A game popularized by
Mike Marshall and
John Stalberger who sold footbags under the name "
Hackey Sac". The game is played by keeping the footbag (essentially a round
bean bag) in the air by hitting it with parts of your body excluding your
arms and hands (rules vary).
Usually you are hitting the footbag with:
1) The inside of your
foot. Most find this the easiest. Not me though.
2) The outside of your foot.
3) The
toe of your foot.
4) Your
knee.
5) Your head (okay, this isn't that common for most but
I do it all the time.)
A few of the
basic tricks are:
1) Stall
This is when you "catch" the footbag with your foot or knee. This is done by moving your foot down with the footbag as it's falling onto your foot. One trick to this is to jump in the air and fall with the footbag while moving your foot down very slowly (remember that two falling bodies fall at the same speed).
When I play with my friends, "stall" is kind of a
universal term used in the following situations:
i) Catching it with your chin and neck. Oddly enough, this is usually done unintentionally as a player is trying to look down at the footbag. One of the many beautiful phenomenons of footbag.
ii) Catching on the peak of your hat.
iii) Catching it in your armpit (iffy).
Some
other things laughingly called stalls so that we can claim it wasn't dropped:
iv) The footbag is wedged between two bricks on a brick wall.
v) The footbag is resting on an object that is above the ground.
2) Clipper
Right footer - Your right foot is swung behind your left leg and your inside of your right foot hits the footbag. This trick is actually harder than the flying clipper and requires you to bend your left knee to 90 degrees unless your ankle is very flexible.
3) Flying clipper (jester)
Same as the clipper but in the air. This trick is best done by using your support leg (the leg your NOT hitting the foot bag with) as a source of momentum by flinging it into the air and then very swiftly bringing your right leg behind your left to hit the footbag. Usually this flinging is done in a kind of graceful arc as opposed to a verticle motion because it's easier and it angles you away from the footbag which somehow makes it easier to stick your leg out farthur from under your support leg.
This move is popularly called a 'Jester' because of the video game 'California Games' which used the same name.
4) Rainbow
Hiting the footbag with the outside of your left or right and then hitting it with the outside of your opposite foot. Not really a true rainbow if it isn't over your head.
This is probably the easiest trick but is very hard if you are poor with your non-dominant leg.
The four things you have to remember to be a good footbag player:
1) Be cool.
Don't hit the footbag with
jerky motions but keep the action smooth.
2) Think about your 'sweet spot'.
Your '
sweet spot' is the middle of the inside and outside part of your shoe where it is best to hit the footbag.
3) Get a good footbag and wear proper foot wear.
Most people use a string(?) or hemp footbag filled with plastic beads. This is alright but It's better to get the stitched paneled ones made out of facile. If you buy a footbag packed with beads, make sure you take at least 40% of the beads out so it's light and not to reactive.
Adidas tennis shoes are the best for footbag but more specifically "
Rod Laver" tennis shoes. Of couse, any shoe is good enough.
4) Practice!
Personnel opinion : I have found that I am more consistent (I hit it more times in a row without dropping it) while under the influences of
marijuana. I don't claim that marijuana is performance boosting but I think that
mistakes seem more funny than frustrating. But if you can remember number one in my list of tips than there isn't any need for drugs.
Happy shredding!