Is footbag bad for your health?

funklovesfootbag · Post by **funklovesfootbag** » 03 Jul 2007 18:07

Seeing as how the injured players roster is 10 pages long, and I've heard people talk about playing net because their body couldn't handle freestyle anymore. I myself have been basically injured for most of the time I've been playing footbag, and it seems that even players with good form have sustained injuries, i.e. David Clavens. I'm curious what people think.

Is it bad for you over time?

Is it bad for your joints?

Or does it become bad once you hit a point in your game where the tricks become more intense?

Maybe I'm just bitter...

pips · Post by **pips** » 03 Jul 2007 18:47

I think it's just like any other sport...your body just wears down after playing for so long.

Blue_turnip · Post by **Blue_turnip** » 03 Jul 2007 20:04

difficult to have a poll because there are just too many factors in this question, but i think bad form is a big contributor to body damage

MatS21 · Post by **MatS21** » 03 Jul 2007 20:58

I thought of that a lot before even if I'm not a really experienced shredder. What I think is freestyle is definitely not too good for your body if you play a lot. But play as much basketball as your playing freestyle and I don't think you'll be able to handle it easily either. And something that doesn't help is that most people play basketball around 14-15 years old at an age when it doesn't really matter because your body heals so fast. Most shredder are 18+ and plays A LOT.

I used basketball as a comparison because of the high level of contacts especially for the knees but for most parts of the body like footbag. It can be related to any sports but not as easily. Every sports has bad aspects if you don't take care.

So in resume, take care, stretch, work on good form. Listen to your body and if you feel incomfort on your days off, take a few days off. Once in a while I'll take a week or two of real low play so I'll heal. If you really like the sport, you should be aware that obviously playing too much ain't good for your body but be able to stop before you reached that point. I'm not saying you'll never get injured, accident happen, and we all know that we still want to play more when we think we've played enough.

Blue_turnip · Post by **Blue_turnip** » 04 Jul 2007 00:46

MatS21 wrote:I thought of that a lot before even if I'm not a really experienced shredder. What I think is freestyle is definitely not too good for your body if you play a lot. But play as much basketball as your playing freestyle and I don't think you'll be able to handle it easily either. And something that doesn't help is that most people play basketball around 14-15 years old at an age when it doesn't really matter because your body heals so fast. Most shredder are 18+ and plays A LOT.

I used basketball as a comparison because of the high level of contacts especially for the knees but for most parts of the body like footbag. It can be related to any sports but not as easily. Every sports has bad aspects if you don't take care.

So in resume, take care, stretch, work on good form. Listen to your body and if you feel incomfort on your days off, take a few days off. Once in a while I'll take a week or two of real low play so I'll heal. If you really like the sport, you should be aware that obviously playing too much ain't good for your body but be able to stop before you reached that point. I'm not saying you'll never get injured, accident happen, and we all know that we still want to play more when we think we've played enough.

While i'm not a health expert i disagree to an extent on your age comment. sometimes its not good to damage your body while you're still growing as it can lead to complications later on.

MatS21 · Post by **MatS21** » 04 Jul 2007 06:35

Your right, but what I mean is you wont necessarily feel it instantly, it will shows later on. How many people have problems with their body because they did too much sports when a teenager? I, to some extent, have some personnally ( shitty ankle, back problem).

Edit : And I don't think I have the answer to everything, those are the thoughts I had and I'm open-minded to hear everyones opinion that differs or agree with mine.

Wumbo · Post by **Wumbo** » 07 Jul 2007 15:21

footbag is good for....

+loosing fat
+building up leg muscles
+endurance
+flexibility
+coordination

footbag is bad for...

-your joints, especially the knees
-the feet if you roll ankles

id like to add that its different for every person. the more athletic you are, the less it will harm you. trick selection and intensity makes huge difference too... it is possible to do it that it doesnt hurt you, but you need to limit yourself. on the other hand most guys want to push themselves and take some risk. if ur lucky with 2adds only you can have nice sessions without getting injured. last but not least, the climacool is the only shoe that comes near to what a footbag shoe sole should be able to absorb. bad laver support benefit injuries a lot imo, as well as bad form. i chose option 3 thoguh all can be true but this matches most for me.

BenRea · Post by **BenRea** » 07 Jul 2007 16:31

i dont like any of the answers available because:

footbag isnt totally bad for you health but it does have negative effects.

yes bad form does contribute to pain but not always

you dont always have to be doing crasy tricks to get hurts. im sure someone who played guiltless or tripless for a couple of years could have a lot of injuries. even if you did tiltless your whole life, well lets just say it wouldnt last you whole life. no matter what level of play you are at you are still risking your boies health.

Bringerofpie · Post by **Bringerofpie** » 07 Jul 2007 19:18

Like every sport, if you are careful and play smart and in moderation, it can only benefit you.

If you play right, you build coordination, flexibility, and muscle while burning fat.

ThisIsFate · Post by **ThisIsFate** » 18 Jul 2007 21:43

Anyone know any old footbaggers? Do they have leg problems ? May be the side effecst only show when u are getting old.

Bringerofpie · Post by **Bringerofpie** » 19 Jul 2007 13:49

Well, the sport is only 30 years old.

Michu · Post by **Michu** » 23 Jul 2007 07:50

well I don't agree with the statement that footbag is good for endurance. If you compare the endurance of a footbagplayer and a cyclist, there are huge differences...footbag is defenitely good for the feet and leg coordination and also for leg strenght. you have to take care like all the other sports...

hacksterbator · Post by **hacksterbator** » 25 Jul 2007 09:29

Michu wrote:well I don't agree with the statement that footbag is good for endurance. If you compare the endurance of a footbagplayer and a cyclist, there are huge differences.

you fail to understand that there is a difference between cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance. footbag is very good for muscular endurance! however, as an anaerobic sport the cardiovascular endurance aspect of footbag is lacking.

Michu · Post by **Michu** » 26 Jul 2007 03:03

yes that's right. My word choice wasn't that good because my english isn't that good. You're right, but you can't just say that footbag is good for endurance, you have to precise it like you did

Thx andrew
Greetings michael

ThisIsFate · Post by **ThisIsFate** » 26 Jul 2007 14:17

O this game only 30 years old !

Btw, what is cardiovascular lol. I check on on google, is something about heart ? Blood vessel?

crazylegs32 · Post by **crazylegs32** » 01 Aug 2007 19:42

footbag-no.
Shredding-Yes!

ObArA'BaRs · Post by **ObArA'BaRs** » 01 Aug 2007 20:35

shred apart that cartilage!

professor · Post by **professor** » 23 Aug 2007 08:21

If you play on a soft surface like cushiony carpet your joints feel fine (well at least mine do). If you play on concrete all the time of course your joints are going to hurt, I know from experience.

I think if you're conscience about what surfaces you play on and if you have good form, you will severely limit your chances of being injured, but it is a sport and accidents do happen.

Oh ya, and stretch...a lot.

Senor Grommet · Post by **Senor Grommet** » 27 Aug 2007 12:51

I believe that footbag freestyle and net are both bad for joints, net less so that freestyle. Both will fuck up our bodies over time, except for those of us whose bodies were created with extra Chuck Norris from birth.

Footbag wil not necessarily injure you, but if your body is prone to injury, footbag will ceretainly exacerbate this quality.

Why is there no "yes" poll option funk?

C-Fan · Post by **C-Fan** » 27 Aug 2007 14:57

I've been playing for about 10 years, and I've been pretty much injury free for 95% of the time. I don't have the best form in the world, and I do some hard tricks/symposium stuff. So I would say a lot of it is luck.

I think that a multitude of things affect the likelihood of injury including:

*your form
*your body type
*how much variety there is in your game (how flipsided you are, do you mix shuffle with downtime, etc)
*how often you play
*what surface you play on
*how often you replace your shoes/insoles.

The weird thing about footbag, is that people didn't play that intensely until the mid 90s really. Before the concept of guiltless was invented, footbag wasn't that grueling. You used to get props on 7 trick strings. The level now though is nuts. Guiltless is a minimum standard, and good luck getting props for any run under 20 tricks. Mulroney really changed the way footbag is played, and while he was able to play pain-free at that level, not everybody is. It's hard to say what the long term health effects of footbag will be, because so few people have played a significant amount of time at a high level in the post BAP formation era.

Is footbag bad for your health?

Is footbag bad for your body?

Is footbag bad for your health?