Footbag Summer Camp Programs - Summer 2014 - Chicago Area

Footbag Summer Camp Programs 

Now Available for Summer of 2014

Footbag is a fun and addictive form of exercise.  A simple, inexpensive footbag is just one of the tools we can use to help in the fight against the epidemics of Childhood Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes!  

Footbag provides constant challenges for individuals and groups, and a fun activity that gets them off their video games and into their driveways and living rooms to practice and get better. The first challenge is learning the basic kicks and aiming for ever increasing consecutive kick goals of 5, 10 or 50 in a row... and there is something about it that makes people want to keep trying.  If consecutive kicking isn't challenging enough, doing tricks with a footbag is the next set of challenges, and there is no end to it!   

Scott Davidson, Education Director for International Footbag Players Association, Certified Instructor and Footbag Freestyle World Champion, has been practicing and competing for 30 years and continues to improve and innovate new tricks.  Additionally, he has also been exercising with footbag freestyle for the past 2675+ days in a row.  

Scott is now offering summer camp demonstrations and instruction on a limited availability basis for the summer of 2014!  While we are very flexible in our presentation, our typical workshop format includes a dynamic demonstration and introduction footbag, followed by an instructional opportunity for the summer camp participants.  We recommend that you opt to include one of our affordable starter footbags for every participant to take home with them, which can be included in the cost of the program.  Please contact me immediately, as I am only available on Mondays this summer, unless I have at least 4 weeks notice.

2,500 Days in a row and still going strong!!!

Please watch my new video which summarizes my 2,500 day journey of exercising every day.  Specifically, exercising in Footbag Freestyle, a high-impact aerobic sport that requires focus and dexterity, and provides a constantly challenging, constantly unique athletic experience.

None of this would be possible without the constant support and understanding of my wife and son, who give me the time it takes to play everyday, they tolerate me dominating the computer to do the video editing and publish videos, blog and maintain my website: EarlyWorkingRetirement.com, they help me with laundry and they feed me.  I could not have maintained this kind of focus over this long of a period of time without their help. THANKS!

Today is 2511 in a row.

-enlightener

How to create a 2 minute Footbag Freestyle routine, Part 2... The Music Map

This is Part 2 of my series of articles on "How to create a 2 minute Footbag Freestyle routine."

The Music Map:

A Music Map expresses the chosen song in relation to where the 'sections' of music start based on their relationship to the beginning of the song.  This is necessary for designing a routine, as it allows me to break the song into several pieces so I can create sections of the song in my mind.  It will also be necessary for training, as I will break the song down into these sections so I can train the different sections separately.

This years song is a compilation of two tracks from the Monsters, Inc. soundtrack which I spliced together using GarageBand on a mac as referenced in the previous article Part 1 - Picking your music.

For the past few days I've been listening to the music and watching the clock.  I have broken it into 6 uneven sections, for the purpose of mapping each group of tricks and the transitions between sections.

Here is my map:
0:00 - Intro
0:10 - Frontsides
0:30 - Juggle 1 sequence
0:49 - Shred 5's
1:12 - Flow Section 1 (starting on top of head)
1:35 - Flow Section 2
1:50 - (Starts and ends on freeze?) Finalé
2:12 - End

From this map, I went back into Garageband on my mac and split the song up along these lines.  I had to use multiple tracks, lots of splitting tracks and copying and pasting to get it done.  But my goal of creating musical sections of my song selection is complete.  Specifically, using the time codes and listening, I made 6 separate songs that each have a bit of the 'before' and 'after' of each section so I can also practice the 'bridges' between the sections.

After exporting each song to iTunes and creating some new playlists, I have my song pieces available.  The playlists I will ultimately do my training to will include these specifics...
1) A Playlist that has each section in order, with gaps to create a pause.  So I can hit pause after I do a section, and hit play when ready to go again.  I could also have itunes 'loop' each individual section.
2) A Playlist that has each section in order, but with 1 minute song segments in between, so I can do my 'endurance training' jams with each segment.  Those are so tiring.
3) A Playlist with the first half of the song repeating 5 times with 1 minute 'other songs' interspersed.  I start it and keep going until done.
4) A playlist with the second half of the song repeating 5 times with 1 minute 'other songs' interspersed.  I start it and keep going until done.
5) A playlist with the entire song repeating 5 times with 1 minute 'other songs' interspersed.  I start it and keep going until done.  Very tiring.

So join me in this journey.  My next article will be about my Trick Hit List.  These are the tricks that I would like to incorporate into my routine.

Shred notes from this week:
Published some advanced Eclipse combos to youtube.  Broke 100 youtube subscribers this week.  Had a blast toying with my routine.  Today was day 2298 in a row.  Doing at least 2 run-thru's of my routine for worlds every day. Looking forward to actual spring temperatures.

This is what I published:

How to create a 2 minute Footbag Freestyle routine, Part 1... Picking your Music

In this series of articles, I plan to publicly create my freestyle routine for World Footbag Championships 2013 in Montreal.

Usually, I train in private and come out of nowhere to surprise my competition.  This time, I am publicly sharing my progress through this blog, and occasionally through Vimeo.

Today's lesson:

Picking your Music...

I am always keeping my ears open for good music, but because my library is limited and my taste in music is poor, I rarely come across new music that I like.  Whatever I choose, I will have to listen to it thousands of times, practice to it hundreds of times and perform to it at least 3 times (assuming I make it to Finals).  It has to be near my Beats per Minute speed of about 110bpm, it should not have any lyrics.

One of my favorite performances was the year I emerged victorious against the great Peter "Executioner" Irish.  At East Coast Footbag Championships 2003, Here is that performance...

The other day, I heard a commercial for Monsters, Inc on TV and the music spoke to me.  I have always liked shredding to swing and jazz music and this is great.  I listened to a few songs and I settled on the beginning of one and the end of another.  I used Garageband on a Mac to splice them together the way I need them and I included the track here:

The next thing to do is a Music Map... that will be for tomorrow's lesson.

Shred notes: Day 2260 in a row.

Today, I worked through my routine music a few times to get a feel for it.  Wow, what a great time I had.  It has been a while.  This music really moves me. Let me know what you think.

See ya!
-enlightener

Lifes little interruptions... Yield "Bonus Jam" time

Shredding in the morning is a double edged sword.  It is great to get up and get going early.  Footbag Freestyle in the morning takes a real commitment to get started, but I am so fresh and ready to go, I always have a great jam.  I can also pull off 2 hour workouts in the morning, which was never possible on my lunch hour.  When my dog wakes up during my shreds, sometimes I'll walk him, but I'll always add that time back into my shred.  So if it takes 15 minutes to walk the dog, then I add 'Bonus Jam Time' to my session to make sure I break the 1 hour mark.  Lately, I've been averaging 1.5 hours in the mornings.

The double edged sword comes in at night.  Today's footbag freestyle athletes are half my age, and tend to play in the afternoons and evenings.  Have you ever met another shredder that practices only in the morning?  Maybe... but if they are like me, they find themselves tired at the end of the day, and somewhat unwilling to lace up.  The later in the day it is, the more effort it I need to get motivated to get going, and I feel that I am not at 100%.

I am going to say that the later in the day, the lower likelihood that I will be lacing up.  This is a direct inverse-proportional relationship.  I'd make a chart to illustrate my point, but I'm feeling lazy.

As the weather gets warmer, I'll still play in the AM, and my lunch shreds are my filming sessions.  I need to focus on moving my shred times later in the day as World championships approaches.  Finals is in the evening, and I plan to be on stage that night.  I'll have to make a conscious effort to shred later in the evenings.

So don't cut your workouts short because of life's little interruptions!  Add Bonus Jam Time to make it up!

Shred notes: 2/5/2013 - Hit Swivel both sides, and reverse swivel on the strong side today.  Never hit them before.  Day 2239 in a row today!

1500 Days of Shred, 1.5 Million Tricks and Playing everyday!

Ever since I turned 40, I've been skooling my footbag freestyle game every single day!  It keeps the mind fresh and the body young.

This video features highlights with some of my thoughts as voiceovers.

Thanks to Theo 'DaMadGreek' Demeris for letting me use his audio tracks for background music!  Check his channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/DemadGreek


"No excuses."




The dialog from the movie is posted below:

At this point, ive been playing footbag for over 27 years, but when I turned 40 in 2006, which at this point is1500 days ago,   I decided to start playing every day, this short film is really just a compilation of  clips from practic sessions that we call shreds, with voice overs that reflect my thoughts.  I hope you have as much fun viewing it as I had making it.

I'd like to thank the mad greek for providing the background music.

During this time I've been on such shows as America's got talent and local news like wgntv in chicago.

This is my son Alex in a consecutives contest at NYJ at holiday sports festival an annual event that we host.

This is just days after my 40th biryhday when I started playing every day.

My sessions last typically about an hour, sometimes I do 2 sessions a day... but not more than 2x a week.  But at a 1000 kicks per session, comes to about 1.5 million tricks over the past 4 years or so.

When I turned 40 back in 2006, I became obsessed with the concept of "Use it or Lose it," and looked at my errratic shred session schedule, and decided to put my obsession  where my mouth is, and play every day.  So while I have been practicing the craft for the past  23 years, I had undertaken a commitment that was a great personal challenge that would lead to introspecition and some basic truths.

I've come to some conclusions, things like those little pains that never go away, you've got to play through them.   They are just a trick that the body plays on the mind as it tries to get out of work.  Little pains go away a little after starting.  Injuries are different, but I'm fortunate not to suffer from any serious ones.

Sometimes just getting started was the hardest part.  The mental game was strong here.  I found that after I made it through my warm ups, that I no longer wanted to blow off my session.  What I gained from this is an ability to recognize and overcome the mental chatter that might otherwise  supply me with excuses to skip my session.  

I also couldn't let the lack of a location become an excuse.  I boldly walk into hotels and find a spot to play at, sometimes in a forgotten stairwell.  Mainly I play at Mammoth Springs with seclusion and wind protection, at the service entrance at my workplace, or in my living room.  Whenever possible I play at festivals, concerts and promote the sport.  

When I worked downtown, I'd go out in front of my store in full body running thermals, put chemical  hand warmers under my toes just to stay warm.   And when I'd end, I'd literally have steam coming off of me.  

Whenever possible have music to kick to , it really makes it better when kicking with music.

I pretty much always warm up with the same tricks every day, I call them "Warm up strings".  10 in a row, infinity osis, ripwalk, paradox whirl, spinning butterflies and blurs and blizzards. 

I always end with a worthy "Out" string, thats utilizes the things that I had been working on that day, along with my other tricks in a really long string that would be worthwhile to publish on like say, the internet.  

Speaking to the mental part of the game, I try to think of it as play time, or recess... not really a workout.  Work is hard, it's not work, it's fun, it's play, I have a great time doing it.  

Early on, back in 2007, my hip started to hurt.  But it was a blessing in disguise as it changed my focus in a new direction... I started working on my flipside which improved my game and gave my right hip the time it needed to heal. 

I also find, that when I have a goal, something to focus on, when I get into my workout, I get warm faster, it's a strong motivator for me, and when I achieve those goals, I feel a sense of success.

In order to get the most shred time out of a single recess , which most people call lunch... I wear my kicking shorts and shirt under my work clothes, and just shed layers to get started. 

I think an hour long lunch is better spent shredding, because a 15 minute break is really twice as long as it takes to eat.

We've kicked at theme parks, like disney world, at parades in Oak park, at the Daley Center and many venues.  We'be been kicked out of many places  too, by the security there.  We call it the 'Security Test" when the Security guard passes us up and keeps walking then we've passed the security test, if not then we have to deal with security and hope we don't get kicked out.

This is footage from Lollapalloza in 2009.  

Rob McCloskey inspired me back in the day, when I lost 50 lbs. playing footbag, that was back in 1992.  He said 'Kick 1000 Kicks a Day' and I said 'How about a 1000 Tricks a Day."  And I carried a counter with me, and after I did my strings, I clicked off how many tricks I did.  And I wouldn't stop until I reached a 1000 tricks, which took a little over a half hour to complete.   

I did have a lot of accomplishments in the past 4 years or so.  Including 2nd in the World with Keaton Halley in Doubles Footbag Team Freestyle.  And while we were training for that, we went to California and filmed for Americas Got Talent, but we didn't get on the air.

Here is some rare footage of me kicking in a field

And for the first time, in 2010, I got see the footage of me winning the World Championships in 1999.  Thanks to John Hentges for that.

During this time, we attended events such as New Years Jam,  Midwest Regional Championships, Windy City Open, several Funtastik events, Taste of Chicago, Blues Fest, USOpen Tennis Championships, several apperances on WGN-TV, WGN Health fairs, jockey underwear contest, America's Got Talent, Snicker kicker, mountain dew spec ads,  won a camera from a Cheerios contest and I plan to enter more contests!

It's sometimes hard to get started, always hard to stop.

++++++++++++++

Thanks for checking it out!

See ya!

-enlightener

We need more Footbag tournaments and events!

For our sport to properly develop to it's potential, we need more structured events AND we need to do more youth outreach to promote Footbag to kids and parents for it's great health and social benefits. 

This means YOU!

I sit here, saddened, outside the home of the directors of the Funtastik Summer Classic, where I can't escape the reality that this family tradition is about to see it's last repetition.  Tournaments like this, with now 25 years running have a cult following which draws out all the top players and enthusiasts to a single location, for a weekend of friendly competition and general Footbag mania. So many thanks to Brenda and Joe Solonoski for hosting this event year after year, for opening their home to us, and for bringing together so many of our friends into a single location.            It breaks my heart that this is the last Funtastik Summer Classic!

Every self-respecting club needs to run at least one event each year, and do some youth outreach for the good of mankind. 

Check www.kickforhealth.org for info about the 'Footbag Challenge' and how this can be a great vehicle to promote the health aspects of Footbag. 

If you want to run a tournament, it doesn't have to be a mammoth 3-day event, but I have been running Footbag events for 25 years in the Chicago area and I promise to help coach any aspiring tournament directors who want to have an event in your area. 

It all starts right here, right now!   We need more tournaments. Period. Contact me now!
Www.kickforhealth.org

-enlightener
Scott Davidson
1999 Freestyle World Champion

Pepsi Refresh Project - Successful submission of Footbag idea

On behalf of our youth outreach program, Kick for Health, I would like to announce that we have successfully submitted a grant request for the Pepsi Refresh Project to "Help prevent childhood obesity by giving footbags to people we teach!"

Learn about our proposal by watching this video:




Starting August 1, assuming we get approved, the voting begins.  I want to try to use the power of social networking to win this grant, so I am requesting any people with experience in reaching large audiences to please step up and help me with this.  They will give me a specific web page to send you to at that time for voting, and you can vote for 10 things or throw 10 votes at a single idea.  We will need help... watch for further plea's.


Shred notes: 7/1/10
I had a series of doctor appointments where she first sliced my toe and drained a bad infection.  Then it got reinfected.  I DID NOT MISS A DAY OF SHREDDING!  Like I said, no little hangnail is going to stop this streak.  I am now on 1289 days in a row.  I have made a series of video errors, bad lighting, bad focus.  Learning experiences.  Gonna get footage today that is good quality and compare HD to 320p.


-enlightener

Injury without honor...

Hangnails are my worst fear.  Every time I cut my toenails I am conscious of the possibility of a painful hangnail, and this one has been getting worse for 10 days now.  Doesn't seem to get better.  I refuse to be stopped.  I have been skooling every day for 1285 days in a row, and I won't be stopped by a freaking hangnail.  An injury without honor.  I could see that if I got injured by playing footbag freestyle, that there would be some solace in knowing that my own obsession with the sport is the reason for breaking a streak.  If this keeps up, I'm going to have to go to a doctor.  I hate doctors, I'm pretty sure they hate me too.  They seem to be a bunch of pill pushers, or knife wielding madpeople with some hidden agenda to save their insurance overlords money so they can get that bonus and go to the Bahamas.

Today I am studying Daryl Genzu Genz, and how he laces his shoe.  My solution is to Genzu a pair of Lavers and relieve the pressure that is caused by my shoes pushing up against my big toe every time I land.  I still have another 2 hour demo this afternoon at Taste of Chicago where we shred and teach kids about the basics of footbag.




Shred notes: 6/27/2010
Just trying to be productive and play through the pain. Lots of ice on the toe to keep swelling down, lots of neosporine too. Ouch

Near-innovation! New for me...

After another week of cool temperatures. Making the call between kicking at the low end of my temperature spectrum outdoors, or kicking in the double secret location which is temperature controlled but limited on space and has slippery floors. The results were mixed, but when I did go outdoors yesterday I stumbled on a concept that I had never tried before called "Muted."

Of course, I thought I had innovated again, but in the back of my head I thought I had heard of this before. It is when you land and catch the trick on the same toe, no support leg. I hit Muted gyro mirage first, which led me to:
Muted Blur, Muted DLO both sides, and all kinds of tricks that I thought were innovations.

I did have one burst of freshness when I combined a Muted Blur with an immediate Zoid set butterfly. Now that I think about it, the ultimate would be a Zoid set trick ending in a Muted delay. I'll try that tomorrow. Today was 1220 days in a row shredding!

Shred notes: 4/23/10
I have been getting some great runs through the routine, very promising. Also have had some successes getting warm in the cold outdoors, against all odds.

-This is not your fathers' Hacky Sack!
Footbag Freestyle

Family, Footbag and Earning Power

Introspection can produce clarity. In my case I have recently thought a lot about how what is important to me in life. The result is, in this order...
1) Family (My wife and son are the apples of my eye)
2) Footbag (My sport provides me the health, meditation and infamy I need to thrive)
3) 'Work' (My job provides me the earning power to keep it all going)

I put 'work' in quotes because I truly work for a great company that I look forward to going to every day, almost as much as I look forward to going home every night to my family. The cliche 'If you find a job you love, you'll never work a day in your life' is true for me.

I am passionate about all three of these areas of my life and I am proud to say it. Another cliche come true for me is 'Playing at 100%'. I am committed to playing at 100% in each of these areas of my life. When I am with my family, I am present and attentive to their needs. I do everything I can to make our time together memorable and high-value. When I play footbag freestyle, I approach it with the attitude that I can always be better than I currently am. I can continue to achieve excellence in my sport, and in the process it keeps my mind fresh and my body young. And at 43 years old, that is saying something. Today will be 1171 days in a row of shredding, plus 24 years before that. When I go to 'work', I look forward to being the best I can be, contributing to every area of the business in whatever roles are necessary at the time. It is a very rewarding job and I frequently have to 'pinch' myself because it sometimes feels like a dream.

Sure our family has issues that we are working on, but looking around, we have it pretty good. Certainly, I can improve my footbag game and do more, and I am always working on that. And while I could stand to make more money, life is not all about money... at least I do what I love! Thanks to all the people in my life! I am always playing at 100% and I'm proud to say it!

-enlightener

Shred Notes: 3/4/2010
Yesterday I was trying to hit fairy set barfly (triple dex) and I pulled a muscle in the groinal area on the left side. Me thinks I wasn't quite as warmed up as I thought. This morning, thanks to my 'buffy-like' healing powers, I feel much better. It is an Injury with Honor, but I am glad it is not bothering me as much today.

New Trick? Blender ending in cross-body sole? "Splendor"

In the process of working on Whirr sets, I realized it is the perfect set to do a blender ending in a cross-body sole! Hit it my first two tries. Has anyone hit Blender ending in X-body sole? I call it "Splendor," that is if I have the right to name it. I think it is a perfect name. I'll film it and post it soon. I love this sport.

Shred notes: 2/15/10
Got two jams in today. Skooled the hell out of soliosis, both sides. Small area, living room cluttered, still had some good strings. I don't know what made me do the 2nd session, just felt like it. And as it turned out, that was when I hit the first "Splendor" tricks. Side note, during the second jam, felt the lower back pain I have been getting every morning if I sleep more than 6 hours. Solution, don't sleep more than 6 hours at a time.

9.8 meters per second squared (or 'Snowflakes')

Footbag freestyle is a living workshop on Physics combined with Physiology. Terminal Velocity of a falling object is 9.8 meters per second squared. That is one of the few things I remember from high-school physics class. I don't know why that stuck, but it did. I quote Wikipedia: "An object falling toward the surface of the Earth will fall 9.81 meters (or 32.18 feet) per second faster every second (an acceleration of 9.81 m/s² or 32.18 ft/s²)." I read a few other cool things at wikipedia on this topic, but most of it made my eyes roll into the back of my head.

When I think about how this plays into my footbag game, I am reminded of how I am truly the master of the obvious. Really, footbag players don't have to deal with footbags at Terminal Velocity (for a human, that is about 120mph). We deal in Apex and the beginning part of the 'falling' process. When we set the footbag, we can somewhat control the height of the set by the amount of energy we put into the set, and the Apex is split second when the footbag stops moving in mid air... think about that. Stopped in mid-air, pretty cool. Really, every trick no matter how difficult contains the Upward, Apex and Downward motions. We refer to the motion that starts the whole process as the "Set."

During the Downward portion of the path, the footbag falls at 32.18 feet per second faster... each second! When I think about how that impacts our sport, I am glad I don't EVER kick the footbag over 32 feet high! Even Net players rarely kick it that high, but because of Terminal Velocity our sports are very different. Our brains can compensate for this with enough practice, that is why not everyone can be an outfielder in professional baseball... it is a learned skill. Footbag deals primarily with the first 5 feet of downward acceleration, which tells me that I have had a lot of practice learning about the path of a footbag because almost every set is the same. Ironically though, they are all unique and I dare say that no two sets are the same. The point in space where the footbag is located at any given moment is only accurately portrayed using X, Y and Z coordinates. Even though I have done literally MILLIONS of sets, I don't think any of them were the same.

By my math, after the Apex, a footbag set at four feet would take 1/8 of a second to fall. So while most tricks have a set height of under 4 feet, that means that most of the trick happens VERY quickly after the Apex. It is amazing how many body motions can be put into such a small amount of time. I mean, I love playing and improving, but look at the last two world champions in the sport and how many micro-motions they put into the strings they do. They are truly pushing the edge. Insane.I think I'll stop now, because I am very impressed with myself and all my fellow shredders.

Shred notes: 2/6/10
Hit Blurry Symposium Whirling Cross Body Rake (7 adds) on film (somewhat thin)... hit it on my first try, pre-camera much more solidly. Also hit Blurry Whirling X-Body Rake on both sides in the same string. SWEET! Tons of rake strings today. Raked the hall.

When what you have isn't enough...

Don't get me wrong, what I have is GREAT! And I think I am not alone in saying, "I want more!"

I want more from my sport, as I hope to continually improve my game. I want to do more outreach projects and workshops with kids and introduce more children to footbag. I am shredding every day, and we already have 3 events in the pipe for this year and pitching several more.

I want to spend as much time with my family as possible. Eat more of my wife's wonderful cooking and have more tickle 'fights' with my son.

I want to produce more videos.

I want to travel more.

I want more money, and my current strategy of waiting for it to find me hasn't happened so while it would be nice to capitalize on our sport, I need to figure out a way to make more dollars while getting closer to all the other things I want.

I want more time.

Shred Notes: 2/8/10
Today was 1145. Spent the whole time working on warm up strings. I was very warm. New combos to use like Spinning BTR to Ripwalk to Spinning BTR repeat.

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.