Freestyle Footbag and Aging

The subtext of this blog is all about aging. It has been all along. Here is an article that addresses 'Aging' in the context of Freestyle Footbag.

Today is day 2004 of consecutive days shredding/training. I apologize for the long delay (and I always joke that freestylers should never apologize for delays) between posts on this blog. With yesterday's retirement of the great Derrick 'Funky Chicken' Fogle, due to knee injury after 30 years of playing, I am recommitted to revitalizing this blog and continuing to represent Freestyle for the aging set. To boldly go to public places and jam. To go to concerts and immerse my shred strings to the beat of the music. To write about it, film it, and promote the sport to anyone who'll listen.

I was recently asked 'Why do you still do this?' and I didn't have a quick answer. But it got me thinking. Why do I play? What is it that keeps me going? For over 20 years the answer was clear... I was training for the World Footbag Championships. My first year was 1985 in Golden, Co and I went every year for the next 19 years and made lifelong friends with all the competitors of the time.

When I turned 40, I was noticing that if I took 2 days off, it took a day to recover, and at that rate it would hold my game stagnant. So I decided to play everyday. This way I could move forward a bit at a time and never fall back. 2004 days later I am happy to report that my game is better than ever! Along this journey, I have greatly improved all areas of my game. I do tons of integrated frontside tricks, more difficult unusual surfaces, I'm light years ahead in juggling, I've invented a bunch of tricks (even recently), I've defined trick categories and expanded on them, I've published 163 YouTube videos at http://www.YouTube.com/footbagenlightener learned Dragon tricks on both sides, expanded the high add tricks I do and I'm in the best shape of my life!

One thing I have noticed is that endurance is down. This may be due to the 'way' I train, but most people would say it is due to me being 45 and a half years old. I'm not so sure which it is, but I'm going to spend the next few months counteracting it through 'Shred Sprints' three times a week. So the first reason I still play I because what I do is a kind of Athletic Magic, and I don't want to lose the magic!

I see myself as a family man, an athlete and a company man. My inner athlete has always had the credo that second place is the first loser. In fact, today I'm wearing the very shirt that inspired my credo. While my athletic career started in the 70's with the requisite baseball and soccer where I realized that in team sports, I was an epic failure. I went to gymnastics and gained flexibility. I broke my right tibia in an embarrassing skiing incident which led me to swimming as a recovery sport.  That is because when the cast came off, my right leg was half the size of my left. It turned out that I was really good at swimming. Varsity team as a freshman, but no state records or anything monumental. I was a swimmer when I first played Footbag. I got into cycling and idolized Eric Heiden for a while. Did some triathlons, and by 1988 had placed 5th in the World Championships for Footbag freestyle. The video of this I find hilarious and can be seen here.

Why do I still play footbag everyday?   First, I fear that I might lose the magic.  Footbag freestyle is so unique, what I do is a form of magic, and I love it.  Second, playing every day reinforces my self-image as an Athlete, even though my priorities have shifted over time, I'm still an athlete!  Playing everyday is my proof.  It also provides my third reason, healthy results.  Sure, I am a vegetarian and that accounts for the healthy diet side of my life, thanks in great part to my wife Valeria's amazing cooking skills.  Combine healthy eating and daily intense exercise and a healthy result is expected and attained.  I feel I'm in the best shape of my life, and I'm not at all the stereotyped image of a lanky/sickly looking vegetarian.  And lastly, I wanted to prove it can be done!   So many of my friends/competitors from the 80's and 90's have retired and either don't play at all, or have defected to the Net side of the sport.  Net is a whole other set of skills, and I applaud my colleagues for continuing on from great freestyle careers to become some of the best net players around.  I envy them for being able to travel to World Footbag Championships all over Europe, but someday I'll come back to Worlds because footbag is in my heart.

There's four great reasons right there!

See ya!
Enlightener
(Scott Davidson)

This posting is in honor of the retirement of one of my oldest footbag freestyle friends, Derrick 'Funky Chicken' Fogle.  I really think he'll get better and play again, but I shed tears when I just think about what 'footbag retirement' would look like.  I can't imagine it.  I have 4 years before I catch up to him in playing time, so Derrick, you have 4 years to recover and stay ahead of me.  I wish there was something more than encouragement in recovery that I can offer.  But I know he'll recover and we'll play together on a day in the not so distant future!


I'm preparing a video from my 2000th day of shredding, but here is one from yesterday, my 2003rd day.  It is shred footage from O'Hare airport while I was at a conference and had a great camera angle until my camera got a heat warning during a publishable string and shut down.  Enjoy!

High Impact tricks are always high energy tricks...

I suppose this is pretty basic stuff, but I wanted to make a general rule of toe about this one.

HIGH IMPACT TRICKS ARE ALWAYS HIGH ENERGY TRICKS, but not necessarily the other way around.

When I think about high impact tricks, I go right to Symposium tricks.  These tricks are probably the classic example of high impact, just about every one of them, except the little ones.  They require one leg to be both the dexterity leg and the landing leg.  And honestly, I am still reprogramming my brain to look at atomic and nuclear tricks as medium impact tricks.  Why is this important? When I am training daily, I don't want to do 100% high impact tricks because of, well, the impact factor.  I know better than that.  I want to do plenty of high energy tricks to get the most out of my workouts, and I know that while high energy is a pre-requisite for high impact tricks, I need to keep a balance that keeps me at a high level of mastery of my high impact tricks, while still advancing on the many other high energy tricks.

I have started to notice that when I get to my frontside strings during warmup, that it jumpstarts my warmup period and gets me super warm, super fast.   Also, all this extra training of my frontside tricks has been providing the high energy usually associated with Dexterity tricks, and giving me a better cardio workout.

High energy tricks are not necessarily high impact, and the important thing to remember is to differentiate the tricks appropriately in your minds accounting of the tricks.  For example, in the context of Atomic tricks, it looks high impact, but is really high energy.

See ya!
-enlightener

Some High Impact examples:






Shred notes: First half of Feb. 2011... I'm at 1528 days in a row today.  Already shredded, but plan a 2nd session later.  I have hit Gyro Zulu Butterfly on both sides on film, and Gyro Zulu Whirl on both sides but try as I might, I haven't hit it on film yet.  I have gotten way more comfortable with Symposium (no plant) Blurry Torques.  Also Shooting DaDa's and Symposium Blurry Drifters.  Lots of film to go through.  I have been trying to film in vertical frame because it shows the whole body in the frame from closer up, yet I still struggle with framing and lighting.  It is weird, but when I stand in front of the camera when it is on its side, I have a harder time predicting the right place to stand.  The double secret location hallway has fluorescent lighting and I don't have the cash for the proper portable lighting system.  The Kodak ZX1 does great in good light, so I really should focus on getting some good lights to offset the fluorescents and see if that works.

Lighting the fire inside...

My footbag career has spanned several decades, and I'm working on several more.  I went to world footbag championships for 20 years consecutively starting in 1985, took 2nd many times, finally won it in 1999 and had a blast in the process.  I have had many players who have inspired me to turn up level of my game which takes me in a new direction.  Starting with Andy Linder, Kenny Shults and Rippin' Rick Reese who got me truly addicted to freestyle and got my game going, then later there was Ryan Mulroney and Vasek who made me light that internal fire and step it up to the next level.  Watching Ryan come up and dominate the shred game, it really made me train hard and took me to the world title.  In the past 10 years, after Ryan disappeared and Vasek took over.  I have learned different lessons from all of them, and little lessons on the side from my other competitors like Eric Wulff (ducking), Jonathan Schneider (dragons) and too many others to mention.  They all had these things in common: They innovated because they could see the possibilities beyond the current reality.  They pushed themselves to attain great things and focused on their strengths.

Thanks to all the greats, and to all my friends who make this sport what it is!

Here is a movie I just made with the new movie software on a mac, and even though I didn't spend more than 20 minutes making this one, I think it is one of my better ones.  Enjoy!




Shred notes: 10/22/10
I've crossed the 1400 day mark.  Looking at end of January for 1500 days, but first it will be December 19th as my 4 year mark.  I've been interspersing long strings in with new trick development.  In small spaces it is easy to go to new tricks.  Gotta consciously work on long strings. I've been filming with a new Kodak Zx1 but not happy with the quality.  Been publishing crazy videos very frequently.  Using my phone and computer alternatively to publish.  Getting confused on which footage is published and what is not.  Sooooo much footage.  Gotta go through and keyword it.

Inspired by Tricks of the Trade II

EVERYONE in Chicago area should be at Windy City Cup at Navy Pier north entrance today, Sunday, June 20 whether you freestyle or play net, this is the place to be!  10-5... this is possibly the best location for a footbag tournament that footbag net has ever seen in Chicago!  Be there!

A huge storm came through, 100's of thousands of people without power, but our Comcast went out so we had power, but no internet or cable TV.  Why did the storm come through during World Cup?  Anyway, I was looking through my DVD collection, it was early in the morning, and I threw in the Tricks of the Trade II video (if you have VHS, you can get a copy for $5) from World Footbag Association and Kenny Shults.

I am so proud and motivated by the achievements of others.  I am grateful to have been around for many of these milestones.  Not many people watch old footbag videos from past World Championships performances and are brought to tears, but I'm one of them.  Watching the greats like Sam Conlon, Peter Irish and Rippin Rick Reese do the routines that I was busy judging is inspiring to say the least.  Watching Carol Weidemier (sp?) do effortless Blurry Drifters, just amazing.  I took 2nd place behind Rippin' in that Montreal dropless routine he did, and I'm pretty sure I took 2nd behind Peter Irish in that Satellite routine too.  I love this sport!

Watching all my friends do their tricks and having Kenny Shults describe the details is especially helpful to people like me who struggle to grasp the names of some advanced tricks.  It is like having Kenny Shults as my personal coach!  Also, with advanced tricks I can pick apart the technical sequence, but I always forget the street-names of tricks and this video helps me to get the names right.

I saw a bunch more tricks that I would like to perfect, it is such a great video that every mid level player should have it, and every advanced player should study it!  Get your copy of Tricks of the Trade II video today (if you have VHS, you can get a copy for $5) from World Footbag Association and Kenny Shults.  Novice and intermediates should be careful not to try to get to these tricks too quickly.  I firmly believe that part of my longevity has to do with the amount of time I spent on each component of the more advanced tricks and my organic approach toward bettering my game.

Side note: Hey WFA!  How hard would it be to get this video available for digital purchase through iTunes Movie store?  Could be a new revenue stream for you.

To wrap this up, I want to thank all my footbag friends for continuing on this journey of athletic challenges with me!

Shred hard and prosper!

-enlightener

Shred notes: June 19, 2010
It is frustrating to spend 15 minutes on a trick and not hit it.  Quantum is my 'nemesis' (excuse the freestyler pun) these days.  I can't seem to get close.  I need to watch that frame by frame because I am missing something.  I can't skool it too hard because I don't want to cause stress injuries from new movements, so I'll keep working on it periodically.  Been skooling routines and long strings lately, mostly at Mammoth Springs Training Center.

Shredding early is better than not shredding at all!

I'm a big fan of getting to work early and getting home early. I don't mind getting up early, I like it. I have a pretty good routine that gets me off to work on time, but still gives me plenty of coffee and time to do the dishes. I rarely kick when I get up early in the morning, but today I did. I am working at a place where I can't be sure to have a place to shred at lunch, so I kicked this morning solidly, and again at lunch for fun. The morning jam sessions feel more like a workout than later in the day, like I am forcing it. Especially the warm up part.

I know that cyclists and runners get up early and do their 'workouts' first thing in the day. There are a couple of reasons why I try to play later in the day when possible. First, I am more comfortable kicking and enjoy it more in late morning. Secondly, when I play with people who come in from out of town, or with local shredders, it is usually later in the afternoon. I wouldn't want to habituate to kicking early, and make afternoon shreds more difficult.

I would rather kick early to keep the rally going, than miss out because of my work location. That is not a good enough excuse.

Shredding early is better than not shredding at all!

I've forgotten more tricks than I know...

"I've forgotten more tricks than I know!"
While this statement is not entirely true, I often struggle with keeping up with myself. I innovate all the time, and part of my process is to blog about it here. It makes my progress somehow seem more concrete and traceable. I can search to find all the instances of a certain trick, people can keep up with my progress even though I basically shred in seclusion, and I can get feedback from my peers. It is pretentious of me to think anyone would want to keep up with me, so my blogging has a dual purpose... I know there are people who do get inspired, and it is always a nice bonus to know I've inspired someone but mostly it is a 'concrete' summary of my accomplishments and failures, which is fully searchable in a way that I very much desire. It is really my diary. A review of my progress. What a great thing. Thank you google for this platform.

I am pretty sure I have hit Phobic Twirl before, and now I can search my blog to see that it has not been mentioned since I started this on my 1000th day of shred. But I am pretty sure I have hit it, now I have to search my YouTube videos because I might have posted it there. This blog lets me tie the information together so I can retrieve it.

Shred notes: 2/1/10
Using new warm-up strings to get warm fast, and really energized from it. Lots of frontside stuff.

Picking apart my game: Bails vs. Sets

When I think about my 'game,' there are so many aspects that go into the whole picture, that today I am just going to pick apart the concept of 'Bails', what tricks I Bail to, and my strategy for managing Bails in training.

A 'The' or 'Guiltless' trick is well-defined, but Bails are different for everyone. A Bail is a trick that a player uses as their go-to trick(s), for a sense of stabilization, to quickly get centered, and to set other tricks from. A Bail also 'happens' when you go to do a big trick and you "Bail" to another (usually easier) trick. Players sometimes 'revert' to these Bail tricks to get control of the footbag. They are necessary for performances because they give the player a way to stay with the beat, still accumulate Adds and keep their difficulty ratio high.

For some people, a Bail might be as advanced as Torque, Ripwalk or Spinning Butterfly. For most people a Bail ranges from a Toe Delay in the case of a newer player, or more commonly a Paradox Mirage, Butterfly, Osis or Whirl. I noticed that in competition, that many players bail to a Toe Pick-up.

In my case, my bails are mostly Butterflies and Osii... also Paradox Whirls, Torques, Ripwalks in some cases. It also depends on the level you hold yourself to. I now play at a Guiltless level, where every trick is worth 3 or more points. For a long time, about 10 years ago, I pushed myself to play at a Tripless level where every trick is worth 4 or more points. I am not sure when I went back to a Guiltless level, but it was mostly to improve my string-length which suffered when I went Tripless. Plus when I designed routines, I never planned a trick less than 3 adds except a few Unusual Surfaces.

The bigger your 'Bail' tricks are, the higher your Add Ratio will be, which is a big part of improving your game.

A Set can force a Bail. A big difference between a Bail and a Set is whether it is employed to recover from a potential drop, or if it was intentionally performed to get to another larger trick. When Sets are executed properly, they make the next trick possible. Since every trick is a Set for the next trick, Bails are inevitable.

Another way to look at it, is that I manage Sets everyday during training by finding the most comfortable sets for specific tricks, and I train them in combination. Bails are when I use those tricks to recover from a potentially uncontrollable moment.


Shred notes: 1/25/09
Blurry Whirling Swirl to the left today. Why is it still easier to do Paradox Atom Smasher (nuclear style), than for me to do a simple Atom Smasher. Atomic tricks to the butterfly are more of a 'bail' for me because my brain thinks they are more reliable. Still not sure why Quantum still eludes me. Closer though. By using daily training of my flipside pixie and fairy, along with continuing to hit Atomic sets and Nuclear sets, and now Barrages, my game is evolving yet again.

Oh, that warmed-up feeling

For me, I start to feel warmed up after about 15 minutes of play. I have a system, a series of tricks and basic goals to accomplish just getting started. But there is a point during warm up where I just start to feel the pre-sweat, that is the turning point. That is when I make sure to do blur/blizzard drills, ripwalk and paradox whirl drills to get totally warm.

The point of 'first-sweat' is that moment where I can feel the sweat coming on. I am usually breathing pretty hard, and can feel my pulse in my forehead/temple area. I know at that point I can turn up the heat on the workout and really start to push it more. I suppose what I am saying is that I ease my way into my jam session every day. I stretch in small bits in the morning, and more deliberately in the afternoons.

It seems also, that when I have a clear goal to work on, one that I am mentally excited about, that it is easier to get warmed up fast.

Shred notes: 1/21/09
Paradox Torques both sides, Blurry Torques on left, unable on right. Lots of swirls, twirls, blenders and the like. Not so much noticeable pain from the other day. Thank my lucky stars.

Footbag Illustrates Life Lesson: "Believe it can be done"

I have observed such footbag greats as Ryan Mulroney, Vasek Klouda Kenny Shults and others over the years. One similarity they all have is their belief in themselves. A belief of 'possibilities.' A belief system that allows them not only conceive but achieve. Watching Vasek specifically, I think about the duality between physical ability and will to achieve, and I think maybe I missed the boat on the 'belief in myself' area.

Historically, my advancements have been based on the achievements of others. I see what can be done, and I make sure to learn it. It is how I built my footbag career over the years, with occasional bursts of creativity like Twirls that I can call my own. While I have been an innovator, my successes have been largely due to my incremental growth in the sport, based on components.

I generally work on components that build toward a larger trick, taking the careful approach When maybe I should be just believing in the possibility that just because it 'hasn't been done before' that maybe I can be the one who does it.

Moving forward, I want to keep this new revelation in the front of my mind. I want to ask my friends to keep me in check and to continue to challenge me with what they think I might be able to do. I really appreciate the feedback. Feedback is a gift. Thanks for all the gifts!

-enlightener

Shred Notes: 1/10/09 thru 1/13/10
Baroque (barraging torque) on both sides. More gyro barrages. I can see barraging mobius and sympobius in my future. So close. Crazy about barrages. They are opening up a whole new direction for variety in my game. Tons of new moves for me!

I hit Blurriest x3 today, which puts me in the ranks of Kenny Shults from 1993 at Xmas Jam in Michigan where he skooled us all on what freestyle was coming to. Glad to catch up to Kenny, even if it is 17 years later.

Getting warm in the cold

Part of playing everyday is learning to play in adverse conditions. Sometimes in small spaces, on slippery floors, less than ideal lighting conditions, or without my favorite footbag. The most recurring adverse condition, especially this time of year, is playing when it is cold. Half the battle is getting warm in the first place.

Playing Footbag freestyle in the cold is particularly challenging for a couple of reasons. First, it takes soooooooo long to get warm, even in medium temps around 50•. Second, it requires additional layers of clothes which compound the problem of getting warm.

It usually takes me 15-20 minutes playing alone to be fully warmed up, but the cold, at least a half hour. If I was playing in a circle I may never get warm, so I would for sure warm up alone, then join a circle.

As I get warm and start sweating profusely, I peel off the layers. First the sweater, then the thermal running tights, then the long sleeve shirt. I find that a nice thinsulate pair of liner gloves keeps the fingers warm and tricks the brain into thinking extremities are warm. The gloves look ridiculous unless I have a long sleeve shirt on. I have employed chemical hand warmers too, even under the toes to keep the feet warm. I notice that when I walk around outside in shorts in the cold that my knees get frozen first, but by flexing them they seem to be ok. This frozen knee thing is new this year as I don't remember this ever being a problem in the past.

I have shredded in sub-zero temps using these techniques, and when done right, I am literally steaming when I am done. Steam is good.

Today I'm working on frozen moves in a futilly symbolic attempt to pay homage to the cold that has blanketed our region. I am lucky to have found a hovel where they have so far tolerated my mad shredding each day, about 50 degrees but cold when the doors open.

Shred Notes: 01/04/09
Jani walker is easier now, and now that I have the magic hop in my barrages, they are being integrated into daily play now. Also hitting gyrrage regularly, and now attempting Barroque (barraging torque), paradox barrage (which I hit way back in '94 the first time I met Tuan Vu at Heart of Freestyle), and barraging toe pickup.

- enlightener

I can't get enough of this sport!

Is there such a thing as 'too much' freestyle? If you ask me, no. You might get a different answer from those around me, depending on when you ask the question. I think everyone would agree that my seemingly obsessive behavior surrounding Footbag ultimately has provided nothing but positive results in all areas of my life, with the possible exception of the financial area.

After a busy holiday week and a major Footbag tournament, my legs are surprisingly NOT sore. It may be partially because I gave been skooling hard every day for the past 1105 days in a row, but I think it is because I didn't get 'enough' play time at New Years Jam. As event director, getting to the site early each day and setting up, staying late to clean up is a small price to pay to bring an event like this to life. This event provides a place where other obsessed individuals such as myself can unite in our unique commonality to play together, learn from each other, reach out and teach kids, and even compete with each other. I personally believe every club should host a footbag event at least once a year! Get on it !

I'm going to do a double jam session today, lunch AND evening. Gotta return the sound system too.

Shred notes: 12/29/09 and 12/30/09
Day after a big event is usually hard to play. Not this time. Noticed a recent deficiency in barrages, skooled them. Hit Gyro Barrage. Is that called 'Garage'?


- enlightener

Injury with honor?

What is an honorable injury? Is there such a thing?
Well, if I got an injury that kept me from kicking, but was a result of anything other than intense shredding, that is an injury without honor. The way I figure it, if I were to flail miserably during a shred, and it resulted in injury, then at least it would be an injury of honor, that I would learn to live with.

So why do I mention this? I had a close call on my xootr today.
I malfunctioned when dismounting the xootr and tweaked my ankle. I have always been careful to not overdo things, this was a lack of light situation. Clearly my own Dumb-ass fault. I find it hard not to focus on the unusual pain during the first few hours of work.

So the first few minutes of my jam was cautiously approached today. After a warmup that showed that planting and rotating was the painful thing, I designed a session around that. Skooled tricks that don't rotate on rt leg as much as possible. I used rt x soles to stretch it. Still hit some nice strings and tons of frontside stuff. Play around the injury!

So much music, so little time

Why do I always use different music at different events? And music without words? Josh Casey is the biggest single influence for me. He argued that, especially in international competition, that words in music are a distraction.

For anyone who has seen me perform/compete over my 26-year career, you may have noticed that every event gets a unique music choice.

There are several reasons for this, but mostly because there is so much music, and so little time.

I consider this a personal challenge... To create a unique performance for each event I compete at. I know that I need to pick a song and make a routine that I can pull out at any opportunity. The reason I don't is that when I am training a routine, I not only practice to the song, but I listen to it over and over... Hundreds of times. I just haven't found that perfect song yet.

Any suggestions?

- enlightener

Inspiration over Intimidation

As a tireless promoter of Footbag, if I see a random hack circle, I stop what I am doing and join them. Conversly when I am playing, I invite anyone who is interested to give it a try.

I play to inspire, not to intimidate. In order to improve, it helps to have people who are better than you to guide you through the basics. Footbag is fun, and very addictive due to the constant challenges it provides.

We need more players in the sport, and to accomplish this, we need to introduce Footbag to as many people as possible. It is a great way to have fun with your friends, to enjoy getting your daily exercise, even a great way for parents to have quality time with their kids.

I hope that my shredding inspires more people to give Footbag a try, not to be intimidated. Yes it takes effort to get good, but if you are up to the challenge, do I have the sport for you!

For more info:
www.kickforhealth.org or
www.Footbag.org

- enlightener

Inspired by Jack Lalanne...

Jack LaLanne was on WGN-TV promoting his new book. He is 95 years old. They asked him "How often do you work out?" and he replied "7-Days a week." He added, "And I hate it, but I love the results."

I am inspired by people like this. And sometimes getting started at shredding every day seems like a chore, but I love playing footbag freestyle, and after a short warm-up I get so into it that I find it hard to stop. I do love the results too. I think that when you are passionate about your athleticism, it makes it easier to keep it going. I don't know if I could keep going this long if I didn't really love what I am doing.

He also commented that "If it tastes good, spit it out." Which I would say is true in the sense that man-made foods are made to taste good but are nutritious only as an afterthought. I find vegetarian food to be very good, but mostly because my wife Valeria is such a good cook.

I'm going to get his new book. www.jacklalanne.com