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COMMENTS |
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SHOES
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Wednesday
April 9 2008 835 PM - 935 PM |
7th day of ZZ-L (zig-zag)
LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 58 minutes
no nutrients cocktail(oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = do not
recall
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 1 cg
total (on March 4) since December 1, '07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; 0 oz beer consumed in 24 hours prior to
practice; 35 oz wine consumed evening of day before practice; 0
Herbal sleeping capsules taken before bed night before
workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
MAO inhibiting
herbs today -- just Siberian Ginseng with tea
prior to workout.
(Repeat in
small type:) Today my slight cough was almost completely
gone, |
7th Day of New
Ultra-difficult Zig-Zag Type ZZ-L LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble
runs; numerical score=0.58 ZZ-L LHKH successes per minute, EYES AS NATURAL during 3rd touch kicks with right
foot
Today again for the 7th day in a row
now, I ran a new air-dribble pattern, the "ZZ-L" type
'LHKH' pattern. (Repeat:) The LHKH pattern
features me, at minimum, starting the run kicking the ball with the left
foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it up, then heading it (H) (touch
2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then heading it again (H) (touch 4),
all with no more than 4 paces between touches, all with me running forward
as fast as possible, and all with the ball not touching the
ground. The ZZ innovation is that I run the LHKH
pattern in a zig zag; ZZ-L (L for left) specifically means that
after flipping the ball up the first kick sends the ball forwards and
diagonally to the left; the 2nd touch with the head sends the ball
forwards and diagonally to the right; the 3rd touch with the right foot
sends the ball forwards and diagonally towards the left; the 4th touch
with the head sends the ball forwards and diagonally to the right.
Today for the 8th day in a row, I refrained from
continuing the air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, every time I kicked the ball with the right
foot on the 3rd touch, I let my eyes be 'as natural' when kicking the
ball; I did not order my eyes to be up or down I allowed them to be
whatever they wanted to be.
Today practice started 835
PM ended 935 PM--total 60 minutes running the ZZ-L LHKH
pattern (there was no warm-up prior to the 835 PM start).
At 837 PM in the 3rd minute, there occurred
ZZ-L LHKH success #1 it was long fast tight and sharp. (note on this line of the reports I mistakenly wrote 'ZZ=R'
instead of the correct ZZ-L in the last few reports; this has been
corrected, amazing what you can miss even when you
proofread). In the end in the 60
minutes there had been 25 runs on which I almost adhered to the
ZZ-L LHKH pattern (almost means that the pattern was off by no more than
the fact that one of the touches, usually the 3rd touch in the
pattern was somewhat off); there had been 35 successes in
maintaining the ZZ-L LHKH pattern.
That comes out to 0.42 almosts per
minute and 0.58 successes per minute
(0.05 worse than yesterday). (repeat:) The idea now is, to attain to 0.83
per minute; and then slow down the pace of attempts per hour and
concentrate on improving quality of runs scored as successes in drills
already done, or move on to some new drills.
Stats so Far for ZZ variants of the
LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute
Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April
1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes not following ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as
natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a
C. (repeat:) C level performance as a grade is in the context of what have
become very high standards. I decided to give myself a C
today, because with the previous ZZ-R variant, I started at 0.16
successes per minute, and estimated that when I first got to 0.83
successes per minute, I would be at a B- grade level. I realize that numerical-score-wise I will level off, the numbers
will become constant, while the performance continues to improve;
thus I have been using the deceptive letter grade also.
(Repeat:) Because of the way that I do the grading, you
could on the grounds of the C grade scoff at my performances these days.
You would be wrong to scoff because: practices such as today produced a
relatively speaking very high quality of run scored as
success--the formula I use to give the grade does not take into
account quality of successes; the formula used does not take into
account the number of runs recorded as almost being a success; the
formula used is pessimistic re what the quality of the runs scored as
successes will be when the score gets to 0.83 successes per minute; the formula does not take into account whether the left or
the right foot is being used, this despite the fact that I
am left footed and naturally clumsier with the right foot; with the
passage of time though the general principle of giving myself the benefit
of the doubt remains, I become more and more stringent re whether I
consider a run to be a success (example judging the the ball did not slant
left on the first touch).
On the positive side--
There were several fast long tightly controlled
good quality runs in which the last touch was made with the left foot
instead of the head as intended. These did not count as pattern-adherence
successes.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches: 11 yds; when runs not limited to four touches: 15 yds.
On the negative side--
The quality of the runs scored as pattern-adherence successes was
somewhat low. I had only 1.5 hours sleep the night before the practice.
Today the lack of sleep, not eating enough, Mr-Grinch-related stress
(Financial Audit), lack of time to prepare before practice, and the recent
excesses of wine, cumulatively caught up with me and finally negatively
affected the practice.
I drank ?? oz water during the workout
today; the gym was hot and humid.
Before the practice I noted--
??
During and after the practice I noted-- ??
After the practice I noted--
At least I am getting fit enough so that I can go out and do
a decent job of a tough practice on less than 2 hours of sleep at
night. Looks like: this kind of air-dribble workout will keep me
awake for 12 hours after the workout is finished; and, this kind
of air-dribble workout seems to be a good way to increase the amount of
energy you have per hour of sleep you get, I guess because of the
way it trains the mind, which is the director of all the movements made
with the body during the workout.
Since I wrote up this log entry for Wednesday three days
after the day of the practice, I could not remember much re the
practice, and did not feel very energetic or verbal while writing
up the log entry.
Prior to the workout: I had, ??
Irrelevant(?)
Stuff: ?? Faces in the
Crowd: ??
Weight/Appearance: (repeat in small
type:) Before the workout I was ??? lbs. Like yesterday, I did
not feel like checking my weight in the locker room as I have been
sort of lazily neglecting to pump calories and protein into myself.
Between yesterday's practice and today's I
again ate/drank little (mostly organic/natural). Skipping the details on
this for now. |
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1 layer
Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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Saturday
April 12 2008 640 PM -740 PM |
8th day of ZZ-L (zig-zag)
LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 57 minutes
no nutrients cocktail(oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = just tea and coffee
mixed with Ginsengs
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 1 cg
total (on March 4) since December 1, '07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; 0 oz beer consumed in 24 hours prior to
practice; 6 oz wine consumed evening of day before practice; 0
Herbal sleeping capsules taken before bed night before
workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
MAO inhibiting
herbs today: Siberian, American, and Korean
Ginsengs in coffee before workout
(Repeat in
small type:) Today my slight cough was almost completely
gone. |
8th Day of New Ultra-difficult
Zig-Zag Type ZZ-L LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs; numerical
score=0.74 ZZ-L LHKH pattern-adherence successes per minute, new
personal record; EYES focused on ball for as long as
possible during 3rd touch kicks with right
foot
Today again for the 8th day, I
ran the new air-dribble pattern, the "ZZ-L" type
'LHKH' pattern. (Repeat:) The LHKH pattern
features me, at minimum, starting the run kicking the ball with the left
foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it up, then heading it (H) (touch
2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then heading it again (H) (touch 4),
all with no more than 4 paces between touches, all with me running forward
as fast as possible, and all with the ball not touching the
ground. The ZZ innovation is that I run the LHKH
pattern in a zig zag; ZZ-L (L for left) specifically means that
after flipping the ball up the first kick sends the ball forwards and
diagonally to the left; the 2nd touch with the head sends the ball
forwards and diagonally to the right; the 3rd touch with the right foot
sends the ball forwards and diagonally towards the left; the 4th touch
with the head sends the ball forwards and diagonally to the right.
Today for the 9th day in a row, I refrained from
continuing the air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, every time I kicked the ball with the right
foot on the 3rd touch, I followed the ball with my eyes for as long
as possible before kicking it.
Today practice started 640
PM ended 740 PM--total 57 minutes running the ZZ-L LHKH
pattern (there was no warm-up prior to the 835 PM start) as I
subtracted 3 minutes because of extra time spent taking notes during the
practice. At 640 PM in the 1st minute on the first
attempt, there occurred ZZ-L LHKH success #1 it was tight and
sharp. The first perfect success was success #4 at 646 PM
in the 7th minute, it was a tight fast and sharp run. In the end
in the 57 minutes there had been 10 runs on which I almost
adhered to the ZZ-L LHKH pattern (almost means that the pattern was off by
no more than the fact that one of the touches in the pattern was somewhat
off); there had been 42 successes in maintaining the ZZ-L
LHKH pattern. That
comes out to 0.18 almosts per minute and 0.74 successes per minute a new personal record for
the ZZ-L variant. (repeat:) The idea now is, to attain to 0.83 per minute; and then slow down
the pace of attempts per hour and concentrate on improving quality of runs
scored as successes in drills already done, or move on to some new
drills.
Stats so Far for ZZ variants of the
LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute
Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April
1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 13
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball
maximally) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a
C+. (repeat:) C+ level performance as a grade is in the context of what have
become very high standards. I decided to give myself a C+
today, because with the previous ZZ-R variant, I started at 0.16
successes per minute, and estimated that when I first got to 0.83
successes per minute, I would be at a B- grade level. I realize that numerical-score-wise I will level off, the numbers
will become constant, while the performance continues to improve;
thus I have been using the deceptive letter grade also.
(Repeat:) Because of the way that I do the grading, you
could on the grounds of the C+ grade scoff at my performances these days.
You would be wrong to scoff because: practices such as today produced a
relatively speaking very high quality of run scored as
success--the formula I use to give the grade does not take into
account quality of successes; the formula used does not take into
account the number of runs recorded as almost being a success; the
formula used is pessimistic re what the quality of the runs scored as
successes will be when the score gets to 0.83 successes per minute; the formula does not take into account whether the left or
the right foot is being used, this despite the fact that I
am left footed and naturally clumsier with the right foot; with the
passage of time though the general principle of giving myself the benefit
of the doubt remains, I become more and more stringent re whether I
consider a run to be a success (example judging the the ball did not slant
left on the first touch).
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches: 11 yds; when runs not limited to four touches: 15 yds.
On the positive side--
Today there were good LHK and LHKK pattern runs. LHK means the ball
got away after the third touch with the right foot. LHKK means on the
fourth touch the ball was kicked instead of headed as intended. A few LHK
runs featured classic work on the first kick with the left foot and the
second touch with the head, as a result the first two segments of the runs
were fast tightly controlled and sharply angled, impressive, despite the
3rd touch of the run with the right foot being off.
The good qualities I look for in these runs are: speed, tightness of
control, sharp turns on the angles, and oveall length of run. Today from
beginning to end there were plenty of very good runs featuring 3 or more
of such good qualities.
On the negative side-- too many of
the kicks with the right foot on the 3rd touch were off.
I drank 0 oz water during the workout
today, even though the gym was hot and humid.
Before the practice I
noted-- nothing much.
During and after the practice I noted-- At the
beginning of the practice I felt like, 'there is no way I am going to be
able to produce 30 pattern adherence runs in 60 minutes, it is just too
hard, I am left-footed but using my right foot on the dificult, key 3rd
touch with the foot.
After the practice I noted: the first kick of these runs with the
left foot, sending the ball on a diagonal forwards and to the left,
has been surprisingly, mysteriously difficult. This can lead to a failure
to treat this first touch with the left foot the way the other touches of
the run are treated; I end up on the first touch forgetting all I have
learned, because the difficulty of this first touch is so weird and
mysterious. I should treat this first touch
the way I treat the other touches; meaning, I should concentrate,
carefully aim the ball for a certain spot in the air. When
I treat the first touch as something weird and mysterious to which the
usual rules do not apply, seems I get impaired performance.
Prior to the workout: I had, a glazed coffee
cake type thing, tea, coffee mixed with Korean, Siberian and American
Ginseng. Seems like having both coffee and
also tea before workouts produces good results.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff: nothing
much to report. Faces in the Crowd: About 655
PM a clean shaven white man wearing a baseball hat, who had a deep, coachy
voice, and his grade-school age son came into the gym. At 700 PM I
executed a run that adhered to pattern and was tightly controlled, sharply
angled, fast, and long--the run covered about 10 yards with the ball kept
close to my body and off the ground. The boy looked at
me after watching this run and said, "I've never seen anbody do that
before". He wanted to know if I could do the 'rainbow'.
The boy was wearing a T-shirt that said, 'Stone Meadow Golf River Dogs'.
Weight/Appearance: (repeat in small
type:) Before the workout I was ??? lbs. Like yesterday, I did
not feel like checking my weight in the locker room as I have been
sort of lazily neglecting to pump calories and protein into myself.
Between yesterday's practice and today's I
again ate/drank little (mostly organic/natural). Skipping the details on
this for now. |
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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Sunday
April 13 2008 505 PM -600 PM |
9th day of ZZ-L (zig-zag)
LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 52 minutes
no nutrients cocktail(oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = just tea and coffee
w cane sugar and halfnhalf, + 1 piece Barowsky multigrain bread, + 4 oz
blueberry juice
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 1 cg
total (on March 4) since December 1, '07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; 0 oz beer consumed in 24 hours prior to
practice; 6 oz wine consumed evening of day before practice; 1
cranberry juice 'n vodka at Franco's evening of day before practice;
0 Herbal sleeping capsules taken before bed night before
workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
No MAO inhibiting
herbs today:
(Repeat in
small type:) Today my slight cough was almost completely
gone. |
9th Day of New Ultra-difficult Zig-Zag Type
ZZ-L LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs; numerical score=0.88 ZZ-L LHKH pattern-adherence successes per
minute, new personal record; thus 0.83/minute target finally
achieved; EYES up, looking at face-height level, not
following ball to foot during 3rd touch kicks with right foot
today
Today again for the 9th day, I ran the new
air-dribble pattern, the "ZZ-L" type 'LHKH' pattern.
(Repeat:) The LHKH pattern features me, at
minimum, starting the run kicking the ball with the left foot (L) (touch
1) after flipping it up, then heading it (H) (touch 2), then kicking
it (K) (touch 3), then heading it again (H) (touch 4), all with no more
than 4 paces between touches, all with me running forward as fast as
possible, and all with the ball not touching the
ground. The ZZ innovation is that I run the LHKH
pattern in a zig zag; ZZ-L (L for left) specifically means that
after flipping the ball up the first kick sends the ball forwards and
diagonally to the left; the 2nd touch with the head sends the ball
forwards and diagonally to the right; the 3rd touch with the right foot
sends the ball forwards and diagonally towards the left; the 4th touch
with the head ideally sends the ball forwards and diagonally to the right.
Today for the 10th day in a row, I refrained from
continuing the air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, every time I kicked the ball with the right
foot on the 3rd touch, I did not follow the ball with my eyes when it
sank below chest-high; during the kick I kept my eyes pointed at an angle
such that they would be looking straight at the shoulders of other
players on the field.
Today practice started 505 PM ended 600
PM--total 52 minutes running the ZZ-L LHKH pattern (there was no
warm-up prior to the 505 PM start) as I subtracted 3 minutes due
to various unusual delays during the practice. At 507
PM in the 3rd minute, there occurred ZZ-L LHKH success #1
it was tight and sharp. The first perfect success was success
#5 at 514 PM in the 10th minute, it was a tight fast
long and sharp run. In the end in the 52
minutes there had been 13 runs on which I almost adhered to the
ZZ-L LHKH pattern (almost means that the pattern was off by no more than
the fact that one of the touches in the pattern was somewhat off);
there had been 46 successes in maintaining the ZZ-L LHKH
pattern. That
comes out to 0.25 almosts per minute and 0.88 successes per minute a new personal record for
the ZZ-L variant. (repeat:) The idea
now that I have attained the 0.83 per minute target, is, to move on to
some new but similar diagonal type drills.
Stats so Far for ZZ variants of the LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 13
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 14
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a
B-. (repeat:) B- level performance as a grade, is in the context of what have
become very high standards. I decided to give myself a B-
today, because with the previous ZZ-R variant, I started at 0.16
successes per minute, and estimated that when I first got to 0.83
successes per minute, I would be at a B- grade level. I realize that numerical-score-wise I will level off, the numbers
will become constant, while the performance continues to improve;
thus I have been using the deceptive letter grade also.
(Repeat:) Because of the way that I do the grading, you
could on the grounds of the B- grade scoff at my performances these
days. You would be wrong to scoff because: practices such as today
produced a relatively speaking very high quality of run scored as
success--the formula I use to give the grade does not take into
account quality of successes; the formula used does not take into
account the number of runs recorded as almost being a success; the
formula used is pessimistic re what the quality of the runs scored as
successes will be when the score gets to 0.83 successes per minute; the formula does not take into account whether the left or
the right foot is being used, this despite the fact that I
am left footed and naturally clumsier with the right foot; with the
passage of time though the general principle of giving myself the benefit
of the doubt remains, I become more and more stringent re whether I
consider a run to be a success (example judging the the ball did not slant
left on the first touch).
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches: 11 yds; when runs not limited to four touches: 15 yds.
On the positive side--
Today the first kick was consistently
accurate setting up the subsequent header well; this due to me putting
into effect my thoughtful resolve, to treat the first kick like other
kicks--aim carefully, and concentrate. Lots of
good qualities such as speed, length, tightness of control, and sharp
angles on turns were evident in the runs today. There were excellent runs
from beginning to end. Sharp
angles combined in a given run, with qualities such as speed and
tightness of control and length of run, significantly more often than in
the past.
On the negative side-- A few of the runs scored as
pattern-adherence-successes were of low quality.
I drank 0 oz water during the workout today.
Before the practice I noted--
nothing much.
During and after the practice I noted--
Today for the first time doing ZZ-L LHKH
pattern-adherence-runs, I finally attained to the target 0.83
pattern-adherence successes per minute; today the score was 0.88 per
minute. In previous posts this month I have already commented re
the dramatic significance of this achievement. The ZZ-L is a zig-zagging
pattern in which the key touch is the 3rd touch with the right foot;
pattern-adherence at this point requires the right foot to kick the ball
diagonally forwards and to the left so that the ball can be touched with
the head before it hits the ground and before four more paces are run.
Since I am left-footed, ZZ-L which I did today, is more
difficult for me than ZZ-R because with the ZZ-R the 3rd touch is with the
left foot.
These zig-zagging ZZ-L and ZZ-R patterns
involve three
diagonal diagonal slants:
The four diagonal patterns that remain to be done,
involve only two diagonal
slants.
1
2
3
4
These patterns involve alternation between
touching the ball with the foot and touching it with the head which is
more difficult than executing the same diagonal patterns without such
alternation.
Thus I adjudge the ZZ-L and the ZZ-R which I have
already in a basic sense mastered, as more difficult than the remaining
four patterns which I have not done yet which are: Long Corner Left, the
Long Corner Right, the Short Corner Left, and the Short Corner
Right.
Thus I see today as the
crucial victory in the war of the
diagonals. True (my mind can end up being a
party-pooper) there remain beyond diagonals, drills which
produce skill in terms of changes of speed during the air-dribble run, and
drills which produce skill in terms of extreme tightness of control.
But you get to a point where you are developing skills
that you do not need in order to be the best in the world--such skills are
the kind of skills you work on after you have become the best.
The tightness of control is already through the drills
already done, extremely improved. There is a level of tightness of control
that is unnecessary in terms of beating defenses. Further improvement in
tightness of control will not be as difficult as the head/foot alternation
diagonals I have already mastered the basics of.
Coming to a stop and then speeding up again while
air-dribbling I see as a skill I do not need in order to be the best in
the world; air-dribble stop 'n go is not often a natural part of an actual
game; and I have already improved much in terms of ability to change speed
during the course of an air-dribble.
Thus for now I revel in the important significance of
today's achievement. Why spoil the sense of important achievement by
getting too clever about imagining further improvements that would be even
greater things than what was accomplished today?
Next I plan to move on to a new drill, as opposed to
polishing up my performance in the ZZ-L LHKH which I did today and the
previous few days; I believe that moving on to a new drill will produce
more improvement in terms of general skill, than polishing up the ZZ-L
LHKH drill that I have been doing.
It was surprising that I managed to achieve the
0.88 score today while using my clumsier right foot on the difficult
crucial 3rd touch of the runs, and also while keeping my eyes up
so that my eyes remained looking at a face-height level as opposed to
following the ball all the way down to my feet.
Surprising or not, such is another good excuse for
attempting to wallow in a sense of achievement and importance today. When
I am air-dribbling with my eyes up, I have a superior knowledge of what is
going on on the field, I have to devote less attention to a touch on the
ball, which frees up attention for the next event; and, the body-movements
involved in a touch on the ball or finished up more quickly allowing the
body to move on to the next thing. Air-dribbling while following
the ball all the way to the foot with the eye is the first phase of
development and is at first easier.
My ideas re how the not following the ball all
the way to the foot with the eye could have advantages in terms of
producing accurate kicks on the ball: the mind can judge the
movement of the ball better when the eyes face straight ahead and do not
follow the ball, because then there is a stationary reference point, the
field of vision is kept steady while the ball moves through the
various areas of the field of vision; attempts to adjust position of the
foot based on visual data in the last micro-seconds prior to the kick on
the ball, degrade rather than improve performance; high level performance
is achieved when the decisions re where the foot will be placed have
already been made while the ball is still relatively far away from the
foot that is about to kick it.
Prior to the workout: I had, one piece Barowsky
multigrain bread, 1 c tea, 1 c coffee both mixed with cane sugar and
halfnhalf; about 4 oz blueberry juice; skipped the Ginsengs this
time. Again, Seems like having both
coffee and also tea before workouts produces good results.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff:
Nothing much to report. Except I had a dream that I was walking on a
highway, and on a nearby intersecting road at a higher level there were
these bespectacled chubby tall heavy black pro athletes wearing
green shirts who loved me. Faces in the Crowd:
When I started there was a white man and a yellow-haired white woman
shooting baskets. Then there entered the bespectacled and bearded black
man who earlier said his name was 'Louis'. I was doing the air-dribble
drills the width of the gym, Louis occasionally jogged the
length of the gym on the side that I was moving towards during the course
of my runs. A couple of times on high speed air-dribble runs the ball
and myself flew at Louis so hard as he jogged, that he became alarmed. He
asked me if I could do the air-dribble runs the length of the gym instead
of the width of the gym. I did not respond to him; I was thinking to
myself, this is the same guy who asked me to get out of his way when he
was sitting in a chair and I was doing air-dribble runs because I
obstructed his view of some informal pick-up basketball game. I
knew I could not change over to doing the length of the gym for various
reasons. I was thinking to myself, if he jogged the length of the gym on
the side of the gym I was starting on, and jogged in a line that went
behind my starting point, he would not get in my way; I was here before he
got here; and now he instead of jogging on my side of the gym behind me,
wants me to change my whole routine. But I did not say anything to him, I
just made sure that I did not do any runs while there was any chance of
colliding with him while I was jogging. Thus the matter was resolved
without further argument a credit to the maturity of the both of us, Ah
reckon.
About 535 PM the flag football fellows entered the gym as they were
scheduled to start at 600 PM. Twice in the course of my
air-dribble runs, the flag football chieftain 'Chaudhury', who looks like
Sammy Davis Jr., ran into my flight path; both times as soon as I saw him
I on the 3rd touch tightened up the control and slowed myself down,
successfully completed the flight pattern retained control of the ball and
avoided collision, I thought this was significant.
There was a lot of consistent skill on display today in the gym in
the person of myself, but nobody in the gym said anything. In
summary there were lots of runs that they must have
seen which combined at least three of the four following qualities:
speed, tightness of control, length, and sharpness of turns on diagonals;
and, several of these runs that combined various good qualities featured
extreme speed, extreme length, extreme tightness, and/or extreme sharpness
of angle on turns.
Here is an extract from the verbatim notes starting with 535 PM when
the gym had the most mutes inside of it:
Key to notes: X22 LFTS 555 means: the 22nd
successful pattern-adherence run occurred at 555 PM it was a long (L) fast
(F) tight (T) sharply-angled (S) run; VL=very long; VF=very fast; VT=very
tight; VS=very sharply angled; L=long; T=tight; F=fast; S=sharply angled.
A=run was almost a pattern-adherence success.
X22 VF VS T VL 535;
X23 VL VF VS 536;
X24 TSFL 537; X25 LFT 538; X26
LFT 538 again not a typo; X27 TS 539;
X28 TS 540; A 541; X29 LTS
541; X30 VL VF T
542; X31 VF TS 544; X32 LFT VS 545; X33 VS VF
546; A 546; X34 LFTS perfecto
547; X35 TFS,
last touch ultratight as Banglad (Bangladeshi) ran in my way;
548; -1 (time subtract due to
delay); X36 VL VF 549; X37
LFTS 550; X38 LFTS 551; X39
LFTS 552; X40 FTS last touch deliberately extra-tight due
to running in my way again; X41 TF 554; X42 LF VT VS 554; X43 VS VT
555; A 556; A 556; X44 557; X45 VT 558;
X46 VL VF 559; A 559
All that incredible action right in front of the teenage boys
and young men in the gym and nobody says anything.
Weight/Appearance: (repeat in small
type:) Before the workout I was ??? lbs. Like yesterday, I did
not feel like checking my weight in the locker room as I have been
sort of lazily neglecting to pump calories and protein into myself.
Between yesterday's practice and today's I
again ate/drank little (mostly organic/natural). Skipping the details on
this for now. |
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Monday
April 14 2008 530 PM -627 PM |
'11' Cranberry
& Vodka drinks at the bar which was typed in this col yesterday was a
typo; actually I had only 1 (one);
1st day of LCL
(zig-zag) LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 53 minutes
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = just tea and coffee
w cane sugar and halfnhalf, + 1 piece Barowsky multigrain bread, + 6
oz orange juice
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 1 cg
total (on March 4) since December 1, '07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; 0 oz beer consumed in 24 hours prior to
practice; 0 oz alcoholic drinks consumed evening of day
before practice; 0 Herbal sleeping capsules taken before bed
night before workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
No MAO inhibiting
herbs today:
(Repeat in
small type:) Today my slight cough was almost completely
gone. |
1st Day of New 'Long
Corner Left' (LCL) type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs; numerical score=0.96 'Long Corner Left'
(LCL) LHKH pattern-adherence successes per minute; thus 0.83/minute target achieved on 1st Day doing
Long Corner Left; EYES following ball all the way to
foot,
The new LCL vairant done today:
Today for the 1st day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "Long Corner Left" (LCL) type 'LHKH' pattern.
The LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run kicking the
ball with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it up, then
heading it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then heading it
again (H) (touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between touches, all
with me running forward as fast as I can, and all with the
ball not touching the ground. The 'Long Corner
Left' (LCL) innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern in a
corner-like, swerving pattern; after flipping the ball up the
first kick sends the ball forwards and diagonally to my left; the 2nd
touch with the head sends the ball in the same direction that it is
already moving; the 3rd touch with the left foot sends the ball
forwards and diagonally towards my right; the 4th touch with the head
sends the ball in a direction now unspecified.
Today for the 11th day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball with the left
foot on the 3rd touch, I followed the ball with my eyes as long as
possible as it neared my foot.
Today practice started 530 PM ended 627
PM--total 53 minutes running the Long-corner-left LHKH pattern
(there was no warm-up prior to the 530 PM start) as I
subtracted 4 minutes due to various unusual delays during
the practice. At 530 PM in the 1st minute on the
first attempt, there occurred LCL LHKH success #1 it was long
fast and sharp. The first perfect success was success
#3 at 533 PM in the 4th minute, it was a tight fast
long and sharp run. In the end in the 53
minutes there had been 10 runs on which I almost adhered to
the LCL LHKH pattern (almost means that the pattern was off by no
more than the fact that one of the touches in the pattern was somewhat
off); there had been 51 successes in maintaining the LCL
LHKH pattern. That
comes out to 0.19 almosts per minute and 0.96 successes per minute. The idea now that I have already on the first attained
the 0.83 per minute target, is, to move on to the 'Long Corner Right' LHKH
which will stress my clumsier right foot.
Stats so Far for ZZ and LCL variants of the
LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19
0.96 (eyes follow maximally)
The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a B.
(semi-repeat in small txt:) B
level performance as a grade, is in the context of what
have become very high standards. I decided to give myself a B
today, because with the previous ZZ-R variant, I started at 0.16
successes per minute, and estimated that when I first got to 0.83
successes per minute, I would be at a B- grade level. I realize that numerical-score-wise I will level off, the numbers
will become constant, while the performance continues to improve;
thus I have been using the deceptive letter grade also.
Because of the way that I do the grading, you could on
the grounds of the B grade scoff at my performances these days. You
would be wrong to scoff because: practices such as today produced a
relatively speaking very high quality of run scored as
success--the formula I use to give the grade does not take into
account quality of successes; the formula used does not take into
account the number of runs recorded as almost being a success; the
formula used is pessimistic re what the quality of the runs scored as
successes will be when the score gets to 0.83 successes per minute; the formula does not take into account whether the left or
the right foot is being used, this despite the fact that I
am left footed and naturally clumsier with the right foot; with the
passage of time though the general principle of giving myself the benefit
of the doubt remains, I become more and more stringent re whether I
consider a run to be a success (example judging the the ball did not slant
left on the first touch).
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches: 11 yds; when runs not limited to four touches: 15 yds.
On the positive side--
Today one could say that I did the LCL version of the LHKH better
than I did the straight version of the LHKH when I used to do the straight
version of the LHKH before I started the zig-zagging versions of the LHKH;
this regardless of the LCL version being more difficult.
I can tell that as a result of doing the zig-zagging versions of the
LHKH I have now become good enough that I
would now be sort of like a man on a motorcycle when doing the LHKH
straight version. By man on motorcycle, I mean sort of assured relaxed
confident, as close to the ball as the motor-cyclist is to the
motor-cycle, fast like a motor-cycle; on and on one would go re how
the air-dribble at its best resembles a man on a motorcycle. This
validates my earlier hypothesis that these new drill variations never done
before, improve skills that are not the main focus of the drills involved.
Today the runs were tightly controlled up to the point of the
3rd touch, sharply angled on the turn on the 3rd touch, and
tight, fast and long after the 3rd touch.
On the negative side-- A weakness is still, as it is
in all these drills, lack of speed prior to the 3rd touch with the foot.
This can be solved through drills that emphasize high speed between the
first touch and the second touch or between the second touch and the third
touch, or both.
water--I drank 0 oz water during the
workout today.
Before the practice I
noted-- Why the LCL variant is the next
logical step.
During and after the practice I noted--
Today's performance enhanced my appreciation for the more difficult
accomplishment of yesterday because, although almost every attempt was
suceeding today, I was still having trouble keeping up with the target
0.83 successes per minute in the first 20 minutes the first third of the
hour; so I was thinking, how tough it must have been doing the more
difficult variant yesterday--but yesterday, during the practice things did
not seem as tough as they did today in retrospect.
I guess day after day of doing something hard, got me used to such.
. Prior to the workout: I had, one piece Barowsky
multigrain bread, 1 c tea, 1 c coffee both mixed with cane sugar and
halfnhalf; about 6 oz orange juice; skipped the Ginsengs and
other MAOI herbs this time. Again, Seems like having
both coffee and also tea before workouts produces good results.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff: Seems I am handling the
stress of taxes and financial audits well in the sense that I have not
allowed such to impair or disrupt my soccer workouts, or propel me into
being a smoker. Faces in the Crowd:
There were these little 'Spanish' boys and girls running around the
basketball court, I kept politely asking them to give me some space so I
would not run into them, and they kept running back into the space I asked
them not to enter.
At 612 PM the volleyball players started setting up their net on the
middle red line the end section of which is my starting point for these
drills so I had to move. I was wondering what kind of effect this would
have on my runs; the new space was more cramped than the old one, to the
side of the volleyball net, with the 'Spanish' kids running around.
Again I was thinikng how there was a lot of consistent skill on
display today in the gym in the person of myself, but nobody in the gym
said anything.
Here is an extract from the verbatim notes I took during the
practice, starting with 612 PM when the volleyballers started
setting up their net on the middle red line:
Key to notes: X22 LFTS 555 means: the 22nd
successful pattern-adherence run occurred at 555 PM it was a long (L) fast
(F) tight (T) sharply-angled (S) run; VL=very long; VF=very fast; VT=very
tight; VS=very sharply angled; L=long; T=tight; F=fast; S=sharply angled.
A=run was almost a pattern-adherence success.
X35 TS 612; they set up their net now, I must
move; X36 TFSL 613; X37 FTS
614; A 615; X38 TF 615; X39 TF 616; X40 TS 617;
X41 TF 618; X42 VL VF 619; X43 VT VS 620; X44 TF 620; X45 TF 621; X46 T VS 622; X47 T VL VF VS
623; A 624; X48 FT 624; X49 FT 625; X50 FT 626;
X51 TFS 627
All that action right in front of the volleyballers and all
through the house, not a creature used his mouth they all were a mouse.
I watched the volleyballers playing their game, looked at them with
that blank stare I look at people with when I am tired out from being
spectacular and taking note of the silence of those who saw me being
spectacular. Then one of the volleyballers pointed his voice my direction
and said, 'you're great!'. I was tired to the point where him saying that
had no effect on me. These drills in which I hustle to accomplish
as many pattern-adherence successes as possible are tiring. I do not
weasel out and do just slow short runs as way of running up the score.
Weight/Appearance: (repeat in small
type:) Before the workout I was ??? lbs. Like yesterday, I did
not feel like checking my weight in the locker room as I have been
sort of lazily neglecting to pump calories and protein into myself.
Between yesterday's practice and today's I
again ate/drank little (mostly organic/natural). Skipping the details on
this for now.
|
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Tuesday
April 15 2008 845 PM -940 PM |
1st day of LCR
LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 55 minutes
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = just coffee w cane
sugar and halfnhalf, + 1 piece Barowsky multigrain bread, + orange
juice + blueberry juice.
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 1 cg
total (on March 4) since December 1, '07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; 12 oz beer consumed in 24 hours prior to
practice; 0 Herbal sleeping capsules taken before bed night before
workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
No MAO inhibiting
herbs today:
(Repeat in
small type:) Today my slight cough was almost completely
gone. |
1st Day of New 'Long
Corner Right' (LCR) type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs;
numerical score=0.60 'Long Corner Right' (LCR) LHKH
pattern-adherence successes per minute; EYES following
ball all the way to foot,
The new LCR vairant done today:
Today for the 1st day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "Long Corner Right" (LCR) type 'LHKH' pattern.
The LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run kicking the
ball with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it up, then
heading it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then heading it
again (H) (touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between touches, all
with me running forward as fast as I can, and all with the
ball not touching the ground. The 'Long Corner
Right' (LCR) innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern in a
corner-like, swerving pattern; after flipping the ball up the
first kick sends the ball forwards and diagonally to my right; the
2nd touch with the head sends the ball in the same direction that it is
already moving; the 3rd touch with the right foot sends the ball
forwards and diagonally towards my left; the 4th touch with the head sends
the ball in a direction now unspecified.
Today for the 12th day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball with the right
foot on the 3rd touch, I followed the ball with my eyes as long as
possible as it neared my foot.
Today practice started 845 PM ended 940
PM--total 55 minutes running the Long-corner-right LHKH pattern
(there was no warm-up prior to the 845 PM start).
At 845 PM in the 1st minute on the first attempt,
there occurred LCR LHKH success #1 it was long fast and tightly
controlled. The first perfect success was success
#5 at 852 PM in the 8th minute, it was a tight fast
long and sharp run. In the end in the 55
minutes there had been 15 runs on which I almost adhered to
the LCR LHKH pattern (almost means that the pattern was off by no
more than the fact that one of the touches in the pattern was somewhat
off); there had been 33 successes in maintaining the LCR
LHKH pattern. That
comes out to 0.27 almosts per minute and 0.60 successes per
minute.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL and LCR variants of
the LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19
0.96 (eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a C.
(semi-repeat in small
txt:) C level performance as a grade,
is in the context of what have become very high standards. I decided
to give myself a C today, because with the previous ZZ-R
variant, I started at 0.16 successes per minute, and estimated that
when I first got to 0.83 successes per minute, I would be at a B-
grade level. I realize that numerical-score-wise I
will level off, the numbers will become constant, while the
performance continues to improve; thus I have been using the deceptive
letter grade also.
Because of the way that I do the grading, you could on
the grounds of the C grade scoff at my performances these days. You
would be wrong to scoff because: practices such as today produced a
relatively speaking very high quality of run scored as
success--the formula I use to give the grade does not take into
account quality of successes; the formula used does not take into
account the number of runs recorded as almost being a success; the
formula used is pessimistic re what the quality of the runs scored as
successes will be when the score gets to 0.83 successes per minute; the formula does not take into account whether the left or
the right foot is being used, this despite the fact that I
am left footed and naturally clumsier with the right foot; with the
passage of time though the general principle of giving myself the benefit
of the doubt remains, I become more and more stringent re whether I
consider a run to be a success (example judging the the ball did not slant
left on the first touch); the grade does not take into account that some
drill variants are more difficult than others.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches: 11 yds; when runs not limited to four touches: 15 yds.
On the positive side--
Once I got warmed up there were several
textbook-classic runs that were tightly controlled, fast, sharp, and long
and that all adhered to the LCR- LHKH pattern.
On the negative side-- Some of the runs scored as
pattern-adherence successes were of low quality. The kick on the first
touch and the kick on the third touch were inconsistent. This variant is
not as difficult as the ZZ-L which also employs the right foot on the
third touch; still the score was lower than the last day with the ZZ-L;
just goes to show how a difficult thing that is practiced becomes easier
than a hard thing that is not practiced.
water--I drank 0 oz water during the
workout today.
Before the practice I
noted-- nothing much
During and after the practice I noted--
Not much.
. Prior to the workout: I had, one piece Barowsky
multigrain bread, 1 c coffee mixed with cane sugar and halfnhalf;
about 8 oz blueberry juice; 8 oz apple juice; skipped
the Ginsengs and other MAOI herbs this time. Irrelevant(?) Stuff:
The number of dreams I have that I can remember has gone up.
In one dream I was with the woman who used to work at the 'Fishmonger' in
Cambridge MA who calls herself 'Fishgoose', people call her
'Fishgoose'. In the dream I was impressed by her physical health and her
mentally upbeat nature. In the dream we were friends and her name was
"Mishoon Terrel' or something like that; her name was also (this went
together with a drawing of her face with short hair) Heini Heineman.
In another dream I was at a sleepover party or was camping with some
guys, one of whom was the local TV announcer David Wade.
Wade in the dream did not look as he did in real life, he was more typical
looking and clean shaven and white and seemed taller but it was still him.
He was doing calisthenics with most of his clothes off. He was a friendly
likable guy in the dream. I remember as a boy we used to have sleep over
parties and go camping, but as an adult in the Boston area there is little
camaraderie with the fellow males for me.
In another dream 'Shank' was at a meeting and had to make his way
home, which was dangerous, and I told him that I hoped that he would get
home alive.
And there were some other dreams, one dream featured a
tomboyish woman named 'Chris Thadall', a rare name, I do
not know anybody with the name. Some of the details of the dreams and some
of the dreams were unremembered.
Faces in the Crowd: gym was empty except a
black female teenager who told this black guy that her name was Bridget,
and a black guy wearing a shirt that said 'Carter' on it. Weight/Appearance: (repeat in small
type:) Before the workout I was ??? lbs. Like yesterday, I did
not feel like checking my weight in the locker room as I have been
sort of lazily neglecting to pump calories and protein into myself.
Between yesterday's practice and today's I
again ate/drank little (mostly organic/natural). Skipping the details on
this for now.
|
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Wednesday
April 16 2008 840 PM -940 PM |
2nd day of LCR
LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 60 minutes
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = just coffee w
cane sugar and halfnhalf, tea w cane sugar 'Fo-ti' herb,+ 4
pieces Barowsky multigrain bread, + 12 oz Bolthouse 'C-Boost'
Drink.
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 2
cgs total (on March 4, April 15) since December 1,
'07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; 16 oz wine consumed in 24 hours prior to
practice; 0 Herbal sleeping capsules taken before bed night before
workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
(Repeat in
small type:) Today my slight cough was almost completely
gone. |
2nd Day of New 'Long
Corner Right' (LCR) type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs; numerical score=0.90 'Long Corner
Right' (RCL) LHKH pattern-adherence successes per minute;
succeeded in reaching target 0.83 per
minute; EYES allowed to do whatever
Corrected some typo-like mistakes in the
previous few entries. These typo-like mistakes involved entire words
instead of letters, somehow they were missed in the proofreading. But
despite the mistakes you would have been able to understand the
general intent of the log entry.
The new RCL variant done today for the second day in a row:
Today for the 2nd day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "Long Corner Right" (RCL) type 'LHKH' pattern.
(Repeat small type:) The LHKH pattern features me,
at minimum, starting the run kicking the ball with the left foot (L)
(touch 1) after flipping it up, then heading it (H) (touch 2), then
kicking it (K) (touch 3), then heading it again (H) (touch 4), all with no
more than 4 paces between touches, all with me running forward as fast as
I can, and all with the ball not touching the
ground. The 'Long Corner Right' (RCL)
innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern in a corner-like, swerving
pattern; after flipping the ball up the first kick sends the ball
forwards and diagonally to my right; the 2nd touch with the head
sends the ball in the same direction that it is already moving; the 3rd
touch with the right foot sends the ball forwards and diagonally
towards my left; the 4th touch with the head sends the ball in a direction
now unspecified.
Today for the 13th day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball with the right
foot on the 3rd touch, I allowed my eyes to do whatever came
naturally in terms of following the ball.
Today practice started 840 PM ended 940
PM--total 60 minutes running the Long-corner-right LHKH pattern
(there was no warm-up prior to the 840 PM start).
At 840 PM in the 1st minute on the first attempt,
there occurred LCR LHKH success #1 it was a short run but
tightly controlled. The first perfect success was success
#3 at 843 PM in the 4th minute, it was a tightly
controlled, fast and sharply angled run. In the end in
the 60 minutes there had been 18 runs on which I almost
adhered to the LCR LHKH pattern (almost means that the pattern was
off by no more than the fact that one of the touches in the pattern was
somewhat off); there had been 54 successes in maintaining
the LCR LHKH pattern. That comes out to 0.30 almosts per minute and 0.90 successes per
minute.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL and LCR variants of
the LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19 0.96
(eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 16
0.30
0.90 (eyes as
natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a B.
(semi-repeat in small
txt:) B level performance as a grade,
is in the context of what have become very high standards. I decided
to give myself a B today, because with the previous ZZ-R
variant, I started at 0.16 successes per minute, and estimated that
when I first got to 0.83 successes per minute, I would be at a B-
grade level. I realize that
numerical-score-wise I will level off, the numbers will become
constant, while the performance continues to improve; thus I have
been using the deceptive letter grade also.
Because of the way that I do the grading, you could on
the grounds of the B grade scoff at my performances these days.
You would be wrong to scoff because: practices such as today produced a
relatively speaking very high quality of run scored as
success--the formula I use to give the grade does not take into
account quality of successes; the formula used does not take into
account the number of runs recorded as almost being a success; the
formula used is pessimistic re what the quality of the runs scored as
successes will be when the score gets to 0.83 successes per minute; the formula does not take into account whether the left or
the right foot is being used, this despite the fact that I
am left footed and naturally clumsier with the right foot; with the
passage of time though the general principle of giving myself the benefit
of the doubt remains, I become more and more stringent re whether I
consider a run to be a success (example judging the the ball did not slant
left on the first touch); the grade does not take into account that some
drill variants are more difficult than others.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches: 11 yds; when runs not limited to four touches: 15 yds.
On the positive side--
Obviously the 0.30 per minute improvement over yesterday was a big
improvement, the biggest improvement over one
day since I started doing the variants of the LHKH pattern.
From beginning to end but especially in the first half, there were
several runs that were perfect; but today the perfect runs lacked the
characteristic of length. There were also several very good runs a shade
below perfect. Today many of the runs were tight sharply angled and fast,
but few of them were long.
On the negative side-- Like yesterday, some of the
runs scored as pattern-adherence successes were of low quality. The
kick on the first touch and the kick on the third touch were inconsistent
but not as inconsistent as yesterday. I felt like I
could feel the tiring effect of the just one cigarette I had the night
before the day of the practice. They gym was hot and humid, which
was tiring.
water--I drank 0 oz water during the
workout today, despite the gym being very hot.
Before the practice I
noted-- nothing much.
During and after the practice I noted--
Again I marveled at how balls that I kick forwards at a
low angle almost parallel to the ground at a fairly high velocity,
amazingly, bounce straight up when they hit the ground due to the backspin
I put on the ball while air-dribbling it.
Doing these variants of the LHKH has produced alot of
improvement quickly; nevertheless the frustration remains, that,
especially with the variants that employ the right foot on the 3rd
touch, there is this inconsistency on the first and the
third kicks which would tend to inhibit the employment of such moves in
actual games.
In order to remedy such depressing frustration, I took a look at
the rate of progress on the LHKH variants. I estimated that
perfection, every attempt resulting in a pattern-adherence success, would
produce a rate of 1.15 pattern-adherence successes per minute. I noted
that: my average rate of progress per day (pattern-adherence-successes per
minute) with variants that employ the right foot on the 3rd touch was
0.11 per day; my average rate of progress per day with variants that
employ the left foot on the 3rd touch was 0.55 per day; the average
final score after which I moved on to the next drill, on variants that
employ the left foot on the 3rd touch was 0.91; the average final score
after which I moved on to the next drill, on variants that employ the
right foot on the 3rd touch was 0.89.
Thus I estimate that I would get to perfect
consistency (which does not necessarily mean excellence on every run),
every attempt resulting in pattern adherence success, after 4
more hours of practice on each of the variants that employ the right foot
on the 3rd touch; and for variants that employ the left foot on the 3rd
touch this figure would be 3 hours.
Going on the the question of how many hours more practice it would
take for me to get to the point where every run was not just mere
pattern-adherence but high-quality pattern-adherence, my estimate is that
this would require a general doubling of quality of runs, and that this
would require 10 additional hours for runs that employ the right foot on
the 3rd touch, and 21 additional hours for runs that employ the left foot
on the 3rd touch.
I realize that these estimates have come out weird because
they assume based on the historical data, that the rate of further
progress will be faster with the left foot than with the right, which
conflicts with the reality that I am left-footed and will progress faster
with the left foot than with the right, once the right foot has caught up
to the left foot.
Nevertheless a quick estimate (I could spend all night trying to come
up with a better estimate) lumping the left on 3rd touch and the
right on 3rd touch data together, is that for a given variant I will
get to the point where 100% of the attempts result in pattern-adherence
success in 4 additional hours, and then get to the level where every
attempt results in at least a very good example of
pattern-adherence in 16 more hours. This comes out to
(4+16=20) 20 hours per variant; but this ignores the fact that
improvement in a given variant improves performance on the other variants.
Thus for now my estimate is that each of the five variants I
have already in a basic sense mastered will require (4+8=12) 12 more
hours to get to the point where almost every attempt results in a high
quality pattern-adherence success.
The LHKH variants that remain to be mastered in a basic
sense, are 'Short Corner Left', and 'Short Corner Right'. And then
there are about four other drills I now envision for the future that I
have not given names to yet. Looking at the data, my initial
estimate for these six remaining variants, is that they will on
average each require 5 hours to master in a basic sense, and then
they will each require 12 more hours to get to the point where there is
high-quality success on almost every attempt.
So at this point you could say that with regards to the
five variants already basically mastered, it will take (12 X 5 = 60)
60 hours to get to the point where almost every attempt results in a
high-quality success; and with regards to the six or so variants that
have not been mastered in a basic sense, it will take (6 X 17 = 102)
102 hours to get to the point where almost every attempt results in a high
quality success. Grand total
for polishing up the variants already mastered, and becoming basically
proficient with and then polishing the variants not already mastered: 162
hours. That's 162 hours (an initial, basic estimate I will probably refine
later) to get to the point where I am a soccer deity, the best the
world has ever known.
Still, one would be foolish to ignore
factors that show that I do not need to do 162 hours more of practice
before I can reasonably occasionally employ the air-dribble during
games: you do not need to get to the point of high quality
success on every attempt during drills, before air-dribble moves of
the type practiced in the drills can be wisely employed during games:
a certain level of unpredictability with regards to the outcome of an
air-dribble move does not mean the move should not be attempted; in a
game, unlike the scoring system used for these drills, an air-dribble move
can be effective even if something happens that would result in me scoring
the move as a failure to adhere to pattern during drills; in a game you
could impressively beat the defense even if the ball was off-pattern in
the sense that it was kicked twice in a row or headed twice in a row or
bounced between touches; in a game an imperfectly executed air-dribble run
can be grounded, the ball can be brought to the ground; in these drills,
the emphasis on pattern adherence results in control-losing mis-kicks
at points where in a game, one can deviate from pattern and retain control
of the ball.
And I have already noticed that the air-dribble practices, produce
surprising improvement in ground-dribbling skills which I can already
reasonably often employ during games.
You could say that I have here been foolish to indulge in all this
verbose speculation re how many hours before I become this or that.
My response is that such speculation or estimation as this is
reasonable because it counters demoralization, and because it is
common-sense, given the that time can be put into things other than soccer
and time spent on soccer can be spent in various ways, to attempt to judge
with regards to whether it makes any sense to put the time into various
soccer drills. An estimate re how much time it will take to get
to various levels of skill helps me to decide how to spend whatever hours
I put into soccer. The 162 hours to become a soccer-god estimate reminds
me of how one can err by frittering away time on things like playing games
for an amateur team. One game playing for an amateur team can eat up five
hours of time and then during the game, surrounded by selfish
and envious team-mates, the ball, bouncing weirdly on a bumpy
field, ends up being touched by the self only a few times;
thus one can stumble into putting 162 hours into 30 games played
on some amateur team, as opposed to 162 hours put into becoming a
soccer-god.
Prior to the workout: I had, four piece
Barowsky multigrain bread, 1 c coffee mixed with maple syrup and
halfnhalf; 12 oz Bolthouse C-Boost Juice; 1/2 cup tea mixed
with MAOI herb 'Fo-ti'. Irrelevant(?) Stuff: In a dream,
I saw the moon in the distance; it was colored blue and white,
resembling how the earth looks like a blue and white marble from far out
in space. Directly above the moon, and close to the moon, I saw a planet
about four times as wide as the moon, which was also colored in blue and
white. The moon was connected to the planet above it by something that
looked like a black eagle. The planet above the moon zoomed at planet
earth which I was on at a high speed as if it was about to collide with
planet earth, but in the end it narrowly missed planet earth.
Faces in the Crowd: gym was empty during the
practice. Weight/Appearance: (repeat in small
type:) Before the workout I was ??? lbs. Like yesterday, I did
not feel like checking my weight in the locker room as I have been
sort of lazily neglecting to pump calories and protein into myself.
Between yesterday's practice and today's I
again ate/drank little (mostly organic/natural). Skipping the details on
this for now.
|
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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|
Thursday
April 17 2008 840 PM -940 PM |
1st day of SCR
LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 60 minutes
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = just coffee w
cane sugar and halfnhalf & 'Fo-ti' MAOI herb, + 2 pieces
Barowsky multigrain bread, + 10 oz Bolthouse 'C-Boost' Drink + 10 oz
blueberry juice
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 2
cgs total (on March 4, April 15) since December 1,
'07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; 10 oz wine consumed in 24 hours prior to
practice; 0 Herbal sleeping capsules taken before bed night before
workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
(Repeat in
small type:) Today my slight cough was almost completely
gone. |
1st Day of New 'Short
Corner Right' (SCR) type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs; numerical score=0.97 'Short Corner Right'
(SCR) LHKH pattern-adherence successes per minute; succeeded
in reaching target 0.83 per
minute; EYES allowed to do whatever
Corrected some typo-like mistakes in the
previous entry.
The new SCR variant done today for the second day in a
row:
Today for the 1st day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "Short Corner Right" (SCR) type 'LHKH'
pattern. The LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run
kicking the ball with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it
up, then heading it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then
heading it again (H) (touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between
touches, all with me running as fast as I can, and all with
the ball not touching the ground. The 'Short
Corner Right' (SCR) innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern in a
corner-like, swerving pattern; after flipping the ball up the
first kick sends the ball forwards and diagonally to my right; the
2nd touch with the head sends the ball forward and diagonally to my left;
the 3rd touch with the left foot keeps the ball moving in the same
direction the ball is already moving; the 4th touch with the head sends
the ball in a direction now unspecified.
Today for the 14th day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball, I allowed my eyes to do
whatever came naturally in terms of following the ball.
Today practice started 840 PM ended 940
PM--total 60 minutes running the Short-corner-right LHKH pattern
(there was no warm-up prior to the 840 PM start).
At 841 PM in the 2nd minute, there
occurred SCR LHKH success #1 it was a short run but tightly
controlled. The first perfect success was success
#4 at 845 PM in the 6th minute, it was a tightly
controlled, fast, long and sharply angled run. In
the end in the 60 minutes there had been 16 runs on which I
almost adhered to the SCR LHKH pattern (almost means that the pattern
was off by no more than the fact that one of the touches in the pattern
was somewhat off); there had been 58 successes in maintaining
the SCR LHKH pattern. That comes out to 0.27 almosts per minute and 0.97 successes per
minute.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL, LCR and SCR variants
of the LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19 0.96
(eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 16
0.30
0.90 (eyes as natural)
(new SCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 17 0.27 0.97
(eyes as
natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a B.
(semi-repeat in small
txt:) B level performance as a grade,
is in the context of what have become very high standards. I decided
to give myself a B today, because with the previous ZZ-R
variant, I started at 0.16 successes per minute, and estimated that
when I first got to 0.83 successes per minute, I would be at a B-
grade level. I realize that
numerical-score-wise I will level off, the numbers will become
constant, while the performance continues to improve; thus I have
been using the deceptive letter grade also.
Because of the way that I do the grading, you could on
the grounds of the B grade scoff at my performances these days.
You would be wrong to scoff because: practices such as today produced a
relatively speaking very high quality of run scored as
success--the formula I use to give the grade does not take into
account quality of successes; the formula used does not take into
account the number of runs recorded as almost being a success; the
formula used is pessimistic re what the quality of the runs scored as
successes will be when the score gets to 0.83 successes per minute; the formula does not take into account whether the left or
the right foot is being used, this despite the fact that I
am left footed and naturally clumsier with the right foot; with the
passage of time though the general principle of giving myself the benefit
of the doubt remains, I become more and more stringent re whether I
consider a run to be a success (example judging the the ball did not slant
left on the first touch); the grade does not take into account that some
drill variants are more difficult than others.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches: approx 11 yds; when runs not limited to four touches: 15
yds.
On the positive side--
Obviously the 0.97 score on the first day
doing the 'Short Corner Right' is commendable. Many runs today from
beginning to end were fast, sharply angled, tightly controlled, of high
quality. Like yesterday the number of runs that were
long was low. Thing is, when four touches is the max number of
touches on the ball, the natural consequence is that the runs are not long
when the ball is tightly controlled.
Today close to a plurality of the runs
involved me on the fourth touch having reached a point 11 yards away from
the starting point, that was approx 6 yards to the left of
a point 9 yards directly in front of me. It was
actually quite surprising that on the fourth touch I would be at a point
11 yards from the start point; during the run it seemed to me as if I was
almost not going anywhere while making the second, third, and fourth
touches on the ball.
On the negative side-- There were a few low quality
runs scored as successes, a few miskicks on the first and third touches.
Today was the first day that involved, on the third touch with the foot,
me keeping the ball moving in the same direction it was already moving;
thus I was impaired by a habitual tendency to turn the ball
inwards on the third touch with the foot.
water--I drank 0 oz water during the
workout today, despite the gym being very hot.
Before the practice I
noted-- nothing much.
During and after the practice I noted--
I noted that in terms of scoring whether the run was a pattern
adherence success or not, a gray area is created when the third touch with
the foot slightly turns the ball to the inwards direction, because with
this drill I am supposed to be different than turning inwards on the third
touch, I am supposed to be continuing in the same direction as I was going
before the third touch; and sometimes after the third touch the
direction would be approximately straight on in the same direction as
opposed to the touch, but turning slightly inwards. My policy in
scoring was that if only one somewhat sideways movement of the foot, or a
lean of the body and the head to the side, was all that was required to
head the ball on the fourth touch, I counted the run as a pattern
adherence success.
I also noted that it is time to record in the log, something I have
noticed for a few days, which is that the events since March 24 '08 show
that a good way to improve in a skill, is to practice something more
difficult than that skill. In other words, if using a scale
of difficulty from 1 very easy to 10 very hard, you are trying to improve
on a skill/drill that is at level 5 in terms of difficulty, a good way to
achieve this improvement is to practice something that is similar but at
level 8 in difficulty.
For example: practicing the air-dribbling which is
more difficult than ground dribbling has produced improved ground
dribbling; practicing the turning and zig-zagging versions of the LHKH
dribbling pattern, which are more difficult than the straight version of
the LHKH pattern, has produced improvement on the easier straight version
of the LHKH pattern; practicing the LHKH pattern involving alternation
between touching the ball with the head and touching it with the foot, has
produced improvement in air-dribbling using the foot alone.
Generally it seems that practicing the
more difficult thing produces more improvement on the easier thing, than
repetition of the easier thing.
Prior to the workout: I had, two pieces
Barowsky multigrain bread, 1 c coffee mixed with cane
sugar and halfnhalf and the MAOI herb 'Fo-ti'; 10
oz Bolthouse C-Boost Juice; 10 oz Bolthouse Blueberry juice.
My impression is that the 'Fo-ti', which is
not as well known as the Ginsengs of various types, produces an energizing
effect that is mellower, more relaxed, maybe better than that
produced by the more famous Ginsengs. Yesterday
and today the Fo-ti herb was the only herb I had before practice and I did
well both days.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff: Nothing much. Faces in the Crowd: A black teenager and a
white teenager were playing an intense one on one basketball game with
each other while I was doing the practice. After the game, the black
teenager's dad drove them home in an SUV.
Weight/Appearance: (repeat in small
type:) Before the workout I was ??? lbs. Like yesterday, I did
not feel like checking my weight in the locker room as I have been
sort of lazily neglecting to pump calories and protein into myself.
Between yesterday's practice and today's I
again ate/drank little (mostly organic/natural). Skipping the details on
this for now.
|
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Friday
April 18 2008 845 PM -945 PM |
Swimming |
Went swimming, leisurely pace, alternating between 50 yds crawl and 50
yds breaststroke, for 30 minutes. |
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Saturday
April 19 2008 650 PM -745 PM |
1st day of SCL
LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 55 minutes
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = just coffee w
cane sugar and halfnhalf & Licorice MAOI herb, + 2
pieces Barowsky multigrain bread, + 8 oz Bolthouse 'C-Boost' Drink
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 2
cgs total (on March 4, April 15) since December 1,
'07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; 10 oz wine consumed in 24 hours prior to
practice; 0 Herbal sleeping capsules taken before bed night before
workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
(Repeat in
small type:) Today my slight cough was almost completely
gone. |
1st Day of New 'Short
Corner Left' (SCL) type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs; numerical score=0.87 'Short Corner Left'
(SCL) LHKH pattern-adherence successes per minute; succeeded
in reaching target 0.83 per minute on 1st day on Right-footed
drill; EYES allowed to do whatever
Corrected some typo-like mistakes in the
previous entry.
The new SCL variant done today for the first day:
Today for the 1st day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "Short Corner Left" (SCL) type 'LHKH' pattern.
The LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run kicking the
ball with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it up, then
heading it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then heading it
again (H) (touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between touches, all
with me running as fast as I can, and all with the ball not
touching the ground. The 'Short Corner
Right' (SCL) innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern in a
corner-like, swerving pattern; after flipping the ball up the
first kick sends the ball forwards and diagonally to my left; the 2nd
touch with the head sends the ball forward and diagonally to my right; the
3rd touch with the right foot keeps the ball moving in the same
direction the ball is already moving; the 4th touch with the head sends
the ball in a direction now unspecified.
Today for the 15th day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball on the 3rd
touch, I allowed my eyes to do whatever came naturally in terms of
following the ball.
Today practice started 645 PM ended 740
PM--total 55 minutes running the Short-corner-left LHKH pattern
(there was no warm-up prior to the 840 PM start).
At 651 PM in the 2nd minute, there
occurred SCL LHKH success #1 it was a long fast tightly
controlled run. The first perfect success was success
#3 at 653 PM in the 4th minute, it was a tightly
controlled, fast, long and sharply angled run. In
the end in the 55 minutes there had been 10 runs on which I
almost adhered to the SCL LHKH pattern (almost means that the pattern
was off by no more than the fact that one of the touches in the pattern
was somewhat off); there had been 48 successes in maintaining
the SCL LHKH pattern. That comes out to 0.18 almosts per minute and 0.87 successes per
minute.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL, LCR, SCR and
SCL variants of the LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19 0.96
(eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 16
0.30
0.90 (eyes as natural)
(new SCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 17 0.27 0.97
(eyes as natural)
(new SCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 19 0.18 087
(eyes as natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a B-. The
grade is only a B- because of the high standards I have set for myself.
(semi-repeat in small
txt:) B- level performance as a
grade, is in the context of what have become very high standards. I
decided to give myself a B-- today, because with the previous
ZZ-R variant, I started at 0.16 successes per minute, and estimated
that when I first got to 0.83 successes per minute, I would be at a
B- grade level. I realize
that numerical-score-wise I will level off, the numbers will become
constant, while the performance continues to improve; thus I have
been using the deceptive letter grade also.
Because of the way that I do the grading, you could on
the grounds of the B- grade scoff at my performances these days.
You would be wrong to scoff because: practices such as today produced a
relatively speaking very high quality of run scored as
success--the formula I use to give the grade does not take into
account quality of successes; the formula used does not take into
account the number of runs recorded as almost being a success; the
formula used is pessimistic re what the quality of the runs scored as
successes will be when the score gets to 0.83 successes per minute; the formula does not take into account whether the left or
the right foot is being used, this despite the fact that I
am left footed and naturally clumsier with the right foot; with the
passage of time though the general principle of giving myself the benefit
of the doubt remains, I become more and more stringent re whether I
consider a run to be a success (example judging the the ball did not slant
left on the first touch); the grade does not take into account that some
drill variants are more difficult than others.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches: approx 11 yds; when runs not limited to four touches: 15
yds.
On the positive side--
For the first time, I reached over 0.83
pattern-adherence-successs per minute on the first day of doing a drill in
which my clumsier right foot plays a key role.
In the first 15 minutes I had 13 pattern-adherence successes. The
first 15 minutes were maybe as good as the first 15 minutes on any
previous day. I was professional, confident, and relaxed on the difficult
touches on the 3rd touches of the runs with my clumsier right foot in the
first 15 minutes. Then performance slacked off for a few minutes, then it
improved again.
Throughout the practice the 3rd touch right foot touches were
I guess, better than any previous day insofar as 3rd touches with the
right foot are concerned; throughout the practice I felt confident, like a
pro, and relaxed on the 3rd touches with the right foot.
During the second half of the practice I
produced improvement on the first touch with the left foot, by mentally
reminding myself that the toe has to be lower than the heel when the foot
strikes the ball, if the ball is to be sent to my left on the first touch
with the left foot. Today from beginning to end
there were many perfect or almost perfect runs which were long, fast,
tightly controlled, and sharply angled.
On the negative side-- the first touch with the left
foot, done from a standing start, was the weak point today, worse than the
third touch with the clumsier right foot. The performance over all was
excellent the first 15 minutes, but then for about 20 minutes
performance declined somewhat due to: anxiety re attaining the target
score that developed once I realized I had a chance to attain to the
target score, and due to fatigue.
water--I drank 0 oz water during the
workout today, despite the gym being very hot.
Before the practice I
noted-- nothing much.
During and after the practice I noted--
Today the right foot was suddenly superior to its performance at any
time in the past. Today the right foot executed the third touch with a
high degree of consistency and accuracy. Two
possible reasons for today's excellencewith the right foot come to
mind: the MAOI herb taken before the practice today was Licorice alone;
and yesterday I went swimming for half an hour instead of practicing
soccer.
I have been thinking that the estimate of 162 hours of practice
before I become a soccer deity, that I made in the log entry for April 16,
overestimates the amount of time that will be required before I become a
soccer-deity. The logic used to come up with the 162 hours estimate
provides a good basis and framework for further refining the
estimate, but it fails to take into account that with every hour
of practice, my rate of progress is accelerating.
Prior to the workout: I had, two pieces
Barowsky multigrain bread, 1 c coffee mixed with cane
sugar and halfnhalf and the MAOI herb Licorice; and 8
oz Bolthouse C-Boost Juice.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff: Nothing much. Faces in the Crowd: Gym was empty today.
Weight/Appearance: (repeat in small
type:) Before the workout I was ??? lbs. Like yesterday, I did
not feel like checking my weight in the locker room as I have been
sort of lazily neglecting to pump calories and protein into myself.
Between yesterday's practice and today's I
again ate/drank little (mostly organic/natural). Skipping the details on
this for now.
|
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Tuesday
April 22 2008 445 PM -531 PM |
1st day
of WC06-L LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 46
minutes
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal
today = just nothing
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 2
cgs total (on March 4, April 15) since December 1,
'07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; 24 oz beer consumed in 24 hours prior to
practice; 0 Herbal sleeping capsules taken before bed night before
workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
(Repeat in
small type:) Today my slight cough was almost completely
gone. |
1st Day of
New 'WC06-left' type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs; numerical score=0.33 'WC06-left' (WC06L) LHKH
pattern-adherence successes per minute; EYES allowed to
do whatever
The new WC06L variant of the LHKH done today for the first
day:
(Key:L=left foot; H=head; R=right
foot)
Today for the 1st day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "WC06-left" (WC06L) type 'LHKH' pattern. The
LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run kicking the ball
with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it up, then heading
it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then heading it again (H)
(touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between touches, all with me
running as fast as I can, and all with the ball not touching
the ground. The 'WC06-left' (WC06L)
innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern in a way that features: the ball
being very tightly controlled; the ball being touched on every pace; and,
a skipping motion with the feet on every pace. In this
variant after flipping the ball up and kicking the ball
with my left foot, I skip with my left foot (the left foot hits the ground
twice in a row without the right foot hitting the ground in between the
two touches of the ground with the left foot); then I head the ball before
the right foot strikes the ground; then the right foot strikes the ground
twice in a row in a skipping motion; then the left foot strikes the ball;
then the left foot hits the ground twice in a row in a skipping motion;
and then I head the ball.
Today for the 16th day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball with the left
foot on the 3rd touch, I allowed my eyes to do whatever came
naturally in terms of following the ball.
Today practice started 445 PM ended 531
PM--total 46 minutes running the WC06-left variant of
the LHKH pattern (there was no warm-up prior to the 445 PM
start). At 453 PM in the 9th minute, there
occurred WC06L LHKH success #1 it went almost nowhere in terms
of horizontal movement. I failed to note when the first perfect
success occurred. In the end in the 46 minutes there
had been 19 runs on which I almost adhered to the WC06L LHKH
pattern (almost means that the pattern was off by no more than the fact
that one of the touches in the pattern was somewhat off); there
had been 15 successes in maintaining the WC06L LHKH
pattern. That
comes out to 0.41 almosts per minute and 0.33 successes per minute.
Today the criteria for 'almost' was merely that I got as far as touching
the ball with my left foot on the third touch, I think in the future this
criteria will have to be tightened up.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL, LCR, SCR , SCL and
WC06 variants of the LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19 0.96
(eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 16
0.30
0.90 (eyes as natural)
(new SCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 17 0.27 0.97
(eyes as natural)
(new SCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 19 0.18 0.87
(eyes as natural) (new WC06-L variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 22 0.41
0.33
(eyes as
natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a D+. The
grade is only a D+ because of the high standards I have set for
myself.
(semi-repeat in small
txt:) D+ level performance as a
grade, is in the context of what have become very high standards. I
decided to give myself a D+- today, because with the previous
ZZ-R variant, I started at 0.16 successes per minute, and estimated
that when I first got to 0.83 successes per minute, I would be at a
B- grade level. I realize
that numerical-score-wise I will level off, the numbers will become
constant, while the performance continues to improve; thus I have
been using the deceptive letter grade also.
Because of the way that I do the grading, you could on
the grounds of the D+ grade scoff at my performances these days.
You would be wrong to scoff because: practices such as today produced a
relatively speaking very high quality of run scored as
success--the formula I use to give the grade does not take into
account quality of successes; the formula used does not take into
account the number of runs recorded as almost being a success; the
formula used is pessimistic re what the quality of the runs scored as
successes will be when the score gets to 0.83 successes per minute; the formula does not take into account whether the left or
the right foot is being used, this despite the fact that I
am left footed and naturally clumsier with the right foot; with the
passage of time though the general principle of giving myself the benefit
of the doubt remains, I become more and more stringent re whether I
consider a run to be a success (example judging the the ball did not slant
left on the first touch); the grade does not take into account that some
drill variants are more difficult than others.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches on the WC06 version of the LHKH: approx 8 yds.
On the positive side--
After the first 15 minutes which were very incompetent during which
my rate of successful pattern-adherence runs per minute was only 0.13 per
minute, in the final 31 minutes I got up to 0.42 pattern
adherence runs per minute, ending up over the 46 minutes at 0.33 per
minute. 0.33 per minute is a higher score than
was achieved on the first two days of the ZZ-R variant of the LHKH March
24-25; thus looking at how I improved quickly on the ZZ-R variant, I
estimate that I will be able to master this WC06-L variant in seven days
at one hour a day.
I noted that with the WC06 there is of course this extreme tightness
of control; and also there is the ability to
change direction sharply while this tightness of control is maintained.
On the first touch with the left foot I produced lots of
perfectly placed balls, perfectly setting up the second touch
with the head. The practicing sending the ball to the left or to the right
on the first touch has improved my ability to send the ball straight
forwards on the first touch.
The distance covered on successful
pattern-adherence runs today, from the first touch with the foot to the
fourth touch with the head, ranged from 3-9 yards and on average was 6
yards.
On the negative side--
Several of the runs that were scored as successes, involved the ball
being kicked too high or too far or too low on the third touch after which
it was headed. The weak point in the chain is
the kick with the the left foot on the third touch, which
often sends the ball in an inaccurate fashion.
water--I drank 0 oz water during the
workout today, despite the gym being very hot.
Before the practice I
noted--
I knew, during the days before the practice, that I faced an
important intellectual moment in deciding what the next drill to be
practiced would be. I sat down at my desk which has no computer on it,
with the computer off, with a pen and a spiral notebook, to put some spare
time into some thought re the matter. I was not feeling too well
physically or mentally while I sat there and thought, but I think I still
did a first-rate job of thinking.
To understand my train of thought as I sat there with my notebook you
have to understand what the WC06 pattern is. The WC06 pattern features me
air-dribbling the ball, keeping it close but off the ground as I move
forwards, while touching the ball on every pace, alternating between
touching the ball with my left foot and with my right foot, and skipping
with the feet in between touches on the ball. The WC06 does not involve
heading the ball it is feet-only. I feel my invention of this WC06
pattern was in and of itself a stroke of genius; I have never seen anyone
do anything like it; the only way to succeed with it is to skip with the
feet in between kicking the ball and I figured this out. I named it the
WC06 because it was inspired by my study of the 2006 World Cup Soccer
Matches--while watching the world cup I saw that typically a player with
the ball has a defender seven yards away from him.
It occurred to me, as I sat thinking, that: there is
more to air-dribbling than the LHKH pattern; one can get obsessed with the
LHKH pattern; the WC06 pattern got the most attention from
spectators of all the patterns; the WC06 is an important non-LHKH
pattern; the WC06 features extreme tightness of ball
control; there is a need for drills that enhance tightness of
control on the LHKH; seems if two drills both have to be mastered, one
progresses faster if one does the more difficult one first; the LHKH
pattern is like the WC06 pattern important; a
combination of the WC06 and the LHKH morphed together is a good
idea; the WC06 and the LHKH morphed into one pattern would
be relatively very difficult and thus should produce a high rate of
progress in general skill per minute invested; and some other points.
Then I went on to figure out a pattern which combines the WC06 with
the LHKH pattern into one pattern. That is the pattern done today, the
WC06-left (left foot used to kick the ball) variant of the LHKH pattern.
This pattern combines my clever invention the WC06 pattern
with my clever invention the LHKH pattern thus I consider it to
be ultra-clever, and it is my own original creation.
During and after the practice I noted--
Before the practice I really did not know how fast I would be able to
learn this new WC06-left LHKH skill, I had little idea how proficient
I potentially was in it. Today as it turned out was like another nail in
the coffin of all my fellow soccer players of the world, because it showed
that I, an individual who can cover alot of ground fast while
skipping, will quickly be at the point where I can run or
air-dribble the WC06-left pattern with consistency, speed, sharpness
of turn on angles, tightness of control, and also considerable yardage
covered over the course of the pattern. This will give me mastery in
situations such as the defender being less than eight yards away from me
and between me and the ball. This kind of skill combined with
others I have already mastered will make me deadly for the defense, and
allow me to outshine the other offensive players out there in the world.
Thus I speak in macabre quote arrogant unquote terms such as nail in the
coffin. I suppose I would be being arrogant if I were not telling the
truth; I think the truth is that I will be a superstar or just a few weeks
away from being a superstar, when the WC06-left and WC06-right
versions of the LHKH are mastered. I realize that even in superstars
there is always considerable room for improvement and in me one such
improvement would be improved control over acceleration during the course
of the WC06 pattern. My plan is to improve my control of
acceleration after this WC06/LHKH work which will produce improvement in
terms of tighness of control.
Prior to the workout: I had: nothing to eat or
drink, best I can recall.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff:
Yesterday I watched the Boston Marathon of 2008 as a spectactor,
standing by the curb near the Red Brick Firestation or fire station in
Newton MA, at mile 17.4 of Marathon. Prior to the Marathon I was observing
the Pope's visit to the USA.
A couple of days ago, I had this dream in which I took the Graduate
Management Aptitude Test (GMAT), and also beat 90% of my
fellow-test-takers on the verbal and also beat 90% of them on the
quantitative. When I woke up I was thinking, 90 verbal 90 quantitative
would put me at 95% level on verbal and quantitative combined. That would
be better than what I scored on the GMAT when I previously took the GMAT
15 years after graduating from college. That would mean that although many
people decline in their ability to score high scores on examinations as
they grow older, I am not like them. Faces in the Crowd:
There was Patrick Ferdinand in the gym today, sitting at the desk
with a couple of white girls; after this a white girl was being taught
basketball by a 'Spanish' Y- staff man, while this gray haired woman who
looked like Y-staff stood very close to where the man was teaching the
girl and observed them; the gray-haired woman was wearing shoes re which
the regulation seems to be, that they are not to be worn on the
courts. Then they left and I was basically alone until the woman who does
the Prime-time Family-time came on the court to shout about how the entire
gym belonged to her and 'Prime-time Family-time' now.
Weight/Appearance: (repeat in small
type:) Before the workout I was ??? lbs. Like yesterday, I did
not feel like checking my weight in the locker room as I have been
sort of lazily neglecting to pump calories and protein into myself.
Between yesterday's practice and today's I
again ate/drank little (mostly organic/natural). Skipping the details on
this for now.
|
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Wednesday
April 23 2008 755 PM - 855 PM |
2nd day
of WC06-L LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 90
minutes
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal
today = just nothing
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 2
cgs total (on March 4, April 15) since December 1,
'07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; 24 oz beer consumed in 24 hours prior to
practice; 0 Herbal sleeping capsules taken before bed night before
workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
(Repeat in
small type:) Today my slight cough was almost completely
gone. |
2nd Day of
New 'WC06-left' type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs; numerical score=0.53 'WC06-left' (WC06L) LHKH
pattern-adherence successes per minute; EYES allowed to
do whatever
The new WC06L variant of the LHKH done today for the 2nd
day:
(Key:L=left foot; H=head; R=right
foot)
Today for the 2nd day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "WC06-left" (WC06L) type 'LHKH' pattern. The
LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run kicking the ball
with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it up, then heading
it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then heading it again (H)
(touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between touches, all with me
running as fast as I can, and all with the ball not touching
the ground. The 'WC06-left' (WC06L)
innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern in a way that features: the ball
being very tightly controlled; the ball being touched on every pace; and,
a skipping motion with the feet on every pace. In this
variant after flipping the ball up and kicking the ball
with my left foot, I skip with my left foot (the left foot hits the ground
twice in a row without the right foot hitting the ground in between the
two touches of the ground with the left foot); then I head the ball before
the right foot strikes the ground; then the right foot strikes the ground
twice in a row in a skipping motion; then the left foot strikes the ball;
then the left foot hits the ground twice in a row in a skipping motion;
and then I head the ball.
Today for the 17th day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball with the left
foot on the 3rd touch, I allowed my eyes to do whatever came
naturally in terms of following the ball.
Today the first 60 minutes of practice: started 755
PM ended 855 PM--total 60 minutes running
the WC06-left variant of the LHKH pattern (there was no
warm-up prior to the 445 PM start). At 756 PM in
the 2nd minute, there occurred WC06L LHKH success
#1. The first perfect success was #4 at 803 PM in the 9th
minute; it was a long (8 yds) tight fast run. In the end in
the 60 minutes there had been 18 runs on which I almost
adhered to the WC06L LHKH pattern (almost means that the pattern was
off by no more than the fact that one of the touches in the pattern was
somewhat off); there had been 32 successes in maintaining
the WC06L LHKH pattern. That comes out to 0.30 almosts per minute and 0.53 successes per minute.
Today the criteria for 'almost' was back to normal not lenient like day
before.
After the first 60 minutes, from 905 to 935 PM I did another 30
minutes of the same pattern, this segment unscored and unformal, less
attempts per hour.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL, LCR, SCR , SCL and
WC06 variants of the LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19 0.96
(eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 16
0.30
0.90 (eyes as natural)
(new SCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 17 0.27 0.97
(eyes as natural)
(new SCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 19 0.18 0.87
(eyes as natural) (new WC06-L variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 22 0.41
0.33
(eyes as natural)
April 23 0.30 0.53
(eyes as
natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a C. The
grade is only a C because of the high standards I have set for
myself.
(semi-repeat in small
txt:) C level performance as a grade,
is in the context of what have become very high standards. I decided
to give myself a C- today, because with the previous ZZ-R
variant, I started at 0.16 successes per minute, and estimated that
when I first got to 0.83 successes per minute, I would be at a B-
grade level. I realize that
numerical-score-wise I will level off, the numbers will become
constant, while the performance continues to improve; thus I have
been using the deceptive letter grade also.
Because of the way that I do the grading, you could on
the grounds of the C grade scoff at my performances these days.
You would be wrong to scoff because: practices such as today produced a
relatively speaking very high quality of run scored as
success--the formula I use to give the grade does not take into
account quality of successes; the formula used does not take into
account the number of runs recorded as almost being a success; the
formula used is pessimistic re what the quality of the runs scored as
successes will be when the score gets to 0.83 successes per minute; the formula does not take into account whether the left or
the right foot is being used, this despite the fact that I
am left footed and naturally clumsier with the right foot; with the
passage of time though the general principle of giving myself the benefit
of the doubt remains, I become more and more stringent re whether I
consider a run to be a success (example judging the the ball did not slant
left on the first touch); the grade does not take into account that some
drill variants are more difficult than others.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches on the WC06 version of the LHKH: approx 8 yds.
On the positive side--
Obviously there was an improvement of 0.20 in the pattern-adherence
successes per minute. Today on the second day for the first time,
there were a few runs on which the last touch of the run with the head,
was accurate to the point where it set up a subsequent 5th touch with the
foot after a skip.
On the negative side--
Obviously something was wrong in that I fell far short of the target
of 0.83 pattern-adherence successes per minute. The main problem was as
usual the first and third touches with the foot. Alot of the first touches
with the foot were perfect but there was inconsistency on the first and
third touches with the foot.
water--I drank 0 oz water during the
workout today, despite the gym being very hot. After the first 60 minutes
I drank about 30 oz of water.
Before the practice I
noted--
Not much.
During and after the practice I noted--
Today I kept track of the directional pattern on the successes.
I noted that this WC06-left LHKH pattern
naturally produces certain kinds of directional movement: a slant at about
23 degrees inwards to the right; a right angle pattern in which I go
straight forwards 2 yds and then sideways 3 yds; a right angle pattern in
which I go straight forwards 4 yds and then sideways 3 yds; a right
angle pattern in which I go straight forwards 5 yds and then
sideways 2 yds.
There are a large number of possibilities in terms of the drills that
can be done next and the order in which they are done. Alot
depends on making wise choices with regard to what is done and in what
order. Variations that can be done on the straight LHKH, such as
WC06-left, accelerations at various points in the run, the LHKH versions
of touching the ball every two or three paces, can all be done with LHKH
runs that change direction or zig zag in various ways.
Prior to the workout: I had: nothing to eat or
drink, best I can recall.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff:
When I was asleep before practice I had a disturbing dream. In the
dream, I was in Hyde Park in Chicago. I was hanging out with Andrew M.,
who used to be the fastest sprinter in high school type, and about three
other white guys who were like Andrew M. shortish and stocky,
muscular. I stopped hanging out with them for about two hours. During the
time I was not hanging out with them, they murdered two women, Christy N.,
and another woman. When I joined up with them again, they told me that
they murdered the two women. Instead of immediately leaving them I
continued to hang out with them so as not to arouse hostility. I followed
them into the parking lot of the 'Ray School', an elementary school in
Hyde Park in Chicago that I attended in Kindergarten; they (their gang)
had taken over the parking lot in the Ray School. They opened up a
cabinet lying in the parking lot and inside was the dead body of Christy
N.
I began to leave the parking lot, seems in a car, and this white
woman they were with accosted me, stopped me, lectured me about how the
parking lot was their property and how I did not belong there; meanwhile
one of them using a metallic claw tried to torture my genitals, but since
my hand was covering my genitals he just tortured my hand instead. This
woman who talked with me in the parking lot was like them sick, sadistic,
psychotic, socio-pathic, evil, an influence that made people feel farther
away from God rather than closer to God. Her voice did not sound like
Henry Kissinger's deep voice, but there was something about the way she
talked, the accent, the cadence of her speech, that was very similar to
that of Henry Kissinger. This evil woman who looked like a type of
'sappy'-German-female who talked with me in the parking lot reminded
me of my mother.
Later the same session of sleep I had another dream in which the
thought in my mind was, 'of all the busty women I know, Christy N is the
only one who there is nothing wrong with, and they murdered her'.
Then in yet another dream in the same sleep session, I had these
receipts regarding my expenditures and the same woman came along and
pressed them against the ground with her fist she wanted to see them, she
would not allow them to leave the parking lot.
When I awoke, I was thinking, that I remembered how somewhere on the
internet I read about an expert who wrote a book about how evil infects
society. In the book he said that sadistic-sociopath type persons take
over important positions in society and then society becomes evil. I was
thinking to myself, the sadistic-sociopath type person has his weak points
that can be taken advantage of, but all these 'Christian' crew-cut or
shaved-head brainless ignorant American males know absolutely nothing re
the weak points of sadistic murderous socio-paths; rather, they know all
about the latest pro sports scores. I was thinking, all these people have
heard Henry K's socio-pathic way of talking many times, yet none of them
has ever recognized him as a socio-path.
When I awoke, I was thinking, that the problem with all these
'black-ops' type maneuvers dumb US military officer types have gotten
enamored with, is that they result in powerful cliques that expel persons
who have a sense of ethics.
In recounting the dream, which was about persons who actually exist,
I have tried to be fair by supplying just the first name and the last
initial of the person dreamed about. The problem with this solution is
that a few innocent persons who were not dreamed about can end up feeling
smeared but such is the best I can do right now.
I realize that dreams are like a sleeping mind that is thinking,
and that the sleeping mind makes mistakes. I also realize that the waking
mind makes mistakes. Seems to me that at least, many of the evil decisions
made that are damaging our nation and the rest of the world, are decisions
influenced by the waking mind more than by the sleeping mind. Faces in the Crowd:
Until 823 PM the first 28 minutes, there were plenty of people around
and I scored 13 pattern adherence successes, 0.47 per minute. Patrick
Ferdinand was there with some young white males, sitting on the bleachers
watching me. And the white teenage female basketball team came in from
outdoors where they had been practicing, to spend some time indoors, and
squeal like rock-music fans when they saw me in my shorts without a shirt,
doing the drills (tomorrow I should note my
weight it's enough to make them squeal).
After the gym emptied out the success rate per minute went up
somewhat but that could be due to getting warmed up. I sort of felt
admiration for Patrick Ferdinand for appreciating the importance of what I
was doing despite the fast that as I was doing a new drill I am not used
to, my success rate was still low. I feel as usual I handled the pressure
of people being around watching well.
Weight/Appearance: (repeat in small
type:) Before the workout I was ??? lbs. Like yesterday, I did
not feel like checking my weight in the locker room as I have been
sort of lazily neglecting to pump calories and protein into myself.
Between yesterday's practice and today's I
again ate/drank little (mostly organic/natural). Skipping the details on
this for now. |
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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Thursday
April 24 2008 806 PM - 935 PM |
3rd day
of WC06-L LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 80
minutes
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = 8 oz Bolthouse
C-boost drink, a cup green tea no sugar of creamer.
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 2
cgs total (on March 4, April 15) since December 1,
'07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; ?? oz beer consumed in 24 hours prior to
practice; 0 Herbal sleeping capsules taken before bed night before
workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
Cough gone. |
3rd Day of
New 'WC06-left' type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs; numerical score=0.80 'WC06-left'
(WC06L) LHKH pattern-adherence successes per
minute; EYES allowed to do whatever
The new WC06L variant of the LHKH done today for the 3rd
day:
(Key:L=left foot; H=head; R=right
foot)
Today for the 3rd day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "WC06-left" (WC06L) type 'LHKH' pattern. The
LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run kicking the ball
with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it up, then heading
it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then heading it again (H)
(touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between touches, all with me
running as fast as I can, and all with the ball not touching
the ground. The 'WC06-left' (WC06L)
innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern in a way that features: the ball
being very tightly controlled; the ball being touched on every pace; and,
a skipping motion with the feet on every pace. In this
variant after flipping the ball up and kicking the ball
with my left foot, I skip with my left foot (the left foot hits the ground
twice in a row without the right foot hitting the ground in between the
two touches of the ground with the left foot); then I head the ball before
the right foot strikes the ground; then the right foot strikes the ground
twice in a row in a skipping motion; then the left foot strikes the ball;
then the left foot hits the ground twice in a row in a skipping motion;
and then I head the ball.
Today for the 18th day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball with the left
foot on the 3rd touch, I allowed my eyes to do whatever came
naturally in terms of following the ball.
Today the first 60 minutes of practice: started 806
PM ended 906 PM--total 59 minutes running
the WC06-left variant of the LHKH pattern as 1 minute was
subtracted due to interference (there was no warm-up prior to
the 806 PM start). At 807 PM in the 2nd
minute, there occurred WC06L LHKH success #1, it was a long fast
good run, length 7 yards. The first perfect success was #3 at
811 PM in the 6th minute; it was a farily long (7 yds),
fast tight fast run. In the end in the 59
minutes there had been 10 runs on which I almost adhered to
the WC06L LHKH pattern (almost means that the pattern was off by no
more than the fact that one of the touches in the pattern was somewhat
off); there had been 47 successes in maintaining
the WC06L LHKH pattern. That comes out to 0.17 almosts per minute and 0.80 successes per minute.
After the first 60 minutes, from 915 to 935 PM I did another 20
minutes of the same pattern, this segment unscored and unformal, less
attempts per hour.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL, LCR, SCR , SCL and
WC06-L variants of the LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19 0.96
(eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 16
0.30
0.90 (eyes as natural)
(new SCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 17 0.27 0.97
(eyes as natural)
(new SCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 19 0.18 0.87
(eyes as natural) (new WC06-L variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 22 0.41
0.33
(eyes as natural)
April 23 0.30 0.53
(eyes as natural)
April 24 0.17 0.80
(eyes as
natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a B-. The
grade is only a B- because of the high standards I have set for
myself.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches on the WC06 version of the LHKH: approx 8 yds.
On the positive side--
Obviously there was an improvement of
0.27 in the pattern-adherence successes per minute. This is the
second highest improvement in all the days since March
24. The quality of the
runs scored as pattern-adherence successes was much better
today. There were more perfect runs today. From beginning
to end there were perfect runs today. The number of runs in which
the ball was well placed immediately before being headed for the fourth
touch in the run, was up today compared to previous days on this drill.
On the negative side--
There is with this drill more than any of the other drills, a
directional problem, instead of moving straight ahead, in the majority of
cases I slant to the right, or go forwards and then turn right, while
running this pattern. Mastering directional control with this
pattern will be more difficult than with the other patterns. Too
often the ball is placed awkwardly for the fourth touch with the
head. The first kick is improved, I am serving up lots of perfect
first kicks for myself these days, but there is still too much
inconsistency on this first kick.
water--I drank 0 oz water during the first
60 minutes of the workout today. After the first 60 minutes I drank
about 16 oz of water.
Before the practice I
noted--
Some important decisions and mental work will come upon me when it
comes to the decision re which drill should be done after WC06-left and
then WC06-right versions of the LHKH. There are so many different possible
drills that can be done, that choosing the best drills and doing them in
the optimum order is difficult and complex.
Different LHKH drills can vary from each other in two ways.
One, directional, the direction I run while
air-dribbling the ball, this could be straight, a zig-zag, or a turn.
Two, non-directional meaning, attributes such as
tightness of control, phase of the run during which acceleration to a high
speed is executed; runs can combine tightness of control and high speed
acceleration at an early phase in the run; or they can be simply natural
with no special emphasis on tightness or acceleration at an early phase in
the run.
Some more examples of LHKH variations which emphasize
tightness of control:
E2-left LHKH--the ball is touched every two paces alternating between
touching the ball with the left foot and touching it with the head;
E2-right LHKH--the ball is touched every two paces alternating
between touching the ball with the right foot and touching it with
the head;
E3-left LHKH--the ball is touched every three paces alternating
between touching the ball with the foot and touching it with the head, the
3rd touch in the run is made with the left foot;
E3-right LHKH--the ball is touched every three paces alternating
between touching the ball with the foot and touching it with the head, the
3rd touch in the run is made with the right foot;
During and after the practice I noted--
The improvement today was real and significant. There were high
quality successes from the first five minutes to the last five minutes.
There was today a new sense of confidence in doing this drill. The speed
was faster, the control tighter, the length of the four touch runs
greater today.
I estimate the average pattern-adherence run today covered 7
yds at a fairly brisk pace, with the ball touched on every pace very
tightly controlled. To me this is kind of amazing. The distance
between the first touch and the second is usually about 4 feet, that
leaves 17 feet for the distance between the second touch and the fourth
touch; yet while I am running the drill it seems to me that I am
not traveling 17 feet between the 2nd and the 4th touch; it seems as if I
am covering about 8 feet between the 2nd and the 4th touch. Thus
to a certain extent psychologically I habitually underestimate myself.
Something that helps to visualize what happened
today: often today I would start at a point 4 yards directly
to the left of the point that is 7 yards from the basket and in the middle
of the court; and the 4th touch would be less than 2 yards from
the basket. By the Pythagorean theorem, my starting point was 8 yards from
the basket.
Re what I said previously about doing the more
difficult drill first, I realize that still it is sometimes wiser
to do an easier version of a drill first. For example, this striving for
high numbers in terms of pattern-adherence runs per minute that I
start out with, may toss up alot of junk successes, but it sets the stage for further refinement and
improvement because the 'junk' is what sets up the chances or
opportunities for me to do things like practice the 3rd and 4th touches of
the runs. At least the 'junk' gets me to the point where I
have a chance to at least attempt the 3rd and the 4th touches of the runs.
Prior to the workout: I had: 1 cup green tea in
water made with 1 teabag, and 8 oz Bolthouse C-Boost Drink.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff:
There is plenty of nutty interpretation of scripture out there. I can
take justifiable pride in having written several excellent essays re such
nuttiness, you can find them at my blog (http://davidvirgil.blogspot.com) and
amongst my newsgroup now Google-groups posts (http://groups.google.com/groups/search?q=author%3Avincemoon%40rcn.com&start=0&scoring=d&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&num=10).
I wrote alot of essays, nevertheless many of these were excellent, of high
quality. The Blather stuff--speeches given by the fictional character I
created named Senato' Billy Jo Blather, is probably the funniest
most incisive insightful valuable satire out there; but nowadays I find it
hard to switch back and forth between the striving to be the top soccer
player mentality and the writer of humorous satire mentality.
This past 24 hours what came to mind.
Amazing the self importance of these interpreters of scripture.
When scripture writer A says something positive about person B in a
scripture, they (self-important person C) assume this positive
statement applies not just to person B but to person C also.
Likewise self-important person C assumes every scripture ever
written, applies to the times during which person C happens to be alive.
If someone had some kind of symbolic visions this week, self-important
person C types would of course assume that these visions applied to the
time during which person C is alive, which is now. So then why do person C
types find it difficult to understand, that those who were alive during
the times when ancient symbolic prophesies were made, reasonably assumed
that these prophesies applied to their own times? Person C would think you
were nuts, if you told them that the symbolic vision someone had this
week, applies not to the current times but to a period starting 2500 years
in the future. How then is it, that they fail to understand, that the most
reasonable interpretation of ancient prophesies is that they applied to
ancient times, not to modern times?
Faces in the Crowd:
Most of the time there was just one
white grade school boy in the gym.
Weight/Appearance: (repeat in small
type:) Before the workout I was ??? lbs. Like yesterday, I did
not feel like checking my weight in the locker room as I have been
sort of lazily neglecting to pump calories and protein into myself.
Between yesterday's practice and today's I
again ate/drank little (mostly organic/natural). Skipping the details on
this for now. |
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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Friday
April 25 2008 903 PM - 940 PM |
Swimming 37 minutes
Alternating between 50 crawl and 50 breast |
Swimming Today; Suddenly Best Day
Ever for Me at Swimming 50 yd sprints; Had Endurance Today I Never
Had Before; Estimate 25 yd Crawl Segments Close to 12 Seconds (without
diving in pool)
I thought I would have to do swimming today due to the gym being
assigned to teenagers for teen-night. When I got to the gym there were no
teenagers in it, just adults and children; but I had not brought my
shorts, so I had to swim instead.
What transpired today took me back to the days when I was focused not
on soccer but on 50 yard age-group swimming world records. For the first
time that I can remember, in the process of alternating between 50 slow
yards breast-stroke and 50 slow yards crawl, I had the natural impulse to
sprint the 50 yards crawl done between the 50 yards breast-stroke.
I did the 50 yard crawl sprints a few times, swimming
the first 25 yards a little slower than the last 25 yards of the sprinted
crawl segments. I cannot remember feeling as energetic for sprints, having
as much endurance for sprints, as I did today. I used to fantasize about
the time when I would be able to swim at sprint speed without pooping out
after the first 25 yds, and lo--suddenly without swimming more than once a
week, I now have that kind of endurance and wind power--even though I have
been feeling tired for the last few days.
What factor or combo of factors should get the credit for
this sudden emergence of swimming strength? The credit could go to one or
some or all of the following factors: only 2 cgs smoked in 5
months; weightlifting work; attention to nutrition; Bolthouse C-Boost
drink naturally without the use of synthetic vitamin C supplying 4800% of
the Vitamin C requirement in just 32 oz of juice through the use of
Acerola; MAOI herbs; tough soccer workouts
featuring large numbers of air-dribble sprints per
hour.
Lately all I have been doing in soccer has been these
workouts wherein for an hour I go all out, trying to score as many
pattern-adherence successes on the air-dribbles as possible per hour;
these are frenetic workouts with minimal rest in between runs. I used to
find these all-out workouts so tiring and stressing that I would skip
soccer for days after doing one such workout. Seems doing these all-out
workouts almost every day for a month, has built up my endurance in
certain ways.
So now it is deja vue all over again for me, in remembering tonight,
I also remember all those days when I went swimming and found myself close
to world record speed over 25 yds before pooping out; I remember the
lifeguard saying 'he's an Olympian' re me as a swimmer; I remember how the
people in the Y would act after I would swim really fast; I remember the
pleasant mysteries of trying to estimate my speed swimming without
actually timing myself, the theory being that timing myself would
interfere with me believing myself able to do great things and hypnotizing
myself into moving at world record speed.
I felt as if I had an impact on the Y today via sprinting
lengths of the pool at almost max speed; seems when you do something great
in the Y, the people in the Y can feel it even though they did not see it
with their own eyes (realistically I've heard they watch the gym with TV
cameras). The new bearded 'Spanish' man was on duty in the pool as a
lifeguard while I was swimming the sprints; an South-Asian or Iranian
looking man was sitting on a bench watching his kids.
And like in the olden golden days of my personal world of
swimming, I was counting how many times I breathed, while breathing
every three strokes, while sprinting the 50 yards--this was about 8
breaths per 25 yards; and like in the old-days, after finishing swimming I
was looking at the clock or the watch trying to estimate how long it took
me to finish an average three arm-stroke, one-breath cycle; and like in
the olden days, I was chortling to myself, over how I was swimming the
lengths in close to 12 seconds, and remembering, how about 1.5 seconds
should be subtracted to take into account the fact that I am not diving in
at the start of the sprint. I felt glad, that my time away from
swimming, my getting older during that time, had not slowed down my
swimming speed or reduced my swimming endurance.
Funny how today, suddenly, as opposed to forcing myself to do
something my body felt too tired to do, namely sprint-swimming 25 or 50
yds, I had the natural child-like enthusiastic impulse to sprint 50
yds non-stop; that is what I felt like doing, that is what
I did, and that it is what I enjoyed; it was not
laborious dreary homework for me this time.
I in my current estimate give four factors the most
credit for this sudden appearance of swimming
strength: smoking at the rate of only 4 cgs per year; not
swimming too often as this overloads the body with the chemicals used to
keep the pool water clean; a month of doing the tiring soccer
workouts in which I try to accomplish as many pattern-adherence runs in
one hour as possible; and, from the mental perspective, rediscovering the
art of counting how many stroke/breath cycles it would take me to finish
the length of the pool.
I rediscovered today how knowing info such as, 'it will take me EIGHT
stroke/breath cycles, breathing every three strokes, to travel the length
of the pool', produces enhanced endurance; I rediscovered how when
one does not know how many times one will breathe traversing the length of
the pool, in one's befuddlement one becomes fatigued.
After getting home I was thinking to myself, today's swimming was a
kind of bittersweet victory. I found out today that for the first
time in my life I could get close to swimming at world record
speed over 50 yds of continuous swimming not just 25 yds, this
despite devoting most of the time and energy I put into sports to soccer;
I found out that despite not having sprinted the length of a pool
in years I was not far from world record speed today; I found
out that now I finally have gotten to the point of having the strength to
be a two-sports threat; but enjoying the glamor of it was not the only
state of mind I was in.
The enjoyment of the glamor of it was mixed with a sense of tragedy,
insofar as now that you add swimming excellence to the picture that
already contains soccer excellence, the gap between the way society treats
me and the way it should treat me has become even larger than it was
before.
Before the swimming I remembered to weigh myself, I
had noted that I should do this because recently the teenage girls were
squealing while they watched me practice soccer with my shirt
off. I found that I weigh 190 lbs
unclothed, which is down 3 lbs from my 193 lbs
weight the last time I weighed myself, on March 24. I was
surprised. I felt as if I had been underfed for days (I think due to
stress certain persons subject me to); I had not taken my 'nutrients
cocktail' since March 27; I had not done any weightlifting since March 2;
I thought I would be down to about 180 lbs; but was at 190 lbs; 190 lbs is
the magic squeal-o-meter weight!
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Saturday,
April 26 '08 |
Written Analysis |
Soccer Air-Dribbling Training
Strategies
Note: To understand this
report, see April 24 log entry on this page, the 'Before the practice I noted' section.
Goal: ability to accelerate to high
speed on the first touch and on the second touch; combined with tightly
controlled changes of direction.
Tightness of ball control drills
improve acceleration, more than acceleration on first or second
touch drills improve tightness of ball control.
The acceleration skills I seek to achieve
involve attaining to a high speed WITHOUT losing control of the
ball.
High speed on the first or on the second
touch without loss of ball control, is produced by E2, E3 type drills,
more than tightness of ball control is produced by high speed or
acceleration type drills.
In fact, high speed leads to a loss of ball
control.
Practically speaking, undoubtedly,
the E2 E3 type tightness-of-ball-control drills applied to the
LHKH pattern, are the best way to increase speed/acceleration on the
1st, 2nd, and 3rd touches, because the pre-determination of the number of
paces between touches, and the number of paces between touches being the
same for several runs in a row, develops the ability to accelerate at will
without loss of ball control.
Historically (my personal history), vast
improvements in speed (speed combined with ball control) were
attained by way of practicing drills such as E2, E3, even E4 & E5's a
little. Such drills first developed in me the skill of being able
to on the air dribble move at sprint speed without loss of ball
control.
As for the idea of doing the most difficult
drill first, how and why I intend to break this 'rule' in the coming
days.
I could do the E2 morphed into or combined
with the LHKH, on a directional zig-zag, combined with accelerating to max
speed on the 2nd touch; this would be harder than the E2 combined with the
LHKH run in a straight pattern; but as of now I am inclined to in this
instance, break the 'rule' of doing the more difficult first.
When I did the LHKH variants such as ZZ-R,
ZZ-L, LCL, LCR, SXL, SCR, true, the more difficult ZZ-R and ZZ-L were done
before the less difficult LCL LCR, SCL, and SCR; I remarked at the time
that this approach was wisely successful and pointed towards a 'rule'
that the more difficult thing should be done first. However, long before I
mastered the basics of the LHKH ZZ-R and ZZ-L, I mastered the basics of
the straight LHKH, which is much easier than the ZZ-R and ZZ-L LHKH
patterns. I did the ZZ-R, which is easier than the ZZ-L, before the ZZ-L,
this is common sense of doing the variant that uses the favored foot,
first.
I never meant that the
more difficult thing should always be done first, but rather that the more
difficult should sometimes be done first in contradiction of the common
strategy featuring the easier thing being done
earlier.
One possible choice for me is-- (choice A) do
E2 combined with LHKH run straight, the easier version of E2 combined with
LHKH; or, (choice B) do the much more difficult E2 combined with a
zig-zagging LHKH pattern that accelerates to max sprint speed on the 2nd
touch.
Going by the idea that the difficult should
be done first, I would first do B and then A; but my instincts incline me
towards doing the easier A first.
There are various possibilities. I
could do 30 minutes of E2-L LHKH run straight, 30 minutes E2-L LHKH ZZ-R,
and 30 minutes E2-L LHKH ZZ-R accelerated to max speed on the 2nd touch,
all in one day; or I could do one on monday, the second on tuesday and the
third on wednesday; or, I could do what I've been doing, use a few days in
a row to master one, then use a few days in a row to master
another, then use a few days in a row to master the third.
Note re what I have meant by as 'fast
as possible' compared to these new drills emphasizing
'acceleration': I always try to go 'as fast as possible'. This
means, as fast as I can go keeping in mind that I am concerned not just
with speed but also with pattern-adherence. The new drills emphasizing
acceleration put the emphasis on acceleration in speed at the expense of a
concern with pattern-adherence, the object being to be able to eventually
consistently combine high levels of acceleration and speed on the first
and second touches, with pattern adherence. I am already at the point
where I am competent at acceleration on the 3rd touch. |
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Saturday
April 26
2008 645 PM - 745 PM |
3rd day
of WC06-L LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 60
minutes
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = tea w milk and
sugar
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 2
cgs total (on March 4, April 15) since December 1,
'07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; ?? oz beer consumed in 24 hours prior to
practice; 0 Herbal sleeping capsules taken before bed night before
workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
Cough gone. |
4th Day of
New 'WC06-left' type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs; numerical score=1.00 'WC06-left'
(WC06L) LHKH pattern-adherence successes per
minute; 0.83/min target achieved; EYES allowed to do
whatever
The new WC06L variant of the LHKH done today for the 4th
day:
(Key:L=left foot; H=head; R=right
foot)
Today for the 4th day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "WC06-left" (WC06L) type 'LHKH' pattern. The
LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run kicking the ball
with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it up, then heading
it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then heading it again (H)
(touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between touches, all with me
running as fast as I can, and all with the ball not touching
the ground. The 'WC06-left' (WC06L)
innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern in a way that features: the ball
being very tightly controlled; the ball being touched on every pace; and,
a skipping motion with the feet on every pace. In this
variant after flipping the ball up and kicking the ball
with my left foot, I skip with my left foot (the left foot hits the ground
twice in a row without the right foot hitting the ground in between the
two touches of the ground with the left foot); then I head the ball before
the right foot strikes the ground; then the right foot strikes the ground
twice in a row in a skipping motion; then the left foot strikes the ball;
then the left foot hits the ground twice in a row in a skipping motion;
and then I head the ball.
Today for the 19th day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball with the left
foot on the 3rd touch, I allowed my eyes to do whatever came
naturally in terms of following the ball.
Today the practice: started 645 PM ended 745
PM--total 58 minutes running the WC06-left variant of
the LHKH pattern as 2 minute were subtracted due to interference
and delays (there was no warm-up prior to the 645 PM
start). At 645 PM in the 1st minute on the first
attempt, there occurred WC06L LHKH success #1, length 5
yards; the first perfect success was #8 at 653 PM in
the 9th minute; it was a tight fast run 6 yds in
length. In the end in the 58 minutes there had
been 10 runs on which I almost adhered to the WC06L LHKH pattern
(almost means that the pattern was off by no more than the fact that one
of the touches in the pattern was somewhat off); there had
been 58 successes in maintaining the WC06L LHKH pattern. That comes out to 0.17
almosts per minute and 1.00 successes per
minute.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL, LCR, SCR , SCL and
WC06-L variants of the LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19 0.96
(eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 16
0.30
0.90 (eyes as natural)
(new SCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 17 0.27 0.97
(eyes as natural)
(new SCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 19 0.18 0.87
(eyes as natural) (new WC06-L variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 22 0.41
0.33
(eyes as natural)
April 23 0.30 0.53
(eyes as natural)
April 24 0.17 0.80
(eyes as natural)
April 26 0.17 1.00
(eyes as
natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a B. The
grade is only a B because of the high standards I have set for
myself. The grade-letter is there because there comes a time when
performance improves while the pattern-adherences per minute stat becomes
constant.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches on the WC06 version of the LHKH: approx 8 yds.
On the positive side--
The quantity of successes was obviously up a good amount. The quality
of successes was definitely better. I today felt as I have every day I
have done this drill (aside from the first day); I felt as if there was
obviously definite improvement in quality, quantity, self-confidence, and
skill.
Today there was without conscious effort, extreme improvement in
terms of correcting the involuntary slant to the right that was much more
common yesterday.
On the negative side--
There remains work to be done in terms of reducing involuntary
directional slants, consistency of quality, setting ball up for a well
headed ball on the fourth touch.
water--I drank 0 oz water during the first
60 minutes of the workout today. After the first 60 minutes I drank
about 16 oz of water. Before the practice I
noted--
Not much.
During and after the practice I noted--
I like to stir and inspire myself, especially if such is also
beneficially informative. An idea of the capabilities I am developing in
this touch ball on every pace air-dribble I call the WC06-L
LHKH variant, can be obtained by looking at the verbatim notes noting
runs that I labeled as 'perfect' today. One characteristic I considered
necessary to label a run as perfect was that I set myself up for a
non-awkward touch with the head on the fourth touch of the run.
Excerpt, Perfect Runs Today
Key: X8 TF 6 yds perfect 653 means: pattern
adherence success #8 was tight (T) and fast (F), covered 6 yds from
1st to 4th touch, it was run at 653 PM. L = run was long, 8 yds or longer.
P= run was perfect. T= ball tightly controlled on run. F= run was at high
speed. y= yards. yds= yards.
X8 TF 6 yds perfect 653; X13 5 y T
perfect 658; X18 T P 704; X20 TFL P 705; X35 5 y T F P 718; X38 TFLP 721;
X39 9 yds TFLP 722; X40 9 yds TFLP 723; X43 5y TFP 728; X44 TFLP 9y 729;
X45 TFP 7y 729; X47 LFTP 8y 731; X48 FTP 7y avoided Bball boy by bringing
ball up, closer and to side still perfect 4th (touch) well placed;
X51 LFTP 8y 736; X54 FTP 5y 740; X57 TFP 6y 743; X58 LFTP 9y
744.
Looking at this excerpt from today's in-practice notes, on the
informative side, one can see that when the runs are perfectly formed (I
intend to improve to doing more and more runs perfectly) there lengths
today were: 6, 5, 5, 5, 9, 9, 5, 9, 7, 8, 7, 8, 5, 6, and 9 yds; in
addition three runs were reported as long but the yardage was not given I
estimate these to be 8, 8, 8 yds in length.
Thus on perfectly formed runs, the range for this pattern today was 5 to 9
yds, and the average was 7.0 yards.
On this inspiring and stirring side, it is inspiring and
motivational to think that today there were 18 perfectly formed runs of
5-9 yds in length, which took the ball on average 7 yds, at a brisk speed,
with the ball tightly controlled and touched on every pace, touched 4
times over the 7 yds, the ball kept off the ground the entire time and
touched alternately with head and left foot.
Prior to the workout: I had: 1 cup brown tea in
water made with 1 teabag, and milk and sugar.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff: Nothing much
Faces in the Crowd:
On the other side of the gym some Black
boys about junior teenager age were playing basketball, on my side, an
East Asian Jr. Teenager (early teenage years) who wore glasses was
shooting baskets. I remember the perfect run on which, as I neared him, on
the third touch with the left foot I kicked the ball somewhat backwards
and to my left so as to avoid him, but still and ended up with a perfect
run.
Weight/Appearance: (repeat in small
type:) Before the workout I was ??? lbs. Like yesterday, I did
not feel like checking my weight in the locker room as I have been
sort of lazily neglecting to pump calories and protein into myself.
Between yesterday's practice and today's I
again ate/drank little (mostly organic/natural). Skipping the details on
this for now. |
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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Sunday
April 27
2008 635 PM -735 PM |
1st day
of WC06-R LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 60
minutes
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = double strength tea
w milk and sugar
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 2
cgs total (on March 4, April 15) since December 1,
'07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; 24 oz beer consumed in 24 hours prior to
practice; 0 Herbal sleeping capsules taken before bed night before
workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
Cough gone. |
1st Day of
New 'WC06-right' type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs; numerical score=0.43 'WC06-right'
(WC06R) LHKH pattern-adherence successes per minute;
EYES allowed to do whatever
The new WC06R variant of the LHKH done today for the 4th
day:
(Key:L=left foot; H=head; R=right
foot)
Today for the 1st day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "WC06-right" (WC06R) type 'LHKH' pattern. The
LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run kicking the ball
with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it up, then heading
it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then heading it again (H)
(touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between touches, all with me
running as fast as I can, and all with the ball not touching
the ground. The 'WC06-right' (WC06R)
innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern in a way that features: the ball
being very tightly controlled; the ball being touched on every pace; and,
a skipping motion with the feet on every pace. In this
variant after flipping the ball up and kicking the ball
with my left foot, I take a step or skip with my right foot; then I head
the ball before the left foot strikes the ground; then the left
foot strikes the ground twice in a row in a skipping motion; then
the right foot strikes the ball; then the right foot hits the ground
twice in a row in a skipping motion; and then I head the ball. This WC06-R
is like a mirror image of the WC06-L. The crucial touch with this WC06-R
is the third touch with the right foot, which is difficult for me as I am
naturally left footed. With the WC06-L the right foot never touches the
ball which makes things easier.
Today for the 20th day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball with the right
foot on the 3rd touch, I allowed my eyes to do whatever came
naturally in terms of following the ball.
Today the practice: started 635 PM ended 735
PM--total 58 minutes running the WC06-right variant of
the LHKH pattern as 2 minute were subtracted due to interference
and delays (there was no warm-up prior to the 635 PM
start). At 647 PM in the 13th minute, there
occurred WC06R LHKH success #1, length 5 yards; the first
perfect success was #3 at 651 PM in the 13th minute; it was a
tight fast run 7 yds in length. In the end in
the 58 minutes there had been 14 runs on which I almost
adhered to the WC06R LHKH pattern (almost means that the pattern was
off by no more than the fact that one of the touches in the pattern was
somewhat off); there had been 25 successes in maintaining
the WC06R LHKH pattern. That comes out to 0.24 almosts per minute
and 0.43 successes per
minute.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL, LCR, SCR , SCL, WC06-L,
and WC06-R variants of the LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19 0.96
(eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 16
0.30
0.90 (eyes as natural)
(new SCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 17 0.27 0.97
(eyes as natural)
(new SCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 19 0.18 0.87
(eyes as natural) (new WC06-L variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 22 0.41
0.33
(eyes as natural)
April 23 0.30 0.53
(eyes as natural)
April 24 0.17 0.80
(eyes as natural)
April 26 0.17 1.00
(eyes as natural)
(new WC06-R variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 27 0.24 0.43
(eyes as
natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a C-. The
grade is only a C- because of the high standards I have set for
myself. The grade-letter is there because there comes a time when
performance improves while the pattern-adherences per minute stat becomes
constant.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches on the WC06 version of the LHKH: approx 8 yds.
On the positive side--
Once I scored my first success in the 13th minute, the quantity and
quality of the runs was surprisingly good. There were even 8 perfect runs.
Seemed to me that the runs improved after I started to recite a formula
which in my own language describes this WC06-R LHKH pattern. The formula
goes: "Lick, Right, Head, Lip Lip, Rick, rip rip, Head. Lick means kick
with the left foot, Right means step with the right foot, Head means head
the ball, Lip means skip with the left foot, Rick means kick with the
right foot, rip means skip with the right foot. I am not sure if the
formula improved things because: it was used in the second half of the
practice after I got warmed and got the knack of the trick; and, I am only
guessing as to when I started to use it. But it felt like reciting the
formula improved things, at least reciting it sort of relaxed me by taking
my mind off distracting things and sorting of putting the mind to rest
with mundanity.
On the negative side--
The first 6 minutes were totally incompetent, I did not even score an
'almost' until the 7th minute; and I did not score my first success until
the 13th minute. In the first few minutes I quickly discovered
that if I skip with the right foot before first heading the ball on touch
#2 as I intended at the start of the practice, the kicking with the
left foot, then planting the left foot, and then skipping with the right
foot takes so long as to be impracticable and requires that the
first kick of the ball send the ball quite high. I resolved after the
first few minutes to, therefore, not skip with the right foot before first
heading of the ball on touch #2 but rather to just step with the
right foot in normal fashion before heading. An alternative that remains
is skipping with the right foot BEFORE planting the left foot after
kicking with the left foot at the start.
water--I drank 0 oz water during the first
60 minutes of the workout today. After the first 60 minutes I drank
about 16 oz of water. Before the practice I
noted--
Not much. Just the various reasons why the next logical step is the
WC06-R variant of the LHKH.
During and after the practice I noted--
The WC06-R variant of the LHKH done today, resulted, just like the
WC06-L variant of the LHKH done yesterday, in me involuntarily slanting to
my right, or going forwards and then turning right, in the course of the
run. I estimate this is because the first kick with the left foot slants
the ball from my left to my right somewhat.
Directional patterns that came naturally today: straight; slant
left; slant right at approx 25 degree angle; slant right at approx 70
degree angle; slant right at 70 degree angle followed by turn to the left
and then straight forwards; slant right followed by slant left; slant
right followed by backwards movement. Surprising all the tightly
controlled sharp changes of direction one can accomplish in this kind of
air-dribbling.
I should experiment, see if reciting the "Lick, Right, Head, Lip Lip,
Rick, rip rip, Head" mantra before each run improves performance. But it
will be hard to tell quickly via experimentation. If I use the mantra
tommorrow but not the day after, problem is that I expect myself to
naturally be better two days from now than I am tomorrow.
Prior to the workout: I had: 1 cup 2 brown tea in
water made with 2 teabags, w milk maple syrup and sugar.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff:
So let's see now, I've heard people say that I (me DV Hobbs)
am: 'an actor, Absalom, very good looking, world's most handsome man, a
knockout, beautiful, a Pele, a Maradona, a Schwarzenegger, a genius, a
king, and various other complimentary things I cannot now remember. With
every new area of endeavor in which I get praised, I get more darkly
freaked out re the gap between the way society treats me and the way it
should. And last week the bearded white guy who came to fix the
exhaust fan in my bathroom, smiled at me and said that to me, 'You're the
Pope'.
On top of all the other areas in which I get high praise, here's a
guy telling me I am the Pope!. I could tell he was complimenting me for my
high standing in the world of religious persons; incidentally when the
Pope had toured the USA earlier this month I emailed the Pope.
The people who work for the landlord in general surprise me with
regards to how much they know about me, even though I expect a certain
amount of such since I've been getting hundreds of hits a day on my
website and send out emails to prominent persons, who then sometimes
allude to these emails in between the lines style in their public
appearances.
I noticed this month that certain of the things around the Pope
follow color patterns similar to or identical to colors used in emails
I've sent previous Popes. Once I attended a Catholic Service and right at
the start, as we stood there around the little elderly venerable loveable
white bespectacled clean shaven bird-like priest, the
priest looked at me an said, 'that's Hobbs' (my last name)! And I had
never met this priest in my life!
Faces in the Crowd: Had the gym mostly to myself. Except
for a stretch of time there was a bespectacled tall husky clean-shaven
black adult on the other side playing with a basketball or something. He
glanced at me, and said something like, "Yea, that's it...he's got 'em" in
a loud enthusiastic way. Apparently in his wisdom he could see the
importance of what I was doing and that I was going to succeed in
mastering the difficult trick I was practicing.
In general the people out there
consider extreme tightness of control of the type I practiced today to be
especially impressive and important, I suppose this is because they are
very practically minded and think about how a defender could steal the
ball.
By way of contrast I impress myself
through very long fast runs in which the ball is not as tightly controlled
as it is in the various WC06 touch ball on every pace runs. In my mind I
can see that the long fast air-dribble runs I do can eventually be
tightened up in control to the point where they will be practicable in a
game; but the public sees these runs and thinks of defenders getting
between me and the ball. I guess over the passage of time I have become
more enamored of long fast solo air-dribbles than the general public,
which sees soccer as soccer, not solitary
air-dribbling.
Actually even before my first attempts
at combining E2 (ball touched every other pace) with LHKH, I feel I have
at times been doing long fast LHKH runs in which the number of paces taken
per touch is not prescribed, yet with the ball never going more than three
feet away from me, at full sprint speed, 15 yards length of
'flight', repeatedly. Still there are people who will call me a Pele
when I do runs which are less tightly controlled in terms of paces run per
touch than the ultra-tight touch ball every pace type runs I did today.
Weight/Appearance: (repeat in small
type:) Before the workout I was ??? lbs. Like yesterday, I did
not feel like checking my weight in the locker room as I have been
sort of lazily neglecting to pump calories and protein into myself.
Between yesterday's practice and today's I
again ate/drank little (mostly organic/natural). Skipping the details on
this for now.
|
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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Monday
April 28
2008 900 PM - 940 PM |
Swimming 40 minutes
Alternating between 50 crawl and 50 breast |
Swimming Today; Went swimming
again after 2 days away from swimming
Today the volleyballers had the gym in the evening so I had to go
swimming. Earlier in the day I felt too tired and sleep deprived to
practice soccer.
My (half-) expectation was that I would have more endurance today
than I did 3 days ago doing swimming, due to the positive effect of the
swimming of 3 days ago on my endurance and general swimming ability. The
reality however was that I felt weaker than I did on Friday 3 days ago; it
was as if, the swimming on Friday took something out of me, that had not
been compensated for yet through things like food going into me.
Today I swam 50 yds breaststroke slowly, and then 50 yds crawl fast,
alternating between the two.
Despite feeling less energetic than I did Friday, I swam the 50 yds
crawl segments at about 85-90% of max sprint speed.
I felt as if my mind was working more clearly with regards to the
strategy of improving speed in the 50 yd sprints, than ever before. I
attributed this to the constant keeping of a soccer log sharpening my
mind's ability to strategize with regards to sports.
Early in the practice I half-intuitively and half-logically realized
that the best speed for me to swim the 50 yd crawl segments at, is the
maximum speed at which I can maintain good form, not any faster.
Swimming at the max speed at which I could maintain good form seemed
to be just right in terms of building endurance without over-burdening the
body; and of course it builds good form. |
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Tuesday
April 29
2008 800 PM -935 PM |
2nd day
of WC06-R LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 60
minutes; plus 20 minutes non scored non skip.
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = double strength tea
w milk and sugar; 8 oz Bolthouse Farms C-Boost drink
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 2
cgs total (on March 4, April 15) since December 1,
'07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; ?? oz alcoholic
drinks consumed in 24 hours prior to
practice; 0 Herbal sleeping capsules taken before bed night before
workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
Cough gone. |
2nd Day of
New 'WC06-right' type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs; numerical score=0.74 'WC06-right'
(WC06R) LHKH pattern-adherence successes per minute;
EYES allowed to do whatever
The new WC06R variant of the LHKH done today for the 4th
day:
(Key:L=left foot; H=head; R=right
foot)
Today for the 2nd day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "WC06-right" (WC06R) type 'LHKH' pattern. The
LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run kicking the ball
with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it up, then heading
it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then heading it again (H)
(touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between touches, all with me
running as fast as I can, and all with the ball not touching
the ground. The 'WC06-right' (WC06R)
innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern in a way that features: the ball
being very tightly controlled; the ball being touched on every pace; and,
a skipping motion with the feet on every pace.
In this variant after flipping the ball up and
kicking the ball with my left foot, I take a step or skip with my right
foot; then I head the ball before the left foot strikes the ground;
then the left foot strikes the ground twice in a row in a skipping
motion; then the right foot strikes the ball; then the right foot
hits the ground twice in a row in a skipping motion; and then I head the
ball. This WC06-R is like a mirror image of the WC06-L. The crucial touch
with this WC06-R is the third touch with the right foot, which is
difficult for me as I am naturally left footed. With the WC06-L the right
foot never touches the ball which makes things easier.
Today for the 21st day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball with the right
foot on the 3rd touch, I allowed my eyes to do whatever came
naturally in terms of following the ball.
Today the scored segment of practice: started 800
PM ended 900 PM--total 58 minutes running
the WC06-right variant of the LHKH pattern as 2 minute were
subtracted due to interference and delays (there was no warm-up
prior to the 800 PM start). At 804 PM in
the 5th minute, there occurred WC06R LHKH success
#1; the first perfect success was #2 at 806 PM in the 7th
minute; it was a tight fast run 7 yds in length. In the
end in the 58 minutes there had been 12 runs on which I
almost adhered to the WC06R LHKH pattern (almost means that the
pattern was off by no more than the fact that one of the touches in the
pattern was somewhat off); there had been 43 successes in
maintaining the WC06R LHKH pattern.
That comes out to 0.21 almosts per
minute and 0.74 successes per
minute.
After the 60 minute scored practice
today, for 20 minutes from 915 to 935 I experimented with a non-skip
version of the WC06-R LHKH, in this version instead of skipping between
touches of the ball I just step between touches.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL, LCR, SCR , SCL, WC06-L,
and WC06-R variants of the LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19 0.96
(eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 16
0.30
0.90 (eyes as natural)
(new SCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 17 0.27 0.97
(eyes as natural)
(new SCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 19 0.18 0.87
(eyes as natural) (new WC06-L variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 22 0.41
0.33
(eyes as natural)
April 23 0.30 0.53
(eyes as natural)
April 24 0.17 0.80
(eyes as natural)
April 26 0.17 1.00
(eyes as natural)
(new WC06-R variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 27 0.24 0.43
(eyes as natural)
April 29 0.21 0.74
(eyes as
natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a C+. The
grade is only a C+ because of the high standards I have set for
myself. The grade-letter is there because there comes a time when
performance improves while the pattern-adherences per minute stat becomes
constant. The grade is specifically re my performance with a new skill, it
does not take into account my lack of experience with the new skill.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches on the WC06 version of the LHKH: approx 8 yds.
On the positive side--
The improvement of 0.31 pattern-adherence
successes per minute is the biggest improvement over one practice day
since I started doing these LHKH variants in late March.
Strikes me that as with the other day on
which there was a very big improvement, the previous day had featured
swimming instead of soccer practice.
Notably there were several runs that were fast and extremely tightly
controlled; seemed reciting the 'Lick Right Head Lep Lep Rick'
(which means kick with left, step with right, head ball, skip with left,
skip with left, kick ball with right) formula before each run helped
to produce tight fast runs; reciting this mantra instilled in me
a sense of the various steps in the run as being part of one fluid whole.
Today I rated 14 runs as perfect
runs, more than the previous day when the the number of
perfects was 8 I think; several of these were long, fast, and tightly
controlled. At this rate of improvement in terms of perfect runs per hour
(6 per day), almost all of the runs will be perfect in 8
days.
As was the case with the WC06-L version of the LHKH done before this
version, today the directional problem of involuntarily slanting
to the right naturally began to correct itself without any conscious
effort on my part.
On the negative side--
Today it sunk into my mind, that with
these WC06 versions of the LHKH there are more attempts per hour,
so the numerical score makes the performance look better than it really
was. The WC06 versions usually only cover 7 yards, and I start
from a spot about 10 yards from a wall that stops the balls for me. With
the non-WC06 versions, the runs (when limited to four touches) cover on
average about 11 yards, and I start from a point about 18 yards from a
wall. The score was a 0.74 today, but there were several balls
that were mis-kicked balls on the first or third touches with
the foot, and several low quality successes.
water--I drank 0 oz water during the first
60 minutes of the workout today. After the first 60 minutes I drank
about 16 oz of water. Before the practice I
noted-- Not much.
During and after the practice I noted--
I recited the verbal mantra "Lick, Right, Head, Lep Lep, Rick" ,
which in my own language describes the various steps up to the third touch
of the runs, before each run after the first 15 or so minutes. The mantra
means, kick with left, step with right, head ball, skip with left, skip
with left, kick with right. This seemed to improve my performance in
some ways. It was relaxing.
Seems, even if reciting the mantra does not improve
overall performance immediately, it will improve overall performance
eventually once I get used to it, since it is relaxing; one has to
take into account that eventually my brain will be better able to
understand the meaning of this mantra which is in like a new
language.
This 'mantra' now seems to produce, high quality runs, tightness,
speed; but it does not seem to improve the sheer quantity of runs scored
as successes per hour. Consistency comes with
time eventually and inevitably for me; but quality, which this mantra
seems to produce, is harder to obtain.
Today a few times immediately prior to the 4th touch with the head, I
stepped in normal fashion with the left foot instead of skipping with the
left foot. This stepping prior to the 4th touch instead of
skipping seemed to come naturally, so when it happened, I still counted
the run as a pattern-adherence success. Thus I realized that it
should be possible to do this WC06 version of the LHKH pattern, with
normal steps between the touches on the ball instead of skips.
The skipping style used in these touch-ball-on-every-pace patterns,
originated in a version of the WC06 in which the ball is touched
alternately with left and right feet only, and not the head. When the
feet alone are used, the ball does not go as high, the ball is not
propelled with as much accuracy as it is with the head, and it is easy to
fail to adhere to the WC06 pattern and so the skipping becomes necessary.
After the scored 60 minutes I experimented with a WC06-R version of
the LHKH pattern in which instead of skipping between touches there is
simple stepping between touches, with the ball stil touched on every pace,
alternating between touch with the foot and touch with the head. I found
that this non-skip version is indeed quite possible (for me now at my
current level of skill) with the alternations between foot and head, I do
not know how it would work with foot alone.
With this non-skip version: the
distances covered over the course of the pattern are 4-7 yards, shorter
than with the skip version; the speed of the runs is slower than with the
skip version; and the consistency, the number of runs done
perfectly or scored as successes per minute is lower than with
the skip with feet between touches version.
With this non-skip version of the WC06-R
variation of the LHKH: the fastest speed I could obtain was a
brisk walk; usually the speed was merely that of a normal speed walk;
and, the 7 yard lengths were very rare.
I could in the immediate future devote time to: non-skip WC06
LHKH; non-skip at certain steps WC06 LHKH; non-skip WC06 using just
alternating feet and not the head.
Immediately after the practice, I felt pretty sharp mentally speaking
regarding the stragegies of practices. Regarding the problem which has
been mystifying me, in which order should the various drills be done,
I noted that in the end, I probably will
achieve the fastest rate of progress, if I first do the drills that use
the most touches on the ball per yard travelled, the most touches
per minute of practice, the most touches per unit of energy expended; and
then later do the drills in which there are less touches on the ball per
yard traveled or minute of practice or unit energy expended.
Prior to the workout: I had: 1 cup brown tea in
water made with 2 teabags, w heavy cream and cane sugar; and 8
oz Bolthouse C-boost drink. In the 48 hours previous to the workout I had
only had 5 hours sleep.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff: Not much today.
Faces in the Crowd: First there was an adult white male and adult white female. Then
there was a 'Spanish' boy and the Iranian guy who once was rude to me. The
Iranian guy looked at me as I did the drills and said, "that's tough";
what he meant was that the trick I was doing was a tough trick to
do. He seemed to me like a Jim Croce. Seemed to me that despite his
having been rude to me once, he has a sizeable capacity for genuine
friendship (maybe not necessarily with me); seemed like, by way of
comparison, white Americans are so proud of their heavy bodies and
big forearms that they have less capacity for friendship.
At the end a tall heavy white adult male was skipping rope
near where I was practicing; then he began to apologetically find fault
with himself, decided he was interfering in my practice (this I could tell
from what he said) and moved to the other basket.
Weight/Appearance: (repeat in small
type:) Before the workout I was ??? lbs. Like yesterday, I did
not feel like checking my weight in the locker room as I have been
sort of lazily neglecting to pump calories and protein into myself.
Between yesterday's practice and today's I
again ate/drank little (mostly organic/natural). Skipping the details on
this for now.
|
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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|
Wednesday
April 30
2008 805 PM -935 PM |
3rd day
of WC06-R LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 60
minutes; plus 20 minutes non scored non skip.
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = double strength tea
w milk and sugar;
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 2
cgs total (on March 4, April 15) since December 1,
'07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; 1 liter wine consumed in 24 hours prior to practice; 0 Herbal sleeping
capsules taken before bed night before workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
Cough gone. |
3rd Day of
New 'WC06-right' type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs; numerical score=0.72 'WC06-right'
(WC06R) LHKH pattern-adherence successes per minute;
EYES allowed to do whatever
The new WC06R variant of the LHKH done today for the 4th
day:
(Key:L=left foot; H=head; R=right
foot)
Today for the 3rd day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "WC06-right" (WC06R) type 'LHKH' pattern. The
LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run kicking the ball
with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it up, then heading
it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then heading it again (H)
(touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between touches, all with me
running as fast as I can, and all with the ball not touching
the ground. The 'WC06-right' (WC06R)
innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern in a way that features: the ball
being very tightly controlled; the ball being touched on every pace; and,
a skipping motion with the feet on every pace.
In this variant after flipping the ball up and
kicking the ball with my left foot, I take a step or skip with my right
foot; then I head the ball before the left foot strikes the ground;
then the left foot strikes the ground twice in a row in a skipping
motion; then the right foot strikes the ball; then the right foot
hits the ground twice in a row in a skipping motion; and then I head the
ball. This WC06-R is like a mirror image of the WC06-L. The crucial touch
with this WC06-R is the third touch with the right foot, which is
difficult for me as I am naturally left footed. With the WC06-L the right
foot never touches the ball which makes things easier.
Today for the 22nd day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball with the right
foot on the 3rd touch, I allowed my eyes to do whatever came
naturally in terms of following the ball.
Today the scored segment of practice: started 805
PM ended 905 PM--total 60 minutes running
the WC06-right variant of the LHKH pattern (there was no
warm-up prior to the 800 PM start). At 805 PM in
the 1st minute, there occurred WC06R LHKH success #1, it
was a perfect run, tight and fast and straight ahead. In the
end in the 60 minutes there had been 12 runs on which I
almost adhered to the WC06R LHKH pattern (almost means that the
pattern was off by no more than the fact that one of the touches in the
pattern was somewhat off); there had been 43 successes in
maintaining the WC06R LHKH pattern.
That comes out to 0.15 almosts per
minute and 0.72 successes per
minute.
After the 60 minute scored practice today, like yesterday for 20
minutes from 915 to 935 I experimented with a non-skip version of the
WC06-R LHKH, in this version instead of skipping between touches of the
ball I just step between touches.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL, LCR, SCR , SCL, WC06-L,
and WC06-R variants of the LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19 0.96
(eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 16
0.30
0.90 (eyes as natural)
(new SCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 17 0.27 0.97
(eyes as natural)
(new SCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 19 0.18 0.87
(eyes as natural) (new WC06-L variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 22 0.41
0.33
(eyes as natural)
April 23 0.30 0.53
(eyes as natural)
April 24 0.17 0.80
(eyes as natural)
April 26 0.17 1.00
(eyes as natural)
(new WC06-R variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 27 0.24 0.43
(eyes as natural)
April 29 0.21 0.74
(eyes as natural)
April 30 0.15 0.72
(eyes as
natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a C+
again. The grade is only a C+ because of the high standards I
have set for myself. The grade-letter is there because there comes a time
when performance improves while the pattern-adherences per minute stat
becomes constant. The grade is specifically re my performance with a new
skill, it does not take into account my lack of experience with the new
skill.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches on the WC06 version of the LHKH: approx 8 yds.
On the positive side--
The first 5 minutes were
awesome, taking into account the fact that there
was no warm-up; there were 5 pattern adherence successes in the first 5
minutes, a 1.00 per minute rate, and 3 of these were perfect!
Then the second 5 minutes produced only one pattern-adherence success
in 5 minutes; I think this was due to the stress-creating and
depressing effect of beginning to worry about the score too
much.
During the first 10 or so minutes the 'mantra' ('taal' as in
verbal description of the beats in Indian tabla drumming might be a
better word) was, 'Lick right head lip lip rick', meaning kick
with left foot, step with right, head ball, skip with left foot, skip with
left foot, and kick with right foot--what happened after the third touch
with the right foot was left out of the 'taal'. After the first
ten minutes the mantra or taal I said to myself before each run uincluded
what happened after the third touch with the right foot, it was:
'Lick right head lip lip rick rip rip head', which means kick with left
foot, step with right, head ball, skip with left foot, skip with left
foot, kick with right foot, skip with right foot, skip with right foot,
head ball'. After the first 10 minutes the success rate was 37 in
50 minutes or 0.74 per minute.
Thus the story today was 6 successes in the first 10 minutes
(0.60 per minute) using the abbreviated mantra/taal, and 0.74
pattern-adherence successes per minute using the extended
mantra/taal. I guess I made a mistake by switching mantras or
taals after the first 10 minutes; for historical experimental analytical
purposes it would have been better to stick with one mantra/taal for the
entire practice session.
Over the 60 minutes today there were 22
runs recorded as perfect, compared to 14 yesterday and 8 the day
before. My estimate has been that reciting the mantra/taal
before runs improves quality of runs the number of perfects bears this
out.
Today the first touch with the foot and
the second touch with the head were done very well, as a result of which
on the third touch with the right foot there were lots of well placed
balls setting up the third touch with the right foot. Today was maybe the
best day ever in terms of the quality of the first touch with the left
foot.
On the negative side--
The third touch with the right foot was surprisingly
inconsistent. Time after time the first two touches set up the
right foot on the third touch well, and time after time the right foot on
the third touch miskicked the ball.
water--I drank 0 oz water during the first
60 minutes of the workout today. After the first 60 minutes I drank
about 16 oz of water. Before the practice I
noted-- Not much.
During and after the practice I noted--
Possibilities re why the workout today went like it
did: the effect of the extended mantra-taal, which
describes everything through the fourth and final touch of tthe run, when
spoken before a run, was--great performance up to the third touch, poor
performance on the third touch; and/or, the accurate work on the
first and second touches, produced a highly controlled accurate 2nd touch
with the head, that placed the ball too close for the third touch with the
right foot; and/or, the improved control on the first and second
touches resulted in me being able to deliberately keep the ball
close--but it was an error of judgement, to keep the ball so close as
it made the third touch with the right foot harder nor easier; and/or, the
ball being kept so close to the body after the second touch with the head,
was unusual and new and strange for me.
With these mantras or taals that describe the action in a run
being recited before a run, apparently some little details can be left out
without causing impairment of performance. For example literally
speaking, you have, lick (kick with left), left (step with left), right
(step with right) and then head, the heading of the ball. I find that I
can leave the 'left' describing stepping with the left after kicking the
ball with the left, out of the spoken formula, without ill effect.
Prior to the workout: I had: 1 cup brown tea in
water made with 2 teabags, w cream and cane sugar. In the 24
hours prior to the workout I managed to for a change get about four hours
of sleep which is more than I had been getting per 24 hour cycle in the
days previous to today.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff: Not much. I had a dream I
was with this woman who I think is named 'Lillian', who I guess works
or used to work at the supermarket now called Hannaford, and it was fun
and exciting to be with her. In the dream she was (unlike
reality) fat and deformed but still fun to be with which indicates to
me that she has attractive qualities of character or personality. I've met
a few non-intellectual American white types in my life and enjoyed their
lack of snobbery.
Faces in the Crowd: Y-staffer Patrick Ferdinand and the Iranian Jim Croce were there in
the first 5 minutes when I did so well. After this I was basically alone
and performance declined.
Weight/Appearance: (repeat in small
type:) Before the workout I was ??? lbs. Like yesterday, I did
not feel like checking my weight in the locker room as I have been
sort of lazily neglecting to pump calories and protein into myself.
Between yesterday's practice and today's I
again ate/drank little (mostly organic/natural). Skipping the details on
this for now.
|
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Thursday
May 1
2008 810 PM -935 PM |
4th day
of WC06-R LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 60
minutes; plus 20 minutes non scored.
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = double strength tea
w milk and sugar;
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 2
cgs total (on March 4, April 15) since December 1,
'07;
0 melatonin pill taken in 24 hours
before practice; 750 ml champagne
consumed in 24 hours prior to practice;
0 Herbal sleeping capsules taken before bed night before
workout
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
Cough gone. |
4th Day of
New 'WC06-right' type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs; numerical score=0.80 'WC06-right'
(WC06R) LHKH pattern-adherence successes per minute;
EYES allowed to do whatever; 'Lick right head lip lip rick'
formula recited before each run.
The new WC06R variant of the LHKH done today for the 4th
day:
(Key:L=left foot; H=head; R=right
foot)
Today for the 4th day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "WC06-right" (WC06R) type 'LHKH' pattern. The
LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run kicking the ball
with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it up, then heading
it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then heading it again (H)
(touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between touches, all with me
running as fast as I can, and all with the ball not touching
the ground. The 'WC06-right' (WC06R)
innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern in a way that features: the ball
being very tightly controlled; the ball being touched on every pace; and,
a skipping motion with the feet on every pace.
In this variant after flipping the ball up and
kicking the ball with my left foot, I take a step or skip with my right
foot; then I head the ball before the left foot strikes the ground;
then the left foot strikes the ground twice in a row in a skipping
motion; then the right foot strikes the ball; then the right foot
hits the ground twice in a row in a skipping motion; and then I head the
ball. This WC06-R is like a mirror image of the WC06-L. The crucial touch
with this WC06-R is the third touch with the right foot, which is
difficult for me as I am naturally left footed. With the WC06-L the right
foot never touches the ball which makes things easier.
Today for the 23rd day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball with the right
foot on the 3rd touch, I allowed my eyes to do whatever came
naturally in terms of following the ball.
Today the scored segment of practice: started 810
PM ended 914 PM--total 60 minutes (4 minutes
subtracted due to delays) running the WC06-right variant of
the LHKH pattern (there was no warm-up prior to the 800 PM
start). At 818 PM in the 6th minute (6th min due to
delay), there occurred WC06R LHKH success #1, it was
a tightly controlled 5 yd slant; at 819 PM in the 7th minute sucess
#2 was the first perfect success, it was a long fast tightly
controlled 10 yd slant. In the end in the 60
minutes there had been 5 runs on which I almost adhered to
the WC06R LHKH pattern (almost means that the pattern was off by no
more than the fact that one of the touches in the pattern was somewhat
off); there had been 48 successes in maintaining
the WC06R LHKH pattern. That comes out to 0.08 almosts per minute
and 0.80 successes per
minute.
After the 60 minute scored practice today, like yesterday for 20
minutes from 915 to 935 I continued with the same pattern, but without
keeping score. Lately I seem to have somehow developed the ability to
forget the score that I tried to master before but could not.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL, LCR, SCR , SCL, WC06-L,
and WC06-R variants of the LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19 0.96
(eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 16
0.30
0.90 (eyes as natural)
(new SCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 17 0.27 0.97
(eyes as natural)
(new SCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 19 0.18 0.87
(eyes as natural) (new WC06-L variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 22 0.41
0.33
(eyes as natural)
April 23 0.30 0.53
(eyes as natural)
April 24 0.17 0.80
(eyes as natural)
April 26 0.17 1.00
(eyes as natural)
(new WC06-R variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 27 0.24 0.43
(eyes as natural)
April 29 0.21 0.74
(eyes as natural)
April 30 0.15 0.72
(eyes as natural)
May
1 0.15 0.80
(eyes as
natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a B-. The
grade is only a B- because of the high standards I have set for
myself. The grade-letter is there because there comes a time when
performance improves while the pattern-adherences per minute stat becomes
constant. The grade is specifically re my performance with a new skill, it
does not take into account my lack of experience with the new skill.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches on the WC06 version of the LHKH: approx 8 yds.
On the positive side--
The last 55 minutes there were 48 pattern-adherence successes, 0.87
per minute which is a relatively high rate; this after 0 per minute
the first five minutes.
There was intermittent spectacular success today featuring
me: moving at high speed; traveling more than 10 yds on the 4 touches
between skips of the pattern; keeping the ball tightly controlled; and, a
ball well placed on the third touch for the final touch with the
head. Previously I would not have thought it possible
to travel more than 110 yards using this pattern.
Nevertheless there you have it, the measurement of from
here to there does not lie, and I did what I would have thought to be
impossible. I guess I am someone who is able to travel long distances fast
on each skip. Some excerpts from the in-practice notes:
Ultra-long runs today:
Key: X2 10 y LFTP 819 means the second pattern-adherence success
covered 10 yds it was long fast tightly controlled and perfect; L=long;
F=fast; T=tightly controlled; P=perfect; VF=very fast; VL=very long;
y=yards.
X2 10 y LFTP 819; X4 VF VL T P 13
yards!; X26 10y VF VL T P str 847; X32 10y VL VF 855; X33 11y VL VF 856;
Over the 60 minutes today
there were 24 runs recorded as perfect.
On the negative side--
The third touch with the right foot was like yesterday
very inconsistent and clumsy; but today this did not
surprise me because of the inconsistency yesterday.
Fact of the matter is that this third touch with the right
foot is very difficult for a left-footed person like me.
What the pattern dictates is that I head the ball, skip with my
left foot, kick the ball with my right foot, skip with my right foot, and
head the ball again--the last head of the ball has to be done as the left
foot hits the ground after the skip with the right foot, or before the
left foot hits the ground after the skip with the right foot.
My clumsier right foot has very little experience with this
kind of kicking after skipping; the right foot has the difficult
job of setting up a tight header before another pace is taken. Fact is
that it takes me practice-time before I become able to do difficult new
things difficult with my clumsier right foot, fact is I am merely human.
It could be that reciting the verbal formula describing the
steps and kicks in the run before each run, distracts my mind from the
crucial problem at hand, which is to accurately kick the ball on the third
touch with the right foot.
water--I drank 0 oz water during the first
60 minutes of the workout today. After the first 60 minutes I drank
about 16 oz of water. Before the practice I
noted-- Not much.
During and after the practice I noted--
Today the verbal formula or 'tal' (as in verbal formulas describing
tabla drumming patterns) used before each run was: Lick, right, head, lip
lip, rick. This means kick the ball with the left, step with the right,
head the ball, skip with the left twice, and then kick the ball with the
right foot. This formula leaves out what happens after the third touch
with the right foot.
The way things are now, I am clumsy with the right foot on the third
touch when I am not keeping score, and even clumsier than that with the
right foot on the third touch when I am keeping score.
Prior to the workout: I had: 1 cup brown tea in
water made with 2 teabags, w cream and cane sugar.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff: Not much.
Faces in the Crowd:
The teenage female 'Mass Wildcat' basketball team was practicing
before I practiced. Watching them, it seemed to me that their coach Donald
has done a good job of teaching them how to move around on the court when
their team has the ball on offense, how to pass when their team has the
ball on offense, how to judge when it is time to attempt to take a shot on
one's own. This East Asian teenager who played guard made a couple of
excellent bounce passes to the tall center; the center did a good job of
driving to the hoop after taking the pass.
But my first five minutes of practicing today while they were
in the gym were way off. After the girls left Donald stuck around playing
basketball for a few minutes and after this the only other person in the
gym was a grade-school boy.
Weight/Appearance:
Looking at
myself in the mirror I noticed that my body in profile (side-view), looks
strong, non-fat and athletic and Greek-Goddish in both the
upper body and the lower body. I had not noticed this much
before. Maybe the combination of falling from 194 to 190 lbs in
weight, combined with the daily soccer drills has helped to produce
this look. Maybe the credit should go to changes in diet such as
drinking more juice made out of various berries, and drinking a juice
containing Acerola berries that naturally, without the addition of
vitamin C, has a gigantic (1200% of recommended daily intake) in just 8
ounces. I did not bother checking my weight on the scale today.
|
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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Friday
May 2
2008 810 PM -935 PM |
Swimming alternating 50 yds freestyle and 50 yds breaststroke, 735-935
PM |
The gym was unusable due to the fact that it was 'teen-night', only
teenagers allowed in the gym. So I went swimming, 735-935 PM, with a 3
minute break at 735 PM to urinate and get a fresh piece of nicotine gum,
and make sure my locker was properly locked.
I did not count how much distance I covered in the first 84 minutes.
In the last 36 minutes I covered 975 yards. The first 84 minutes for which
I did not count the distance covered, were faster than the last 36
minutes. The last 36 minutes, the speed was 0.92 mph.
The USA record for an approx two hour swim is, 10 km (6.2
miles) in 1:54:05.00-- which is 3.26 mph. (http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/_Rainbow/Documents/2612cdf7-203d-43cb-a48e-0fd5278bf6f0/American%20Long%20Distance%20Records.pdf).
Thus
since I was at 0.92 mph in the last 36 minutes (I was faster before the
last 36 minutes), I was in the last 36 minutes going at 28% of the
US record speed for approx 2 hours swimming.
But at least I swam for two hours; the top US runner in the 2008
Boston Marathon ran for two hours and 16 minutes.
In order to qualify to run in the Boston Marathon someone my age
would have to run at a speed that is 63% of the speed of the top US
finisher (Arciniaga 10th place) in the Boston Marathon in 2008.
You have to take into account that: in the year prior to
today, there were only five days on which I did any swimming; although I
consider myself to have a very good flip turn, today I was not doing flip
turns; and, half the time I was swimming the breaststroke, which is 20%
slower than the crawl.
Again today I could feel how my mind has sharpened up with regards to
tactics of sports. Today I could understand that the main
stylistic point I face in swimming, is that my when I breathe to my left,
my right arm extended forwards tends to go into a position that disrupts
streamlining; and likewise when I breathe to my right, my left arm
extended forwards tends to go into a position that disrupts
streamlining. When I corrected this extended arm disrupting
streamlining problem, I could tell that my speed per amount of energy
expended significantly increased.
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Sunday
May 4
2008 620 PM -935 PM |
5th day
of WC06-R LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 60
minutes
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = double strength
green tea w halfnhalf and sugar;
0 cgs in 24 hours prior to practice; 2
cgs total (on March 4, April 15) since December 1,
'07;
In 24 hours prior to practice:
0 melatonin pills; alcohol--two Margaritas; 0 Herbal sleeping capsules
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
Cough gone. |
5th Day of
New 'WC06-right' type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble runs; numerical score=1.00 'WC06-right'
(WC06R) LHKH pattern-adherence successes per minute; 0.83 target score finally attained; EYES allowed to do whatever; 'Lick right head lip lip rick'
formula recited before each run.
The new WC06R variant of the LHKH done today for the 4th
day:
(Key:L=left foot; H=head; R=right foot)
Today for the 5th day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "WC06-right" (WC06R) type 'LHKH' pattern. The
LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run kicking the ball
with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it up, then heading
it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then heading it again (H)
(touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between touches, all with me
running as fast as I can, and all with the ball not touching
the ground. The 'WC06-right' (WC06R)
innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern in a way that features: the ball
being very tightly controlled; the ball being touched on every pace; and,
a skipping motion with the feet on every pace.
In this variant after flipping the ball up and
kicking the ball with my left foot, I take a step or skip with my right
foot; then I head the ball before the left foot strikes the ground;
then the left foot strikes the ground twice in a row in a skipping
motion; then the right foot strikes the ball; then the right foot
hits the ground twice in a row in a skipping motion; and then I head the
ball. This WC06-R is like a mirror image of the WC06-L. The crucial touch
with this WC06-R is the third touch with the right foot, which is
difficult for me as I am naturally left footed. With the WC06-L the right
foot never touches the ball which makes things easier.
Today for the 24th day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball with the right
foot on the 3rd touch, I allowed my eyes to do whatever came
naturally in terms of following the ball.
Today the practice: started 640 PM ended 742
PM--total 60 minutes (2 minutes subtracted due to
delays) running the WC06-right variant of the LHKH pattern
(there was no warm-up prior to the 800 PM start).
At 640 PM in the 1st minute on the 1st attempt,
there occurred WC06R LHKH success #1, it was a tightly
controlled fast perfect straight ahead 4 yd run. In the
end in the 60 minutes there had been 11 runs on which I
almost adhered to the WC06R LHKH pattern (almost means that the
pattern was off by no more than the fact that one of the touches in the
pattern was somewhat off); there had been 60 successes in
maintaining the WC06R LHKH pattern.
That comes out to 0.18 almosts per
minute and 1.00
successes per minute.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL, LCR, SCR , SCL, WC06-L,
and WC06-R variants of the LHKH Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19 0.96
(eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 16
0.30
0.90 (eyes as natural)
(new SCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 17 0.27 0.97
(eyes as natural)
(new SCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 19 0.18 0.87
(eyes as natural) (new WC06-L variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 22 0.41
0.33
(eyes as natural)
April 23 0.30 0.53
(eyes as natural)
April 24 0.17 0.80
(eyes as natural)
April 26 0.17 1.00
(eyes as natural)
(new WC06-R variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 27 0.24 0.43
(eyes as natural)
April 29 0.21 0.74
(eyes as natural)
April 30 0.15 0.72
(eyes as natural)
May
1 0.08 0.80
(eyes as natural)
May 4 0.18 1.00
(eyes as
natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a B. The
grade is only a B because of the high standards I have set for
myself. The grade-letter is there because there comes a time when
performance improves while the pattern-adherences per minute stat becomes
constant. The grade is specifically re my performance with a new skill, it
does not take into account my lack of experience with the new skill.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches on the WC06 version of the LHKH: approx 8 yds.
On the positive side--
The quality of the run scored as
successes was much better today. There was much less unintended zig
zagging and slanting. The runs were more tightly controlled than
previously. The improvement of 0.20 successes per minute, was the
4th biggest improvement over a day since I started these LHKH variants
March 24.
Over the 60 minutes today there were 35
runs recorded as perfect successes, this compares with 24 runs
recorded as perfect yesterday.
The first kick was I estimate, better than at any time
in the past. The third kick with the right was vastly improved
compared to May 1 three days ago.
On the negative side--
The high score makes things seem better than they actually were; this
because, with this drill there are more attempts per hour than there are
with the other drills in which the runs are longer.
water--I drank 0 oz water during the first
60 minutes of the workout today.
Before the practice I
noted-- Not much.
During and after the practice I noted--
Today, my original intention was to not recite any verbal formula or
'tal' describing the kicks and steps in the run; but I realized that for
the first ten minutes I would have to recite the formula anyway, until I
got used to doing the pattern. After the first ten minutes I realized that
I had done well in the first ten minutes while reciting the verbal formula
before each run so I decided to continue reciting the verbal formula 'lick
right head lip lip rick' before each run.
Today I wore my read headband the entire hour, even though
this made me hot and sweaty. I seemed to be doing well starting off
wearing the headband so I decided to continue with it. Hard to
say why the headband seemed to improve performance today as it has on
other days previously. Maybe the same principle is at work as in the case
of colorful uniforms improving military morale.
Yet again today there was unusually high level of improvement
following me going swimming the previous day I was working out. Today I
rested the previous day, and so there had been two days in a row away from
soccer, one day swimming, one day rest.
The extreme level of improvement on the third touch which is
the kick with the right today was dramatic and surprising.
I could tell today, that: eventually I will be able to excel
at this WC06-R w/ skips version of the LHKH that I did today; eventually it will become as easy for me as riding a
bicycle from here to there--and then, me doing this pattern will be a very
big problem for the defenders.
I decided that now it is time to move on to the next drill,
even though with this drill I felt tempted to not move on until the score
became even higher, because of the high number of attempts per minute.
My theory now is that my general skill will improve faster if I do
not spend too much time polishing up any one drill, as there is a
declining rate of return as more and more time is spent on a given drill.
With the WC06-L skipping version of the LHKH that I did before this one, I
moved on when I reached 1.00 successes per minute so it would be balanced
and consistent for me to move on now that I have achieved 1.00 on this
WC06-R.
Prior to the workout: I had 1 cup green
tea in water made with 2 teabags, w cream and cane
sugar.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff:
Yesterday I was for an hour or so at the bar named 'Franco's' on
Moody St. This white guy with a beard and mustache namd Mark, who I had
never met, was sitting next to me and wanted to shake my hand. He
shook my hand for a long time. He told me that he was glad that I was
at the bar. He said the bar was better with me there. He introduced me to
his girlfriend Debbie he wanted me to shake hands with her. He was very
romantic with his girlfriend in the bar as they sat there. He told me that
he trusted me. I asked him his last name, and he told it to me, he
said it was 'Conti'. I wrote his name down on a napkin; at this point he
became alarmed, he was wondering if I was an 'FBI agent' who would get him
in trouble--I assured him of the truth which is that I am not an FBI
agent.
Last time I was asleep I had a few dreams. In one of them these
people were fighting with swords. They were spirited people, brave, not
evil--but for some reason they were fighting with swords. The spirit in
them was the same as the spirit in me during the dream. I typed out line
after line in red boldface arial 10 pt., as I use here, describing
their fighting. Each line was less than the width of the white computer
page the text was on. These red lines were a report on the
fighting that I was doing for Barack Obama.
I sent an email containing some poems and other stuff of mine to the
Boston Celtics day before yesterday, this was my way of attempting to save
them from losing their playoff series to the Hawks. Today the Celtics
crushed the Hawks, 99-65. 65 sounds like a college score. I wonder how
much of my advice if any the Celtics took. Maybe they came up with the
same ideas as me independently.
Faces in the Crowd:
There was a black girl shooting baskets at the basket near where I
was doing the runs for about the first two thirds of the hour.
Weight/Appearance:
Looking in the mirror, I noted that my face is
getting better and better looking, healthier looking, as I continue with
getting rid of more and more of my bad habits.
|
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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Monday
May 5
2008 915 PM -945 PM |
Swimming alternating 50 yds freestyle and 50 yds breaststroke, 735-935
PM |
Went swimming as the gym was
being used by the volleyballers. Swam 1150 yds in 30 minutes, alternating
between 50 yds crawl and 50 yds breaststroke. This comes out to 1.31
mph.
Today my feeling was that I am more than 20% slower on the
breaststroke, compared to the crawl, and that this partly has to do with
the fact that it is hard to keep up a fast pace on the breaststroke over
long distances as one gets tired.
Yesterday I caved in and had a cg, the filter was broken off, smoked
it without the filter. Today swimming I could feel how just this one cg
significantly impaired my wind power for long distance swimming.
Nevertheless, best I can recall without checking the numbers,
this 1.31 mph over 30 minutes, is better than I have ever done at this
kind of swimming, and that is including the time more than a year
ago when my main sports activity was swimming. This despite the fact that
today was only the 8th time I've gone swimming in the past year.
Last time I was asleep I had a dream that Barack Obama was doing the
same soccer drill that I have been doing, following the same 'lick right
head lip lip rick formula'; only in his case following this formula had
something to do with a nuclear bomb. And he had a rope of the type people
use for jumping rope lying on the ground near him.
A couple of days ago I had a dream that the New England Patriots were
playing a team from Florida in tackle football. They were all wearing
tackle football helmets. The team from Florida was using their
helmets to head the ball (as I head the ball in thes drills), and beating
the Patriots. Irrelevant(?) stuff:
A few days ago I dreamt that on the GMAT examination, I beat 90% in
verbal and 90% in math, this would put me at about the 95th percentile
overall. When I actually took the GMAT in a sleep deprived state without
studying for it a few years ago, I was at the 93rd percentile overall.
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Tuesday
May 6
2008 800 PM -933 PM |
1st day
of WC06-L-NS LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 90
minutes
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = double strength
green tea w halfnhalf and sugar;
1 cg in 24 hours prior to
practice; 4 cgs total (on March 4, April 15, May 4, May 6)
since December 1, '07;
In 24 hours prior to practice:
0 melatonin pills; alcohol--??? a little wine; 0 Herbal sleeping capsules
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
Cough gone. |
1st Day of
New 'WC06-left' NONSKIP type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble
runs; numerical
score=0.58 'WC06-left' nonskip (WC06L-NS) LHKH
pattern-adherence successes per minute; EYES allowed to do whatever; 'Lick left
head right lick head formula recited before each run.
Note: today I discovered
and corrected an absent-minded mistake made in some (April 29, April 30,
May 1, May 4) of the previous entries: they contained a line stating,
''Today, when I kicked the ball with the left
foot on the 3rd touch, I allowed my eyes to do whatever came
naturally in terms of following the ball"; this line should have read,
"Today, when I kicked the ball with the RIGHT foot on the 3rd touch, I allowed my eyes to do
whatever came naturally in terms of following the ball.'
Amazing how things can remain unnoticed despite
being carefully proof-read a few times.
The new WC06L-NS variant of the LHKH done today for the 1st
day:
(Key:L=left foot; H=head; R=right foot)
Today for the 1st day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "WC06-left non-skip" (WC06L-NS) type 'LHKH'
pattern. The LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run
kicking the ball with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it
up, then heading it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then
heading it again (H) (touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between
touches, all with me running as fast as I can, and all with
the ball not touching the ground.
The 'WC06L-NS' innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern
in a way that features: the ball being very tightly controlled; the ball
being touched on every pace; and, normal steps as opposed to skips between
touches.
In this variant after flipping the ball up and
kicking the ball with my left foot, I take a step with my left foot; then
I head the ball before the right foot strikes the ground; then
the right foot hits the ground; then the left foot
kicks the ball; then the left foot hits the ground; and finally, the ball
is headed as the right foot hits the ground or before the right foot hits
the ground. This all happens with me moving forwards.
Today for the 25th day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball with the left
foot on the 3rd touch, I allowed my eyes to do whatever came
naturally in terms of following the ball.
Note: I am continuing to use the term 'run' to
describe each attempt, even though with this version the fastest speed
attained is a very fast walk.
Today the practice: started 800 PM ended 933
PM--total 90 minutes (3 minutes subtracted due to
delays) running the WC06-left-NS variant of the LHKH
pattern (there was no warm-up prior to the 800 PM start).
At 801 PM in the 1st minute, there
occurred WC06L-NS LHKH success #1, it was a zig-zagging 4
yd run. At 806 PM in the 7th minute, pattern-adherence success #5 was
the first perfect run, it was a tightly controlled 4 yard run slanted
slightly towards the right.
In the end in the 90 minutes there had been 16 runs on
which I almost adhered to the WC06L-NS LHKH pattern (almost means
that the pattern was off by no more than the fact that one of the touches
in the pattern was somewhat off); there had been 52 successes
in maintaining the WC06L-NS LHKH pattern.
That comes out to 0.18 almosts per
minute and 0.58
successes per minute.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL, LCR, SCR , SCL, WC06-L,
WC06-R, and WC06-L-NS variants of the LHKH
Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19 0.96
(eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 16
0.30
0.90 (eyes as natural)
(new SCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 17 0.27 0.97
(eyes as natural)
(new SCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 19 0.18 0.87
(eyes as natural) (new WC06-L variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 22 0.41
0.33
(eyes as natural)
April 23 0.30 0.53
(eyes as natural)
April 24 0.17 0.80
(eyes as natural)
April 26 0.17 1.00
(eyes as natural)
(new WC06-R variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 27 0.24 0.43
(eyes as natural)
April 29 0.21 0.74
(eyes as natural)
April 30 0.15 0.72
(eyes as natural)
May
1 0.08 0.80
(eyes as natural)
May 4 0.18 1.00
(eyes as
natural) (new WC06-L-NS variant of
LHKH pattern)
May 6
0.18 0.58
(eyes as natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a C. The
grade is only a C because of the high standards I have set for
myself. The grade-letter is there because there comes a time when
performance improves while the pattern-adherences per minute stat becomes
constant. The grade is specifically re my performance with a new skill, it
does not take into account my lack of experience with the new skill.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches on the WC06-L version of the LHKH: approx 6
yds.
On the positive side--
There were 28 runs today in 90 minutes, that I classified as
'perfect'. That comes out to 19 'perfects' per
hour. Not bad for the first day on such a difficult drill.
(Note: these days I have been willing to classify a run
as 'perfect' even if it features a moderate amount of zig-zag or slant, so
long as the balls are well placed on every touch).
There were a few fairly 'cool' runs that covered 7-8 yards at a speed
like a very fast walk, with the ball still well controlled.
On the negative side--
The high score makes things seem better than they actually were; this
because, with this drill there are more attempts per hour than there are
with the any of the other drills. I will not consider this drill
to be 'mastered' even in a basic sense until I am at at least 1.00
pattern-adherence successes per minute.
With this drill, you have a high level of difficulty, combined with
the fact that very few of the runs get to a speed faster than a brisk
walk; also, the runs average only about 5-6 yds in length. So what
you have is a combination of slow speed, short distance, lack of glamour,
combined with high difficulty; and this combination seemed to have caused
psychological problems in me, the result being that the first
kick of the runs, even though almost identical to the first kick
of the runs on the drill done previous to this one, was not as accurate as
the last time I practiced.
water--I drank 3 oz water at 902 PM. After
the sip of water, the pattern-adherence-success per minute rate went up to
0.66 per minute. Not sure if this was due to the sip of water.
Before the practice I
noted--
Just that going by the principle of doing the drills which feature
the most touches on the ball per hour or unit-energy-expended or distance
traveled first, the drill to do at this time, is the WC06L-NS
version of the LHKH.
This principle is based on the idea that
at any given point on the calendar, if I am doing the drills that feature
the most touches on the ball first, I will have more touches on the ball
under my belt.
During and after the practice I noted--
Although the 'runs' on this drill at their fastest are actually the
speed of a fast walk, and although the distance covered on these runs is
on average I would guess about 5.5 yds only,
this WC06-L-NS is the most difficult drill I have done so far.
Since with this variant I am not allowed to skip between
touches on the ball, but rather am only allowed to take a normal step
between touches of the ball, my ability to readjust my body in
order to produce a better touch on the ball is minimized. With
this variant since I am not allowed to skip between touches on the ball
and have to touch the ball on every pace taken forwards, the ball
has to be kept close to the body with the result that I have minimal time
to react and adjust between touches. The combination of such
factors makes this drill probably the most difficult one done so far;
almost certainly the drills that will be done after this one, drills
involving the ball touched every two paces, every three paces, every four
paces, will be easier than this one.
Prior to the workout: I had 1 cup green tea in
water made with 2 teabags, w cream and cane sugar.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff:
Last time asleep I dreamt that I was living in an apartment similar
to the one that I live in, which was situated by a river, I think the
Ganges river in India. At night-time two ghosts invaded my apartment. One
of them was like a person wearing a white pillow-case over his head, and
the other one was a short thin clean-shaven brown-haired white male who
had with him tools like tire-irons that I used in my fight against him. I
fought with both ghosts, but without vanquishing them. I still remember
the words I used in an attempt to exorcise these ghosts: "in the name of
the father the son and the holy ghost, vanish from this sacred dwelling".
I woke up before I could find out if I had gotten rid of the ghosts.
Faces in the Crowd:
Gym was empty except for me and for a little while the guy who looks
like Ron Paul shooting baskets.
Weight/Appearance:
???
|
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Wednesday
May 7
2008 815 PM -940 PM |
2nd day
of WC06-L-NS LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 85
minutes
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = double strength
green tea w halfnhalf and sugar;
0 cg in 24 hours prior to
practice; 4 cgs total (on March 4, April 15, May 4, May 6)
since December 1, '07;
In 24 hours prior to practice:
0 melatonin pills; alcohol 48 oz beer; 0 Herbal sleeping capsules
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
Cough gone. |
2nd Day of
New 'WC06-left' NONSKIP type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble
runs; numerical
score=0.81 'WC06-left' nonskip (WC06L-NS) LHKH
pattern-adherence successes per minute; EYES allowed to do whatever; 'Lick left
head right lick head formula recited before each run.
The new WC06L-NS variant of the LHKH done today for the 2nd
day:
(Key:L=left foot; H=head; R=right foot)
Today for the 2nd day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "WC06-left non-skip" (WC06L-NS) type 'LHKH'
pattern. The LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run
kicking the ball with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it
up, then heading it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then
heading it again (H) (touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between
touches, all with me running as fast as I can, and all with
the ball not touching the ground.
The 'WC06L-NS' innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern
in a way that features: the ball being very tightly controlled; the ball
being touched on every pace; and, normal steps as
opposed to skips between touches.
In this variant after flipping the ball up and
kicking the ball with my left foot, I take a step with my left foot; then
I head the ball before the right foot strikes the ground; then
the right foot hits the ground; then the left foot
kicks the ball; then the left foot hits the ground; and finally, the ball
is headed as the right foot hits the ground or before the right foot hits
the ground. This all happens with me moving forwards.
Today for the 26th day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball with the left
foot on the 3rd touch, I allowed my eyes to do whatever came
naturally in terms of following the ball.
Note: I am continuing to use the term 'run' to
describe each attempt, even though with this version few of the 'runs' are
at a speed faster than a fast walk.
Today the practice: started 815 PM ended 940
PM--total 81 minutes (4 minutes subtracted due to
delays) running the WC06-left-NS variant of the LHKH
pattern (there was no warm-up prior to the 815 PM start).
At 815 PM in the 1st minute, on the first
attempt, there occurred WC06L-NS LHKH success #1, it was
a perfect straight 4 yd run.
In the end in the 81 minutes there had been 13 runs on
which I almost adhered to the WC06L-NS LHKH pattern (almost means
that the pattern was off by no more than the fact that one of the touches
in the pattern was somewhat off); there had been 66 successes
in maintaining the WC06L-NS LHKH pattern.
That comes out to 0.16 almosts per
minute and 0.81
successes per minute.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL, LCR, SCR , SCL, WC06-L,
WC06-R, and WC06-L-NS variants of the LHKH
Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19 0.96
(eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 16
0.30
0.90 (eyes as natural)
(new SCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 17 0.27 0.97
(eyes as natural)
(new SCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 19 0.18 0.87
(eyes as natural) (new WC06-L variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 22 0.41
0.33
(eyes as natural)
April 23 0.30 0.53
(eyes as natural)
April 24 0.17 0.80
(eyes as natural)
April 26 0.17 1.00
(eyes as natural)
(new WC06-R variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 27 0.24 0.43
(eyes as natural)
April 29 0.21 0.74
(eyes as natural)
April 30 0.15 0.72
(eyes as natural)
May
1 0.08 0.80
(eyes as natural)
May 4 0.18 1.00
(eyes as
natural) (new WC06-L-NS variant of
LHKH pattern)
May 6
0.18 0.58
(eyes as natural) May 7
0.16 0.81
(eyes as natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a B-. The
grade is only a B- because of the high standards I have set for
myself. The grade-letter is there because there comes a time when
performance improves while the pattern-adherences per minute stat becomes
constant. The grade is specifically re my performance with a new skill, it
does not take into account my lack of experience with the new skill. I
suppose to be exact the grade should be readjusted to factor in the fact
that with this drill there are more attempts per hour than usual, but I am
skipping that step as of now.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches on the WC06-L version of the LHKH: approx 6
yds.
On the positive side--
There were 44 runs today in 81 minutes, that I
classified as 'perfect'. That comes out
to 33 'perfects' per hour. That is a lot of 'perfect' runs; during
the practice it did not seem as if there had been anywhere near such a
number of perfect runs. (Note: these days
I have been willing to classify a run as 'perfect' even if it features a
moderate amount of zig-zag or slant, so long as the balls are well placed
on every touch).
Again the involuntary zig-zag and involuntary slant problem seemed to
naturally correct itself to a significant extent--at the start of these
runs my aim is to go straight forwards, straight ahead.
Today after I had gotten warmed up,
there were perfect, very fast, very long runs featuring tight control
of the ball, that covered 8-10 yards in total distance, in which
I was moving as if at a slow run or jog, faster than the fast walk which
was the fastest I could do on these 'runs' yesterday. By
'very fast' and 'very long' I mean compared to what is typical on this
particular drill.
On the negative side--
In the first 11 minutes there were only 2 perfect runs. A couple of
times I went five minutes without achieving even one success.
water--
I drank approx 12 oz of water at three different times during
the practice--the gym was pretty hot and humid today.
Not counting the first ten minutes, the pattern-adherence per minute
success rate before the first time I drank water, when I had 4 sips of
water at 851 PM, was 19 in 22 minutes which is 0.86 per minute.
In the time period between the first time I drank water at 851 PM and
the second time I drank water at 905 PM when I had 3 sips of water, the
success rate was 7 in 13 minutes which is 0.54 per minute.
In the time period between the 2nd time I drank water
at 905 PM and the 3rd time I drank water at 931 PM when I
had 5 sips of water, the success rate was 25 in 26 minutes
which is 0.96 per minute.
In the time period between the 3rd time I drank water
at 931 PM and the end of the practice at 940 PM, the success
rate was 6 in 9 minutes which is 0.67 per minute.
So in total, once the water drinking started, the success rate
was 38 in 48 mins which is 0.79 per minute. Thus it would seem
that the water drinking impaired performance; then again I feel like the
performance would have been worse had I not drunk water. Just
trying to begin to get a grip on the difficult question of whether water
improves or impairs performance here. Sometimes it feels like water makes
me feel slightly drunk and impairs performance; a other times it seems as
if water is a life-saver, the consumption of which prevents disastrous
declines in performance.
Before the practice I
noted-- Nothing much.
During and after the practice I noted--
Today it began to seem as if I will eventually be able to
consistently do this difficult pattern I am doing now, featuring very
tight ball control, at a jogging speed with at least 7 yards covered over
the four touches--such would be a nightmare for defenses--because what
they would end up facing is basically someone jogging at the m with the
ball glued to his body and kept off the ground. One reason such would be a
'nightmare' for defenses, is that with this pattern not only is
the ball moving from side to side, as it does when a dribbler dribbling
the ball on the ground moves the ball from side to side as he
approaches the defender; but, also, the ball is moving from about a foot
above the ground to about eight feet above the ground, up and down and up
and down. The added vertical dimension vastly
increases the possible points to which the ball could go after being
headed or kicked, and this makes the interception of the ball much more
difficult for the defense. And of course, when the ball is in the
air, this makes it easy to fire off a powerful pass/shot or chip it over
the defender's head beating the defender on the dribble.
It could be that the reason I was able to move at a speed faster than
a fast walk today doing this pattern, is that as I lay in bed last
night: I kept thinking to myself, why should I not be able to execute this
pattern at a speed faster than a brisk walk?; I mentally visualized myself
doing the pattern at a speed faster than a walk; and I recited the verbal
formula or 'tal' for the pattern while moving my feet and head as if I was
running the pattern. In this regard I have heard a fair amount re athletes
improving their performance through something called
'visualization'.
During the practice sometimes I would produce a good run which
deviated slightly from pattern as a result of which I could not score it
as a success. Point is, such 'deviant' runs are not prohibited in
games, and I am as capable of scoring a goal or assisting on a goal
running such deviations, as I am running 'kosher' pattern-adherences.
Prior to the workout: yet again, I had 1
cup green tea in water made with 2 teabags, w cream and
cane sugar.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff: Nothing much.
Faces in the Crowd:
When I walked in I saw Chad Hadsell, he said he got the email I sent
him the previous evening, he seemed happy about it. I had promised to
email him, and procrastinated; when I noticed that his face seemed to be
'getting long', I decided I could procrastinate no longer. The email
contained among other things a poetic prayer and a metaphysical
explanation of how prayer is reasonable.
As I walked in the Y I saw one of Chad's students an
excited grade school boy wearing a red mountain-climbing helmet
running somewhere. In the gym I saw the grade school, maybe junior high
school girls from the 'Mass Wildcats' basketball team with their coach
Patrick Ferdinand. Patrick sort of nodded in my direction and said, 'he's
very smart' (if all the off-the-record, informal, under-the-table type
compliments I have received over the years were officially written down on
paper I would have won the Nobel Prize by now). Then later I saw a tall
white dad leading his basketballing daughter out of the gym.
To me it seemed as if the mere fact that I had sent the 'magic email'
to Chad had had an electrifying effect on the mountain-climbing and
basketballing kids at the Y, who had already been in their
early 'formative' years indirectly exposed to this kind of
'magic' due to me sending such emails out to local college and high school
athletes--such could be just the way it seemed to be and not the way it
really was but I doubt it.
The basketballer girl's dad judging from the way he walked and the
look on his face seemed pleased the 'magic' emails were finally starting
to hit the local Y. To me it felt good to be able to do the 'magic' at the
humble YMCA as opposed to at some expensive prestigious college; my
feeling was, these YMCA kids deserve no less than the college kids; and,
they might be more appreciative of and blessed by the 'magic email' than
the college kids.
'And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things
that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to
the son of David; they were sore displeased, And said unto him, Hearest
thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea;
have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast
perfected praise'
--Mat 21:15-16 It is hard for me to digest, the gap between the way society
treats me, and the way society should treat me.
Later on when I have the time and energy I might put up on the
internet a copy of the email I sent Chad, and a link in this
log/weblog/blog ti the copy.
Weight/Appearance:
??? |
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Thursday
May 8
2008 825 PM -940 PM |
3rd day
of WC06-L-NS LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble Runs 75
minutes
no nutrients cocktail (oils juices pills), before
practice today.
pre-practice meal today = double strength
green tea w halfnhalf and sugar; 8 oz Bolthouse C-Boost
drink
0 cg in 24 hours prior to
practice; 4 cgs total (on March 4, April 15, May 4, May 6)
since December 1, '07;
In 24 hours prior to practice:
0 melatonin pills; alcohol; a few oz red wine; 0 Herbal sleeping capsules
0 potassium pills
taken before
workout; little to no pain in soles of feet
during or after workout
Cough gone. |
3rd Day of
New 'WC06-left' NONSKIP type LHKH Soccer Air-Dribble
runs; numerical
score=1.01 'WC06-left' nonskip (WC06L-NS) LHKH
pattern-adherence successes per minute; EYES allowed to do whatever; 'Lick left
head right lick head formula recited before each run.
The new WC06L-NS variant of the LHKH done today for the 2nd
day:
(Key:L=left foot; H=head; R=right foot)
Today for the 3rd day, I ran a new air-dribble
pattern, the "WC06-left non-skip" (WC06L-NS) type 'LHKH'
pattern. The LHKH pattern features me, at minimum, starting the run
kicking the ball with the left foot (L) (touch 1) after flipping it
up, then heading it (H) (touch 2), then kicking it (K) (touch 3), then
heading it again (H) (touch 4), all with no more than 4 paces between
touches, all with me running as fast as I can, and all with
the ball not touching the ground.
The 'WC06L-NS' innovation is that I run the LHKH pattern
in a way that features: the ball being very tightly controlled; the ball
being touched on every pace; and, normal steps as
opposed to skips between touches.
In this variant after flipping the ball up and
kicking the ball with my left foot, I take a step with my left foot; then
I head the ball before the right foot strikes the ground; then
the right foot hits the ground; then the left foot
kicks the ball; then the left foot hits the ground; and finally, the ball
is headed as the right foot hits the ground or before the right foot hits
the ground. This all happens with me moving forwards.
Today for the 27th day in a row, I refrained from continuing the
air-dribble runs after the 4th touch with the head.
Today, when I kicked the ball with the left
foot on the 3rd touch, I allowed my eyes to do whatever came
naturally in terms of following the ball.
Note: I am continuing to use the term 'run' to
describe each attempt, even though with this version few of the 'runs' are
at a speed faster than a fast walk.
Today the practice: started 825 PM ended 940
PM--total 73 minutes (2 minutes subtracted due to
delay) running the WC06-left-NS variant of the LHKH pattern
(there was no warm-up prior to the 825 PM start).
At 825 PM in the 1st minute, on the first
attempt, (like yesterday) there occurred WC06L-NS LHKH
success #1, it was like yesterday, a perfect straight 4 yd run
with the ball tightly controlled.
In the end in the 73 minutes there had been 5 runs on
which I almost adhered to the WC06L-NS LHKH pattern (almost means
that the pattern was off by no more than the fact that one of the touches
in the pattern was somewhat off); there had been 74 successes
in maintaining the WC06L-NS LHKH pattern.
That comes out to 0.07 almosts per
minute and 1.01
successes per minute.
Stats so Far for ZZ, LCL, LCR, SCR , SCL, WC06-L,
WC06-R, and WC06-L-NS variants of the LHKH
Drill:
Date
Almosts/minute Successes/minute
(new ZZ-R variant of LHKH
pattern) March 24
0.22
0.16
March 25
0.08
0.32
March 26
0.08
0.44 March 27
0.24
0.52
March 28
0.08
0.68
March 29
0.08
0.63
March 30
0.12
0.47
March 31
0.09
0.70
April 1
0.14
0.86 (target of 0.83 per minute finally attained!)
(new ZZ-L variant of LHKH
pattern) April 2
0.17
0.44
April 3
0.29
0.58
April 4
0.29
0.45
April 5
0.38
0.52
April 6
0.27
0.72 (eyes follow ball maximally)
April 8
0.26
0.67 (eyes do not follow ball below face level height)
April 9
0.42
0.58 (eyes as natural)
April 12
0.18 0.74
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 13
0.25 0.88
(eyes do not follow ball below face/chest level height but peripheral
vision in
effect) (new LCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 14 0.19 0.96
(eyes follow maximally)
(new LCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 15
0.27 0.60
(eyes follow ball maximally)
April 16
0.30
0.90 (eyes as natural)
(new SCR variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 17 0.27 0.97
(eyes as natural)
(new SCL variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 19 0.18 0.87
(eyes as natural) (new WC06-L variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 22 0.41
0.33
(eyes as natural)
April 23 0.30 0.53
(eyes as natural)
April 24 0.17 0.80
(eyes as natural)
April 26 0.17 1.00
(eyes as natural)
(new WC06-R variant of LHKH
pattern)
April 27 0.24 0.43
(eyes as natural)
April 29 0.21 0.74
(eyes as natural)
April 30 0.15 0.72
(eyes as natural)
May
1 0.08 0.80
(eyes as natural)
May 4 0.18 1.00
(eyes as
natural) (new WC06-L-NS variant of
LHKH pattern)
May 6
0.18 0.58
(eyes as natural) May 7
0.16 0.81
(eyes as natural)
May 8
0.07 1.01
(eyes as natural) The letter-grade I gave myself for today was a B. The
grade is only a B because of the high standards I have set for
myself. The grade-letter is there because there comes a time when
performance improves while the pattern-adherences per minute stat becomes
constant. The grade is specifically re my performance with a new skill, it
does not take into account my lack of experience with the new skill. I
suppose to be exact the grade should be readjusted to factor in the fact
that with this drill there are more attempts per hour than usual, but I am
skipping that step as of now.
Note: what a 'long' run is when the runs are limited
to four touches on the WC06-L version of the LHKH: approx 6
yds.
On the positive side--
There were 58 runs today in 73 minutes, that I
classified as 'perfect'. That comes out
to 48 'perfects' per hour. That means that 78% of the runs scored as
pattern-adherence successes were 'perfect'.
(Note: these days I have been willing to
classify a run as 'perfect' even if it features a moderate amount of
zig-zag or slant, so long as the balls are well placed on every touch).
The involuntary zig-zag and involuntary slant problem continued to
naturally correct itself; the deviation from the intended straight line
was less on the runs that deviated from being straight; and there were
more straight runs.
Again like yesterday there were runs that were faster than a fast
walk. There were several 'perfect' runs that were 7 yards or longer in
length, at a high speed faster than the fastest walk, with the ball
tightly controlled.
Today I realized that eventually, I would guess in less
than twenty additional hours of practicing this drill, I will be able
to perfect the kind of air-dribble I have been doing today.
Meaning, that I will be able to consistently move up to 8 yards in
distance on the four touches, touching the ball on every pace (ultra-tight
ball control), with alternation between heading and kicking, at a speed
faster than a fast walk, with directional control that is the ability to
zig zag or slant in whatever direction I want. Such
ability will pose a huge problem for defenders.
Today there were five successes in the first five minutes, and they
were all classified as 'perfect'. Could be that taking note of this
would be beneficial, as it indicates that this
particular pattern requires little or no warmup to execute
competently.
Combo tightness speed.
On the negative side--
The 1.01 pattern-adherence successes per hour figure has to be taken
with a grain of salt, given the fact that there are more attempts per hour
with this drill than with other drills. There are still many runs
featuring involuntary, unintended zig-zags and slants; and I still am not
at the point where I can control with precision the number of yards I will
travel over the four touches or the speed at which I will travel; I have
not even attempted to control such things yet.
The large number of runs recorded as 'perfect' obscures the fact that
I still am lacking in terms of control over speed, distance traveled over
the four touches, and direction. As of now I have been willing to classify
a run as 'perfect' if the ball is well placed on every touch, even if the
run features involuntary directional movement. Since I have not been
specifying for myself before a run what distance should be traveled at
what speed, despite the large numbers of 'perfect' runs, I still lack
control over distance and speed.
water-- the gym was much cooler today so I drank no
water during the workout.
Before the practice I
noted-- Nothing much.
During and after the practice I noted--
The first kick of the runs made after flipping the ball up remains
surprisingly difficult. Technically speaking it seems some improvement can be made through crouching and
leaning forward during the first flip-up and kick. Simply
concentrating on placing the ball accurately seems to improve things. My
experimentation has shown that I can do well on the first touch without
compressing my lips. I think I heard somewhere re some sport that making
faces while doing things actually makes things worse.
I guess that in the future I will develop some categories
such as: P2, meaning the balls were well placed and the run was
directionally straight; P3, meaning the balls were well placed on the
touches and I adhered to a predetermined distance covered over the four
touches; P4, meaning the balls were well placed and the speed conformed to
a predetermined speed; and, P234 meaning the balls were well placed, and
the direction, distance covered, and speed were as intended before the
start of the run. As of now, my feeling is that I should
get up to 1.10 pattern-adherence successes on this before moving on to the
right-footed mirror image of the same drill.
Prior to the workout: Yet again, I had 1
cup green tea in water made with 2 teabags, w cream and
cane sugar. Today I added to this about 8 oz of the Bolthouse C-boost
drink which contains Acerola and provides a gigantic amount of vitamin C
naturally.
Irrelevant(?) Stuff: In one dream I was hanging
out with treasury secretary Paulson at what seemed to be some kind of
summer home. There was another bigshot there also. Sec Paulson called the
other bigshot 'honey', either that or the other bigshot called Sec Paulson
'honey', which I thought was strange. I was thinking that Paulson's face
reminded me a little of a farm animal, and I was wondering how he could
have become so much richer than me. But he was a nice guy, not a pompous
class-prejudiced guy in a social sense. In another dream I was jogging in
the most racially prejudiced area of Germany, and nobody was bothering me.
My mother had advised me that this area of Germany would be OK for me.
Faces in the Crowd: The gym was empty today.
For some reason, the light in the gym and elsewhere in the Y looked much
whiter today.
Weight/Appearance:
??? |
(repeat):
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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Monday
May 19
535-630 PM
Waltham Y
Wednesday
May 21
308-638 PM
Waltham Y
Thursday
May 22
614-700 PM; 800-920 PM
Waltham Y
|
Monday--
WC06-L nonskip
Wednesday--
WC06-L nonskip
combined with shooting 21' basketball shots
Thursday-- pitching
baseball against wall from 18 yds |
Note: see previous entry for what WC06-L nonskip is.
Monday: I did simply unscored WC06-L nonskip. Undoubtedly there
was a significant regression in performance due to the many days away from
exercising, which had to do with a radical change in my schedule for
waking and sleeping. Still there were several runs that were 8 yards or
longer, (which is long for the WC06L nonskip) fast, tightly controlled,
directionally well controlled.
Tuesday again I did unscored WC06-L nonskip. Every five minutes or
so, every time I did a good run, I took one to four 21' basketball shots.
The basketballs used varied, the basketball shot was sometimes small,
sometimes very small, often underinflated; the shooting was intermittent;
nevertheless the shooting was much improved given all these handicaps. The
shooting was improved because I put into effect what I had been noticing
while watching good shooters in the gym, which is that they have a
definite follow-through on their shot, and that I had been neglecting to
follow-through with my hand and arm while shooting.
As for the soccer on Tuesday, there was improvement compared to the
previous day on the WC06-L nonskip. I noted that when I let my eyes do
what is natural on the kicks, I follow the ball about half way down from
the apex of its arc on its way to the foot. I experimented with not
following the ball from the apex on down at all. The result of the
experiment was that I was surprisingly competent. It could be that
for reasons previous discussed, this not following the ball with the eye
might be the best strategy. At any rate not following the ball down with
the eye sharpens the skills involved in the kick that have nothing to do
with following the ball with the eye. One has to keep in mind that I am
not used to this not following the ball with the eye.
Thursday I practiced pitching a soft, but regulation size and weight
baseball at the wall from the basketball sideline. The target was a
posterboard 20 inches wide, 24 inches high, that was 9 inches above the
ground, due to the fact that I had no pitching mound to pitch from. I had
the disadvantage of not having a pitching rubber to push off of with my
foot; I was not wearing a glove on my non-pitching hand to give me
leverage. I had not pitched a baseball as a pitcher today in about 15
years (15 years ago I pitched a baseball at a wall for a couple of days).
Prior to that the last time I pitched a baseball was informally in grade
school. However remembering my days playing cricket I did not feel like
taking defeat as a baseball pitcher lying down. I think I did well
pitching today seeing how little I have pitched as a pitcher at a strike
zone in my life. Those who understand baseball might find the results
interesting:
614 PM - 630 PM, first pitches of the day: 20 balls, 6 strikes (23.1%
strikes)
630 PM - 700 PM: 49 balls, 11 strikes (18.3% strikes)
60 minute break due to wildcats basketball
800-815 PM: 25 balls, 8 strikes (24.2% strikes)
815-830 PM: 26 balls, 11 strikes (29.7% strikes)
830-845 PM: 23 balls, 11 strikes (32.4% strikes)
850-905 PM: 21 balls, 15 strikes (41.7% strikes)
905-920 PM: 19 balls, 14 strikes (42.4% strikes)
SO you can see, that by practicing for just 90 minutes, I
increased my percentage of pitches that were strikes from 23.1 to 42.4%,
an increase of 19.3%; meaning, my percentage increased by 84% in 90
minutes of practice. Take that ye Red Sox, who it seems, are scoffing at
my baseball dreams on the grounds that they have been playing so much
longer than me, and on the grounds that I am older than them...yea well,
seems (to my perhaps unreasonably optimistic mind) they are just words,
what are they afraid of, are they afraid of me getting time practicing
pitching and batting? Maybe they should be afraid, I am a late bloomer, I
look young, and then you have the possibility of the crosstraining effect,
the air-dribbling in soccer somehow turning me into an excellent batter
and pitcher in baseball.
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Monday--Adidas Replique ball inflated
to 7.5 psi
Wednesday--Adidas Replique ball inflated
to 7.5 psi; weird basketballs
Monday--soft regulation baseball
|
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Friday
May 23
430-606 PM
Waltham Y |
96 minutes shooting pro distance 24' 3-point shots |
Today I was doing basketball shooting, from a
point directly in front of and 24 feet away from the basket, 24 feet is
the pro distance 3 point distance; after the warmup I
shot 24/57, 42% using the palm of hand off ball method which is
completely new to me. I experimented,
alternating between shooting with the palm of the hand on the
basketball and shooting with only the fingertips touching the
basketball.
I took about 4 warmup shots before starting the recorded segments.
Each segment was 15 minutes in length.
Segment 1, palm of hand on basketball during shot: 9/31, 29%.
Segment 2, palm off basketball, fingertips on basketball during shot:
7/29, 24%.
Segment 3, palm of hand on basketball during shot: 12/34, 35%.
Segment 4, palm off basketball, fingertips on basketball during shot:
14/30, 47%. Segment 5, palm of hand on basketball during shot: 10/27, 37%.
Segment 6, palm off basketball, fingertips on basketball during shot:
10/27, 37%.
Total palm of hand on basketball during shot: 31/92, 34%
Total palm of hand off basketball during shot, fingertips on
basketball during shot: 31/86, 36%
Total both methods: 62/178, 35%
Total palm of hand on basketball during shot, not counting first
segment: 22/57, 39%
Total palm of hand off basketball during
shot, fingertips on basketball during shot: 24/57,
42%
Total both methods not counting first segment of each method:
46/114, 40%
I shocked myself with my performance today. These percentages were at
least as good as my percentages when I was experimenting with dribbling to
the corners of the free throw line and shooting swiveling 16 foot shots a
few months ago. I attribute the surprisingly good performance to factors
such as: I am by nature/habits a long distance not a short distance
shooter; today there was about 8 hours between when I woke up and when I
started shooting with plenty of exposure to daylight for my eyes
prior to practice; today from about noon to two I slowly
drank about 12 oz of a hot drink that combined cinnamon powder,
organic black tea, organic raw Cacao powder, organic half and half, and
demerara cane sugar; I ate some Lasagna and drank about 6 oz of Bolthouse
C-Boost drink prior to practice.
Prior to today's surprising performance, the only basketball I had
done was: a few shots taken intermittently with weird balls from 21 feet
day before yesterday, about 30 minutes of shooting; a total of 35
hours shooting mostly 16 footers and layups from Nov 16 2007 to Dec
19 2007 (https://www.angelfire.com/ma/vincemoon/BASKETBALLDIARYONE.htm);
about 90 hours of shooting over 3 months 15 years ago; and prior to that
informal basketball play during grade and high school, I have never been
on any kind of official basketball team such as high school or
college. Given the fact that I have spent so little time on
basketball today's performance was impressive.
Today using a method that I have never
used before, fingertips on ball during shot palm of hand off ball during
shot, after the first 15 minute warmup, I shot 24/57, 42%.
By way of comparison, amongst the NBA players who scored more than 6
points per game by way of 3-point shots during the 2007-2008 season, the
4th best shooter was Rashard Lewis of Orland at 41% (http://www.nba.com/statistics/player/3PointS.jsp?league=00&season=22007&conf=OVERALL&position=0&splitType=9&qualified=N&yearsExp=-1&sortOrder=2&splitDD=All%20Teams).
Last I looked into the subject, I found that players in games
shoot 5% lower than they do in practice, meaning a player who
shoots 40% in practice on 3 pointers shoots 35% in a game, a player who
shoots 65% on 21 footers in practice shoots 60% in a game, etc.
Looking at today's results, the high percentage shooting with the
fingertips, despite the fact that I have never in my life shot with the
fingertips and the palm of the hand off the ball, it looks like I
should transition to shooting with the fingertips.
Today my shooting style was: feet coming
up off the ground during follow-through as opposed to a classic jump shot;
shooting elbow out which is my traditional style which contradicts
elbow-in as taught by coaches; thinking before a shot that: 'I've made
this shot many times before, there is no reason I should not be able to
make it now'; concentrating on keeping the guide hand off the ball at the
time of release and following through towards the basket with my shooting
hand.
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1 layer Propel Gel
Padding;
Spalding TF-1000 Microfiber Composite Basketball |
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Saturday
May 24 08
550-740 PM
Waltham Y Gym
Sunday
May 25 08
545-600 PM
Waltham Y Gym |
Saturday WC06-left nonskip air-dribble
experiments
Sunday
baseball pitching experiments |
On Saturday I did the WC06-L nonskip air-dribble drill again. What this drill is is explained in previous entries on this page. 1 550-615: As natural, eyes allowed to do whatever is natural during
the air-dribble. It appeared that what is natural is to follow the ball
all the way to the foot with the eye, unless the ball is so close to the
body that this becomes awkward.
2 615-640: followed ball half way down from the apex of its arc.
There were some good runs, such is possible, a little awkward to follow
the ball just half way down.
3 640-700: Adopted the deliberate policy of following the ball all
the way down to the foot with the eye, this is more clear than the vague
'as natural' done in segment 1. This seemed to produce better results than
the 'as natural' segment 1, even though in both segment 1 and in this
segment the eye ended up following the ball all the way to the foot. This
had to do with the principle earlier discussed in previous entries, which
is that vague directions given to the body do not work as well as clear
decisive directions given to the body by the mind.
4 700-710: closed my eyes after the second touch with the head, and
before the third touch with the foot. Consistently made shot-like contact
with the ball on the third touch with the foot.
5 710-720: closed eyes after the first touch with the foot before the
second touch with the head. Made contact with the ball using the head a
few times despite eyes being closed.
6 720-730: closed eyes after flipping the ball up with the foot
before the first touch with the foot. Some almost-successes in terms of
adhering to the four touch pattern. Two low quality successes featuring
the LHKH pattern actually being adhered to.
7 730-740: closed eyes while rolling the ball back, flipping it up,
and kicking it with the left foot. There were 3 almost correct flip/kicks
towards the end of the 10 minutes.
I had concluded that closing the eyes would help to develop
non-visual aspects of mind and body that are used or can be used in doing
this kind of air-dribble. This was a result of my observation that not
following the ball with my eyes when it sank below the apex of its arc in
between touches on the air-dribble, seemed to improve my performance when
I allowed my eyes to follow the ball all the way to the foot.
Sunday baseball:
Used a soft 5 oz Rawlings ball to practice pitching at a 20 inch
wide, 24 inch high target, bottom edge 9" above the ground (I was not on a
mound) on the wall 18 yards from where I pitched the ball (red
sideline of basketball court). Closed my eyes after swinging the
arms back, and before raising the arms above the head during the windup;
kept eyes closed until AFTER ball released. I felt such would be
relaxing and it was: nobody can bitch at you for throwing balls when your
eyes are closed; and, when your eyes are closed you are not nervously
making last second adjustments during the delivery of the pitch.
Experimented with 3/4 style (arm at 45 degree angle) and overhead style.
Results:
1 545-600: 3/4 style, 5 strikes 33 balls, 5/38, 13% strikes,
first 17 pitches were balls.
2 600-625 (interruptions): overhead
style, 9 strikes 23 balls, 9/32, 28%
strikes.
3 625-640: 3/4 style, 6 strikes 20 balls,
6/26, 23% strikes.
4 640-655: overhead style, 5 strikes 25 balls, 5/30,
17% strikes.
5 655-710: 3/4 style, 5 strikes 27 balls, 5/32,
16% strikes.
6 710-725: overhead style, 3 strikes 24 balls, 3/27,
11% strikes.
7 725-740: 3/4 style, 4 strikes 29 balls, 4/33,
12% strikes.
Looks like I needed 15 minutes to warm up and pooped out in the last
30 minutes. Last 30 minutes I noticed how tiring pitching can be; gets to
the point you are too tired to even mentall concentrate on the strike
zone. Throughout the practice, (I estimate, did not count) at
least 25% of the pitches missed the strike zone by less than one foot.
After the first segment and before the last half hour,
pitching 3.4 style, I was 11/47 23% strikes, and pitching overhead
or overhand style, I was 14/53, 26%. Overhead or overhand style
is more like cricket, I did some cricket bowling as a grade school boy.
But I have done more throwing of a baseball 3/4 style.
I thought the results were pretty good seeing that in my
entire life from birth on, I have probably pitched a baseball at a strike
zone a reasonable distance away on no more than seven days.
The time previous to this when I did baseball, I used a soft baseball
'Franklin soft-strike', which I weighed at the grocery store as being at
approx 3.5 oz. Today I used a 'Rawlings soft core baseball', that was the
regulation weight 5 oz. Both baseballs were the regulation
size. |
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1 layer Propel Gel
Padding; Adidas Replique soccer ball at 7.5 psi;
Rawlings Official TVB T-ball indoor/outdoor
training ball
soft-core
baseball |
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Monday
May 26
520-800 PM
Plympton Elementary School outdoors
basketball court |
Experiments with shooting with eyes closed from 24 feet and 27
feet |
Today (basketball) I shot all my shots with
my eyes closed. In the last segment of the practice,
I was 7/23, 30%, from 27 feet, WITH MY EYES CLOSED DURING THE
SHOTS!
On every shot, I sighted the basket, then closed my eyes, then
stepped back with my left foot, then stepped up with my left foot bringing
it even with my right foot, then shot, and then after the ball left my
hand opened my eyes. Thus my eyes were closed for about 3 seconds during
each shot. The purpose of this was to train the non-visual aspects of the
mind and the body, and to allow myself to be able to relax and enjoy a
practice.
Today sometimes I shot with the palm of the shooting hand on the ball
during the shot which is my natural shooting style; some players shoot
like this but coaches recommend that the palm of the shooting hand
should not be touching the ball during the shot and that the ball should
be shot with the fingertips. And sometimes I shot with the fingertips of
the shooting hand on the ball and the palm of the shooting hand not
touching the ball.
Today sometimes I shot with the elbow of the shooting hand pointing
out to the side, and sometimes I shot with the elbow in and pointing
forwards. The elbow of the shooting hand pointing out to the side is my
natural style, but coaches recommend that the elbow point forward in the
direction of the basket.
I have shot with the fingertips instead of the palms only on one day
in my life. I have shot with elbow pointed towards the basket only about
15 hours in my life, most of my life I have shot with the elbow pointed
out towards the side.
There were no warmup shots prior to the first scored segment.
Segment 1 520-540 PM, 24 foot shots, palm of shooting hand on
ball during shot, elbow of shooting arm out during shot: 6/41, 15%
(started out 5/15).
Segment 2 540-600 PM, 24 foot
shots, palm of shooting hand off ball during shot, ball shot with
fingertips, elbow of shooting arm out during shot: 9/32,
28%.
Segment 3 600-620 PM, 24 foot shots, palm of shooting
hand on ball during shot, elbow of shooting arm in during
shot: 6/39, 15% (went from 3/30 to 6/39).
Segment 4 620-640 PM, 24 foot shots, palm of
shooting hand off ball during shot, ball shot with fingertips,
elbow of shooting arm in during shot: 8/35, 23% (went from 4/10 to
7/20 to 8/35).
Segment 5 700-715 PM, 27 foot shots, palm of shooting
hand on ball during shot, elbow of shooting arm out during
shot: 5/29, 17% (progression of score: 0/15, 2/18, 3/20, 4/22, 5/25,
5/29).
Segment 6 715-730 PM, 27 foot shots, palm of shooting
hand off ball during shot, ball shot with fingertips, elbow of
shooting arm out during shot: 5/27, 19% (progression of score: 1/3,
2/6, 3/13, 4/25, 5/27).
Segment 7 730-745 PM, 27 foot shots, palm of
shooting hand on ball during shot, elbow of shooting arm in
during shot: 5/23, 22% (progression of score: 1/4, 2/16, 3/17,
4/18, 5/22, 5/23).
Segment 8 745-800 PM, 27 foot
shots, palm of shooting hand off ball during shot, ball shot
with fingertips, elbow of shooting arm in during shot: 7/23,
30% (progression of score: 1/1, 2/6, 3/8, 4/10, 5/12,
6/117, 7/18, 7/23).
My estimate is that this was tremendous shooting, seeing that
I have not played basketball that much in my life, the shots were pro
distance 3-pointers and longer, there was a strong wind that kept changing
in direction and speed, and my eyes were closed during the shots.
I shot better today from 27 feet (22%) in the second
half of the practice, than I did from 24 feet (20%) the first half of the
practice.
It was windy out there, 20 mph gusting to 30 mph (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2008/5/26/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA).
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1 layer Propel Gel
Padding;
Spalding TF-1000 Microfiber Composite
Basketball |
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Tuesday
May 27
715-940 PM
Waltham Y |
115 minutes,
WC06-L-nonskip
done various ways |
Today I did the WC06-L-nonskip air-dribble
pattern in soccer; I did it a few different ways, the difference between
the different ways I did it, being how much I allowed my eyes to look at
the ball.
You can find out what the WC06-L nonskip pattern is in from previous
entries on this page.
1 715-805 PM, eyes on the ball all the way to the point the foot
touches the ball on the third touch. This method produced the best
results, predictably, of all the methods employed today. I noticed that the best runs were better than the best runs
when I was keeping score with regards to pattern-adherence successes per
minute (today again I was not keeping score). I
attribute this improvement to: the fact that when I am keeping score there
is more emphasis on achieving a pattern adherence success regardless of
the quality of the success; and, the closing my eyes at various points
during the air-dribble run in the previous practice, improved my level of
skill. Today the best runs were
better than the best runs of previous days in terms of tightness of
control, speed, and length of run over four touches. "Thing is" as 'Anoop Chachaji'/Paul-McCartney, poor guy,
would say), when I keep score regarding number of successful
pattern-adherence runs per minute, I am more inclined to be satisfied with
low quality runs that succeed in adhering to pattern; but when I am not
keeping score, my natural inclination towards excellence takes over, and I
achieve excellence in terms of speed, tightness of control, and
length.
2 805-825 PM, eyes on ball prior to third touch with foot, eyes do
not follow ball down from the apex of its arc. The quality of the runs was
not as good as in segment 1; but the point is, this kind of exercise,
increases my non-visual skills and thus increases my level of skill.
3 825-845 PM, eyes closed prior to third touch with the foot, and
then opened prior to fourth touch with the head. This way I achieved one
high quality pattern-adherence success, and three low quality
pattern-adherence successes. On the failures to adhere
pattern-adherence successes, there were much less occasions on which I
shot the ball forward on the third touch with the foot, and much more
occasions on which I chipped the ball up the way I am supposed to on the
third touch with the foot so as to set up a fourth touch with the head,
compared to my last soccer practice, even though on these chip-like
touches the ball was a little too far away in front of me.
This segment provided me with the first
evidence that I am capable of achieving improvement in terms of
accomplishing things in sports with me eyes closed.
4 845-905 PM, eyes closed
prior to second touch with the head, and then opened prior to third touch
with the foot. This was different than the last time I practiced soccer
best I can recall, because the last time I practiced I kept the eyes
closed for the third touch, but this time I opened the eyes for the third
touch. I achieved two high quality pattern-adherence successes.
5 905-925 PM, eyes closed
prior to first kick with the foot, and then opened after 'first'
touch/kick with the foot. This was different than the last time I
practiced soccer best I can recall, because I opened the eyes after
kicking the ball with the left foot on the first touch ( not counting the
roll-back and flip up of the ball) as opposed to keeping the eyes closed.
There were zero successful pattern adherence runs with this
method.
6 925-940 PM, eyes closed on
roll-back and flip-up of ball prior to 'first' kick with the left foot,
eyes opened after roll-back and flip-up of ball. There were 6 low
quality WC06-L nonskip pattern-adherence successes, and two high quality
WC06-L nonskip pattern adherence successes. Again this best I can
recall was different than the last time I practiced soccer in that I
opened my eyes after rolling the ball back with my left foot and flipping
it up with my left foot as opposed to keeping my eyes closed for the
'first' touch with the left foot, a kick with the left
foot.
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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Wednesday May 28,
255-500 PM
Waltham Y Gym |
125 minutes pitching baseball, with 3/4 and overhead style. |
Baseball Pitching: Used a
soft 6 oz Rawlings ball to practice pitching at a 20 inch wide, 24
inch high target, bottom edge 9" above the ground (I was not on a
mound) on the wall 18 yards from where I pitched the ball (red
sideline of basketball court). Closed my eyes after swinging the
arms back, and before raising the arms above the head during the windup;
kept eyes closed until AFTER ball released. Experimented with 3/4
style (arm at 45 degree angle) and overhead style.
Results:
(10/30 means out of 30 pitches 10 balls were strikes)
1 255-310: overhead style, 7/29, 24% strikes.
2 310-325: 3/4 style, 6/30, 20% strikes.
3 325-340: overhead style, 6/27, 22% strikes.
4 340-355: 3/4 style, 7/23, 30% strikes.
5 355-410: overhead style,
5/13, 38% strikes (taking notes must have reduced number
of pitches).
6 428-443: 3/4 style, 7/21, 33% strikes.
7 444-459: overhand style, 5/25, 20% strikes.
This was the second time pitching blind. The first time pitching
blind on Sunday May 25, it seemed I needed one segment the first
segment to get warmed up. So for now I adopt the policy of not
counting the first segment in the total stats. I alternate between
pitching styles, 15 minutes each pitching style. The first segment is
not counted in the stats I will now report. On Sunday May 25, the first
counted segment was overhead style, and today on Wednesday May 28 the
first counted segment was 3/4 style.
On Sunday May 25, the total for overhead style was 17/89 19% strikes;
and, the total for 3/4 style was 15/91, 16% strikes.
Today on Wednesday May 28, the total for overhead style was 16/65,
25%; the total for 3/4 style was 20/74, 27% strikes; and the total for
both styles was, 36/139, 26%.
I threw alot more pitches per minute Sunday May 25. If looking at May
25, I leave out the last segment of the overhead and the last segment of
the 3/4 style, I would be looking at 120 pitches similar to the 139 thrown
today. Looking at Sunday May 25 leaving out the last segment of the
overhead and the last segment of the 3/4, the strikes per pitches rates
were: overhead, 14/62, 23%; 3/4 11/58, 19%, total,
25/120, 21%.
Thus I estimate that I was, (26-21=5), 5% better today May 28
than I was Sunday May 25. If I continue to improve along the lines of
26+5+5+5 etc., the percentage rising by 5 points every day, I will be
throwing 100% strikes, with my eyes closed, after 15 more practices, which
means that if I continue to practice pitching every third day, I will be
throwing 100% strikes, blind, in just 45 days.
Today I was more active taking notes than I was on Sunday May 25,
which is one reason there were less pitches thrown per hour.
Observations I made (note--I throw left handed): a slight
counter-clockwise turn of the wrist seems to improve accuracy; extending
the right foot on the kickout prior to the pitch seems to improve
accuracy; keeping the throwing hand close to the head when the ball is
released seems to improve accuracy; getting the wrist into the throw seems
to improve accuracy; I by nature sometimes throw fairly accurate
balls with no turn of the wrist, with a counter-clockwise turn of the
wrist, and also with a clockwise turn of the wrist while releasing
the ball.
My note to myself is that next time I practice pitching, I
should take fairly detailed notes re what I did every time I throw a
strike. Also I should study up on what the experts advise and what the
great pitchers actually do (these two types of things tend to
diverge).
Today pitching was not as fun and relaxing as last time. I
know why. It was because today, I had a yardstick to measure myself, which
was my performance the previous time out. On Sunday I had not such
yardstick so I could relax. Today I felt kind of miserable due to
the yardstick pressure, I felt as if I was not pitching better than last
time, which made me tense and depressed. I figure I have to be patient
with myself and that I will get better and better at handling the pressure
of comparing my performance to what it was the previous times out.
Today after about 110 pitches the soft Rawlings training baseball
developed a rip near the seam. That means I can expect such
Rawlings balls to last for about 300 pitches.
My method of pitching every time I have pitched this month, in terms
of the hand grip, has been to hold the ball across the seams, where the
seams are closest to each other, with the first joint of the of the index
and middle fingers over the closer seam, and the finger tips of the index
and middle fingers over the farther seam, with the index and middle
fingers over the middle of the ball, and the ring finger and the thumb
finger at the side of the ball. Researching the subject on the
internet, this grip I by nature use is, depending on who you
ask: a Walter Johnson fastball, a sinker, or a curve ball. What I have
noticed watching the ball when I throw it, is that it often sinks sharply
as it reaches the strike zone--I suppose this is because of declining
velocity combined with backspin.
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1 layer Propel Gel
Padding;
Rawlings Official TVB T-ball indoor/outdoor
training ball
soft-core
baseball |
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Thursday
May 29
220-505 PM
Waltham Y Gym |
165 minutes
Experiments with shooting with eyes closed from 24 feet and 27
feet
Had 6 oz of bolthouse c-boost drink, and 8 oz of tea+cacao
powder+cane sugar+halfnhalf drink, and 1 bagle prior to practice. This is
not the first time I have noticed that this concoction seems to produce
high performance. |
Today (basketball) I shot all my shots with
my eyes closed. In the sixth 20
minute segment of the practice, I was 15/37, 41%, from 27 feet,
WITH MY EYES CLOSED DURING THE SHOTS!
Practice was like the previous basketball practice,
except indoors, and with the order in which the various styles were used
reversed. On every shot, I (a left handed shooter) sighted the basket,
then closed my eyes, then stepped back with my left foot, then stepped up
with my left foot bringing it even with my right foot, then shot, and then
after the ball left my hand opened my eyes. Thus my eyes were closed for
about 3 seconds during each shot. The purpose of this was to train the
non-visual aspects of the mind and the body, and to allow myself to be
able to relax and enjoy a practice.
Today sometimes I shot with the palm of the shooting
hand on the ball during the shot which is my natural shooting style; some
players shoot like this but coaches recommend that the palm of the
shooting hand should not be touching the ball during the shot and
that the ball should be shot with the fingertips. And sometimes I shot
with the fingertips of the shooting hand on the ball and the palm of the
shooting hand not touching the ball.
Today sometimes I shot with the elbow of the shooting
hand pointing out to the side, and sometimes I shot with the elbow in and
pointing forwards. The elbow of the shooting hand pointing out to the side
is my natural style, but coaches recommend that the elbow point forward in
the direction of the basket.
I have shot with the fingertips instead of the palms
only on two days in my life as of now. I have shot with elbow pointed
towards the basket only about 16.5 hours in my life, most of my life I
have shot with the elbow pointed out towards the side.
There were no warmup shots prior to the first scored
segment.
Segment 1 220-240 PM, 24' foot shots, palm of shooting hand off
ball during shot, ball shot with fingertips, elbow of shooting arm in
during shot: 12/41, 29% (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/1, 2/10,
3/11, 4/12, 5/15, 6/16, 7/24, 8/28, 9/29, 10/36, 11/39, 12/40,
12/41).
Segment 2 240-300 PM, 24' foot shots, palm of shooting
hand on ball during shot, elbow of shooting arm in during shot:
8/41, 20% (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/15, 2/17, 3/19, 4/21,
5/28, 6/33, 7/36, 8/39, 8/41). A huge number of the attempts, at least
15, almost went in, were in and out type shots.
Segment 3 300-320 PM, 24' foot shots, palm of shooting
hand off ball during shot, ball shot with fingertips, elbow of
shooting arm out during shot: 7/43, 16% (progression of
baskets-made/attempts: 1/8, 2/11, 3/20, 4/26, 5/28, 6/30, 7/31,
7/43).
Segment 4 325-345 PM, 24' foot
shots, palm of shooting hand on ball during shot, elbow of
shooting arm out during shot: 15/41, 37% (progression
of baskets-made/attempts: 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 4/5, 5/8, 6/12,
7/19, 8/20, 9/23, 10/28, 11/32, 12/33, 13/35, 14/36, 15/40, 15/41).
Segment 5 345-405 PM, 27' foot shots, palm
of shooting hand off ball during shot, ball shot with fingertips,
elbow of shooting arm in during shot: 4/40, 10% (progression of
baskets-made/attempts: 1/10, 2/26, 3/37, 4/39, 4/40).
Segment 6 405-425 PM, 27' foot shots, palm of shooting
hand on ball during shot, elbow of shooting arm in during shot:
15/37, 41% (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/1, 2/3, 3/4,
4/5, 5/6, 6/7, 7/16, 8/18, 9/19, 10/23,
11/24, 12/25, 13/30, 14/32, 15/34, 15/37).
Segment 7 425-445 PM, 27' foot shots, palm of shooting
hand off ball during shot, ball shot with fingertips, elbow of
shooting arm out during shot: 9/36, 25% (progression of
baskets-made/attempts: 1/1, 2/6, 3/10, 4/12, 5/19, 6/24, 7/29, 8/31, 9/32,
9/36).
Segment 8 445-505 PM, 27' foot shots, palm of shooting
hand on ball during shot, elbow of shooting arm out during shot:
12/36, 33% (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/1, 2/6,
3/7, 4/9, 5/17, 6/19, 7/21, 8/28, 9/29, 10/33,
11/34, 12/36).
While shooting the 24 footers, I noted that: having the feet close
together might improve accuracy; alot of the
misses are due to absent-minded errors such as guide-hand on the
ball, and also perhaps, less importantly lack of
follow-through (follow-through was not important for me today
overall).
While shooting the 27 footers, I noted that: it is difficult to start
out shooting with the fingertips on 27 foot shots, because it is easier to
propel the ball a long way when the palms of the hand are on the ball;
saying to myself before a shot, 'you know how
to do this', seems to improve performance (similar to how I earlier noted
that saying to myself, 'there is no reason this shot should not go in I've
made this shot lots of times' seems to improve
performance); getting the body into the shot seems
to improve performance.
While shooting the 27 footers blasphemous words against God came into
my head as a result of anger I felt for my father. The mental act of
trying to prevent the blasphemous words from getting into my mind,
seemed to just increase the ability of the blasphemous words to come
into my mind. I asked God for help, apologized to him for the blasphemous
words in my mind, and told God that I did not in my heart believe in or
agree with the blasphemous words. After about five minutes the
blasphemous words coming into my mind went away and I began to shoot well
again.
The table below shows my basketball shooting stats starting May 23
2008:
Basketball Shooting
Stats
Starting May 23 '08
Key: M1=palm of shooting hand on ball during shot, elbow of shooting arm
out during shot: M2= palm of shooting hand off ball during shot, ball shot with
fingertips, elbow of shooting arm out during shot; M3=palm of
shooting hand on ball during shot, elbow of shooting arm in
during shot; M4=palm of shooting hand off ball during shot, ball
shot with fingertips, elbow of shooting arm in during shot; OR1=the
segment was the first segment done during the practice, OR2=the segment
was second segment done during the practice, OR3=the segment was the third
segment done during the practice, and etc; ELU=elbow position unspecified;
24'=ball shot from 24 feet, 27'=ball shot from 27 feet etc; 24' total =
total score from 24 feet, 27' total = total score from 27 feet, etc; grand
total = total score from all distances. Blind=before starting the footwork
done prior to the shot I closed my eyes, and then opened my eyes after the
ball was released. Percentage figures in parentheses are the average of
the percent scores for various methods, as opposed to the total of
made/attempts (this could be important because with my method of
scoring when more shots are going in there are less attempts).
Various conclusions can be drawn from the table above. The stats in
red boldface are the best or
most notable stats of the day, the stats in black
boldface are the second best/notable stats of the day.
Right away one can see that it can be a mistake to rush to
judgement regarding which method is superior. The 37% figure for shooting blind from 24 feet today, and
even more the 41% figure for shooting blind from 27 feet, are amazing
figures especially in view of the fact that I have not
been doing much basketball shooting recently and over the years.
The stats show me over three days, (two practices) (total of all
methods) improving: from 20 to 25% in blind 24 foot shooting; from 22
to 27% in blind 27 foot shooting; and from 21 to 26% in blind total
shooting. Assuming the percent score continues to go up by 5 each
practice, every 3 days, this would mean that
in 15 days I will be shooting blind with my eyes closed, 50% from 24
feet, and 52% from 27 feet. I realize that today I was
indoors and last time I was outdoors but today I faced the pressure of
having to match a yardstick, and today the first segment from 27 feet was
shooting with the fingertips (a disadvantage).
Yesterday I found that the pressure of pitching a baseball, when I
have a yardstick (my previous performance) to measure myself by, was
almost unbearable; but I do not find the pressure of shooting a basketball
when I have a yardstick to measure my performance by, unbearable or
unpleasant. It has to do with not being used to pitching, and
being still awkward in the art of pitching, while being used to
shooting basketball with a yardstick to measure myself against.
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1 layer Propel Gel
Padding;
Spalding TF-1000 Microfiber Composite Basketball,
inflated to 8.0 psi as usual |
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Friday May 30
Waltham Y
345-605 PM |
140 minutes,
WC06-L-nonskip
done various ways |
WC06-L-nonskip air-dribble pattern in soccer;
done a few different ways, the difference between the different ways I did
it, being how much I allowed my eyes to look at the ball.
You can find out what the WC06-L nonskip pattern is in from previous
entries on this page.
1 345-415 PM (w/ 5 minute break), eyes on the ball all the
way to the point the foot touches the ball on the third touch. Some good
runs, tight fast long runs. The first 15 minutes of this were
discouraging, clumsy. I began to wonder whether something as difficult as
the soccer WC06-L nonskip can be improved and mastered, practicing soccer
every three days for a couple of hours. But after the first 15 minutes my
skill level improved, and I concluded that
when I do soccer every three days instead of every day, the warmup time
required in order to reach a respectable level of skill rises from about 5
minutes when doing soccer every day, to about 15 minutes when doing soccer
every three days. On two or three of the runs I
extended the pattern executed to LHKHKH, this I had not done before, it
has to do with me developing the skill and the inclination to extend to
LHKHKH (what LHKHKH means is described in previous entries.
2 415-440 PM, eyes on ball prior to third touch with foot, but
eyes do not follow ball down from the apex of its arc. The beginning was
clumsy again due to the increased need for warmup. There were some very
good fast tight long runs despite the limitation of me not allowing me
eyes to follow the ball down from its apex prior to the third touch with
the foot. The percentage of attempts that succeeded in adhering to pattern
may not have been better than in the past, but the quality of the runs
that adhered to pattern was better than in the past.
During this segment I noted that the way I have been practicing
lately, there is a first segment in which the ball is followed with the
eye all the way to the foot which is impaired by a lack of needed warmup;
after this segment I am warmed up but performance is impaired in the
second segment due to the self-imposed restriction on following the ball
down from its apex with the eye prior to the third touch with the foot;
and then the next segments now feature performance impairing restrictions
such as closing the eyes on various touches of the pattern. Thus I can end
up feeling that I am not getting anywhere skill-wise but this feeling is
deceptive.
The closing of the eyes on various touches is based on: how I
learned through experience to on faster longer looser air-dribble patterns
perform successfully without following the ball down with my eyes; how
this lack of use of the eye keeps the eyes and the head up so as to be
aware of what is going on on the field; how the lack of use of the eye
improved my performance when using the eye; and, how I learned that doing
drill A that is more difficult than drill B is a good way of improving in
drill B. You can read about these various realizations in
previous entries in the log.
3 440-505 PM, eyes closed prior to third touch with the foot,
and then opened prior to fourth touch with the head. This way I
achieved 6 good and 3 low quality pattern-adherence successes (my
standards re what is high quality have gotten higher). The previous time
doing this drill I achieved only 1 high quality
pattern-adherence success, and 3 low quality pattern-adherence
successes in 20 minutes. Thus we have evidence that one can improve
quickly and significantly doing things with the eyes closed.
4 505-525 PM, eyes
closed prior to second touch with the head, and then opened prior to third
touch with the foot. I achieved 3 good and 2 low quality
pattern-adherence successes. Previous time doing this drill I
achieved two high quality pattern-adherence successes in 20 minutes. More evidence of improvement in the art of doing something
blind.
5 525-545 PM, eyes
closed prior to first kick with the foot, and then opened after 'first'
touch/kick with the foot. I achieved 3 low quality and 4 high
quality pattern adherence successes in the 20 minutes. Previous time 3
days ago doing this drill, there were zero successful pattern adherence
runs with this method in 20 minutes. More evidence re
the ability to improve doing something blind.
6 545-605 PM, eyes closed on
roll-back and flip-up of ball prior to 'first' kick with the left foot,
eyes opened after roll-back and flip-up of ball. There were 6 high
quality and 9 low quality pattern-adherence successes in the 20 minutes.
Previous time doing this drill, in 15 minutes There were 2 high
quality quality and 6 low quality WC06-L nonskip pattern-adherence
successes. Again more evidence of improvement in doing
something with the eyes closed.
Today I noted that drills 3-6 show that when I am blind, eyes
closed for a touch on the ball, this also impairs the subsequent touch, as
there is less time to sight things visually for the subsequent touch.
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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Saturday May 31,
540-745 PM
Waltham Y Gym |
125 minutes pitching baseball, with 3/4 and overhead style.
consumed before
practice:
cinnamon+tea+sugar
+halfnhalf+cacao
powder drink;
bolthouse c-boost
drink; coffee;
whopper jr
No cgs have
been consumed since last time
cg consumption
reported. |
Baseball Pitching: Used a
soft 5 oz Rawlings ball to practice pitching at a 20 inch wide, 24
inch high target, bottom edge 9" above the ground (I was not on a
mound) on the wall 18 yards from where I pitched the ball (red
sideline of basketball court). Closed my eyes after swinging the
arms back, and before raising the arms above the head during the windup;
kept eyes closed until AFTER ball released. Experimented with 3/4
style (arm at 45 degree angle) and overhead style.
Results:
(10/30 means out of 30 pitches 10 balls were strikes)
I started out pitching with a much faster warm-up than usual,
and pitching at a faster speed than usual, this I think was because I had
been watching a major leaguer pitch on TV at the Burger King right before
I started practice.
1 540-555: 3/4 style, 6/34 18% strikes.
At this point I began to solidly plant the lead foot PRIOR to
the pitch, as opposed to releasing the ball approx at the same time that I
planted the lead foot during the pitch, because it seemed to me
that planting the foot before releasing was working well.
2 555-610: overhead style, 2/37 5% strikes.
3 610-625 PM: 3/4 style, 4/24 17% strikes.
4 625-640 PM: overhead style, 2/32 6% strikes.
At this point I ended the practice of planting the lead foot
solidly on the ground prior to releasing the ball, and went back
to my traditional method of releasing the ball at approx the same time
that my lead foot hit the ground.
5 640-655 PM: 3/4 style, 2/26, 8% strikes.
6 655-710 PM, overhead style, 1/33, 3% strikes.
At this point I sort of came to my senses, slowed down my
wind-up, and slowed down the speed of the pitches. Also I went back to a
slow wind-up and slower pitches. 7 710-725 PM: 3/4 style, 3/28, 11% strikes. I noted that the accuracy
was much better, the non-strikes were much closer to the strike zone even
though the percent that were strikes was not high.
8 725-745 PM: overhead style, 8/38 21%
strikes.
By way of contrast, previous time pitching, (also blind, eyes closed
during pitch) the numbers for me were:
May 28
1 255-310: overhead style, 7/29, 24%
strikes.
2 310-325: 3/4 style, 6/30, 20% strikes.
3 325-340: overhead style, 6/27, 22% strikes.
4 340-355: 3/4 style, 7/23, 30% strikes.
5 355-410: overhead style, 5/13, 38%
strikes (taking notes must have reduced number of
pitches).
6 428-443: 3/4 style, 7/21, 33%
strikes.
7 444-459: overhand style, 5/25, 20% strikes.
May 25
1 545-600: 3/4 style, 5 strikes 33 balls, 5/38, 13%
strikes, first 17 pitches were balls.
2 600-625 (interruptions):
overhead style, 9 strikes 23 balls, 9/32, 28%
strikes.
3 625-640: 3/4 style, 6
strikes 20 balls, 6/26, 23% strikes.
4 640-655: overhead style, 5 strikes 25
balls, 5/30, 17% strikes.
5 655-710: 3/4 style, 5 strikes 27
balls, 5/32, 16% strikes.
6 710-725: overhead style, 3 strikes 24
balls, 3/27, 11% strikes.
7 725-740: 3/4 style, 4 strikes 29
balls, 4/33, 12% strikes.
Obviously today was a kind of debacle, a
'giant step backwards for mankind'. Why? There are various
suspects: 1) I was not wearing my 32 decibel earplugs that I always wear
today; 2) today I wore the Adidas Powerline cross-trainer shoes instead of
the Adidas Bracara indoor soccer shoes with added padding that I have
always been wearing for both basketball and baseball along with soccer; 3)
I did not record exactly what I consumed before pitching the previous
times, but I think today was unusual in that in addition
to the usual tea/cinnamon/halfnhalf/sugar/Cacao-powder drink
+ the usual Bolthouse C-boost drink + the usual bread or bagel, I
had a whopper Jr and a coffee at Burger King; today
segments 2-4 were pitched planting the foot firmly on the ground before
releasing the ball as opposed to releasing the ball approx at the same
time as I planted the foot which I had been doing previously; today segments 1-7 were pitched with an unusually fast
wind-up and with the balls thrown at an unusually fast
speed; today I did not feel confident, I felt like I have
been turning in great intellectual performances in essays/reports I have
written, and great sports performances in soccer baseball and basketball,
and all of this cannot possibly go on there has to be an
off-day; once you get into a habit that impairs performance it
takes a little time to recover.
Which of all these 'suspects' is actually guilty of impairing my
pitching performance and which is innocent? Hard to say exactly.
Looks like for me the overhead style is
more susceptible to poor performance due to innovations and changes; looks
like it is foolish for me, a beginner, throwing with my eyes closed, to
imitate the faster wind-up and the faster pitch-speed of a major league
pitcher.
I have done very little
baseball pitching in my life, but I have in grade school/high-school done
a fair amount of throwing around baseballs and softballs, playing a game
with a tennis ball called strike-out in which a tennis ball is thrown
against the steps; in all of this throwing and the rarer pitching
I have thrown the ball three-quarters style not overhead
style.
Today I noted that certain factors correlate with the
throwing of a strike: mental concentration, slow easy delivery, hand close
to ear when ball released, relatively slow speed of pitch, body into
pitch, counter-clockwise spin of wrist (I'm left handed),
I did not get a chance to research the proper mechanics of
pitching as I intended to.
Irrelevant(?) stuff: A few days ago during practice this guy who was
watching me said, 'thanks...I'm English...you made us look good'. This I
suppose had to do with my 'English' name. During or before the game
yesterday May 30 in which the Celtics won the NBA Eastern Conference
Championship, Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said re Garnett, that he did not
care if Garnett made only 'four for forty' shooting, he still wanted
Garnett to shoot. Strangely enough May 29, my worst shooting segment (from
27') I went four for forty...the internet presence of the bar I sometimes
go to, Franco's, is www.francospizza.biz, and 'Franco
Fagaso' at Myspace...the guy who runs the Franco's bar said to me a few
days ago, 'we're too mean to you'...tonight at Franco's this nice friendly
white guy with a mustache told me I should not have taken my hat off,
because everyone at the bar talks about how the guy with the hat (me)
looks like this person or that person...when I ate at Old Country Buffet
people were talking about how handsome I was...I looked handsome in face
and body at the Y today and at Hannaford today in their mirrors, but in
the monitor showing the image on the Hannaford surveillance camera I did
not look nearly as handsome; the camera did what these cheaper cameras
almost always do, it strongly exaggerated contrast; and it distorted the
basic structure of my face, and made my body look softer and fatter than
it looked in the mirrors...I used to when I had more time for such than I
do now, send emails to the Red Sox; seems to me the Red Sox have
been needling me for my idea that I should be allowed to get batting
practice, on the grounds that I am too old and inexperienced; and I have
been wondering why they make (cute, funny) noise instead of letting
me take batting practice--the Red Sox cute and funny and loveable as they
are, remind me of a line from Shakespeare's 'Tragedy of Macbeth':
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. |
Powerline cross-trainer Shoes;
no earplugs;
Rawlings Official TVB T-ball indoor/outdoor
training ball
soft-core
baseball |
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|
Sunday
June 1
555-735 PM
Waltham Y Gym |
100 minutes
Experiments with shooting with eyes closed from 24 feet
Had 6 oz of bolthouse c-boost drink, and 8 oz of tea+cacao
powder+cane sugar+halfnhalf drink, prior to practice. No solid food prior
to practice |
Today (basketball) I shot all my shots with
my eyes closed. In the fourth 25
minute segment of the practice, I was 17/42, 40%, from 24 feet,
WITH MY EYES CLOSED DURING THE SHOTS
Practice was like the previous basketball practice, and
with the order in which the various styles were used reversed. On every
shot, I (a left handed shooter) sighted the basket, then closed my eyes,
then stepped back with my left foot, then stepped up with my left foot
bringing it even with my right foot, then shot, and then after the ball
left my hand opened my eyes. Thus my eyes were closed for about 3 seconds
during each shot. The purpose of this was to train the non-visual aspects
of the mind and the body, and to allow myself to be able to relax and
enjoy a practice. Today I shot only from 24 feet.
Today sometimes I shot with the palm of the shooting
hand on the ball during the shot which is my natural shooting style; some
players shoot like this but coaches recommend that the palm of the
shooting hand should not be touching the ball during the shot and
that the ball should be shot with the fingertips. And sometimes I shot
with the fingertips of the shooting hand on the ball and the palm of the
shooting hand not touching the ball.
Today sometimes I shot with the elbow of the shooting
hand pointing out to the side, and sometimes I shot with the elbow in and
pointing forwards. The elbow of the shooting hand pointing out to the side
is my natural style, but coaches recommend that the elbow point forward in
the direction of the basket.
I have shot with the fingertips instead of the palms
only on three days in my life as of now. I have shot with elbow
pointed towards the basket only about 18 hours in my life, most of my life
I have shot with the elbow pointed out towards the side.
There were no warmup shots prior to the first scored
segment.
All the shots today were made with an emphasis on
follow-through with the shooting arm.
Segment 1 555-620 PM, 24' foot shots, palm of shooting
hand on ball during shot, elbow of shooting arm out during
shot: 8/41, 17%, (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/9,
2/10, 3/15, 5/25, 5/28, 6/37, 7/44, 8/48)
Segment 2 620-645 PM, 24' foot shots, palm of shooting
hand ff ball during shot, ball shot with fingertips, elbow of
shooting arm out during shot: 10/45, 22%, (progression of
baskets-made/attempts: 1/6, 2/12, 3/23, 4/25, 5/29, 6/33, 7/35,
8/36, 9/37, 10/41, 10/45)
Segment 3 645-710 PM, 24' foot shots, palm of shooting
hand on ball during shot, elbow of shooting arm in during
shot: 12/47, 26%, (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/5, 2/9, 3/12,
4/14, 5/17, 6/25, 7/26, 8/29, 9/33, 10/38, 11/44, 12/47)
Segment 4 710-735 PM, 24' foot shots, palm of shooting
hand off ball during shot, ball shot with fingertips, elbow of
shooting arm in during shot: 17/42, 40%, (progression of
baskets-made/attempts: 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 4/5,
5/7, 6/16, 7/18, 8/19, 9/23, 10/25, 11/26, 12/27, 13/30, 14/31,
15/34, 16/35, 17/40, 17/42)) While shooting the 24 footers, I noted that: again, several
of the missed shots were missed because I absent mindedlyfailed to get the
guide hand off the ball prior to the shot; seems that naturally, an
emphasis on follow-through works better with certain shooting styles than
with other styles; in all four segments there were many shots that almost
went in, in and out type shots. I have been alternating between the M1 first M2 second M3 third, and
M4 fourth order, and the M4 first, M3 second, M2 third, M1 fourth order.
In the interests of scientific accuracy, I need to also alternate
between the M2 first, M1 second, M4 third, and M3 fourth order and the M3
first, M4 second, M1 third, and M2 fourth order.
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1 layer Propel Gel
Padding;
Spalding TF-1000 Microfiber Composite Basketball,
inflated to 8.0 psi as usual |
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Tuesday
June ??
825-950 PM
Waltham Y Gym
Have to be more careful recording dates, when there is an extended
interval between th log entry being written with pen on paper and the log
entry being typed I forget the date. |
85 minutes,
WC06-L-nonskip
done various ways |
WC06-L-nonskip air-dribble pattern in soccer;
done two different ways; first segment--eyes as natural; second segment,
eyes do not follow ball below apex of arc prior to 3rd and 5th touches
with foot
The WCO6-L pattern has been explained previously. It involves: the
soccer ball being touched on every pace as I move forward; alternation
between touching the ball with the left foot and touching the ball with
the head; the first touch is with the foot, after the ball is rolled back
and flipped up with the left foot; the ball does not touch the ground
between touches. L=first touch with foot; H= ball headed; K= ball kicked
with left foot.
Runs today done without restrictions on use of eyes in following
ball.
Took unusually long time to get warmed up. After 12 minutes there
were some long straight fast tight LHKHKH six touch runs. The first good
run was in the first two minutes. Still inconsistent after 34 minutes of
practicing. Sort of warmed up after 45 minutes of practicing. I could feel
today how doing runs with my eyes closed at various times improved things.
I felt that today the runs were still showing that superior quality I
developed after I stopped scoring myself in terms of number of
pattern-adherences per hours, and started unscored practices featuring
runs in which my eyes were closed at various points. Spending a
couple of minutes shooting baskets with the basketball threw things off in
soccer. Shooting the ball in basketball is a loose relaxed motion that
lasts a fraction of a second not counting the preliminary footwork; by way
of contrast the soccer air dribble that I am doing now is tense
and lasts 2-3 seconds.
1 825-910 PM: eyes as natural. It appeared that I needed more
warmup time since I had beeen away from soccer for awhile. Today I
succeeded in correcting the direction on runs that began to veer off to
the side. Today there were several LHKHK runs featuring five touches
without the ball hitting the ground. The first touch seemed better than
previously according to my notes, I may have meant that the first few
minutes were relatively good. The runs today compared to previous days
were tight, fast, long, and straight; but there was inconsistency
meaning that a relatively large number of runs did not succeed
in adhering to the LHKH pattern for at least four touches. Note: for this
drill L means kick with the left foot, H means ball headed, K means
kick with the left foot but after the first touch.
2 910-950 PM: the ball was not followed down from the apex of
its arc prior to the third and fifth touches with the left foot.
In this segment despite the limitations on eye contact with the ball,
there were LHKHKH runs featuring six touches the ball never touching the
ground between the six touches. There were runs that were long , straight,
fast, tight. I experienced a sense of ease during the high quality runs.
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
June ??
Waltham Y Gym |
WC06-L-nonskip
soccer air dribble workout |
WC06-L-nonskip air-dribble pattern in
soccer
The WCO6-L pattern has been explained previously. It involves: the
soccer ball being touched on every pace as I move forward; alternation
between touching the ball with the left foot and touching the ball with
the head; the first touch is with the foot, after the ball is rolled back
and flipped up with the left foot; the ball does not touch the ground
between touches. L=first touch with foot; H= ball headed; K= ball kicked
with left foot.
Runs today done without restrictions on use of eyes in following
ball.
Took unusually long time to get warmed up. After 12 minutes there
were some long straight fast tight LHKHKH six touch runs. The first good
run was in the first two minutes. Still inconsistent after 34 minutes of
practicing. Sort of warmed up after 45 minutes of practicing. I could feel
today how doing runs with my eyes closed at various times improved things.
I felt that today the runs were still showing that superior quality I
developed after I stopped scoring myself in terms of number of
pattern-adherences per hours, and started unscored practices featuring
runs in which my eyes were closed at various points. Spending a
couple of minutes shooting baskets with the basketball threw things off in
soccer. Shooting the ball in basketball is a loose relaxed motion that
lasts a fraction of a second not counting the preliminary footwork; by way
of contrast the soccer air dribble that I am doing now is tense
and lasts 2-3 seconds. The basketball shot is stationary whereas the
soccer air dribble is not. Such differerences seem to be the reason
shooting baskets throws things off with the soccer air-dribble.
2 910-950 PM: the ball was not followed down from the apex of
its arc prior to the third and fifth touches with the left foot.
In this segment despite the limitations on eye contact with the ball,
there were LHKHKH runs featuring six touches the ball never touching the
ground between the six touches. There were runs that were long , straight,
fast, tight. I experienced a sense of ease during the high quality runs.
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
June ??
300-509 PM
Waltham Y Gym |
129 minutes pitching baseball, with 3/4 and overhead style.
Pre-game food: nutrients drink: (Bolthouse farms C-boost drink,
carrot juice, wheat germ oil, hemp oil, cod liver oil, mineral pills,
calcium pill, brewers yeast, raw cacao powder, vit D pills made from cod
liver oil, B vitamin pill, potassium pills) + ?? |
Baseball Pitching: Used a
soft 5 oz Rawlings baseball to practice pitching at a 20 inch
wide, 24 inch high target, bottom edge 9" above the ground (I was not on a
mound) on the wall 18 yards from where I pitched the ball (red
sideline of basketball court). Closed my eyes after swinging the
arms back, and before raising the arms above the head during the windup;
kept eyes closed until AFTER ball released. Experimented with 3/4
style (arm at 45 degree angle) and overhead style. Released ball before
foot hit ground; exaggerated time interval between ball-release and foot
hitting ground.
Results:
(10/30 means out of 30 pitches 10 balls were strikes)
1 300-315 PM: 3/4 style, 8/32 25% strikes. (Just trying
to THROW as I naturally would when playing catch seemed to work, as
opposed to attempting to "PITCH" the ball). The ball being released prior
to the foot hitting the ground seemed at this point to work much better
than the foot hitting the ground before the ball is released.
2 315-330 PM: overhead style, 3/28 11% strikes. Lots of close
calls involving the ball narrowly missing the strike zone. For me the
overhead or overhand style is not as natural as the three-quarters style
because as I boy I always threw three-quarters. Throwing blind, with my
eyes closed, plus throwing with the new overhead style, plus experimenting
with exaggerating the time interval between the ball being released and
the foot hitting the ground (with ball released prior to foot hitting the
ground) added up to being too much for me it seemed.
3 330-345 PM: 3/4 style, 4/19 21% strikes.
4 345-400 PM: overhead style, 3/37 8% strikes. There were a
few close calls, the pitch narrowly missing the strike zone. I could
tell that the ball being released before the foot hits the ground is
better than the ball being released after the foot hits the ground.
5 400-420 PM: (5 min break): 3/4 style, 9/29 31%
strikes.
6 420-435 PM: overhead style, 5/33 15%
strikes.
7 438-453 PM: 3/4 style, 5/34 15% strikes.
8 454-509 PM: overhead style: 6/25 24% strikes.
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Rawlings Official TVB T-ball indoor/outdoor
training ball
soft-core
baseball |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
June ??
315-505 PM
Waltham Y Gym |
110 minutes
Experiments with shooting with eyes closed from 24 feet
Pre-game food: nutrients drink: (Bolthouse farms C-boost drink,
carrot juice, wheat germ oil, hemp oil, cod liver oil, mineral pills,
calcium pill, brewers yeast, raw cacao powder, vit D pills made from cod
liver oil, B vitamin pill, potassium pills) +
burger king whoppersandwich, burger king iced coffee. |
Today (basketball) I shot all my shots with
my eyes closed.
Practice was like the previous basketball practice, and
with the order in which the various styles were used reversed. On every
shot, I (a left handed shooter) sighted the basket, then closed my eyes,
then stepped back with my left foot, then stepped up with my left foot
bringing it even with my right foot, then shot, and then after the ball
left my hand opened my eyes. Thus my eyes were closed for about 3 seconds
during each shot. The purpose of this was to train the non-visual aspects
of the mind and the body, and to allow myself to be able to relax and
enjoy a practice. Today I shot only from 24 feet.
Today sometimes I shot with the palm of the shooting
hand on the ball during the shot which is my natural shooting style; some
players shoot like this but coaches recommend that the palm of the
shooting hand should not be touching the ball during the shot and
that the ball should be shot with the fingertips. And sometimes I shot
with the fingertips of the shooting hand on the ball and the palm of the
shooting hand not touching the ball.
Today sometimes I shot with the elbow of the shooting
hand pointing out to the side, and sometimes I shot with the elbow in and
pointing forwards. The elbow of the shooting hand pointing out to the side
is my natural style, but coaches recommend that the elbow point forward in
the direction of the basket.
I have shot with the fingertips instead of the palms
only on three days in my life as of now. I have shot with elbow
pointed towards the basket only about 18 hours in my life, most of my life
I have shot with the elbow pointed out towards the side.
There were no warmup shots prior to the first scored
segment.
There was no emphasis on follow-through with the shooting arm
today.
Segment 1 315-340 PM, 24' foot shots, 'M4' style, ball
shot with fingertips, elbow in as coaches advise during shot: 6/38
16%, (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/8, 2/10, 3/13, 4/19, 5/24,
6/38). Lots of the shots were close, 'in and out'.
Segment 2 345-410 PM, 24' foot shots, 'M3' style, ball shot
with palm of shooting hand on ball during shot, elbow in as cuaches advise
during shot: 12/39, 31% (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/3,
2/6, 3/8, 4/10, 5/14, 6/15, 7/17, 8/28, 9/34, 10/35, 11/36, 12/38,
12/39).
Segment 3 410-435 PM, 24' foot shots, 'M2' style, ball shot
with fingertips, elbow out as in rebellion vs coaches during shot: 9/29,
31% (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/2, 2/7, 3/10, 4/13,
5/14, 6/16, 7/17, 8/27, 9/28, 9/29).
Segment 4 437-505 PM, 24' foot shots, 'M1' style, ball shot
with palm of hand, elbow out as in rebellion vs coaches during shot: 9/39,
23% (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/4, 2/5, 3/10,
4/12, 5/22, 6/30, 7/33, 8/36, 9/39).
I skip the basketball shooting chart for today but I shall return to
showing the updated version. |
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1 layer Propel Gel
Padding;
Spalding TF-1000 Microfiber Composite Basketball,
inflated to 8.0 psi as usual |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
June ??
535 - ??? PM
Waltham Y Gym |
?? minutes,
WC06-L-nonskip
Pre-game food: Bolthouse farms C-boost drink, burger king whopper
with cheese sandwich, burger king iced coffee.
|
WC06-L-nonskip air-dribble pattern in
soccer
The WCO6-L pattern has been explained previously. It
involves: the soccer ball being touched on every pace as I move forward;
alternation between touching the ball with the left foot and touching the
ball with the head; the first touch is with the foot, after the ball is
rolled back and flipped up with the left foot; the ball does not touch the
ground between touches. L=first touch with foot; H= ball headed; K= ball
kicked with left foot.
Runs today done without restrictions on use of eyes in
following ball.
Today there were good fast 4 touch (LHKH) to 6 touch LHKHKH runs in
the first 7 minutes. By 558 PM 23 minutes into the practice there had been
several very good straight fast tightly controlled 5-6 touch runs, but I
had been inconsistent, meaning, a good number of the attempts failed to
adhere to pattern for at least four touches but the ones that did adhere
to pattern for at least four touches were high quality.
Today I noted significant improvement in terms of distance covered
per touch, and speed; the ball was still tightly controlled. |
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Saturday
June ??
Waltham Y Gym
555-750 PM |
129 minutes pitching baseball, with 3/4 and overhead style. |
Baseball Pitching:
Used a soft 5 oz Reebok ball to practice
pitching at a 20 inch wide, 24 inch high target, bottom edge 9" above the
ground (I was not on a mound) on the wall 18 yards from where I
pitched the ball (red sideline of basketball court). Closed my
eyes after swinging the arms back, and before raising the arms above the
head during the windup; kept eyes closed until AFTER ball released.
Experimented with 3/4 style (arm at 45 degree angle) and overhead
style.
Released ball just before foot hit ground; no elaborate old-fashioned
windup before pitch thrown for first time, pitching 'from stretch' for
first time.
Results:
(10/30 means out of 30 pitches 10 balls were strikes)
1 555-610 PM: overhead style, 4/28, 25% strikes.
2 610-625 PM: 3/4 style, 4/33 12% strikes.
3 625-640 PM: overhead style, 8/35 23% strikes. Velocity up, pitches
that are balls missing by less than usual. The velocity was up, which
probably produced a lack of accuracy, but I decided to just 'let it be'; I
decided to let my spirit run free and let my velocity get up if that is
what I felt like doing. I felt I had learned a lesson from
soccer--sometimes you improve in one way sometimes in another, just let
yourself be the way you feel like being.
4 640-655 PM: 3/4 style, 3/36 8% strikes. At this point I began
to tire and the velocity of the pitches began to slow down.
5 655-710 PM: overhead style, 3/28, 11% strikes.
6 710-725 PM: 3/4 style, 2/19, 11% strikes.
7 725-740 PM: overhead style, 5/23, 22% strikes.
8 740-750 PM, 3/4 style, 4/16, 25% strikes.
I noted during the practice that often the pitches fail to hit the
strike zone because I hold back during the throw due to a fear of hurting
my arm.
Today I felt that I had learned that it is important to have your
mind made up before you pitch the ball, with regards to whether you are
going to pitch the ball slow or pitch it fast. |
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1 layer Propel Gel
Padding;
Reebok official 5 oz soft
training baseball |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
June ??
600-750 PM
Waltham Y Gym |
110 minutes
Experiments with shooting with eyes closed from 24 feet
|
Today (basketball) I shot all my shots with
my eyes closed.
Practice was like the previous basketball practice, and
with the order in which the various styles were used changed so that a
method that has never gone first was forced to go first. On every shot, I
(a left handed shooter) sighted the basket, then closed my eyes, then
stepped back with my left foot, then stepped up with my left foot bringing
it even with my right foot, then shot, and then after the ball left my
hand opened my eyes. Thus my eyes were closed for about 3 seconds during
each shot. The purpose of this was to train the non-visual aspects of the
mind and the body, and to allow myself to be able to relax and enjoy a
practice. Today I shot only from 24 feet.
Today sometimes I shot with the palm of the shooting
hand on the ball during the shot which is my natural shooting style; some
players shoot like this but coaches recommend that the palm of the
shooting hand should not be touching the ball during the shot and
that the ball should be shot with the fingertips. And sometimes I shot
with the fingertips of the shooting hand on the ball and the palm of the
shooting hand not touching the ball.
Today sometimes I shot with the elbow of the shooting
hand pointing out to the side, and sometimes I shot with the elbow in and
pointing forwards. The elbow of the shooting hand pointing out to the side
is my natural style, but coaches recommend that the elbow point forward in
the direction of the basket.
I have less experience shooting with my fingertips that
I do shooting with the palm of my hand. I have shot with elbow pointed
towards the basket only about 18 hours in my life, most of my life I have
shot with the elbow pointed out towards the side.
There were no warmup shots prior to the first scored
segment.
There was no emphasis on follow-through with the shooting arm
today. Neither did I use any mind games such as thinking any special
thought prior to the shot.
Segment 1 600-625 PM, 24' foot shots, 'M2' style, ball shot
with fingertips, elbow out as in rebellion vs coaches during shot: 9/40,
23% (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/11, 2/6, 3/14, 4/25,
5/33, 6/35, 7/37, 8/38, 9/40).
Segment 2 635-700 PM, 24' foot shots, 'M1' style,
ball shot with palm of hand, elbow out as in rebellion vs coaches during
shot: 13/33, 39% (progression of
baskets-made/attempts: 1/1, 2/6, 3/7, 4/11, 5/17, 6/20, 7/21, 8/26, 9/27,
10/28, 11/29, 12/30, 13/32, 13/33).
Segment 3 600-625 PM, 24' foot shots, 'M4' style,
ball shot with fingertips, elbow in as coaches advise during
shot: 10/37, 27%, (progression of baskets-made/attempts:
1/1, 2/3, 3/5, 4/13, 5/20, 6/21, 7/23, 8/25, 9/29, 10/37).
Segment 4 725-750 PM, 24' foot shots, 'M3' style, ball shot
with palm of shooting hand on ball during shot, elbow in as coaches advise
during shot: 9/38, 24% (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/6,
2/9, 3/10, 4/12, 5/13, 6/15, 7/18, 8/30, 9/35, 9/38).
At intervals the basketball entries will contain a table
containing my up to date shooting stats.
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1 layer Propel Gel
Padding;
Spalding TF-1000 Microfiber Composite Basketball,
inflated to 8.0 psi as usual |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Wednesday
June 25
Waltham Y Gym
810 PM--950 PM
|
100 minutes,
WC06-L-nonskip soccer air dribble pattern |
WC06-L-nonskip air-dribble pattern in
soccer
The WCO6-L pattern has been explained previously. It
involves: the soccer ball being touched on every pace as I move forward;
alternation between touching the ball with the left foot and touching the
ball with the head; the first touch is with the foot, after the ball is
rolled back and flipped up with the left foot; the ball does not touch the
ground between touches. L=first touch with foot; H= ball headed; K= ball
kicked with left foot.
Runs today done without restrictions on use of eyes in
following ball.
The Y gym was hot as hell and humid today. I opened the door to the
parking lot to cool the gym off. Right after I did this the woman who
works behind the desk somehow knew that the door had been opened and
stormed in to inquire as to who opened it. I volunteered to close it. I
have seen previously the girls basketball team working out with the gym
door open. I guess only the chosen ones have the right to open up the door
to the outside world and allow the gym to cool off. Amazing how these
YMCAs display this lack of consideration for how hot and humid it gets in
the gym, combined with this obdurate opposition to any steps that would
help to cool the gym off. Trap doors in the ceiling that allow the hot air
to escape upwards is one method that comes to mind for cooling off such
gyms. Alas the gyms have no such openings in the ceiling--just as in my
apartment, which gets hot as hell, there is no way to allow the hot air to
escape upwards through an opening in the ceiling. Meanwhile air
conditioning bills are getting higher and higher all the time.
Today again on the runs I ran paralell to the short side of the gym
instead of paralell to the long side of the gym.
I found today that I was keeping the runs going even when I got off
pattern somewhat through two heads in a row or two kicks in a row.
Previously I had lacked the zeal to do this.
Again today compared to a few practices ago, the runs featured more
touches, five or six touches often; the runs were straighter, faster, more
tightly controlled, there was more distance traveled per touch. But still
there was inconsistency, although the runs that adhered to pattern were
high quality many failed to adhere to pattern. Again today I felt that I
needed more time to warm up than I do when I practice every day. Today I
noted that runs of 9 yards had become common and that several of the runs
were being prevented from going farther due to running into the gym wall.
Previously a 9 yard run with this pattern was something very special and
rare.
Today I met Ahi, an engineer from India. He told me that he agreed
with the Christian quote I put on my resumes. He is from a Hindu Andhra
Pradesh family. He wanted advice on how to do a rainbow kick in soccer. I
told him that I had found that there are many different ways of doing the
rainbow kick, that everyone I met seemed to have a different way of doing
it. I gave him some advice on shooting the basketball and he changed his
shot. I was sure that after I gave him the advice his percentage went way
up but he said that this was because he had gotten warmed up. Lest I
forget, his email address is, doe140@gmail.com. |
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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Friday
June 27
Waltham Y Gym
405-605 PM |
120 minutes pitching baseball, with 3/4 and overhead style.
Just lemonade with wheat germ oil and hemp oil before start of
practice. |
Baseball Pitching:
Used a soft 5 oz Reebok ball to practice
pitching at a 20 inch wide, 24 inch high target, bottom edge 9" above the
ground (I was not on a mound) on the wall 18 yards from where I
pitched the ball (red sideline of basketball court). Closed my
eyes after swinging the arms back, and before raising the arms above the
head during the windup; kept eyes closed until AFTER ball released.
Experimented with 3/4 style (arm at 45 degree angle) and overhead
style.
Released ball just before foot hit ground; no elaborate old-fashioned
windup before pitch thrown, pitching 'from stretch' for first time.
Results:
(10/30 means out of 30 pitches 10 balls were strikes)
1 405-420 PM, 3/4 style: 3/22, 14%. Plenty of pitches that missed
strike zone missed by only a little.
2 420-435 PM, overhead style: 2/35, 6%. Alot of close misses, not as
bad as score indicates.
3 435-450 PM, 3/4 style: 3/23, 13%.
4 450-505 PM, overhead style: 2/26, 8%.
5 505-520 PM, 3/4 style: 5/29, 17%.
6 520-535 PM, overhead style: 6/21, 29%. At this point I
began to consistently take detailed notes re how I threw the ball when I
pitched a strike. I had resolved to do this when I started
pitching but for some reason I never did. B means ball, S means strike. CC
means counterclockwise turn of the wrist on delivery. Wr means wrist. CC
wr means the wrist turned counterclockwise as the ball was
delivered--remember I am a lefty. body+elbow+wrist means these three
parts of the body were the primary forces in the pitch. Dart means the
pitch was thrown similar to the way people throw darts. 5B S mean I
pitched 5 balls and then a strike. In parentheses after an S I note how I
threw the strike when I threw it:
6B S; 2B S (dart, cc wrist)(body+elbow+wrist). 6B S (cc wrist).
S (CC wrist). B S; S (slow and easy).
7 535-550 PM, 3/4 style: 11/18,
61% BEST SEGMENT EVER: (gym had cooled off by now).
B S (CC wr); B S (slow); B S (cc wr, slow); S (slow); B S (slow,
body+elbow+wrist, dart); S (very slow, cc wr); B S (slow, backspin,
body+wrist); S (wrist, nonspin); S (slow); B S (slow); 2B S (slow cc
wrist).
8 550-605 PM, overhead style: 5/24, 21%. Gym had cooled off by now.
Several of the pitches missed the strike zone by only a little.
B S (body+wrist, backspin); 3B S (slow, wrist, backspin); 4B S (slow,
wrist, dart, backspin); S (slow, wrist, backspin); 11 B S (slow, cc
wrist).
The whole day there were lots of close misses. I noted that a lapse
of concentration produce alot of balls, this is not the kind of sports
activity you can allow your concentration to lapse in. I felt as if the
anger I felt against 'Sasanka', who has been hounding me with phone calls,
was the reason several of the pitches were balls not strikes. The first
part of the practice it was very hot and humid in the gym. Seemed to me
that accuracy is much improved when I throw in a dart-throwing style, with
the hand low and forward when the ball is released. Seemed using the elbow
and wrist more than the shoulder in a dart throwing motion produces
strikes. Seemed a counter clockwise motion of the wrist during release (I
am a lefty) produces strikes. Seemed the fear of hurting my arm caused
alot of balls. Seemed wearing a headband is helpful in pitching because
the hair flopping around the head during the pitch is distracting and
confusing as the hair moves in a weird way compared to the motion of the
body. Today again I followed the policy of allowing myself to throw
hard if that was what I felt like doing, even if such resulted in more
balls. Today I continued to improve in my psychological ability to handle
the stress of throwing balls; I was looking at the positive side, aspects
such as: smooth delivery, balls missing strike zone by only a little,
effortless production of speed. There definitely seemed to be a
correlation between keeping track of how I had thrown the ball when I
threw a strike and strikes percentage; keeping track
of exactly what I did when I threw a strike, radically improved my strikes
percentage, more than any other tweak I have experimented with.
Here is a table summarizing my baseball pitching stats from May 22
'08 to the present:
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1 layer Propel Gel
Padding;
Reebok official 5 oz soft
training baseball |
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Friday
June 27
Waltham Y Gym
708-945 PM |
157 minutes
WC06-L soccer air dribble pattern runs
Have to be more careful recording what was consumed after a couple of
days I forget. |
WC06-L-nonskip air-dribble pattern in
soccer
The WCO6-L pattern has been explained previously. It
involves: the soccer ball being touched on every pace as I move forward;
alternation between touching the ball with the left foot and touching the
ball with the head; the first touch is with the foot, after the ball is
rolled back and flipped up with the left foot; the ball does not touch the
ground between touches. L=first touch with foot; H= ball headed; K= ball
kicked with left foot.
Runs today done without restrictions on use of eyes in
following ball.
Today I did the soccer after I did the baseball. In the first hour of
the soccer for the first time in my life, there was the combination of
consistency and excellence on the WC06-L soccer air-dribble runs.
Previously there had been consistency without excellence or excellence
without consistency. After an hour the consistency declined due to fatigue
of two hours pitching and one hour soccer. Then I rested for five minutes
and started again and the consistency was improved. The majority of the
runs that adhered to pattern featured: at least five touches; tightness of
control; speed; long distance per touch; and directional straightness.
Today throughout the practice I drank the 365 brand Electrolyte
water. I am convinced that this water significantly reduced
fatigue. Seems about ten percent of the things
that claim to reduce fatigue actually reduce fatigue and the Electrolyte
water is one of the ten percent. |
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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Saturday
June 28
Waltham Y Gym
610-750 PM |
100 minutes
Experiments with shooting with eyes closed from 24 feet |
Today (basketball) I shot all my shots with
my eyes closed.
Practice was like the previous basketball practice, and
with the order in which the various styles were used reversed. On every
shot, I (a left handed shooter) sighted the basket, then closed my eyes,
then stepped back with my left foot, then stepped up with my left foot
bringing it even with my right foot, then shot, and then after the ball
left my hand opened my eyes. Thus my eyes were closed for about 3 seconds
during each shot. The purpose of this was to train the non-visual aspects
of the mind and the body, and to allow myself to be able to relax and
enjoy a practice. Today I shot only from 24 feet.
Today sometimes I shot with the palm of the shooting
hand on the ball during the shot which is my natural shooting style; some
players shoot like this but coaches recommend that the palm of the
shooting hand should not be touching the ball during the shot and
that the ball should be shot with the fingertips. And sometimes I shot
with the fingertips of the shooting hand on the ball and the palm of the
shooting hand not touching the ball.
Today sometimes I shot with the elbow of the shooting
hand pointing out to the side, and sometimes I shot with the elbow in and
pointing forwards. The elbow of the shooting hand pointing out to the side
is my natural style, but coaches recommend that the elbow point forward in
the direction of the basket.
I have less experience shooting with my fingertips that
I do shooting with the palm of my hand. I have shot with elbow pointed
towards the basket for only a few hours in my life, most of my
life I have shot with the elbow pointed out towards the side.
There were no warmup shots prior to the first scored
segment.
I emphasized follow-through with the shooting arm today.
I did not use any mind games such as thinking any special thought prior to
the shot.
Segment 1 610-635 PM, 24' foot shots, 'M3' style, ball shot
with palm of shooting hand on ball during shot, elbow in as coaches advise
during shot: 8/34, 24% (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/5,
2/12, 3/13, 4/15, 5/26, 6/30, 7/32, 8/34).
Segment 2 635-700 PM, 24' foot shots, 'M4' style,
ball shot with fingertips, elbow in as coaches advise during
shot: 6/33, 18%, (progression of baskets-made/attempts:
1/3, 2/10, 3/11, 4/21, 5/27, 6/28, 6/33)
Segment 3 700-725 PM, 24' foot shots, 'M1' style, ball shot
with palm of hand, elbow out as in rebellion vs coaches during shot: 7/32,
22% (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/2, 2/12, 3/18, 4/25,
5/26, 6/28, 7/31, 7/32)
Segment 4 725-750 PM, 24' foot shots, 'M2' style, ball shot
with fingertips, elbow out as in rebellion vs coaches during shot: 7/31,
23% (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/9, 2/10, 3/13, 4/17,
5/19, 6/27, 7/28, 7/31).
There are various possible reasons that the shooting was off today.
Usually I have the basket to myself, today for the majority of the time I
had to share it with a few other people. I think the main reason the
shooting was off, was that yesterday I worked out for longer than
usual--277 minutes doing both basketball and soccer. It seemed
that today, due to the fatigue of the long workout yesterday, many of the
shots were on target but just a little bit short. Right from the
beginning I felt as if I was going to have an off day and that there was
nothing I could do about it. I woke up late being tired from yesterday and
because the weather was perfect for sleeping. I had a whopper jr at burger
king right before the workout which increased the feeling of sluggishness.
All I had to drink was tap water out of the YMCA drinking fountain.
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1 layer Propel Gel
Padding;
Spalding TF-1000 Microfiber Composite Basketball,
inflated to 8.0 psi as usual |
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Sunday
June 29
Waltham Y Gym
550-750 PM |
120 minutes
WC06-L non skip alternate between head and foot, soccer air
dribble pattern runs |
WC06-L-nonskip air-dribble pattern in
soccer
(to be exact, this is the version of the WC06 in
which I do not skip, but step on each pace, while alternating between
touching the ball with the head and touching it with the
foot)
The WCO6-L pattern, version I am now doing, has
been explained previously. It involves: the soccer ball being touched on
every pace as I move forward; alternation between touching the ball with
the left foot and touching the ball with the head; the first touch is with
the foot, after the ball is rolled back and flipped up with the left foot;
the ball does not touch the ground between touches. L=first touch with
foot; H= ball headed; K= ball kicked with left foot. With this particular
version I do not skip on each pace but step on each pace.
Runs today done without restrictions on use of eyes in
following ball.
550-605 PM: The first 15 minutes were excellent. The very first
attempt of the day was good. This segment was filled with 5 touch and 6
touch runs, the ball being touched on every pace, alternation between
touch with the foot and touch with the head, the ball not touching the
ground the entire time. This was a very significant segment
because without warmup I put together consistency and quality.
605-620 PM: Good but not as good as the first 15 mins. Suspects for
why the fall-off in performance: fatigue; stress-fatigue; great
expectations pressure, keeping track of how things were going every 15
minutes. My guess is that the culprit was stress-fatigue, meaning
that I used up my reservoir of my ability to relax, resulting in
the segment not being as good as the first segment. Such is not that bad
though because it indicates that I have the skill but have to
learn how to manage the stress. The first 15 minutes I
just thought about each touch of the ball as it came, trying to execute
each touch well. Second segment I began to worry about if I was going to
suceed with the run.
620-635 PM: Good. Lots of good off-pattern continuations. By this I
mean that I continued the run, keeping the ball close but off the ground
as I moved forwards, even if I was unable to exactly adhere to the
alternation between touch with head and touch with foot pattern.
Previously I had not had the energy or inclination to bother with
such continuations. At this point I noted that the speed of the
runs was up at the expense of other factors; but I let my spirit
run free so to speak and allowed myself to keep the speed up at the
expense of factors such as consistency anyway. I figure sometimes one
forges ahead in terms of speed, sometimes in terms of
consistency.
635-650 PM: still good, not as good as first segment. The situation
of other aspects being sacrificed to speed continued.
650 -705 PM: still good and not as good first segment; similar to
previous segment
705-720 PM: similar to previous segment. At this point it occurred to
me that it would be a wise tactic to practice just the first two
touches of the runs, since I was having the most problem with the
first touch and the first touch being off was the culprit for the
subsequent touches being off. But I figured such would be boring.
At least I am learning to deal with the first touch being off and
producing good runs anyway.
720-735 PM: Good again, not as good as first segment. I noted that I
am running into the wall that is approx 9-10 yds away from the start point
now on a regular basis, after just 4-5 touches with the ball still under
control; this makes the state of things seem worse than they really are
because it deprives me of the pleasure of gloating over runs
featuring six touches, all with the ball tightly controlled and
kept off the ground.
Generally today was I felt an important turning point, today
showed I will soon be able to combine consistency and quality on this
pattern. I am light years ahead of where I was when I started
doing this pattern, when I was grading myself on how many four touch runs
I made per hour regardless of quality. The runs are much more accurate
directionally speaking now; they are much faster, with the ball still more
tightly controlled; the distance traveled per touch is much greater; I am
developing the ability to continue the runs despite mis-touches; I am
developing the ability to change directions; I am developing the ability
and inclination to continue the runs with tight control despite deviation
from the alternation between head and foot on every pace prescribed
pattern. I am sure that my air-dribbling ability in general has
been much improved by working on this most difficult of patterns.
I am glad that I made the decision to do the most difficult patterns
featuring the most touches per second first before the other patterns I am
convinced this was a wise decision, in an earlier entry I discussed the
basis for this difficult decision. Undoubtedly, I will soon become
deadly on this pattern to the point where I will be a
dangerous world-class threat for even the
toughest
world-class defenses. Watching the
finals of the 2008 European Championships I was reminded of the fact that
traditional ground-hugging offenses simply do not work
against the best defenses.
Today I let my eyes do whatever they wanted to do in following the
ball; seemed that when I allow my eyes to do whatever they want,
they follow the ball about half way down from the apex of the arc towards
the foot.
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1
layer Propel Gel Padding;
Adidas Replique ball inflated to 7.5
psi |
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Tuesday
July 1
Waltham Y Gym
800-945 PM |
105 minutes pitching baseball, with 3/4 and overhead style.
Coffee/tea/organic non dairy creamer/stevia/
cinnamon/raw cacao powder drink
Carrot/apple/
passionfruit juice+
tangerine juice+
oils minerals, vitamins, brewers
yeast drink.
2 pieces barowsky
organic multigrain bread. |
Baseball Pitching:
Used a soft 5 oz Reebok ball to practice
pitching at a 20 inch wide, 24 inch high target, bottom edge 9" above the
ground (I was not on a mound) on the wall 18 yards from where I
pitched the ball (red sideline of basketball court). Closed my
eyes after swinging the arms back, and before raising the arms to
chest high prior to throwing the ball; kept eyes closed until AFTER
ball released. Experimented with 3/4 style (arm at 45 degree
angle) and overhead style.
Released ball just before foot hit ground; no elaborate old-fashioned
windup before pitch thrown, pitching 'from stretch'.
From the beginning I took detailed notes re how I threw
the ball when I pitched a strike. B means ball, S means strike.
7B S for example, means 7 balls were thrown and then a strike. CC means
counterclockwise. Wr means the wrist was an important part of the
delivery. CC-wr means the wrist turned counterclockwise as the ball
was delivered--remember I am a lefty. For example, body+elbow+wrist
means these three parts of the body were the primary forces in the pitch;
body+wr means body and wrist were the primary forces; wr alone means
the wrist was the primary force. Dart means the pitch was thrown
similar to the way people throw darts. Avg speed means the pitch was
thrown at what is for me an average speed; avg+ means the pitch was above
average in speed; avg- means the pitch was below average in speed but
faster than slow; slow means the pitch was slow in speed. In
parentheses after an S I note how I threw the strike when I threw it:
Results:
(10/30 means out of 30 pitches 10 balls were strikes)
1 800-815 PM, overhead style: 5/30, 17%. Pitches were much
less wild than usual, I was more confident and relaxed than I usually
am.
BS (dart, avg speed); 5B S (dart, avg speed, elbow+wr); 4B S
(elbow+wr dart, avg+ speed); 9B S (cc-wr, dart).
2 815-830 PM, 3/4 style: 6/28, 21%. Lots of
near misses, not wild, relaxed, confident.
6B S (dart, slow); S (dart, cc-wr, avg speed0; S (slow, dart); B S
(body+wr); 5B S (body+wr, avg speed0; 5B S (slow, wr, cc-wr0.
3 830-845 PM, overhead style: 4/26, 15%. Pitches that
missed did not miss by alot; during the balls streak, the Puerto Rican
Y-staff guy was yapping with me. He was impressed even though all
he saw was balls. He commented re how little the balls were missing the
strike zone by. There were several near-misses this segment. I
talked to him re how my first day pitching blind was better
strikes-percentage wise than the subsequent days have been. I tolded him
that my theory was that the first day, I did not have a yardstick
to measure my performance by, but after the first day the first day's
performance became the yardstick, and that having a yardstick to measure
oneself by makes one nervous and impairs performance. He told me
that I say alot of perceptive things.
S (slow dart); 3B S (slow, wr+body); 2B S (slow, body+wr); S (slow,
body+wr); 17B
4 845-900 PM, 3/4 style: 8/27, 30%.
S (slow, body+wr, cc-wr); B S (slow, body+wr); 4B S (slow,
body+wr, cc-wr); S (slow, cc-wr, wr); 7B S (avg+ speed, body+wr); 3B S
(avg speed, body+wr, cc-wr); S (avg speed, body+wr); S (avg speed,
body+wr); 4B.
5 900-915 PM, overhead style: 4/36, 11%. Lots of near-misses.
3B S (avg speed, body+wr); 12B S (slow, body+wr); 2B S (avg speed,
body+wr, clockwise wrist motion, weird for lefty like me); 3B S (body +
wr); 12B.
6 915-930 PM: 3/4 style, 4/34, 12%. Accuracy declined this
segment due to fatigue and/or mental fatigue.
2B S (slow, body+wr, leg-up); 6B S (avg sp, body+wr); 7B S(slow,
body+wr); 14B S (avg speed, body+wr); B.
7 930-945 PM: overhead style, 5/43, 12%.
7B (6 of these missed by less than 1 foot); 12B S (slow, body+wr,
cc-wr); S (slow, body+wr, cc-wr); 13B S (avg speed, body+wr); 3B S (dart,
body+wr, slow speed); 2B S (body + wr, avg speed).
General Notes: Lots of pitches missed the strike
zone by less than six inches and even more missed by between six and
twelve inches. At the beginning of the practice I kept up a positive
attitude about this, I looked at the bright side, hey at least I am
missing by only a little. But by the end of the practice the constant
missing by just a little was bothering me. I could not understand how I
could be a better more accurate pitcher than I had been in the past while
at the same time the percentage of pitches that were strikes was less than
in the past. A large majority of the strikes were on the corners or the
edges of the strike zone also. The ball seemed to be attracted to
the areas just outside the strike zone, and repelled by the strike
zone. At the end of the practice I was convinced that the
percent strikes score is deceptive and that whatever the scores have
been, I have definitely making rapid progress as a pitcher.
The table summarizing my baseball pitching stats from May 22 '08 to
the present:
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1 layer Propel Gel
Padding;
Reebok official 5 oz soft
training baseball |
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Wednesday
July 2
Waltham Y Gym
805-950 PM |
105 minutes
Experiments with shooting with eyes closed from 24 feet
Before practice I consumed:
1.5 cups coffee mixed with tea and organic non-dairy creamer and
Stevia sweetener;
Passion/apple/carrot juice + tangerine juice + wheat germ oil + hemp
oil
Mineral and vitamin pills: vitamin B, D, E,& C pills, mineral
pill, calcium pill, potassium pills
I left out the stuff that flavor-wise does not mix well into the
juice, that is brewer's yeast and raw cacao powder, so these two things
were not consumed prior to this practice. The practice was stellar,
leading me to suspect that there might be some wisdom in following the
dictates of one's taste buds after all.
Out of bed only 4 hours prior to start of practice, awake 6 hours
prior to start of practice, still a stellar practice.
|
Today (basketball) I shot all my shots with
my eyes closed 24 feet from the basket,
experimenting in 4 different segments with 4 different ways of shooting;
in one segment I shot 19/42, 45%; overall for the day I was 50/149, 34%, with no shots
uncounted as warmup shots
Practice was like the previous basketball practice, with
the order in which the various styles were used reversed. On every shot, I
(a left handed shooter) sighted the basket, then closed my eyes, then
stepped back with my left foot, then stepped up with my left foot bringing
it approximately even with my right foot, then shot, and then after the
ball left my hand opened my eyes. Thus my eyes were closed for about 2-3
seconds during each shot. The purpose of this was to train the non-visual
aspects of the mind and the body, and to allow myself to be able to relax
and enjoy a practice. Today I shot only from 24 feet.
Today sometimes I shot with the palm of the shooting
hand on the ball during the shot which is my natural shooting style; some
players shoot like this but coaches recommend that the palm of the
shooting hand should not be touching the ball during the shot and
that the ball should be shot with the fingertips. And sometimes I shot
with the fingertips of the shooting hand on the ball and the palm of the
shooting hand not touching the ball.
Today sometimes I shot with the elbow of the shooting
hand pointing out to the side, and sometimes I shot with the elbow in and
pointing forwards. The elbow of the shooting hand pointing out to the side
is my natural style, but coaches recommend that the elbow point forward in
the direction of the basket.
I have less experience shooting with my fingertips that
I do shooting with the palm of my hand. I have shot with elbow pointed
towards the basket for only a few hours in my life, most of my
life I have shot with the elbow pointed out towards the side. I have shot
using the fingertips and not the palm of the hand for only a few hours in
my life.
Most of my life from boyhood on, I have shot with the elbow pointing
out towards the side and the palm of the shooting hand on the ball.
There were no warmup shots prior to the first scored segment.
There was no special emphasis on follow-through today. The
only mind game I used was to on every shot concentrate on the target and
concentrate on getting my guide hand off the ball prior to the
shot.
Segment 1 805-830 PM, 24' foot shots, 'M2' style, ball shot
with fingertips (style favored by coaches), elbow out (rebellion vs
coaches) during shot: 9/38, 24% (progression of
baskets-made/attempts: 1/1, 2/7, 3/8, 4/19, 5/22, 6/28, 7/30, 8/31, 9/34,
9/38). Shared the basket with Ahi during this segment.
Segment 2 830-855 PM, 24' foot
shots, 'M1' style, ball shot with palm of hand, elbow out as in rebellion
vs coaches on both aspects during shot: 19/42,
45% (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/1, 2/2,
3/5, 4/6, 5/13, 6/15, 7/16, 8/21, 9/23, 10/24, 11/25, 12/26,
13/27, 14/30, 15/31, 16/39, 17/40, 18/41,
19/42). A few were in and out. Crouching lower than usual
prior to coming up for the shot seemed to improve accuracy. I should
devote a practice session to increasing the level of crouch prior to the
shot.
Segment 3 855-925 PM, 24' foot shots, 'M4' style,
ball shot with fingertips (style favored by coaches), elbow in
pointing forwards (style favored by coaches) during
shot: 10/37, 27%, (progression of baskets-made/attempts:
1/1, 2/8, 3/10, 4/15, 5/19, 6/22, 7/25, 8/34, 9/35, 10/37). Several were
in and out.
Segment 4 925-950 PM, 24' foot shots, 'M3' style, ball
shot with palm of shooting hand on ball (coaches advise against this),
elbow in as coaches advise during shot: 12/32,
38% (progression of baskets-made/attempts: 1/1, 2/4, 3/5, 4/8, 5/10,
6/13, 7/14, 8/16, 9/19, 10/22, 11/28, 12/31, 12/32).
Today the overall percentage was equal to my overall percentage on
5/23/08 the one day when I shot with my eyes open. Today I set a
personal record of 34% for overall percentage with the eyes closed
shooting from 24 feet; my previous personal record for this was
28% on 6/?/08. In the second segment today using the completely rebellious elbow out, palm on ball
style I set a new personal record for highest percentage in a segment from
24 feet at 45%, the previous
personal record for this was 40% on 6/29/08.
When I have had a chance to shoot from 27 feet after shooting from 24
feet, the performance from 27 feet has surprisingly been better than the
performance from 24 feet; I estimate this is because the 27 foot shooting
comes after the 24 foot shooting has given me a chance to get very warmed
up and well-practiced. The overall 34% performance today was better than
my personal record for overall performance from 27 feet of 27% on 5/29/08;
the best segment today at 45% from 24 feet, excelled the best segment ever
from 27 feet which was 41% on 5/29/08.
I realize that there are days on which I shoot well and days on which
I shoot poorly which complicates attempts to judge rate of improvement.
Today July 2 I shot well at 34%; the basketball practice
previous to today (June 28) I did not shoot well, I shot 22%;
the average of today and the previous practice combined was
28%. The average of the first day shooting blind from 24'
(May 26) and the second day shooting blind (May 29) from 24' was
23%. Looking at the point in between the May 26 practice and the
May 29 practice, and the point in between the June 28 practice and today's
July 2 practice, there were five practices in between these two points:
May 29, June 1, June ?, June ?, and June 28.
Thus I could reasonably say that I improved from
23% to 28% over 5 basketball practice days. If the
percentage continues to rise like this by 5 points every 5 practice
days, I can expect to be at 33% in 5 days, 38% in 10 practice
days, 43% in 15 practice days, 53% in 25 practice days, 63%
in 35 practice days, 73% in 45 practice days, 83%
in 55 practice days, and 93% 65 practice days from now.
Meaning that according to this method of
projection, practicing basketball every 3 days, in 195 days, about
6.5 months, I will be shooting 93% from 24 feet with my eyes closed.
Another way of looking at the projected rate of progression is
that when my percentage rose from 23% to 28% over five practice days
the percentage rose by 22% because 28 minus 23 equals 5,
and 5 divided by 23 = 0.217 which rounds off to 0.22.
From this way of looking at it, my percentage will in five more
practice days be 1.22 x 28=34%; 10 practice days from now it
will be 1.22 x 34=41%; 15 practice days from now it will be
50%; 25 practice days from now it will be 74%; 30 practice
days from now it will be 90%. Meaning that practicing
basketball every 3 days, according to this second different method of
projection, in 90 days or 3 months I will be able to shoot 90% from 24
feet with my eyes closed.
Averaging the conclusions reached by the above two methods of
projection, I will be shooting at 91% from 24 feet
with my eyes closed, in 143 days, about 4.7 months from
now. Additionally I would be
negligent to fail to factor in the fact that when I settle on one of the
shooting methods I am using as the preferred method, my rate of
improvement will most probably accelerate.
I know there are important people who think I should focus on soccer
alone. However my rate of progress in shooting 24 foot basketball shots
with my eyes closed (eyes closed from the point before I do the
preparatory footwork involved in the shot to the point after I release the
ball) tells me that I should continue with practicing basketball every
three days. It could be that the cross-training mix of basketball,
baseball pitching and soccer improves soccer in ways that would not be
achieved if I practiced soccer alone. I realize that my
weaknesses in basketball are my vertical jump and conditioning; but
the latest reports from the world of sports science give me reason
to hope that I can get my vertical jump and my conditioning up to a level
that is acceptable for high-level basketball. In between taking
shots when I practice basketball I have been practicing dribbling the ball
with my right hand (I am left footed); I have been pleased with my
progress practicing dribbling side to side and forward and backwards with
my right hand. Basketball Shooting
Stats Starting May 23 '08
Key: M1=palm of shooting hand on ball during shot, elbow of shooting arm
out pointing to side during shot: M2= palm of shooting hand off
ball during shot, ball shot with fingertips, elbow of shooting
arm out pointing to side during shot; M3=palm of shooting
hand on ball during shot, elbow of shooting arm in pointing
forwards during shot; M4=palm of shooting hand off ball during
shot, ball shot with fingertips, elbow of shooting arm in
pointing forwards during shot; OR1=the segment was the first segment
done during the practice, OR2=the segment was second segment done during
the practice, OR3=the segment was the third segment done during the
practice, and etc; ELU=elbow position unspecified; 24'=ball shot from 24
feet, 27'=ball shot from 27 feet etc; 24' total = total score from 24
feet, 27' total = total score from 27 feet; grand total = total score from
all distances. Blind=before starting the footwork done prior to the shot I
closed my eyes, and then opened my eyes after the ball was released.
Percentage figures in parentheses are the average of the percent scores
for various methods, as opposed to the total of made/attempts
(this could be important because with my method of scoring, in a
given segment, when more shots are going in there are less attempts).
|
Adidas Bracara Indoors Shoes with 1 layer Propel Gel
Padding;
Spalding TF-1000 Microfiber Composite Basketball,
inflated to 8.0 psi as usual |
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