was just him drunk posting or something but it still ticked me off a bit. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I just felt like voicing my opinion of him.
Solo Session 8/16
I couldn't get myself to rest anymore. So I started fixing my clippers and spent almost the whole time drilling correct clippers and osis. Started learning my flip spinning as well. I'm very excited about my game, I know what I'm doing wrong, I know how to fix it and I know I am about to get alot better.

EDIT: And don't worry about not getting to kick with me I understand. It was brutal for those who competed in most of the events. Next year I'm hoping to be competing open so I'll get my chance then. Thanks for the props.

[fatbagger]

Solo Session 8/18
Lots of clippers. Then more clippers. Then finished it up with some clippers. Also some ducking clippers and diving clippers. Oh, and some osis.

I was thinking of a new form of competition. Sort of like rippin run where you go head to head elimination style. But more like a rap battle when 1 person goes then the other has to respond. Judged on which string is all around better. I think this would be good for doing public demonstrations and stuff, you could get the crowd involved by letting them judge via cheering and such. And at big events like worlds you could have judges decide if the audiance thing doesn't sound good. Personally, I think this style of competition would by far the most exciting to audiences and players. It kind of gives the underdog a better chance to shine.

[C-Fan]

But more like a rap battle when 1 person goes then the other has to respond. Judged on which string is all around better. And at big events like worlds you could have judges decide if the audiance thing doesn't sound good.

Interesting. This is pretty much the way I approach circle comp. I pay attention to the two strings that happen immediately before me, pick whichever one is better, and then respond to it. In some cases, I’ll even throw the same big trick/combo and try and one up it. I’m not sure if other competitors do something similar, but I already kind of treat circle like a rap battle.

[fatbagger]

I was thinking more along the line of 1 on 1, like a mix between rippin run and circle comp with more emphasis on laying it down for 1 string. To quote eminem "you only get one shot". One person goes , then the next goes, then judging. After that one moves on to face the next opponent and the other is out. More pressure, more matches, more fun.

[rjadamson]

Dan, you did such a good job in Boise. I think it was clear who the real up-and-coming player in Seattle is right now. Someday I will redeem my pride by hitting a big trick first and you will owe me a snow cone, but for now I'd revel in your victories... no matter what anyone else says.

[fatbagger]

I was sick for about 4 days so today was my first session in a while.
Sunday Session 8/21 Reilley, Trevor, Justin and myself went down to hempfest at myrtil Edwards Park and the crowd there was loving us. We chose a spot to kick near the back entrance of the park and just started shredding it up. I started out slow and was still feeling a little sickly so I wasn't sure if I would have a good session. I just felt kind of dizzy for the first 40 min or so, plus the pavement was a little slanted so I tried to keep it easy. Trevor had to leave and we took a break, justin got srpayed with foam in a big glass box. Then we moved to a perfect spot were a truck was blocking a crossing between walkways, which left us a clear and flat semi-circle to kick at right next to the water fountian. I started feeling much better after the short break we took and the rest of my session was really strong. I didn't really go for anything hard, just kind of playing to the crowd. I had a bunch of 30+ contact strings and a couple 40 contact runs and 1 run that was 50+. I was killing my strings. They were pretty easy strings I would just do 1 of my short runs i have on lock then 5-10 leg overs, then another short string followed by 6 or so pickups, then another string into consecutive clippers then more string. But the crowd loved it and I need more stamina anyway.
Other than that the only notables I have are;
spinning whirl
dbl down swirl
pheonix a bunch
open whirl bsos
parkwalk and dimwalk bsos
blur bs
dimwalk>pdx whirl>barfly
spinning ducking clip>torque, Reilley and I had a bet to see who could hit there combo first and he won(stepping ss clip>spinning clip) So I had to buy him an ice cream.
I don't really like posting for other people because I don't really know if they want everyone to know what they are hitting at all times. Mabey they want to keep it top secret or something + I don't want to over hype anyones game. So I keep just it more general with how they are doing.
Justin Dale was kicking really good. Lots of genuine runs, and working in some stuff he doesn't usually do. Reilley Adamson started working in mirage to inside into his strings and had some really good strings. We played for 4 hrs and were all spent by the end. Esspecially Justin and Reilley because they played just as long yesterday.
Time to get back on schedule.