Name: Jorden Moir
Location: Canada
Site: http://www.jugglingequipment.com/blog/jorden-moir/

Hey all,

After watching countless hours of shred on YouTube and in person and seeing the same mistakes over and over and over, and hearing about the same people get injured over and over and over, I’ve decided to make this list.

From studying acrobatics, as well as dance and body mechanics for the past couple years, I feel I have a solid knowledge of how the body works. It’s never a good idea to undertake a sport without knowing how to execute the techniques properly. Footbag is certainly no exception. With no official manual outlining proper form, and with the average level getting higher and higher each year, it’s important to stop and think about what your body is doing. This is something that could effect you negatively in later years, yet few players take the time to really analyze their form.

For the first time, from a scientific/anatomical perspective, I present to you:

10 Most Common Style Mistakes

1. Hunching
WHAT: Sticking your butt out/slouching your shoulders/curving your spine forward/relaxing your stomach
WHY IT’S BAD: It’s probably the most common mistake, and ironically one of the most potentially devastating. Slack posture while playing can lead to major back problems, among other things.
HOW TO FIX: Keep your back as straight as possible while playing. Abs are flexed. Keep your chest high. Neck on top of your shoulders, not in front. Neck, shoulders and hips should form a straight line. Leaning slightly forward by bending at the waist to help see the bag is ok, but keep those abs flexed.

2. Flat Feet
WHAT: Sitting back on the heels/landing on the entire foot at once/pushing off with all parts of the sole
WHY IT’S BAD: Shin splints/calf pain/back pain/overworked thighs/the list goes on. Staying back on the heels puts loads of stress on the thighs and quads as they try to balance and stabilize you.
It’s a fight to keep from falling backwards constantly. Your leg muscles won’t develop in a helpful way for footbag either. Landing on the heels creates an impact shockwave that ripples throughout your entire body.
HOW TO FIX: Keep your weight FORWARD. Stay on the balls of your feet. Sure, touch your heels down but AVOID putting pressure on them. Push off the ground and land both with the balls of your feet. Your body will thank you.

3. Legs do All the Work
WHAT: Legs are flailing around dexing wildly, exerting tons of energy while the hips stay motionless and uninvolved.
WHY IT’S BAD: Legs aren’t designed to shred by themselves. Besides, it’s terribly inefficient. This can pull muscles in your hips, legs or back. A clear symptom is when someone brings their knee to their chest just to do a legover or butterfly. Very common. Don’t do it.
HOW TO FIX: By keeping the weight forward (#2) and the stomach muscles tight (#1) you can keep the footbag close to your body and underneath your torso, thus eliminating the need to do a huge backwards-leaning leg lift or knee-to-hunching-shoulder scenario.
Use your hips to pivot side to side while isolating the shoulders to complete dexes like mirages. Open and close the hips for butterflies and illusions.

4. Not Stretching
WHAT: Overly tight muscles/poor range of movement/not warming up properly/allowing lactic acid buildup
WHY IT’S BAD: Yes, tight muscles can be fast and responsive. However, the low flexibility can be very limiting to your potential trick selection. Tight muscles can also tear or strain easily.
HOW TO FIX: Stretch to either start or end your sessions. Get your heart rate up from several minutes of cardio. Start with core first (shoudlers, hips, back) then extremities, especially ankles (#9).

5. Looking Down with the Neck
WHAT: Sticking your neck out like a turtle to see the bag below you/sticking your chest out by pulling your shoulders back
WHY IT’S BAD: Ever watched a movie from the front row? Yeah, exactly — neck strain. But down instead of up.
HOW TO FIX: Keeping your head above your shoulders and shoulders above hips, simply bring your chin slightly down towards your collarbone. Problem solved.

6. Palms Facing Chest/Outwards
WHAT: Elbows down and hands up in front of your shoulders/Arms at your sides with elbows bent and wrists turned out
WHY IT’S BAD: Both ways of holding your arms do nothing to help you balance! They also look terrible. The first one is more or a left/right brain discrepancy I think. Outwards hands raises your shoulders creating unnecessary tension in that area.
HOW TO FIX: Keep your arms relaxed at your sides for easier moves like kicks. Palms face either down, back, or inwards. For moves requiring extra balance or jumping, one or both elbows raise at your sides with palms facing down most of the time.

7. Pointing your Knees Inward/Spotting Toe Stalls on the Outside of Your Knee
WHAT: Separating the knees then rotating either one or both knees inward/Standing or playing pigeon-toed/Bringing your knee across the body while catching or setting toe stalls
WHY IT’S BAD: Knees are designed to flex and extend vertically. Or the very same motions with the hips rotated. Knees are NOT designed to bend horizontally when the hips are straight. Flexing the knee without the heel in line with the upper leg is recipe for a nagging injury. Not to mention it throws your back out of line!
HOW TO FIX: Spot the bag properly by opening the hips and seeing it on the INSIDE of your knee. Swing the leg forward and up (think pushing a bike pedal backward) Keep your heel in line with your upper leg whenever bending the knee. Knees should stay together and tall yet slightly bent whenever not in direct use. Never bring your knee inwards to do tricks like whirl. Separate the knees by opening the hips and do the dex away and slightly behind you.

8. Cushioning with Stalling Foot Only
WHAT: No magic hop/ Body lowering and the stall happening at different times/ Support leg not helping to cushion at all
WHY IT’S BAD: You probably won’t ever get injured because of it, but your consistency for stalling moves will be forever hindered. Expect a lifetime of frustration due to missed stalls, rolloff and dud sets.
HOW TO FIX: Land the magic hop and at the EXACT SAME TIME you catch the bag. Always magic hop for clippers — it doesn’t have to be big jump. Land the magic hop on the ball of your foot and then bend the knee. For toes, keep the stalling leg in the same position and lower your SUPPORT LEG when it lands Also, it’s a good general rule to keep your shoulders square to whatever stall you’re doing. Launch your shoulders and elbows up quickly to give yourself a nice little pop for the set.

9. Bad Ankle Crank
WHAT: Not locking the ankles strong enough upwards for toe stalls/Ankle not flexed or inside surface not flat when in clipper position
WHY IT’S BAD: Same as #8. Bad crank won’t hurt you, but you’ll be plagued with inconsistency and 6-trick strings forever.
HOW TO FIX: Stretch your ankles! Stretch them before, during and after sessions. Stretch them while waiting at the bus stop. Stretch them while sitting at your desk. Stretch them whenever you can. This is your gateway to amazing clipper tricks. Check around the forum for various stretching methods (and yes, stretching does work).

10. Rushing Stalls
WHAT: Not securing the footbag in the ‘sweet spot’ before setting the next move/ Always playing like you’re racing against a clock/ Having inconsistent timing and rhythm in your runs
WHY IT’S BAD: This also falls in the ‘doomed for inconsistency’ category. Offbeat or syncopated runs cause a lot of unexpected drops. Rushing causes imperfect stalls which can lead to unpredictable sets.
HOW TO FIX: Take the same amount of time every time to cushion the bag, catching it in the exact same location of the foot. Try to perform each trick with the same timing every time. This is the only way to achieve a very high level of consistency. If the bag is rolling around on your foot, take extra time to cushion, get it into the sweet spot and FREEZE it before setting. Study Lon Smith’s videos.

**Don’t let yourself be guilty of any of these! As always, keep refining and improving your technique!!**

Shred hard…and safe!

Happy holidays,
Destroyer

Reproduced with permission from Jorden Moir
http://www.jugglingequipment.com/blog/jorden-moir

I want all of you to improve and enjoy footbag as much as possible. Hence, this list:

(In no particular order)

1. Invest in a proper pair of shoes & follow online tutorials regarding how to modify these shoes to make them suitable for freestyle.

2. When kicking, always try to alternate feet whenever possible. Work towards having no preference of kicking leg, and try to make the left and right foot kicking techniques identical.

3. Don’t learn the basic tricks from someone who is slightly more advanced than you. Learn from watching pros, whether it be in person or from a video. They have all spent countless hours refining their style and correcting mistakes.

4. Watch a lot of videos. Make a lot of mental notes. If someone has a mastery over a certain trick, try to figure out what they do that is different from what you do.

5. When learning a new trick, find out as much information about it as possible. See if anyone has posted tips on the internet. Watch several videos of the trick with different players and different angles. Translate the technique into a motion that is natural for your body.

6. It may seem obvious, but practice in a place with sufficient room to move around. Account for wayward footbags and the possibility of falling.
(Don’t mess up your body by landing on furniture!) Razz
10 feet X 10 feet of even, level ground with 8 foot high ceiling is a good start. The more room the better.

7. Try to eat healthy. Focus more on whole grains than white bread. Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Include sufficient protein. Junk food is ok once in a while, but not all the time. Milk, water, and 100% juice are good choices, whereas soda and alcohol will dehydrate you. Choose wisely. It does make a big difference in your stamina and overall performance.

8. Find some sort of cross-training you enjoy. Anything that helps improve strength, coordination, endurance or any combination of these is a good choice.

9. Practice your form in front of a mirror as much as you can. And by that I mean air shredding. No, seriously! Pretend you are actually going for the tricks in real time. It’s like watching live footage of yourself. If your motion looks unnatural or not smooth, you can pick up on it and experiment with new technique to make the move more efficient. I’ve discovered many unrealized errors when practicing this way.

10. Get used to picking the footbag off the ground and serving to another person. Let everyone in the circle get an equal opporunity with the bag. Yes, they do want to see your trick, but wait until they pass it back to you.
If you haven’t been to a tournament before, this could be the difference between more advanced players being friendly with you or being angry with you. In other words: Don’t self-serve.

11. If you aren’t sure whether you hit a trick properly, ask your playing partner. If they aren’t experienced enough to tell you, make a video of it and post it online or send it to someone that would know.
Doing clean tricks is valued very highly in footbag and is crucial for having an aesthetically pleasing style.

12. When you’re ready, throw out your crocheted footbag and invest in one or more 4-panel sand footbags (ie. the Mr. Sandbag) or better yet, a 32-panel bag. Read the bags/equipment subforum for a list of stitchers and bag reviews. The choice is up to you.

13. Get in the habit of warming up. Develop a warm-up routine that works best for you. Good things to include are stretching (especially ankles), alternating kicks/stalls, pushups/situps, etc.

14. Have training sessions on a regular basis. A good start is 3-4 times per week. Depending on your schedule/intensity level, that can be increased. Don’t have unnecessarily large gaps in between sessions — it’ll slow your learning progress.

15. Always finish your session on a positive note. Hit that trick you’ve been trying, no matter how many tries. You’ll come out of it with good vibes that will likely carry on to the next session. Smile

16. Don’t play through pain. It won’t help anything. Rest days are just as important as shred days. Wait till you feel refreshed again and then bust huge. If the pain reappears, try fixing your form. Wink

17. Make goals for yourself. It can be a single trick, consecutive tricks, competition related, or whatever. For competing, a good goal is to perform better than your last competition in some way(s). A good overall goal is to be able to hit any tricks you want, when you want.

18. If you have any questions about this very difficult sport, ask a pro!
They will likely be more than willing to help.

19. Keep an open mind to new moves/new ways to hit a move. It may give you the edge you’ve been looking for. Always try new ways of hitting the same move — then, simply choose the best way.

20. When on the forum, keep your posts concise and contributing to the whole. You’ll make friends/connections faster — trust me. Wink

21. Practice!!!

Shred hard,

Jorden M