Baserock Love's Footblog. Come in. Help the new guy out!

[baserock love]

So I decided to do the foot blog if only to get advice on the natural progression of what i should be trying to learn and when.

A couple weeks ago, when i got back into footbag again I could do all the basic kicks (inside, outside, toe, knee) and I could do toe stalls "most of the time". I immediately proceeded to hurt the fuck out of my left groin tendon and took a week off so I'm going to progress this in weeks for now.

WEEK ONE:

Found my near decade old Juice Facile. It's a piece of shit but it got me back in the game. Bought white/green mesh Lavers and left them unmodded.
Inside, outside, toe and knee kicks. Hit 50 consecutive kicks and can do that fairly consistently. Learned clipper kicks and right foot flying clippers consistently.

WEEK TWO (Current week as of this post):

I got my first real freestyle bags. I got a Bearbag, a Hania Bag and a Narancbag from Tom Tilly. They all seem good but play a bit different. THe Naranc is breaking in nicely and is my main bag right now just because it's a bit more full then the others and takes a bit less effort to kick. The Hania stalls like a dream but almost too well, it sticks to my foot making it tough for me to do around the world's with which is what i'm really trying to master now, the bearbag is somewhere inbetween. The instant i started using these my game improved dramatically.

I have learned all the basic stalls, i can consistently do toe, outside, and inside stalls with both feet at will. I also can consistently clipper stall with my right foot and most of the time with my left foot. I've also learned around the world with both feet and can pull it about 30% of the time with right foot and pulled off one with left foot. Left foot flying clippers feel really weird to me, not sure why but i can't seem to do them right. I managed to do an osis with my right foot just messing around but it was just luck probably.

WHat i want to know is where to next? Gonna work on my around the worlds with both feet but i would like to start working on something else as well, just not sure what the next step would be. Suggestions appreciated.

[RipWalker]

Colin,

Hey bro, welcome to the world of footblogs! I'm so glad to hear that you're starting off right with all of the basics on both sides. I didn't do that when I first started and now I'm going back and doing it because it's crucial.

As to where to go next, I'd say continue to drill your around the worlds (ATW) on both sides but also in both directions (in to out and out to in). Continue to hone your form on the clipper stall and the inside stall on both sides as that will pay huge dividends in your game later on (especially your weak or flip-side clipper).

If you're dialing in ATWs and you're looking for another new move to hit, I would suggest either legovers or mirages. It looks live you've started to throw osis in a little bit, which is good. Osis form will improve as you lock your clippers down and legover form will improve as you get more comfortable moving your leg around the bag in ATWs. Building blocks are key, which is why I'm stressing the basic drills.

Let me know if you have questions on anything that I suggested or need some clarification. I'm sure that the other users here can help you out a lot more than I have.

[baserock love]

Thanks for the tips. I get a little restless trying to just focus on one thing so i think i'm gonna continue to work on my left foot clipper stalls and ATW's but also start working a little on mirages. It's a hot, beautiful day and I'm about to go do some footbag

[baserock love]

Building blocks are key, which is why I'm stressing the basic drills.

Fantastic advice on the drills. I decided to do right toe stall, left toe stall, right ATW till i had it dialed in and bam, i'm now hitting them almost every time. The drill repitition really got me used to isolating the 2 moves. Set, dex, land instead of trying to blend the set and the dex together or rushing the dex which would or course send the bag flying. Bout to do the same thing only reverse and get them dialed in left foot.

I also did a fairly sloppy mirage, but i did it after only about 10 minutes of trying. Great session so far today

EDIT: By the end of my session i was hitting ATW's left, right, left, right. My right foot is now pretty much dialed into them, left foot is getting there. Very much pleased to add a new trick on demand to my repertoire.

[RipWalker]

Awesome! Your excitement and progress are making me want to shred right now! Too bad I'm stuck at work...

[WyrmFyre]

My two pennies, if i may

I never considered ATW to be so essential in the beginning, which was to my detriment about 8 months in when I still had an extremely wobbly tiltless game. Nowadays, i very rarely spend any time just standing waiting for a kettle to boil or food to cook, i practice them like crazy in my socks. On a good day i can easily do 100 - 150 of them, and Ive noticed the difference not only in how balanced I am, but its also made learning pixie (open) set on both sides a lot easier, and its lead to hitting Double ATW almost on demand as well.

I like using them to break other simple drills up as well into longer drills. Ill often warm up by doing a drill like mirage > legover rpt, but i like to do mirage > atw > legover > atw rpt as well. Ive found Its fantastic practice for honing control and balance.

[baserock love]

Thanks for your input everybody.

Couldn't sleep as usual so i decided to watch some true crime shows and kick around a bit in my room.

I'm getting Mirages pretty close to consistent with my right foot. Unlike ATW's they don't feel natural at all with my left. It's gonna be tough to not get one sided on these. Before i even bother really trying to get my left foot going with em i'm going to get them locked down with my right.

2 tricks learned in 2 sessions. I'm happy

[Corey]

The moves that you should really really really drill are
clipper
atw
pickup
mirage
butterfly
legover
ilussion

If you can hit all of those BSOS (both sides one string) then you will have a really solid foundation and you will progress a lot quicker.

[baserock love]

The moves that you should really really really drill are
clipper
atw
pickup
mirage
butterfly
legover
ilussion

If you can hit all of those BSOS (both sides one string) then you will have a really solid foundation and you will progress a lot quicker.

Ok, learned left foot mirages much faster then expected. I can do them at almost the same rate now. Was doing BSOS strings of ATW and Mirage tonight, 2 of each, not every try but i was doing it. Great advice and great session today.

Gonna move onto butterfly's and legovers next i think.

[baserock love]

Eh, figured i'd update because i like the community here. I have had next to zero time to just stand aroun and have dedicated hack sessions, trying to get a career started which is a full time job in it's own in addition to my part time job i have already. I kick around on my breaks at work and when i got a minute at coffee shops and when i'm waiting for stuff.

Just been working on my atw and mirage consistency and on a lark, i decided to try and do an osis and somehow pulled off a perfect one first try. Haven't done it since

While i was able to do drills and do atw's and mirages on demand, i was rarely able to just do a run and pull them off with both feet but i've been doing some sick runs lately with my limited trick set.

I am happy to report that my bag from Tom Tilly is probably about as broken in as it's gonna get and it's just butter. Massive improvement over what it was.

Feels good man.

[C-Fan]

1. As others have mentioned, it's key to really master your 2 add tricks before moving onto harder things.
2. If your strong side on a move is much better than your weak side, stop and think about why. Really try and focus on what you're doing on your strong side, and then apply it to your weak side. Remember that the most visible part of a trick (often the dexing leg) sometimes isn't the most important part of the trick (ie, sometimes what the support leg is doing matters more).
3. One way to measure your progress, is to keep track of your personal records. How many ATWs can you do in each direction on each foot? Count them, and keep track, and then try and break those records each session. This can also be a good way to figure out the weak spots in your game.
4. Try and make it to a tournament some time. That usually opens a new player's eyes to the possibilities in the sport, and can be extremely motivating.

Good luck, and have fun!

[PoisonTaffy]

I felt a deficiency in that I never learned same side mirage and same side illusion in time, and both are not mentioned in the advice so far.
I think both should be added to the "really really drill" list.