With Windy City Cup just around the corner I need to focus on training more and warming up properly before sessions. I also need to arrive early to do a full warm up since we tend to rush to play as many games as possible before getting back to more important obligations. There are a few new possible recruits and a couple old ones that I need to keep contact with. At WCC I need to pick up a few more bags and get the new guys to buy some as well if they really want to get into the sport.
I update a few web pages. I have lots of older low res photos on footbag.org. Below is a sample of my footbag content on Flickr. The majority will be photos but I will occasionally upload some of video of my training. Most of them are unedited clips but I may make something a bit more viewer friendly when time permits. I have a videos on YouTube too.
As always, feel free to drop the proverbial line and comment on anything.
Posts
20 comments:
5-27-09
I've noticed lately that when my mind wanders while I'm at work, it's usually me daydreaming about spiking something with my foot. It has this weird effect of calming me down when I start to get stressed and making me restless to play net at the same time. The other day I had to deal with a shitty patient and all I could think of was side-axing her shitty face. I'll notice everyday things above me and get this urge to want to kick it. Tops of doorways, ceiling panels, low lights, hanging plants, signs and even cigarettes sticking out of peoples mouths. I'll see fences and I would want to jump up and kick my leg over to see how far I can cross then retract it before skewering my junk. I'll see leaves hanging off a tree branch and would want to toe flip it. Sometimes I catch myself just looking up at absolutely nothing at all but in my mind there's some imaginary bag there and I think, "Man, I could totally roll spike that!" I can't roll spike in real life though. I can't side axe shitty faces too. Well, I could but there would be consequences. Shitty ones.
Roll spikes look so cool. I remember foolishly thinking I could learn them the first year I started playing net. Dummy. I can't seem to get my body to get sideways far enough. There's still some part of me deep inside that is afraid to fall. When I get up in the air it manages to take control and makes me land as vertical as I can. I guess it's good in a way and it's prevented me from doing something stupid and breaking my neck in the process. That would be counterproductive to getting good at net I would think.
I feel like it's holding me back, though. There are plenty of players that are fearless in the air and I truly admire that. I want to be like that. Fearless, not admired. I just need to stop being a pussy. Stop being afraid. Stop holding back.
I want to get up high in the air
Attack
Kill
5-29-09
No net so far this week. No jumping, no attacking, no killing. Blah.
Speaking of kills. I guess my spikes have been slowly getting more consistent. Well, the ones that I practice are getting there. Toe jams and side axes are still unreliable. They fucking hurt my knee when I try to drill those and if I'm hurt I can't play. I want to play. I need to play. But I want those spikes to be more reliable. It's all retarded.
I have been getting more kills the past few games and I should be thankful for that. Instead I seem to remember all the whiffs and shanks. It's stupid to think that I should just be able to do things well without practicing them. But that's exactly whats going through my head. PRACTICE YOU FUCKING IDIOT! Anything I happen to do well is something I've done a thousand times over and over. I don't know why I feel I should be able to hit every set I take a swing at.
Back in the day, when I used to play basketball I would never let it bother me if I missed a shot, turned the ball over or didn't get that rebound. Dealt with it, kept playing. I fully understood those are costly mistakes and they do add up. For whatever reason every error I commit on the net court feels like I just cost my team the championship. I guess it's good that I understand how important it is minimize my errors but all the pressure I put on myself to execute perfectly and the frustration that comes when I stink up the court with my shitty plays is a bit unnecessary. I need to just stop being a drama queen - just fucking get over it, concentrate on the next play and practice whatever the hell it was that I screwed up during the week.
I'm glad the weather will be nice for Sunday. I really need to play.
Saturday I got off work and met Nathan at Welles. I always enjoy our pleasant and well meaning conversations! Ronnie shows up and we start a hack circle. Tom arrives soon after. This was the first time I've seen him with his buzz cut, it was so weird! We eventually split off as Tom and Nathan shred while Ronnie and I set up the net at the west field of the park. We powered and did serve/return drills to start off. The rest of the day was spent doing hand toss rallies. It was actually a lot of fun since I got Ronnie to hit the bag over the net consistently by telling him to always aim for my back line. We even had a few lengthy rallies. After the session we got food at Garcia's, then headed back to my place to pick up my frisbee. We played at River park for the rest of the night. I got him to do a couple different between the leg catches. Nice way to end the day.
Sunday I got up high in the air
I attacked
and I killed
I got a last minute text from Cory asking if I wanted to go out to Busse Woods. I called Ted Martin to ask if he could drive me from the Metra station by his house out to the site. I get to his place easy enough, chill there for a bit, apply sunblock then head out to the the woods. A game of Ultimate took over the usual spot so Ted and I power kicked to warm up at the far end of the ultimate game. Cory arrived and set up the net. There was one side of the net that dipped lower than the other that I commented would be a huge kill zone for anyone that's set there. I took the opportunity to stretch while the other two power kicked. Greg Grandy arrived, power kicked a bit then got on the court for several rounds of serve/returns. We started out doing matches to 11 points then switching teams. When Scot finally arrived we did singles games to 11 while one player sat out. Cory said he played 14 games finishing 8-6. I don't remember how many I played exactly due to the 5 man rotation, all I know is I won only 4 games. Two with Cory and one each with Greg and Scot.
I managed to accomplish 2 goals that I blogged/bitched about. I got over my many errors and focused on the next play & I was as aggressive as I've ever been at the net. Applying sunblock, properly warming up and icing my knees after the session were other things I was smart enough to do and need to continue doing through out the season.
Defense was definitely a sore spot for the day. Serve returns need way more practice! I think I shanked just about anything that was driven at my sides or behind me. I was not setting/bumping as well as I have been. I challenged a few shots at the net but didn't get any blocks. There were a few plays where better communication and/or positioning on my part would have been the difference between an easy point for the other team or a kill for us. I even committed a few net fouls, something I have not done since last year, I think.
Continued below (stupid fucking character limits...)
I had an outstanding day offensively. Lots of sole pushes, lol. Hit a few sweeps and scuffs. Hit one really hard sunback and a few toe reverses. That's the stuff I practice and and can hit more often. Ironically, it was toe jams and side axes I that I was killing with most of the day. I side axed a few over sets and one that was set from the back court while I was at the net (usually I get a running start from the back court with the set coming from the front). Chased a set that went far left that I had to hit sideways to keep in play. I drilled one straight into Scot's midsection for a tattoo.
I took a big swing at a toe jam in the middle of the day, right over that kill zone I mentioned earlier. I totally whiffed it but the attempt alone managed to get a reaction from the guys. In another game, The other team served game point with Scot and I looking for a crucial side out and a possible come from behind victory. He set me on the right side about a foot and a half off the net. It's funny 'cause I remember him saying in a session earlier in the year, "It's game point, are you gonna kill it with a flying-something or a standing-something-gay?" I'm gonna kill this bitch in the air! I ran for it, got sideways in the air, snapped my leg and - WHAM! The fucking bag went flying outta bounds! LOL! Goddammit! Then later, I was at the net near center court when a set from the other team came really close to the net. Scot backed off thinking it was going over to our side. I was feeling it so I got up, crossed the plain a few inches and smashed the bag with my toe. I asked where it landed and Scot pointed to the ground just a few feet off the net, not too far from where he was standing. I was extremely pleased.
At the end of the day I was partnered with Cory playing against Ted/Scot in very close game. Cory hit a bump that went wide right (right at that kill zone again), near the post & sailing just out of bounds. Normally I'll watch the set and think, ok this set is good for this kind of spike. I didn't have time to really analyze anything and ran from the left side and just attacked the bag. I got in the air sideways and murdered that thing with a monster toe jam. Right after the contact I twisted in the air and landed on all fours so I never saw what happened to the spike. When I got up the other team was standing there with their mouths open and Cory was laughing. Again I asked where it landed and Scot pointed to the middle of their court with Ted raving that it was the shot of the day. Somehow I managed to kick that damn thing back in bounds while avoiding the post & the tape and scoring a kill in the center of their court between two waiting defenders! Cory gave me props and we went on to win the game with the next play. It was fucking awesome! Would have been more awesome if I had seen it all but shit happens.
I might have gotten the shot of the day but Ted was amazing through out the session. He was hitting pulldowns, flying pulldowns, side axes and jousted with anyone that went up with him! Greg was very solid as usual and hit plenty of well placed/timed dinks. I really like Scot's toe reverses, especially the ones where he spins into them or the ones that damn near shoot straight down. He got 3 partial blocks on Cory. He also got a block that tattooed Greg! Let's do that again... a block... that... tattooed... Greg.... ! The other team emphatically denied it. I'm always impressed with Cory even though he wasn't satisfied with the days performance. It was another great session at Busse and I was glad to make it out to play net with the guys.
WooT! Tommy and I are partners for Windy City Cup!
Tommy text me during work to get a session at 6:30. Thankfully I got out early enough and made it to the park on time. We went through some of the Chaos drills while we powered. Then we did Monster, a bit different from what I learned from Cory and Scot. Grueling like a mother fucker!. After that we did a lot of hand toss rallies and serve/returns. Played one match, best of 3 to 11. He won in two straight. Generally he would jump ahead then I would catch up, take the lead then he would shut me out the rest of the game for the win. We would get some good rallies though.
After that we did spike drills. Tommy started with Bitch Slaps. This a great spike for him since it crosses from one side of the court to the other. I can't imagine anyone digging this unless they knew he was going for it. On my turn I tried sweeps, hit some standing and some scissor sweeps. Then we both tried toe reverses. He just smashes these too. I hit more of these standing than I did jumping for them. When we moved on to sunbacks, we both fucking killed these. Tommy did his final round with sweeps and I finished up with side axes.
His partner from Green Cup isn't coming so were partnering for WCC. Immediately, the issue of our inconsistencies come up. We both know we have to practice as much as possible the next 2 weeks to improve our chances of getting out of pools. It's going to be a lot of work ahead but for now I'm just glad to have another good partner for the cup. I can't fucking wait to play again.
Didn't end up kicking with Tommy on last Wednesday. Rode up to Welles anyway and ran into Jerome again. I'm always happy to bump into him, he's usually got some funny story to tell. I'm glad he's doing well too. Last I heard he got laid off. Hope to kick with him soon.
Ronnie and I had another practice session on Thursday. Went through the usual warm up's and drills. No games. He's been having problems with his serve. His swing is very inconsistent from one to the next. I've noticed that my advice has been either hit or miss with him. Sometimes he gets it right away, other times it seems like I'm in a lengthy conversation about MtG in a foreign language and he's just spacing out. I don't know why I think my advice should make him automatically solve his problems, lol. We tossed a disc around for an hour or so before he dropped me off at home.
Solo wall ball at Welles after work on Friday. Just as I started doing rallies to warm up, a couple skaters came by to do their weak-ass tricks off the rails and stairs. They kept getting needlessly close to me so I had to bring back an old custom - the spacemaker! Basically, it's a big flashy kick/move that warns people to keep their fucking distance. Just as one of them got near, I set myself on the right side for a sweep. It was a massive contact and the bag made this loud cracking sound as it smashed into the wall just behind the kid. Then they left. Lol. Nice. Anygay, nothing out of the ordinary this session, just needed to blow off some steam and keep the legs movin'.
Saturday Scot, Cory, Tommy and I played at a nice quiet little park in St. Charles. I think it may have been the park where Dan and Brian used to shred at. Scot showed us the 30 or so bags Yves donated for our upcoming event. I think only another footbagger can truly appreciate the site of so many brand new footbags. We pretty much all agreed to with just play with our WCC partners the whole day. We broke off into teams to power kick. Tommy and I tried a simple kicking technique he picked up from watching JF and Ben from Montreal. After 10 minutes or so we broke off to stretch. It's funny because every time we do this I expect to go through my whole routine that general takes about 20-25 minutes or so. More often than not everyone else is back on the court doing serve/returns before I've gotten even close to half way though my stretching.
We did many rounds of 2-serves before finally getting started. We did one match with rally scoring and played 2 or 3 matches normally. I already have a bad enough time remembering the score during normal games so rally scoring really throws me off. I was over setting a lot early on but managed to cut it down a bit for the rest of the day. I took a backseat to Tommy's offense and pretty much just set him most of the day. I think I played well defensively. I got my fair share of digs from dinks and maybe a spike or two. I tried to focus on not backpedaling too far when a set comes from the other side of the court. I think that's what accounts for most of the dinks I saved and getting hit in the leg at least 3 times. Serve returns are still a little shaky. Lots of hustle. Lots.
Although I was primarily setting, I got kills with a little bit of everything. Started with 2 nice toe jams early in the session. One big sunback, scissor sweep and a side axe that I sent back to the over setting team with the quickness. Cory later told Scot to not set me anymore since I can hit those now, haha. My sweep serves have not been as effective lately. Everyone is getting used to them and I've turned the heat down in favor of more accuracy. Ironically, the pressure to serve 'in' seems to make me serve 'out' more often.
According to Cory this is how we finished the day:
Tommy/Zeke won the first match, 2-1 (21 Rally pt games)
Cory/Scot won the 2nd match, 2-1 (11 pt games)
Cory/Scot won the 3rd match, 2-0 (11 pt games)
I was not expecting to play Sunday but Cory called in the morning and said he would be in the city and asked if I wanted to play. I got a hold of Nathan, Ronnie and Tommy. I set up the court near the gazebo and warmed up with Ronnie while Nathan drilled. Tommy had to bail because he and Kate were in the process of adopting a pet. Cory shows up soon after and we continue to power and rally. Ronnie played well, all things considered. He bumped some shots up for me, managed some kills and made some hustle plays. We played several games of 2 vs 1. I remember Ronnie reacting to the seemingly unfair numerical advantage of the two of us against 1 guy. I warned him repeatedly not to pity Cory and that we were still going to get slaughtered. I think 4 points was the best we could muster. Ronnie left early while Cory and I played a handful of singles games. Most of the time he was just killing me with ease but I did put up a fight for a few extended rallies and a loss where I got up to 8 points.
The highlight of the day was when Ronnie had put up this gorgeous set from the back right side heading about 3 feet off our side of the net. I went up after it and connected with a HUGE toe jam that shot like a friggin' meteor straight into Cory's chest who was standing in the middle of the court. He caught the bag off his chest, smiled and shook his head a little. Ronnie yelled out in shock. I was pumping my fist in the air with a big shit-eatin' grin on my face. I finally got him! That was possibly the hardest toe jam I've hit since the set was far away from the net and my leg could follow through the contact and not have to worry about a net foul. Fuckin' suh-weet!
AZ "I mean, who the hell hits scissor sweeps on their first attempt?"
CC "You"
AZ :)
The second Windy City Cup has come and gone and I must say it went much smoother this time around. Even though we didn't have as many competitors this year I think everybody had a good time.
Friday was pick ups and laid back. Got a couple big side axes and toe jams early in the day teaming with Zach, Tommys friend. Spikes were few and far between as the day went on. I think I might have played a few too many games. I 'm glad Ronnie got to play as much as he did. Every time I got a chance to watch he was doing ok and seemed to be having fun. Somehow Jeremy convinced Tom to get on the court and play! We played a similar format to the one we did at Memphis where if you won, you moved up a court. If you lost, you moved down. Tommy and I managed to work our way up to the 'A' court in a game against Jack and Jeremy. I was pretty sore and tired at the end of the day. Ronnie and I tossed around a disc and I could barely run after it. We all drove over to Tommy's place for the afterparty. We ate and chilled out in the backyard. Walt played some net vids on his laptop and I shared the giant centipede videos I found on youtube. Cory was especially creeped out, lol. Tom and Nathan dropped by to hang out with Jeremy just as Ronnie and I were leaving.
It was Raining when Ronnie picked me up Saturday morning. We ate McDonald's and waited fro others to show up. We set up a tent, put together the players packs and picked up the food while we waited for the rain to stop. Oddly enough, the mood was relatively cheery compared to finals last year where it stormed all morning. We set up 3 courts while Chaos swapped out Tommy's torn net with the new one I got him for his birthday. He tried to fix it himself the day before but left it on the ground for someone else to fix while he ended up playing. It was still there, unfinished, at the end of pick-ups!
Somehow I got entered in singles and had to face Scot in the first round. I should be glad because this match provided me with several highlights. It was the first time I ever won a game against Scott in singles. I think he only scored a point on me. We played on the court nearest the tents where a bunch of kickers were watching the matches. Scot dug a shot and sent it to my front right corner, directly in front of all the seated players. I managed to dig that and popped it up near the post. Thinking I just overset, I yelled out, "Fuck!" then went after the bag anyway. I got sideways and connected with a quick toe jam. I didn't see it land but the loud, excited reaction from the spectators kinda tipped me off. Scot later told me the spike crossed him and landed near him on the right side. That was a sweet fucking kill. He took the next game when I fell apart but I managed to get my shit together and win the third game and the match. A couple players congratulated me for the big play and the win. I faced Cory next. Lost in 2 straight. Jack scratched so I advanced to play Tommy for 5th place. Lost again on 2 straight and finished 6th.
In doubles, Tommy and I were in the pool with PT/Manu & Scot/Cory. Top 2 teams advance to semis and get to play in front of the crowd at Navy Pier. Several days earlier, Scot said that if one of the Chicago teams played in semis, the other would have to run the mic and judge the matches. The last fucking thing I wanted to do was spend all day Sunday judging matches again. PT and Manu defeated us rather quickly. I got tattooed once by PT. Their offense is incredible. Most of the points we scored (what few there were) were off their mistakes, not on our kills. I certainly don't remember hitting anything, just scrambling a lot uselessly on defense.
When it came our turn to play against Scot and Cory, all I could think of was how much it sucked last year to be short on judges and I had watch match after match after match after match after match while others left to eat and do god knows what. I was pretty hungry and quite agitated by the end of that day. I did not want to do that again. One year later I get a chance to change that so I was determined to do all that I could to advance to semis. Tommy and I came out fired-the-fuck-up in the first game. We played very strong and didn't commit as many errors as they did. I hustled defensively and was setting well. I passed up spike attempts in favor of just kicking an easy low risk pass in the middle of their court. All of it payed off as we stopped them at 5 points and never let them score again while we took the lead and eventually won the game
We did not play nearly as well the second game and Cory/Scot won to force a third. I really don't remember much of the last game. We made many mistakes but our defense kept us competitive. But the mistakes kept coming and I just could not hold my frustration in. I was screaming and pounding on the dirt with my fists as I kept fucking up and the game eventually just slipped away from us. Godfuckingdammit.
At some point Ronnie, Tommy(2) and Reile moved up and sat court side to watch the game. I really appreciated them watching my match, too bad we lost. I was in the middle of sulking when Jeremy got some kids that were doing some tumbling to try some spikes. This one amazingly athletic kid, who didn't look any taller than 4'10", was able to connect with side axes and toe jams within a couple attempts. It brightened my mood.
Ronnie had to bail early and could not drop me off. Instead of going to the players party, I had made last minute plans to hang out at Reile's place, possibly with some other CIC when Cory asked if I could help at Scot's shop to load up the bleachers and what not for Sundays finals site. This had to be done or we would waste a lot of time Sunday morning doing it. We get the job done without too much trouble. Bryan dropped me off at a blue line station on his way home. I must have have dozed off because I missed the Western stop and ended up getting off at Jefferson Park instead. Unfortunately the Foster buses had stopped running. No cabs in sight so I start walking. 1/2 mile later still no cabs and I decide to call my brother to pick me up. Sure enough, 3 cabs drive by after the call. Fuck all 3 of you and die slowly. I get picked up and eventually make it home.
Ronnie bailed again Sunday morning because he did not pack for his trip to Miami yet. I think he was upset that he could not find a partner and did not play at all on Saturday and was not too keen at being at the pier early Sunday to not play again the whole day again. I get to the sight and help set up. When that was done we rallied over the net to try an draw people in. I hit one wild toe jam from mid court that blasted in the the back right corner and stayed inbounds! The grass was so soft you barely felt anything when you crashed back down on the ground. I really wanted to take some staged jousting pics with the pier in the background (promo pics for next years sponsorship proposal) but we were in a rush to get the matches started.
Matches went on smoothly enough. For the most part players made their own calls and when they could not come to a decision, well... uh... they had me. I said some stuff and the games kept going. As expected, PT and Manu won the cup. Quite unexpectedly, Jeremy beat Cory in 2 straight to win his first open singles title. Cory had time to rest while Jeremy came straight off the doubles final to play the final singles match. It was a tough match for me to watch. Jeremy is a good friend and Cory is my teammate. I don't know if would have been cool as a judge to urge on one player of the other.
After their match I took an inhumanly long piss. On the way back, one of "The Jerks" said Tommy wanted to play out the last match for 5th/6th place. Are you kidding me? I had been standing for several hours and my knees were already aching a little. Next thing I know, I'm warming up while the site is being torn down around us. It was one game to 15. Scot bet Manu $5 that Tommy and I would not let the jerks score more than 9 points. We won 15-13 and Scot lost five bucks. They let us continue playing as the site was being packed away. That was the best thing ever. EVER! I got one more big toe jam during these final pick-ups, aching knees and all. Man, that grass was soft!
We had the players party at Tommy's house again. Scot and Cory played some 2-square after the dropped off Manu. Tom was merciless against them, lol. Then they gave Tom 5 minutes of shit to start playing net. We ate stuffed pizza and I watched the play Guitar Hero. I was pretty tired so I made my way home while a bunch of the guys went out to the local bars. Missed the Western bus and walked a 1/2 mile before getting a cab. The driver told me he almost didn't pick me up 'cuz of the way I looked. Geez. I get home and slept like a baby.
I don't feel nearly as burnt out as I did at this point last year and I'm very thankful for that. I think I played well, for the most part. Definitely played hard. It was great to see such high talent gain this year and hope we get an even bigger turnout next year. Of course that means getting into semis will be harder. Who knows, maybe I'll be good enough to earn a spot next time. Got a lot work to do till then...
I've had a couple wall sessions this week. Ted gave me some advice at a Busse session that I've been trying to work on. I just need to concentrate on making a good contact with my swings instead of kicking as hard as I can. It's already helped a little with my standing sweeps during these wall sessions. Got a light session with Carrie yesterday. Did some more wall ball for half an hour before she got in then set up the net and did some spike practice. We just did hand toss rallies since it was her first session in many many months. Got a couple toe jams focusing on good contacts.
Fucking HOT today!
Rode out to Jane Addams to play net with Cory, Tommy and Scot. Fucking hot. I didn't eat breakfast so I gassed out half way there. I was smart enough to bring some fruits to eat when I got to the site. There was some talk about having next years WCC finals site there. It would be a tight fit. It would also be an incredible site too.
We power kicked, applied sunblock and did multiple rounds of 2 serve. I was still a bit stiff for the first match partnered with Tommy. It slowly wore away I teamed with Cory and Scot, respectively. First round of rotations were best of 3 matches. The second round to finish out the day were single games to 15. Fucking hot!
I was primarily a setter playing that first match with Tommy then my offense opened up in the next match when Cory was giving me these sweet sets at the right side of the net. It's no coincidence that I probably hit about 10 or so toe jams today. Even though most of them were shanked, they were getting kills. Going back to getting good hits, I got a couple of strong sunbacks (my shoulders were not squared to the net so they landed near the lines), a couple scuffs - one standing and one flying then a lonely sweep. Hit some side axes to round out the offense. Man, was it fucking hot!
My defense could have been better. While I did dig a bunch of spikes (I almost got a block on Tommy but the stuffed shot landed just out of bounds), I was shanking a lot of shots and incoming serves. Corry started counting his errors during games. I said something to the effect that I had way too many to keep track of. But his counter point was that if I knew how many I committed, it would help me to commit less in the future. Makes sense. While I did not keep track, I know I had more than my fair share today; watching serves land in, watching sets hit our side of the court and shanking sets and digs. I did manage to limit my 'out' serves and over sets, though. It was fucking hot!
I got tattooed at least twice today. Scot blasted two big sweeps right at me. I managed to doge one but it landed in for the kill. The other rocketed straight to my left shoulder. Caught it before the contact. I dodged another near tattoo running after a dink. Cory zoomed in out of nowhere and side axed it right past my face. Then he got me in the left hand when we jousted for a set. I'm just glad it was my hand, not my exposed nuts. I botched a side axe attempt that ended up dropping onto my head as I landed. Scot got hit at least 3 times today by other players but he probably hit himself in the head at least twice that!
I find myself wanting to ask the other guys how I'm progressing for how long I've been playing. But then I take some of my own advice and ask myself if I've playing better than I was a year, month or even a session ago. I would say, yes. I could certainly use more focus in my training but I'm pleased with where I'm at and with what I can do. I'm also having a lot of fun playing so far...
even int his fucking heat!
Short wall ball session on Sunday before playing 2S with Nathan. We ate at Pockets, 2 blocks south of Welles. I always forget that place is so close. Two wall ball sessions Monday, one before work and one after.
Vince is back for a week. He's here from this Wednesday to next Wednesday and wants to play. Ronnie is back from Miami and wants in on regular net sessions. Carrie wants to play more and so far has committed to practicing with me on Thursdays.
-Tentative practice session with Ronnie Wednesday night at Welles
-Practice session on Thursday with Carrie 6pm at Welles
-No plans for Friday night, I get off work at 6pm & I'd like to play after. Solo wall ball if nothing else
-Work Saturday 9am-2:30pm, I'd like to play after.
-Sunday I'll be drilling sunbacks into some fool's chest. Just give me a time, place and some fool.
I've been making slow progress with standing mousetraps/pulldowns. From what I can tell, the basic motions seem very similar. Pulldowns drop at a steeper angle attacking the front court and mousetraps are driven to the body or back court. I've come to the realization that I don't know which one I'm doing because I'm playing against a wall. I'd like to be able to do both to add to my impressively wide array of inconsistant spikes. I'm finally getting used to the timing of the kick. I'm stepping into it (thanks Jeremy) as opposed to swinging at sets that are right on top of me. I'm also leaning back (thanks to the twins) instead of the more vertical stance I was trying before. Both tips are helping with clearance over the net (or more accurately the 5 foot marker I've got on the wall) and power. Maybe power isn't so important with pulldowns, just good placement. If I really want to attack the front court, closer to the net, I'd have to hit it jumping for better clearance and a steeper angle of attack. Anygay, I need to practice these on an actual court.
6-24-09
So I get off work and have a light practice with Ronnie at River park which is closer to my house. We set up the net and do hand toss rallies. It's well into the evening so we end up tossing a disc around to wind down the session. At this point these 2 kids who have been running around the park unsupervised turn their atttention to us and our light up frisbee. Meanwhile their parents sit off to the side oblivious to everything. The kids get annoying really quick and start going through our stuff. We call it quits when they start throwing sand onto our bags and clothes. Just as we were finishing packing away our things, the youngest one steps right up to us and throws a cup full of sand right into my eye.
I'm just barely able to hold back from unleashing World War 9 on this little mutants face. I go off screaming at the parents who just sit there and say, "sorry..." and continue sitting there doing nothing. I don't think anything I said even registered as they stared at me blankly. Ronnie and I could not believe it. We decide that it's better that we just cut our losses and leave immediately before I do something extremely stupid, like devouring their children and shooting a toddler sized shit-bullet out of my ass through each of these useless mother fucker's heads. You were both better off as stains on your parents sheets you fat, shit-bag cunt salads!
Oh, I hit a toe jam during the session. Tits.
6-27-09
Met with Vince and Ronnie at Welles Thursday. The first thing Vince mentioned was that he did not want to do drills. Good old Vince. We did a couple hours of hand toss rallies and serve/return rotating 2 vs 1. Vince left to hang out with old friends while Ronnie and I continued to play. Carrie arrives after work - late, lol. She and Ronnie teamed up for more 2 vs 1 hand toss rallies.
Got off work yesterday and called Ronnie to see if he wanted to do some wall ball with me. I'm not sure why I was so surprised when he agreed. We meet at Welles at the north wall of the pool building. We power for a good 20 minutes doing one touch then gradually moving to bump & pass. I'm glad he's getting used to getting the footbag in control for a better shot instead of banging whatever is thrown at him [giggles].
We move to the wall where I show him some of the drills that I go through and explained what I liked and didn't like about wall ball. He didn't seem too thrilled about it at first but he was willing to try it out. I was getting a drink while he was finishing up some rallies when I turned back and was more than surprised to see he was trying to hit [spike]. I didn't know he had that kind of flexibility! We take turns hand tossing sets for each other and smashing bags. After a few rounds of that we rallied against the wall trying to set and kill. I set him on our first try and he hit a [spike] right above the spot where I marked 5 feet! Of course we weren't able to get another kill like that for another 10 minutes or so but t was lot of fun trying. What was supposed to be a light wall session turned out to be a full blown practice as we tried to set each other for kills round after round. It didn't help that the sidewalk along the wall was only 5 feet wide and the grass past that sloped downward to lower ground. We played for another half hour before I started getting pains in my right hip then called it quits. Pretty good session.
Had to work Saturday so I missed the big session at Jane Addams. I called Ronnie when I got off and they were just finishing up. He said he played pretty good and the practice was definitely paying off. Then he mentioned that he wanted to play some more at Welles if I was free. Wow. This mother fucker is addicted!
He picks me up from my place then we set up on the west field near a couple of soccer players. They all end up leaving before we started power kicking. Fuckers. We go though the usual warm up routine and lots of hand toss rallies (I think I'll just refer to them as HTR from now on.) Then we spent lots of time on his serves. After that we played 3 matches, best of 3 to 15. I played with a handicap where it's an automatic side out if I sore 3 points in a row. I win all the matches in 2 straight. In the sixth game he actually had the lead for most of the game and finished with 13 points. Finished the day off by tossing a disc around.
Didn't end up watching Transformers with my brothers today. Everyone else was busy so it was just men and Ronnie again at Welles. He hadn't eaten yet and ate 2 double cheese burgers from McDonald's before getting to the park. I noticed right away how sluggish he was while we went through the warm ups. He had to take a break because he wasn't feeling well.
I did some solo serve practice while he sat out. I did 5 rounds of ten serves trying to hit a spot on the opposite court that Ronnie picked out. On average, I'd say I hit the spot 60% of the time. Once Ronnie jumped back on the court, he practiced returning serves for 4 rounds of 10 bags. We started alternating serve/return for another 4 rounds. He's got a few problems with his technique. He favors that right inside kick for almost everything. Contacts with his outside kicks too high. He also stands completely upright with his legs close together. He's a slightly heavy set guy too so he's not very light on his feet. I wasn't sure how much of that was from the crappy food he just ate so I didn't say too much and let him play it out.
He took a second break as Tom and Nathan stopped by after visiting Taste. I tried standing toe jams and toe flip practice. It was cut suddenly short when my foot slipped out from underneath me while I was going trying a toe flip. I fell on my side and my left shoulder felt tight for a few minutes. Ronnie got back up for a long shitty round of HTR. He was playing worse than before while I tried not to let him bring me down too. I managed a hand full of side axes with a few (weak) pulldowns and bitch slaps thrown in. Ronnie was on his way for a third break when I asked him to throw bags for a couple rounds of monster. Surprisingly, he asked to join in. I finished the day doing 5 rounds of 10 bag monster and he did 3 rounds. That drill is aptly named. We finished the day by getting food at Garcia's and hacking at the court in Lincoln Square.
Nine sessions this week! I'm so fucking dark...
Nice work for June, Zeke! I'm psyched to hear about Ronnie's enthusiasm. Now we need to get him off of the McDonalds and on the treadmill.
I'm looking forward to kicking with you more in July!
I had a fantastic June reaching many of the goals that I set out to accomplish. I feel like my defense is still slowly getting better but my offense really opened up this past month. My motivation is still running high since I've been able to recruit a new player and reliable training partner. We've got up to 12 net footbags to practice with making for longer reps per round of spikes/serves. I hope to continue 3 practices a week to help me play at a consistently solid level. It's been a good first half of the year.
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