Pages on
Soccer
Hts and wts of players on Brazil, Germany
national soccer teams, and goalkeeping rules notes:
table log of soccer air-dribbling flight
drill workouts
Dimensions of soccer field, goalie habitats,
jpeg marked scale map of soccer field, notes on dimensions of field...
https://www.angelfire.com/ma/vincemoon/airattack.htm
jpeg marked scale map of soccer field, notes on dimensions of field...
https://www.angelfire.com/ma/vincemoon/airattack.htm
DATE |
RESULT/ACTIVITY |
COMMENTS |
BALL USED-ball
inflation
SHOES USED |
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July 25 2007
Indoors gym
Waltham Y
815-950 PM
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LC180AD Windsprints 45 mins 10 min break 35 mins. |
The YMCA schedule said half the gym was open,
and the other half was given over to the "Cougars B-Ball Clinic". Still I
called the Y in the afternoon and talked to Laurie, to double check as to
whether half the gym was actually open. She said yes that half the gym was
open. Then when I got to the gym at 805 approx, surprise the black guy who
looks like Buddha, who manages these 'Cougars' who are white teenage
basketball players, said claimed he and his 'Cougars' had both sides of
the gym. The other black guy who was working or hanging around, also
thought the 'Cougars' had both sides of the gym. He went to check the
schedule. Then they agreed that they the 'Cougars' only had half the gym.
LC180ADWindsprints
The first 45 minutes ended with me hot sweaty
and winded. Same for the second 35 minutes. The method was a left footed
chip at the wall from 12 yds away from the wall, followed by when meeting
the ball on the rebound: trapping the ball with the chest, making a 180
degree turn, commencing an air dribble of up to 12 yds; or, heading the
ball so as to propel it in approximately the direction it was already
moving, turning the body 180 degrees, and commencing an air dribble of up
to 12 yds; or, starting the air dribble and 180 degree turn with the thigh
or the foot. The air dribble runs were each followed by a ground dribble
of 20 yds, a 180 degree turn, a ground dribble of another 10 yds, stop of
the ball, stand/walk for prescribed interval which was 40 seconds
today.
When I met the rebound with the head, I would
first head it either approx straight upwards or in the direction it was
already moving deflecting it left or right at an angle somewhat. When I
used my chest I would first stop the ball with my chest and then before it
hit the ground get it moving in the direction it was already moving after
it bounced off the wall.
There were to my surprise, several glossy
slick successes for me today, making contact with the rebounding ball with
my head and then commencing a long air dribble using mostly my head. There
were also some successes stopping with the chest and commencing the air
dribble but not as many. The thigh and the foot are still relatively
clumsy.
The chips today showed improvement in terms
of consistent accuracy over the previous day despite two layers of
cushioning on the sole of the shoe.
They have been playing the radio through some
loud shiny silver colored speakers in the gym lately. I worry how the
radio inhibits me as I have to watch out for breaking it by hitting it
with the ball--but I must confess this evening from 830 to 900 PM, approx,
they were playing some good tunes I had not heard before on 107.9
FM.
The past few days these drills have involved
contacting the ball on the rebound after it has bounced once. I realize
that the skills developed in these dribbles will have to be refined in
game type conditions--in game type conditions the ball will not bounce as
much, the floor will be softer than a basketball court wood floor, and the
ball being passed by humans as opposed to bouncing off the wall will come
to me at different angles. |
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin orange socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
6.5 psi. |
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July 26 07
Waltham Y 820-950 PM
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75 minutes E3ADGDWindsprints |
E3ADGDWindsprints Method: E3ADGDWindsprints today involved
doing a touch ball every 3 paces Air Dribble running fast, approx 3/4
speed towards the wall 20 yards away; then using 18 paces to retrieve the
ball and ground-dribble it back to a point near the starting point at
approx 3/4 speed; then using approx 10 secs of the interval rest time to
walk the ball back to the starting point; interval rest time today 40
seconds. Start was flipping the ball up in front of me not rainbow kick.
If I lost control of the ball I would still
run the 20 yds to the wall and retrieve and return on the run. If I got
back to the starting point having run less than 18 paces I veered off to
the left of the starting point from my point of view when running towards
the starting point.
First 40 minutes were hot and sweaty but not
as hot and sweaty as previous days. Same for last 35
minutes. I took a 15 min break in the middle.
The E3 Air Dribble showed its usual
resiliency in terms of not degenerating as a skill due to not having
practiced E3 for a long time.
The idea today was to touch the ball with the
head as little as possible. I did not try to minimize touches with the
thighs today. The last few days I have learned the importance of the
thighs when it comes to air dribbles in game-approx type conditions; the
randomness of it when the ball comes to you as a pass from a team-mate or
bouncing at high speed off the wall results in increased use of the
thighs. I have discovered that the use of the thigh need not slow down the
speed of the air dribble sprint as much as I used to think such
did.
Today there were plenty of (in order of
frequency of occurrence): fast (80% of fastest sprint speed I guess)
air dribbles going 15-20 yds using head thighs and feet ball never
touching the ground; fast air dribbles 3/4 speed ball never touching
ground going 15-20 yds using mostly thighs and feet; fast air dribbles 3/4
speed ball never touching ground going 15-20 yds using mostly feet.
There is still some clumsiness in the use of the foot on the air
dribble but such is improving.
I thought I did well on the air dribbles
considering I was all hot sweaty and winded. This new approach of not
keeping score, not taking notes, getting winded while doing the air
dribbles, produces surprisingly good results in terms of skill displayed
on the air dribbles, and in terms of improvement in the air
dribble.
Today the second half there was this guy who
looks like Ron Paul shooting left handed baskets in the gym with me. We
had the gym all to ourselves but he shot baskets in my half of the gym.
Seems he did a good job of not looking my way when my face was turned
towards him.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin orange socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi. |
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July 27 07
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Dream About Soccer |
Dream I had about Soccer last time I slept I was a member of the national team of some
country. I briefly saw the flag of the country. It was a flag different
from the flags of all the countries that actually exist today. Best
I can recall it was similar to the flag of the Czech Republic,
currently ranked #11 out of approx 200 national teams according to the
FIFA rankings (http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html).
I do not remember with great precision re
this matter, but seems the flag was square as opposed to rectangular,
consisting of 3 interlocking triangles one white one blue and one yellow.
This team I was playing on represented a
relatively small, non-famous country. There were about 25 guys on the team
including me. Several of the players on my team were tall, kind of angular
looking in body, over six foot two inch in height--I saw their silhouettes
at a team meeting in a pleasant garden like spot around twilight time, as
we stood around in a circle about ten meters in diameter.
At the meeting it was dry and cool the
temperature was about perfect (as opposed to the heat and the humidity in
the gyms and outdoors when I practice).
I was a substititute on this national team
not a first stringer but I did not mind. I felt as if I was humble to feel
satisfied with being a substitute on this national team.
The consensus amongst this team re me was
sort of: "we feel like being very patient with him with regards to
his injuries and his not putting in alot of actual minutes in official
games, and his development as a player, and his getting in shape."
When I awoke I was reminded
of how people on Beckham's new team, the Galaxy, were saying re Beckham,
"let him rest until he's a hundred years old".
My idea is that dreams can be misinterpreted,
dreams can be low or high in terms of their informational value. But
waking thoughts are like that also. Maybe dreams can help us keep tabs re
where we are relative to the rest of the world in terms of our quality as
a player at a given time.
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Friday July 27 2007
Outdoors
Peter Gilmore Playground
Corner of Lowell & High
Waltham
800 PM - 945 PM
|
E3ADGDWindsprints 40 mins
15 break
40 mins |
Weather conditions
were:
8 PM 80 degrees 12 mph wind 64 percent
humidity
9 PM 78 degrees 9 mph wind 68 percent humidity (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/7/27/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) E3ADGDWindsprints
Basic Approx Method: Air Dribble (ball kept
off ground) ball 20 yds to fence, ground ball, ground dribble 18
paces to near starting point, walk to starting point, walk to starting
point counted as part of walk/stand interval. Interval rest period 40
seconds.
1st 40 minutes: The performance in the first half was not as slick as
yesterday, but there were still lots of slick 20 yd no bounce ball kept
close to body air dribble runs. The first 12 minutes were relatively
clumsy. Then there was a streak starting about 812 PM of 15 minutes
lasting till about 827 PM that was almost perfect, fast run after
fast run featuring the ball never touching the ground over 20 yards, with
the ball touched only with alternating left and right feet and the ball
kept close to the body. The last 10 minutes of the first 40 were a
return to what is relatively speaking compared to what I am capable,
somewhat clumsy.
At the end of the first half when I
picked the clipboard up off the ground, it was hot in temperature to the
touch. Same after the second half. I think the bright lights they use to
illuminate the playground, increase the heat on the
playground.
2nd 40 minutes: The lights
lighting the middle and far basketball courts went out at 915 PM. I
migrated to the one court that remained lit. This court was lit at 935 PM
when I left. The second half was relatively clumsy compared to what I am
capable of--but that is from a viewpoint that considers a fast air dribble
of 20 yards featuring the ball bouncing only once over the course of the
20 yards, to be something clumsy, even when aside from the ball bouncing
once the ball was kept close to the body and off the ground, touched
several times over the course of the 20 yards.
Overall Notes: I have not
been at the Gilmore Playground for a long time. Seems the combination of
a lower psi on the ball (due to the increasing importance of bounced
balls in the drills), the padding on the soles of the feet, and
the strange new environment, and the fatigue resulting from the
ground dribbles and limited rest in between the air dribble runs, and the
fact that this week was the first time I did the E3 type air dribble runs
(ball kicked every 3 paces) combined to produce what a connoisseur such as
myself calls 'clumsy'.
My diagnosis is, taking not
of how I had a hot streak from minute 12 to minute 27, shows that I have
the god-like skill, but this god-like skill is still impaired, clouded,
from time to time, due to the influence of fatigue, and the influence of
stiffness in the muscles, a stiffness which is overcome through the use of
the muscles in activities such as warmups. This week I have not
been doing any warmup before the first half or the second half maybe I
should do some such warmups, the cool new kind that speed you up instead
of slowing you down.
An idea I have for warmups for
E3: run along taking an especially long and high stride every 3
paces.
There were about 30-40 people at the
playground, most of them were hispanic or black boys playing soccer or
basketball. When I got there there were no full court soccer games going
but after I had been there for a while they got two intense full court
soccer games going I was on the third court.
This little black girl of about 2 years old
who was running around, seemed to be imitating the sprightly wind-sprint
invigorated movements of my lower leg while sprinting, with her lower
legs. The young black man who was with her asked me if I wanted to play
soccer with him. I told him the truth, I was doing a drill and I would be
leaving the playground in 5 minutes.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin orange socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi. |
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Monday July 30
Waltham Y
800-945 PM
Waltham Y
indoor gym
|
LC90ADWindsprints,
turning to left on contact with ball; 45
minutes, 15 minute break, 45 minutes
total 90 minutes
|
LC90ADWindsprints, turning to left on contact with ball; chips made with left
foot This drill (explained previously) features a chip at the wall, followed by turning left at a 90 degree angle on contact with the rebound, air dribbling approx 18 yds, then ground dribbling back to the starting point (this phase approx 14 paces), then walk/stand rest interval which today was 40 seconds counted in the head. The ball was chipped with the left foot. Definition of Air-Dribble:
Running forward while keeping the ball off the ground and close to the
body, or running forward keeping the ball close to the body and off the
ground except for an occasional (avg 1/10 yds) bounce.
Temp (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/7/30/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) 73
degrees faren., 84% humidity, (8 PM) to 68 degrees faren., 93%
humidity, (10 PM). Indoors in the gym it was more hot and humid than
it was outdoors. I got hot sweaty and winded both halves.
The chips the first half were superior to the
previous chipping session doing this kind of drill, in
terms of quality in the first half this evening; they were
typically chips that hit the wall 16 yds away hard about
13 feet above the ground. Looks like skill improvement is evident so long
as the fatigue factor has not set in. First half a target approx 1 yd wide
and 2 yds high, its center approx 13 feet off the ground, (a wall-hanging
for some company announcing said company was a good guy who was charitable
with the Y) was hit many times, missed by only a foot or so only many
times. The target was generally hit hard enough to get the ball back
to me approx 15 yds from the wall on one high bounce reaching my head.
Today I noticed especially in the first half:
improvement in terms of making first contact with the ball (that
is coming at me hard and fast) and simultaneously turning with one or two
touches, using not the head but rather the thighs and the feet.; and also
improvement in air-dribble using the thighs and the feet once the turn was
made.
This kind of air-dribble that begins with
turning a ball that is flying at you fast, is different than air-dribbling
that begins with the ball on the ground in front of me, the ball flipped
up to a spot in front of me with my preferred left foot. This kind of
air-dribbling produces alot awkward situations that are difficult to
handle.
I noted that often if I slow down the speed
of the air dribble I can utilize the feet as opposed to the thigh and
the head and suceed in keeping the ball completely off the ground during
the continuation of the air-dribble; whereas if I keep the speed of the
air-dribble up then the use of the thigh or the head becomes unavoidable,
and/or the necessity of the ball bouncing once before I touch it again is
introduced.
I noted that often the cause of falling short
of what would be ideal or perfect, the most spectacular, the shining, the
glossy, is: indecision--split-seconds of waffling re whether one should
slow down so as to produce an artistic air-dribble with the ball kept off
the ground completely, or keep the speed up with the result that the ball
bounces before it is hit again.
I began to suspect that I should henceforth
choose the speedy thigh/head striking the ball, with the ball
bouncing option as opposed to the slowdown and ball kept off the
ground, tending-to-use-of-feet-only option...
it seemed to me that the hyper-emphasis on
the slowdown and keep-ball-off-the-ground option is due to the tradition
of runs featuring the ball kept completely off the ground with the feet
being the preferred tool for the air-dribble. Yet I feel said traditional form of practice is still
important in terms of the development of relatively difficult skills such
as keeping the ball off the ground while using feet instead of head and
thighs.
The air-dribble runs today were at
about 80% of maximum sprint without a ball speed, I guess. The ground dribble runs back to the starting point were
at about 75 percent of max sprint speed. Eureka--this hyar air-dribbling
might, believe it 'er not, be fast than traditional
ground-dribbling!
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Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with one gel layer indoor sole cushion inserted; thin green socks Ball Adidas Replique 6.5 psi |
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Tuesday July 31
Waltham Y
745-930 PM
Indoor gym
|
LC90ADWindsprints,
turning to right on contact with ball;
45 minutes, 15 minute break, 45 minutes
total 90 minutes |
LC90ADWindsprints, turning to right on contact with ball; chips made with
left foot This drill (explained previously) features a chip at the wall, followed by turning right at a 90 degree angle on contact with the rebound, air dribbling approx 18 yds, then ground dribbling back to the starting point (this phase approx 14 paces), then walk/stand rest interval which today was 40 seconds counted in the head. The ball was chipped with the left foot. Today and also yesterday, the kicking style
was to have me before approaching the ball, the ball, and the target, all
in a straight line, with the ball hit with the upper portion of the toe
area (not the ridge at the exact front of the toe).
Definition of Air-Dribble:
Running forward while keeping the ball off the ground and close to the
body, or running forward keeping the ball close to the body and off the
ground except for an occasional (say one bounce per 10 yds) bounce.
Temp (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/7/31/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) 65
degrees faren., 69% humidity, (8 PM) to 65 degrees faren., 87%
humidity, (10 PM). Indoors in the gym it was more hot and humid than
it was outdoors. I got hot and sweaty but not as hot and sweaty as
yesterday. I felt much less winded at the half and at the end today than I
have felt previous days. But today was cooler and less humid than
yesterday.
The target again was a wall hanging bragging
about donating to the Y, that was approx 3 feet wide and 5.5 feet high,
its center approx 12 feet above the ground, its narrow side pointed
downwards.
The chips (some might say they were not very
unusually arched in trajectory today) typically hit the
wall 16 yds away hard about 13 feet above the ground. Hard
enough to bounce back to me approx 15 yds away on one bounce, bouncing
above my head.
Looks like keeping score of hits on
target today resulted in me neglecting the sort of hanging the ball up in
the air, the high arched trajectory.
1st 45 min the chips hit the
target 7 times, mostly in the last 15 minutes, but not once in the 1st 15
minutes. But there were many that missed the target by a foot or
less.
2nd 45 min the results: 1st
15 min, 2 hits on target, many missed by foot or less;
2nd 15 min, 2 hits on target, many missed by
foot or less; 3rd 15 min, 2 hits on target, many missed by foot or
less.
The accuracy today was not as good as
yesterday. Today for the entire practice I was mentally trying to
visualize the line of the ball's trajectory on its way
to hitting the center of the target; my mind was focused on the
center of the target. Yesterday my mind was concerned with just getting
the ball to the general area of the target, my goal was to not embarrass
myself. Yesterday I was thinking about achieving a high arch, I was not
keeping score.
To be fair, one must realize that this all
involves a new style of chipping that is new to me and also unorthodox in
the world of soccer. I am not approaching the ball from a slant, I am
approaching the ball from directly behind. I am using the front top
portion of the foot ( not the ridge at the exact front that runs
perpendicular to the floor). It could be that this style is worth
practicing even if it is basically less accurate than the traditional
approach of approaching the ball from an angle prior to the kick. This
style has certain advantages compared to the traditional style. Seems to
me it requires less energy per amount of force put into ball, than the
traditional slanted approach.
American style tackle football kickers,
mostly now kick in a so called "soccer style"; they approach the ball from
an angle prior to kicking it. But it has to be remembered that such
kickers are kicking balls that are held by a team-mate, a team-mate who
puts his finger on the top of the ball while the bottom of the ball rests
on the ground. Thus at a formative stage (children, boys) things can get
awkward in terms of the kicker's leg hitting the finger of the holder when
the ball is approached from straight behind.
The American style tackle football kickers
who approach the ball not at an angle but from directly behind, hit the
ball with the ridge at the exact front of the toe, the ridge that runs
upwards for approx an inch perpendicular to the ground. This front of toe
approach has been found to be inaccurate in American style tackle football
and also in soccer. But by way of contrast, I am using the top of the toe,
not the ridge at the exact front of the toe.
An error would be to neglect the top
of toe method I am now using, simply because in the judgment of many, this
method resembles the method that American style tackle football players
consider to be the un-soccer-like method.
Now it is time to cut the rest
interval to 30 secs. This means I need to count the
number of attempts per half so I can estimate how long the attempts take,
so as to be mathematically able to compare results with 40 sec rest
intervals to results with 30 sec rest intervals.
I have for a few days been experiencing pain
in the soles, the arches of both feet. The padding in the soles appears to
help. Though I have been walking like a cripple before and after the
practices, during the practice I somehow, I think due to the effect of
running around, manage to shrug off the effects of the pain and function
as if there was no pain. Next step: now that the shoes have been
loosened try thick socks with the cushion layers instead of thin
socks.
The Bracara indoors shoes do not seem
to be made for a surface as hard as a basketball court. Thus the
addition of the padding and now the thick socks.
The psi of the ball today was at 7.5 instead
of 6.5 psi. In the name of exposing myself (not others) to some
(carefully observed as opposed to haphazard) variety. The ball came in
noticeably higher and faster today compared to yesterday on the rebounds.
This impaired the quality of the first contact, turn, and air dribble run;
but still there were a few glossy shiny godly ones. Seems the harder psi
of the ball resulted in the ball being hit too far on the air dribble
runs.
A 1.0 psi difference can be so significant,
yet you have these guys who use balls that diverge from the official
standard by even about 6.0 psi, with the balls being used varying from
game to game by more than 2.0 psi.
Another impairing factor in my estimation,
was the keeping score of hits on target, as a result of which I
basically forgot the whole point which was to deflect the rebound 90
degrees to my right...so I ended up deflecting some of the rebounds at
angles that were too forward and not sideways enough.
Could be that the 2 layers added shoe
cushioning effect (as opposed to just one layer) messed up the accuracy of
the shots but my plan is to prioritize getting rid of the pain in the arch
area of both feet. I figure pain is a wise signal from the wisdom of the
body to the mind, that is telling the body to do something to get rid of
the pain. My estimate is that it will be good for my feet, if I try to
cushion my feet to minimize the pain.
Today I noted slight improvement in terms of
turning the ball to the side with the thigh when first contacting it.
I found that using the thigh to deflect the ball that is speeding
towards one to the side, to start an air-dribble run, can produce
surprisingly impressive results.
Health Benefits of
Sweating:
I have been sweating alot in these
workouts. So I decided to read up on the beneficial effects of sweating.
Knowing the beneficial effects of the workout you are doing motivates you
to do the workout. Here are some quotes from some other sites about the
health benefits of sweating:
We browsed through diverse web sites selected by Yahoo! surfers and
found a fascinating site called Sweat, containing text and photos
excerpted from Mikkel Aaland's out-of-print 1978 book of the same name. It
includes a section titled Sauna & Health.
Here we learned buckets about the physiology of perspiration: how
sweating helps rid the body of wastes, regulates body temperature, and
invigorates our largest organ, the skin. We read about the metabolic
effects of sauna and sweat baths, the positive influence of negative ions
released by steam, and the more subtle spiritual and social benefits of
the sauna experience.
The oldest know medical document, the Ayurveda, appeared in Sanskrit
in 568 BC and considered sweating so important to health that it
prescribed the sweat bath and thirteen other methods of inducing sweat.
Sweating is as essential to our health as eating and breathing. It
accomplishes three important things: rids the body of wastes, regulates
the critical temperature of the body at 37 degrees C (98.6 degrees F), and
helps keep the skin clean and pliant.
Many people, in this sedentary age, simply don't sweat enough, making
sweat bathing particularly desirable during these times. Antiperspirants,
artificial environments, smog, synthetic clothing, and a physically idle
lifestyle all conspire to clog skin pores and inhibit the healthy flow of
sweat. These detrimental effects are reversed in a sweat bath.*
Sweat also has the function of being a judicious garbage collector.
During a 15-minute sauna, sweating can perform the heavy metal excretion
that would take the kidneys 24 working hours. Ninety-nine percent of what
sweat brings to the surface of the skin is water, but the remaining one
percent is mostly undesirable wastes.
A metabolic by-product, urea, if not disposed of regularly, can cause
headaches, nausea and, in extreme cases, vomiting, coma and even death.
Sweating is such an effective de-toxifier that some physicians recommend
home saunas to supplement kidney machines. Sweat also draws out lactic
acid which causes stiff muscles and contributes to general fatigue. Sweat
flushes out toxic metals such as copper, lead, zinc and mercury which the
body absorbs in polluted environments.
It (THE SKIN) is so important that death by accumulated poisons
occurs in a matter of hours if the skin, and its sweat passages, are
smothered.
Properly cared for skin is better able to resist eczema, athlete's
foot, pimples and blackheads.
Furthermore, combining sweat bathing and brushing with a loofa or
rough brush removes flakes of dried skin cells that accumulate on the
epidermis. If allowed to remain, they can clog sweat pores and oil
passages and result in dry, flaky skin.
In conjunction with the sweat bath exercise, supplemental dosages of
vitamins B2 and E help keep skin fresh. Cayenne pepper, ginger, peppermint
are notable herbs which, when taken internally, promote sweating and
healthy skin.
Marvelous things happen beneath the skin in the heat of the sweat
bath. The capillaries dilate permitting increased flow of blood to the
skin in an attempt to draw heat from the surface and disperse it inside
the body. The bather's skin becomes cherry red. The heart is pressed into
a faster pace to keep up with the additional demands for blood. Impurities
in the liver, kidneys, stomach, muscles, brain, and most other organs are
flushed out by the faster flow of juices. The skin and kidneys filter the
wastes, excreting them in sweat and urine.
Of course it is unlikely that "any disease" can be cured by fever, but it is common knowledge that many bacterial and viral agents do not survive well at temperatures higher than normal body temperature. It is also possible that damaged cells repair themselves quicker in fever conditions due to the increased metabolic rate. Recovery from illness then comes easier and quicker. The inner temperature rise also
affects the function of important endocrine glands, the pituitary in
particular. Located in the bottom center of the brain, the pituitary is
known as the master gland because its hormones regulate both metabolism
and the activity of other glands such as the thyroid, adrenal, ovaries and
testes. Urged by the heat, the pituitary accelerates the body's metabolism
and affects the interplay of several of the body's hormones. Some people
have gone as far to say that sex drive is increased and growth stimulated
in the sauna bath.
The oxygen needs of the body
increase by about 2O percent so the lungs, another important eliminator of
body wastes, join in the body's quickened pace. (The lungs' rapid exchange
of carbon dioxide for oxygen is hindered in some sweat baths. In high
humidity water condenses on the tiny alveoli where this exchange takes
place and breathing may be slightly more difficult. On the other hand, if
the air is too dry, as occurs in many American saunas, mucous membranes
may become dry and damaged.) Clogged respiratory passages are opened by
heat, giving relief from colds and other minor respiratory
problems
Sweating by overheating the body in a dry sauna also produces the
following effects:
* Speeds up metabolic processes of vital organs and inhabits the
growth of pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The vital organs and glands
(including endocrine and sex glands) are stimulated to increased activity.
* Creates a fever reaction that kills potentially dangerous viruses/bacteria and increase the number of leukocytes in the blood, thereby strengthening the immune system. * Places demands upon the cardiovascular system, making the heart
pump harder and producing a drop in diastolic blood pressure.
* Stimulates vasodilation of peripheral vessels, which relieves pain
and speeds healing of sprains, strains, bursitis, peripheral vascular
diseases, arthritis and muscle pain.
* Promotes relaxation, thereby lending a feeling of well-being.
Studies Show Health Benefits to Artificially Induced Fever
Noble Prize winner Dr. Andre Lwoff, a French virologist, believes
that high temperatures during infection help combat the growth of a virus.
German physical education professor named Dr. Ernst has found no
cancer patients among marathon runners. Analyzing their sweat, he found it
contained cadmium, lead and nickel.
Ernst concludes these athletes excrete these potential cancer causing
elements from their bodies by perspiring. He and other scientists also
conclude it is necessary to sweat profusely at least once a day to
maintain good health.
Usually, only the most active athletes achieve sweat through heavy
exercise on a daily basis. Those who are unable to exercise heavily, for
whatever reason, have an even greater need to create a regular sweat.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with gel layer and also foam layer indoor sole cushions inserted in each shoe; thin white socks Ball Adidas Replique 7.5
psi |
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Wednesday
Aug 1 2007
Outdoors
Peter Gilmore Playground
Corner of Lowell & High
Waltham
800 PM - 945 PM |
E3ADGDWindsprints 90 minutes
45 mins
15 break
45 mins |
Weather conditions
were:
8 PM 78 degrees wind=3.5 mph 45
percent humidity
10 PM 70 degrees wind='calm' 68 percent humidity (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/8/1/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) E3ADGDWindsprints
Basic Approx Method: Air Dribble (ball kept
off ground but close to body while running forward) ball 20 yds to
fence, ground ball, ground dribble to starting point, Interval
rest period 40 seconds.
During the drills I noted that I have
become much better at grounding bouncing balls than I used to be. I sort
of tilt my lower leg and hit the ball right after it bounces with my
slanted lower leg, hitting the ball sideways in some direction.
1st 45 minutes 800-845 PM: I
felt clumsy the first 15 minutes. Has to do with the fact that I dont warm
up or stretch I just from the beginning do the E3ADGD drill.
At about minute 15, while I was feeling
ashamed of myself, this I guess hispanic guy who was watching looked at
the ground and said, 'Diego..." in a kind of deep-voiced disparaging type
of way. The guy who said this was taller and whiter than the other guys on
the court, he had a mustache no beard. What he was saying is that Diego,
meaning the famous Diego Maradona, is over-rated compared to me. In
this he resembled what some hispanics of last year said (see
previous entry in log for summer-fall 2006 era).
Imagine that, I am feeling down
on myself and this guy is comparing me to Diego, meaning Diego
Maradona, considered the all-time greatest player by many.
Has to do with the fact, that on the air
dribbles I am going faster this year than I did last year, and so, the
ball bouncing more often on the air-dribbles has to be observed in
the context that I am going faster this year. This is because:
the windsprints have made me faster; my level of conditioning
for intermittent sprinting as in air-dribble runs has improved; and, I now
put a greater emphasis on sheer speed of air-dribble as opposed to being
allergic to the ball bouncing once over the course of a 20 yard
air-dribble.
This
playground/collection-of-basketball-courts has been very
quiet in terms of small talk sent my way (with rare exceptions) the
first two times I've practiced there this year. Maybe a reason I got
complimented today was that I was wearing white socks last time the socks
were orange.
Watching the World Cup last year, I noticed
how slick the players wearing white socks look out on the field, because
the movements of their ankles are so noticeable. Or was it the ones
wearing white shoes that looked slick? Anyway.
At 830 PM the lights went out on one
of the courts, and they started a four on four soccer game on the
court I was doing the drill on. So I ended up on the dimly lit far
basketball court, from 830 PM on.
At the conclusion of the first 45 minutes I
was less less hot and sweaty compared to last time I did this drill, and
also less winded. I guess the rest interval should come down to 35
seconds counted in the head for this drill now.
2nd 45 minutes: There were
some stellar runs, but I would guess that the dim light on this
unlit court (its dim light was reflected from the ones that were lit)
resulted in impairment compared to what the performance would be in
brightly lit conditions. Again I noted indecision re whether to speed into
the ball whilst emphasizing speed, or on the other hand slow down
emphasizing artistry/technique--such indecision results in imperfection.
My estimate now is that I should
during one half emphasize sheer speed and during the other half emphasize
artistry/technique/keeping-the-ball-off-the-ground.
I ended after the second half less tired and
less hot and sweaty compared to the last time I did the drill.
Overall Notes: Two
layers of added padding in the feet produces a very significant
improvement in terms of pain in the feet during and between the doing of
these drills (compared to just one layer the gel layer).
There must
have been about 40 teen age boys out there when I started, about five of
them black the rest Hispanic. This was way different compared to the
previous time a few days ago when most of the boys were grade school
types. I was wondering where 'Pedro' was, the hispanic teenager kid
who used to talk to me at this playground last year. At least I think his
name was Pedro maybe I've misremembered. I was remembering how a few days
ago when I practiced out on these basketball courts, when I parked my car,
this hispanic guy sitting on some steps said loudly in my direction, 'we
won't steal it'. That was the second time some hispanic guy near a park
where I parked my car had said to me, 'we won't steal it'. Last time such
was said was at some other park, some other hispanic guy.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin white socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi. |
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Thursday
August 2 2007
Indoors gym
Waltham Y
825-945 PM
|
LC180AD Windsprints 45 mins, 15 min break, 20
mins.
Total 65 minutes. |
Weather conditions
were:
8 PM 81 degrees 67 percent
humidity
10 PM 80 degrees 69 percent humidity (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/8/2/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) It felt hotter outside than inside in the gym
during the practice, which is the reverse of the way its been previously.
I got more hot sweaty and winded than the last couple of days. Last report
I saw was that it was 90 degrees in the area where I practice. Maybe this
report psyched me out but it did feel hotter today than the last couple
days. The way I played today I felt was proof that increased
heat and humidity results in impaired performance and fatigue.
Which brings to mind, amazing how in this
allegedly "greatest country on God's green earth", you cannot find a
swimming pool which uses something more sophisticated than chlorine to
keep the water safe, and you cannot find an indoor basketball court that
is air conditioned. Incredible. LC180ADWindsprints
The method was a left footed chip at the wall
from 11 yds away from the wall, followed upon first contacting the
ball on the rebound: stopping the ball with the some part of the
body, making a 180 degree turn, commencing an air dribble of up to 14 yds;
or, heading the ball so as to propel it in approximately the direction it
was already moving, turning the body 180 degrees, and commencing an air
dribble of up to 14 yds; or, starting the air dribble and 180 degree turn
with the thigh or the foot. The air dribble runs were each followed by a
ground dribble of approx 13 paces, a 180 degree turn and then a
ground dribble of approx 5 paces back to the starting point 11 yds from
the wall, stop of the ball, and stand/walk for prescribed interval
which was 40 seconds again today.
A 'Goal' today was hitting the 3 foot wide
5.5 foot high wall hanging, whose center is approx 11 feet above the
ground from approx 11 yds away.
Today I decided to experiment with
the method of looking at the ball right up to the time the ball is kicked,
but right before the ball is kicked shifting my eyes to focus on the
center of the target, so that the center of the target is clearly seen an
instant before and also after the foot strikes the
ball.
1st 45 min starting 825 PM ending 910 PM:
Goals scored at: 840, 853, 856, 900, 901, 903, 908, 909 PM (total 8 in 45
min)
2nd 45 min starting 925 PM ending 945 PM:
Goals scored at: 927, 938, 939 PM (total 3 in 20 min)
I was surprised to find that the
method of looking at the target at the exact time the foot strikes the
ball, began to work very well when I was warmed up and at the same time
not fatigued.
Until I got used to the new method, the
effect of looking at the target at the time the foot hit the ball was to
produce very high arching trajectory for the ball, the ball hanging up in
the air, the ball being off neither to the left or the right but generally
striking the wall above the target.
This epxerimental method was new to me. I
havent paid much attention to the issue, but I am almost certain
that in the past my method has been to first glance at the
target and then look at the ball at the time my foot strikes the ball
for the pass or the shot. I felt almost certain that the soccer
world would advise that the ball be looked at at the exact moment that the
foot strikes the ball. My research on the internet this evening
corroborated this.
I am an individual. The skill in which I most
excel the rest of humanity might be air-dribbling the ball. Air-dribbling
involves alot of kicks in which the eye is not on the ball when the foot
strikes the ball. (in previous entries on other pages I discussed how
after a few days I mastered the art of air dribbling without looking at
the ball at the moment my foot struck the ball). I found that once I got
used to the new eye-on-target method, I felt confident, I felt I had alot
of control over exactly where the ball was placed, I felt hitting the
target was easy, I felt happy and advantaged in that my eye was on what
was going on in the area I was kicking the ball to.
IMHO as of now, taking into account this
evening's research on the internet (see below this entry)
I should experiment with eye first on ball and then on
target; eye first on target and then on ball; eye first on ball
and then eye on spot between ball and target; and eye first
on target and then eye on spot between ball and target.
Supposedly some Japanese researchers discovered the best penalty kickers
focus their eyes on a spot between the target and the ball at the moment
their foot hits the ball.
My estimate now, is that experimenting with
different eye-focusings will strengthen my performance once I settle on an
eye-focusing method.
It simply struck me as bizarre, that the
soccer world including myself has been ignoring this key issue, what
should the eye be focused on at the moment that the foot strikes the
ball?
It seemed to me that if I determine with
certainty where the eye should be focused at the exact instant that the
foot strikes the ball, this will improve: my morale; give me the advantage
of being confident that my eye is focused on the correct object at the
time that the foot hits the ball; increase the consistency of the method
applied when the ball is kicked.
What the Internet Has to Say Re What
the Eye Should Be Focused On When the Foot Hits
the Ball
90% of the ten Internet Gurus
sampled declare that when passing/shooting, one should look at the
target before shooting, and then look at the ball while the foot impacts
the ball.
One Guru, the most
interesting one (http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/powerful-accurate-and-injury-free-kicking-a-mental-guide-33072), representing
10% of the Internet Gurus, contradicted
himself (unbelievable) by declaring that when Japanese
researchers found that the best penalty kick kickers kick the ball they
focus their eyes on a point in between the ball and the target, this
proved that the conventional wisdom that the eyes should be focused on the
ball when the ball is kicked is correct.
Member Comments
by eHow Friend on 8/8/2006
Greater accuracy - Judge which part of the
you
need to strike before (eg.
for right footers; opp for left footers: bottom right corner for an in
swerve, bottom left corner for an out swerve and dead center for a shot,
etc). Look at that part of the .
Keep your on that
part of the as
you approach the and
kick it. Only look away after you are well into the follow through. Always
keep your on the
when
taking any kind of kick!
The head should be kept steady and eye's fixed firmly on the . (push
pass)...
The head should be kept steady and fixed firmly
on the . (lofted
pass)...
The head should be kept steady and fixed firmly
on the . (low
driven pass)...The head should be kept steady with eye's fixed firmly on
the .
(chip pass)...
As in every sport, you should keep your on the as you make
the pass.
Another basic rule of shooting is to keep your on the at the
moment of impact. You should have already assessed the positions of the
defending players, the goalkeeper and the goal itself a fraction of a
second before your shot. By the time your have returned
to the you should
have decided the exact direction and force of your shot
Instep Pass... - focused
on the
on
Learning Checklist for -Style
Place- ...The
kicker's are always on
the .
To aid visualisation a ‘script’ can also be established. Basically,
this is a set of instructions that the athlete runs through repeatedly in
their mind as they visualise the action.
Here is an example that could be used to support the visualisation used by a football penalty taker:
...Japanese researchers considered the latter in regard to short and
long in-step kicks(2). Players were asked to aim at a target; the top
three scorers were defined as the ‘high-score group’ (HSG) and the three
low scorers were defined as the ‘low-score group’ (LSG). Analysis
indicated that:
his research corroborates the accepted wisdom of looking at the when , (?!?!) and not where it is going to be kicked when striking it. This is to avoid lifting the head (and in the case of the research above raising the ), which alters the biomechanics and accuracy of the subsequent kick. -- http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/powerful-accurate-and-injury-free-kicking-a-mental-guide-33072
PASSING PRINCIPLES...Eyes on the ball at the moment of contact...FINISHING (shooting) PRINCIPLES...Eyes kept on the ball at the moment of contact - on approach to goal take a quick look up and pick out target, then focus on ball. Many young players try to look at the target while making contact with the ball -- http://www.blarneyunited.com/Ref_Docs/KeyCoachingPoints-BasicSoccerTechniques.pdf
Placekicking (long): To execute a placekick effectively, students should:
•
Instep Pass...Critical Elements... on and start
motion
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin white socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.0 psi. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Friday
August 3 07
Analysis
|
130 watch |
Various Order of Eye Focus Possibilities In Kicking the Soccer ball Midpoint means eyes focused on point half way
between ball and target
1 Ball, midpoint, target BMT
2 Ball, target, midpoint BTM
3 Midpoint, ball, target MBT
4 Midpoint, target, ball MTB
5 Target, Midpoint, ball TMB
6 Target, ball, midpoint TBM
IMHO as of now, practicing all these methods,
will make me wise re which is the best method, and also practicing all
these methods will enhance the proficiency of whatever method is
chosen.
My usual method, the usual method for most
persons, is: 4 MTB but with initial glance at midpoint
excluded.; or, 5, TMB but with the look at the midpoint in the
second phase excluded.
The method the Japanese researchers
supposedly discovered is either 6 TBM target, ball, midpoint; or, 2 BTM
ball, target, midpoint.
The method I experimented with yesterday, is
similar to 3 MBT midpoint, ball, target, but with the initial look at the
midpoint excluded, or, 1 BMT with the look at the midpoint in the second
phase excluded.
Thus you have 3 general families: what the
Japanese researchers discovered, what me and people in general usually do;
and, the unusual revolutionary method experimented with yesterday
featuring eyes focused on the target at the moment the foot strikes the
ball.
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Friday
Aug 3 2007
Outdoors
Peter Gilmore Playground
Corner of Lowell & High
Waltham
700 PM - 845 PM |
E3ADGDWindsprints
total 90 minutes
45 mins
15 break
45 mins |
Weather conditions
were:
7 PM 86 degrees wind=11.5
mph 57 percent humidity
8 PM 84 degrees wind=8.1 mph 63 percent humidity 9 PM 83 degrees wind=8.0 63 percent humidity (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/8/3/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) E3ADGDWindsprints
Basic Approx Method: Air Dribble (ball kept
off ground but close to body while running forward) ball 20 yds to
fence, ground ball, ground dribble to starting point, Interval
rest period 40 seconds.
I estimate the air-dribble runs
today were at 80% speed first half, 85% speed second half,
(100%=maximum-sprint-speed). The ground drib back to target were at about
85% I guess.
1st 45 minutes 700-745
PM: I got quite hot sweaty and winded--it was worse than the
last time that I said that I felt improved in terms of hot sweaty
windedness which was August 1 Wednesday.
First 45 minutes I concentrated on artistry
and technique as opposed to speed; I concentrated on touching the ball
with alternating feet, and not hitting it with the thigh or the head; the
focus was on not letting the ball bounce. There were several stellar runs.
Before 8 PM the lights went
out on two of the courts.
2nd 45 minutes: I had space
to do the drill on the one court that was lit. Same story hot sweaty
winded, not quite as bad in this sense as in the first half, but worse
than August 1.
Second 45 minutes focus was on speed as
opposed to artistry and technique. I put almost zero effort into trying to
avoid using the thigh or the head; I did not try hard to avoid the ball
bouncing once over the 20 or so yards; the focus was on speed. Again there
were several stellar runs.
Overall Notes: I feel like I
am becoming convinced that slight differences in
temperature/humidity/how-it-feels can result in big differences in fatigue
and in performance. Just my luck that this should combine with the extreme
levels of heat and humidity at the Oak Sq Y gym, the Waltham Y gym, and
also outdoors. But it does seem that the Y's are making some effort to
improve the ventilation temperature and humidity conditions in their
gyms. There appears to be continuing gradual improvement in all the
skills associated with this E3ADGD drill.
Faces In the
Crowd
At the half time break, I was sitting on this
bench by the court, and this thin red-haired, seemed she dyed it, I would
guess hispanic teenager walking by stared at me while holding
her chest I kid you not. Then she said to me, "put your shirt on!". I
was thinking to myself, 'she's crazy, this drill would be completely
unbearable wearing a shirt. I get too hot and sweaty. I cant even wear a
headband or a watch because both littlle objects increase my level of
heat/sweat too much'. My first reaction was that she was holding her
chest because she felt jealous of my chest.
Then I started thinking of how sometimes I
look slightly fat in the mirror. Then it occurred to me that she seemed to
have a passionate look on her face when she looked at me and held her
chest. Then I got to thinking, that my body is like my face. Facially I
can look like the world's best looking man in the right kind of bright
even or almost even light, then again I can look average in the wrong
kind of light. I've noticed that likewise, my body looks much better,
artistic and statuesque even, in certain kind of lights compared to
other lights. This is speaking as someone who is not doing body building.
Maybe I should do a little bodybuilding, say once a week, bet you just
once a week could make a big difference.
During the second half this same red head who
told me to put my shirt on, walked by, this time she was with this
somewhat fat black boy, they were walking somewhere together.
These I guess black hispanic kids who seemed
about freshman in high school age were playing basketball near me.
Earlier they had seen me park my car on a nearby street. As a group they
shouted out sexually suggestive statements in both Spanish and English to
some brown haired white girls of approx the same age who were walking by.
The girls who had the come-ons shouted
at them, went and sat on some steps 50 yds from the playground. Then
they came back to the playground to play some basketball with these
black-hispanics (blacks fluent in Spanish types). But I dont think they
were playing with the ones who shouted the come-ons out to them. And I was
thinking to myself, when you are part of a macho extraverted pack of boys,
it is easier to be extraverted than it is when you are alone.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin green socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.0 psi. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Saturday
Aug 4 2007
Outdoors
Peter Gilmore Playground
Corner of Lowell & High
Waltham
755 PM - 940 PM |
E3ADGDWindsprints total 90 minutes
45 mins
15 break
45 mins |
Weather conditions
were:
8 PM 80 degrees wind=3.5 mph 45
percent humidity
9 PM 76 degrees wind=4.6 mph 54 percent humidity 10 PM 72
degrees wind=8.1 mph 64 percent humidity
(http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/8/4/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) E3ADGDWindsprints
Basic Approx Method: Air Dribble (ball kept
off ground but close to body while running forward) ball 20 yds to
fence, ground ball, ground dribble to starting point, Interval
rest period 40 seconds.
I estimate the air-dribble runs
today were at 80% speed first half, 85% speed second half,
(100%=maximum-sprint-speed). The ground drib back to target were at about
85% I guess.
1st 45 minutes 755-840
PM: I got hot sweaty and winded--but it was not as bad as
yesterday Aug 3, I think because of the weather being cooler. First 45 minutes I concentrated on artistry and
technique as opposed to speed. There were stellar runs at
intervals all the way from the 5th minute to the 45th minute. I
felt I was improving in the art of air-dribbling with alternating left and
right feet, which is what this kind of artistry is all about.
2nd 45 minutes: I had space
to do the drill on the one court that was lit. Second 45 minutes focus was on speed as opposed to
artistry and technique. I got slightly sweaty and somewhat winded, but it
was not as bad as the first half, I got more sweaty and winded the first
half.
Usually I look at the watch which I leave on
my bag near the start point, on average about once every 3 or 4
minutes. This evening, from 910 PM to 933
PM, I did not look at my watch at all. During this interval of
23 minutes featuring the time on the watch not being checked, the time
went by faster, I felt less tired, I felt happier, but--the level of
performance was down; I performed better in the second half in the first
15 minutes, and in the last 7 minutes, when I was regularly taking a look
at the time on the watch.
My estimate now, is
that possible reasons for this performance being impaired when the watch
is not looked at, are: the mind thinking about the time, results in
the mind not fretting excessively re the performance on the runs; the
passage of time registering in the mind, is like a comforting and relaxing
rhythm, like some rhythm or music you have gotten used to; and, since
watching the time on the watch makes time feel like it is going by slower,
one feels as if one has alot of time to produce the stellar runs, one
feels confident that one will be able to produce plenty of stellar
runs in a given segment of time.
Overall Notes: First half I
was pleased with myself, not second half. there might be types of fatigue
that are different from hot/sweaty/winded. There is sheer muscular
fatigue. You weightlift and you get to the point you cannot lift a given
amount of weight, and it has nothing to do with being hot sweaty or
winded.
I'm getting to the point where I enjoy the
exertion and the suffering of windedness heat and sweat involved in
this particular 45 mins windsprints 15 min break 45 minutes more
windsprints rhythm.
It is beginning to become pleasurable
like swimming on a beach on some paradisical island. Yesterday after the
workout, I think after I had recovered somewhat from the exhaustion of it,
I felt as if such workouts were strengthening me, bringing me to a higher
level, both spiritually and physically.
I'm noticing that my intuition
tells me the sweating and the exertion are good for me, and that I feel
good, feel happy, after the workouts are done--I end up feeling better
than I would if the workout was less demanding. I used to think that only
aerobic exercise was good for improving oneself spiritually and
emotionally but this I no longer believe. These anaerobic interval
windsprints are improving my spiritually.
Faces In the
Crowd
First half while I was feeling pleased with
myself, I noted for the first time, that here and there there were in the
first half at least a half dozen black or hispanic males between the age
of grade school and middle aged, who watched me intently for at least ten
minutes before losing attention. At least one of these guys was
talking on a cell phone while watching. Often I've noticed these young
black and hispanic folks at the playground talking on their cell phones.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin white socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.0 psi. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sunday
Aug 5 2007
Outdoors
Peter Gilmore Playground
Corner of Lowell & High
Waltham
755 PM -940 PM |
E3ADGDWindsprints total 90 minutes
45 mins
15 break
45 mins |
Weather
conditions were:
8 PM 70 degrees wind=7.9 mph 49
percent humidity
9 PM 67 degrees wind=5.8 mph 57 percent humidity 10 PM 67
degrees wind=4.6 mph 63 percent humidity (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/8/5/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) E3ADGDWindsprints
Basic Approx Method: Air Dribble (ball kept
off ground but close to body while running forward) ball 20 yds to
fence, ground ball, ground dribble to starting point, Interval
rest period 40 seconds.
I estimate the air-dribble runs
today were at 80% speed first half, 85% speed second half,
(100%=maximum-sprint-speed). The ground drib back to target were at about
90% I guess.
1st 45 minutes 755-840 PM:
First 45 minutes I concentrated on artistry and
technique as opposed to speed. I got hot sweaty and winded--but it
was not as bad as yesterday Aug 4, again I think because of the weather
being cooler.
There were "stellar" runs, equal to the "stellar" runs of
yesterday, all the way from minute 3 to minute 45. However today
the term for these runs in my mind, changed from "stellar" to "good".
These are runs basically that are fast, 90% of max sprint speed, the ball
kept close to the body and off the ground for 20 yds, the ball touched
every 3 paces with alternating left and right feet except for maybe once
or so along the 20 yds with the thigh or the head. Stellar as
such runs are and should be in my eyes or the eyes of some other beholder,
as I get used to them the term for them in my mind becomes good as opposed
to "stellar".
2nd 45 minutes: I had space
to do the drill on the one court that was lit. Second 45 minutes focus was on speed as opposed to
artistry and technique. I got slightly sweaty and winded, but such was not
as bad as the first half, and the first half was better than the previous
day. There were good runs again all the way from minute 3 to
minute 45. Overall Notes: Usually I look at the watch which I leave on my bag near
the start point, on average about once every 3 or 4 minutes. I did
this watch-watching the entire practice, both halves today. I did not
enter into any slump in performance like I did yesterday when I stopped
looking at my watch.
During half time, what I was thinking is that
I should take into account that the weakest link in the chain in these 20
yd air-dribble runs, is the first touch of the ball with the right foot
(by nature I am left-footed); and secondly surprisingly enough the
first two touches of the ball with the left foot, when I
roll-it-back/flip-it-up and kick it forward--these are the most
awkward or difficult touches. Therefore, my thought was that I
should do some drill which emphasizes these first two touches of the ball
more. Such a drill could be ten yards to the fence, ground dribble back to
start, ten yards to fence again, ground dribble back to start again,
interval of rest, repeat.
Also I figured, that to be more
realistic, for certain segments I should concentrate on hitting the ball
in such a way that it at its apex travels to a height of approx 8 feet
every time I hit it, because such high arching balls, are so difficult for
a defender to touch.
But I realized that the reason I avoid
doing such drills is that I am human, I like to impress people, and
such drills are either always less impressive than a simple 20 yard
air-dribble run, or are at the beginning until they are mastered, less
impressive than a simple 20 yard air-dribble run (featuring no emphasis on
arching the ball high on each kick).
Another thought in my mind at half-time was:
beware the demoralizing effects of: becoming used to, and jaded
re, great plays executed by oneself; and, the illusion that one is not
improving that arises because with each passing day one's high standards
for onself grow ever higher and higher.
I was thinking after the practice that I
should cut the rest intervals down to 35 seconds. However at the same
time, I realize that the recovery time after practice, the amount of time
I need to recuperate from the exertion of practice, is currently rather
high--at least a couple of hours; and so, perhaps I should not cut the
interval time until the recuperation time after practice has come down to
a level where such recuperation interferes minimally with my life.
Sometime in the second half, I began thinking
that as one grows used to the exertion of such workouts, and gets less
fatigued, one loses the advantage that seems to come from being so hot
sweaty and winded that one does not fall into the dysfunction of getting
nervous or thinking excessively about the kicks involved in the 20 yard
air-dribble. So it seems that as we become more fit, we
should also become more active, so as to avoid being so rested that
we become too nervous or think too much about how to exactly
strike the ball etc.
I have been keeping the ball psi's low
because I want to when I deal with bouncing balls face a bounce that
resembles bounces on surfaces such as grass and Fieldturf. Strange in way
because on all the grass fields that I can play on, the surface is so
bumpy that the ball usually bounces weird. Faces In the
Crowd
First half these white young adults were
unloading a bunch of stuff from their SUVs across the street. Seems they
lived in the yellow house at the corner of High St. and Hall St that
is across the street from the fence I run at doing the air-dribbles.
Amongst them were 3 young guys, I guess in their twenties, all white, all
clean shaven, all wearing baseball caps and T-shirts. They stood there and
stared at me for about 10 minutes. Side by side, they stood there, it
looked like they were standing at attention in the military. Then they got
on with their business, but later one of them came back to stand there,
arms straight at his sides, as at attention, staring at me for five
minutes this time. I realized that they were making me feel more
uncomfortable than being watched by the blacks and hispanics who
constitute most of the people at these basketball-courts/playground.
It was as if they had become 'gringos' to me, as I had gotten used to
being around hispanics. The way they stood there, I was thinking, 'what am
I, a five star general or something?'.
Sometime in the second half about 8 black,
athletic looking teenage boys walked slowly and silently in
my direction, they were in a kind of phalanx, shaped like a triangle, one
guy in the lead, until they surrounded me. It was the kind of thing one
expects to generate fright in oneself, but all I felt was a kind of
resignation to fate. They said nothing to me, a few of them went on
to shake hands with this white guy who was playing basketball, some others
of them walked on to sit at a bench. I felt relieved they shook hands with
the white boy, because in my almost un-tanned state, I am on the white
side of the spectrum at this playground, the typical hispanic browns and
the typical blacks out there being darker than me.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin white socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
6.5 psi
(forgot to check/inflate before
practice). |
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Monday
August 6 2007
Indoors gym
Waltham Y
815-950 PM |
LC90ADWindsprints,
turning to left on contact with ball; 45
minutes, 15 minute break, 35 minutes
total 80 minutes
TBM-1, TBM-2
eye movements on kicks |
8 PM 70 degrees 87 percent
humidity
9 PM 70 degrees 90 percent humidity 10 PM 69 degrees 87
percent humidity
The thermometer in the gym said 82 degrees;
last time I was in this same gym (previous entry), thermom said 88
degrees. It was more hot and humid in the gym than it was outdoors. The
fan they use in the gym was turned off the first half.
LC90ADWindsprints, turning to left on contact with ball; chips made with left foot This drill (explained previously) features a chip at the wall, followed by turning left at a 90 degree angle on contact with the rebound, air dribbling approx 18 yds, then ground dribbling back to the starting point (this phase approx 14 paces), then walk/stand rest interval which today was 40 seconds counted in the head. The ball was chipped with the left foot. Today as previously, the kicking style was to
have me before approaching the ball, the ball, and the target, all in a
straight line; and with the ball hit with the upper portion of the
toe area (not the ridge at the exact front of the toe).
Definition of Air-Dribble:
Running forward while keeping the ball off the ground and close to the
body, or running forward keeping the ball close to the body and off the
ground except for an occasional (say one bounce per 10 yds) bounce.
The target again was a rectangular wall
hanging about donating to the Y, that was approx 3 feet wide and 5.5
feet high, its center approx 11 feet above the ground, its narrow side
pointed downwards.
1st 45 min 815-900 PM:
Method used--TBM-1 for eyes (see Friday Aug 3 Analysis
entry), eyes first focused on target, then on ball, then at time foot hits
ball, on midpoint on line between ball and target): First 15 min: 2 hits
on target; 2nd 15 min: 3 hits, 3 missed by < 6"; 3rd 15 mins: 3 hits
4 missed by < 1'; total: 8-hits/45-min, > 7 almost
hits.
2nd 45 min 915-950 PM:
Method used--TBM-2 for eyes (see Friday Aug 3 Analysis
entry), eyes first focused on target, then on ball, then at time foot hits
ball, on midpoint on line between ball and point on ground directly below
target): First 15 min: 0 hits on target, 5 missed by < 1'; 2nd 15
min: 1 hit; 3rd 5 mins: 0 hits; total: 1-hit/35-min, > 5
close.
Overall Notes: Got quite hot
and sweaty and somewhat winded during workout, seemed worse than
yesterday. This I attribute to the extreme humdity, the weather
report had the humidity at 90% outdoors, it was much more humid in
the gym than it was indoors.
There were stellar turns/runs from
815-854 PM. Turns/Runs improved during the first 45 minutes of
practice. I could see how turning a ball that is speeding towards
you and then starting an air-dribble is different than flipping the
stationary ball up from the ground and starting an air dribble--drillling
by doint parade-ground type stuff like flipping the stationary ball up and
then air-dribbling in a straight line for 20 yds, does not prepare you for
the wildness of starting an air-dribble by turning the ball that is
rocketing at you.
One does not want to prematurely judge
things, but it seemed that TBM-1 is alot better than
TBM-2. With an 11 foot high target, when the eye is on the
midpoint on the line between the ball and the target when the ball is
kicked, the target is firmly in the peripheral vision of the eye. But when
the eye is on the midpoint on the line between the ball and the point
directly below the target, the target is not sufficiently visible to the
peripheral vision. Thus the target being in the peripheral vision is not
enough of an advantage to compensate for the eye being taken off the ball
at the moment the ball is kicked.
I tried BTM, first the ball
looked at, then the target, then the midpoint, I found this BTM
method to be unworkable because in a fraction of a second
right before the ball is kicked the eye has to look first all the way up
to the target after looking at the ball, and then down to the midpoint.
Having to look at two different spots after taking the eye off the ball
before the ball is kicked--it is too much visual acrobatics, the eye
has to be taken off the ball too early.
Today the first half I achieved 8
hits in 45 minutes, this was an improvement over July 31 when the
chips from this distance were done without resorting to any deliberate
style, which I estimate to be look at target, then look at ball when ball
is kicked. This improvement occurred despite the fact that the
eye-focus method used today, TBM, is completely new to me--it
features eye on midpoint of line between ball and target at time ball is
kicked.
Problem with method experimented with today,
is--what is going to happen when the kick in question using this
method, is a high arching chip?
Faces in the Crowd: I was
alone in the gym. Then this husky light skinned black guy type, about
six foot tall, clean shaven, with wavy black hair, a nice friendly looking
chap, looked about college age, a kind of joe-college guy, came
into the gym that I was alone in, so the two of us were the only
ones in the gym. He very loudly sang out, in a happy friendly
kind of way, as if he was some kind of opera singer, "How are Ya?".
Which reminds me that--I think it was the
time in the gym before the last time in the gym--this 8th grade age white
thin brown haired boy was in the gym, and similarly, in a very
loud theatrical operatic kind of way, when I came into the gym, sang out,
"We're glad to have you back!" (I had not been at the gym for a while).
Then he ran out of the gym.
Funny how the black guy today, and the white
kid of last week, were so similar to each other in the way they
exuberantly sang out their one line songs.
I got o thinking, people tend to hide their
feelings but they have strong positive feelings for me, and yet still some
people with the power to make a positive difference in my life, give me
such a rough time.
During the second half, this black guy
wearing granny glasses, a fairly dark skinned black guy, came into
the gym and watched me for about five minutes with his hands folded across
his chest. Looking at him stand there wearing granny-glasses, with his
arms folded across his chest, I was thinking how Kevin Garnett (who is
black) at a press conference a couple of days ago said, "Blacks are too
pompous".
I was sort of thinking (mistakenly?), that
these people are oblivious to how, in the process of coddling overly
pompous blacks, they create a coddled-pompous problem and step on people
who are not blacks. If you try to adhere to rigidly to a quota mentality,
you end up being abusive with persons who are not typical. When you coddle
pompous people you can create a problem.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with gel layer and also foam layer indoor sole cushions inserted in each shoe; thin green socks Ball Adidas Replique 6.0
psi
|
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Tuesday
August 7 2007
Indoors gym
Waltham Y
810-950 PM |
LC90ADWindsprints,
turning to right on contact with ball;
45 minutes, 15 minute break, 40 minutes
total 85 minutes
TMB and MTB eye focus methods tested.
|
8 PM 65 degrees 78 percent
humidity
9 PM 66 degrees 84 percent humidity 10 PM 66 degrees 87
percent humidity
Gym thermometer: 83 degrees
It was more hot and humid in the gym than it
was outdoors. The gym fan was on. Five degrees cooler than yesterday but
the gym temp was a degree higher than yesterday. LC90ADWindsprints, turning to right on contact with ball; chips made with left foot This drill (explained previously) features a chip at the wall, followed by turning right at a 90 degree angle on contact with the rebound, air dribbling approx 18 yds, then ground dribbling back to the starting point (this phase approx 14 paces), then walk/stand rest interval which today was 40 seconds counted in the head. The ball was chipped with the left foot. Today as previously, the kicking style was to
have--me before approaching the ball, the ball, and the target, all in a
straight line; and with the ball hit with the upper portion of the
toe area (not the ridge at the exact front of the toe).
Definition of Air-Dribble:
Running forward while keeping the ball off the ground and close to the
body, or running forward keeping the ball close to the body and off the
ground except for an occasional (say one bounce per 10 yds) bounce.
The target again was a rectangular wall
hanging about donating to the Y, that was approx 3 feet wide and 5.5
feet high, its center approx 11 feet above the ground, its narrow side
pointed downwards.
1st 45 min 810-855 PM:
Method used--MTB for eyes (see Friday
Aug 3 Analysis entry), eyes first focused on midpoint, then on target,
then at time foot hits ball, on ball. First 15 min: 1 hit on target,
4 missed by < 1'; 2nd 15 min: 0 hits, 3 missed by < 6", 4
missed by < 1'; 3rd 15 mins: 1 hit, 2 missed by <
6", 1 missed by < 1', 4 missed by < 1.5'; total:
2-hits/45-min, 18 almost hits.
2nd 40 min 910-950 PM:
Method used--TMB for eyes (see Friday Aug 3
Analysis entry), eyes first focused on target, then on midpoint, then at
time foot hits ball, on ball: First 15 min: 0 hits on target, 2
missed by < 6", 1 missed by < 1', 0 missed by < 1.5'; 2nd 15
min: 5 hits, 2 missed by < 6", 2 missed by < 1', 2 missed by
< 1.5'; 3rd 10 mins: 2 hits, 2 missed by < 6", 1 missed by <
1'; total: 7-hits/40-min, 12 almost
hits.
Overall Notes: Got quite hot
and sweaty and somewhat winded during 1st half, somewhat hot and sweaty,
slightly winded in second half.
During the workout I felt as if the MTB first
half, was a disaster, much worse than the TMB the second half. But after I
totalled the score I found that first half 20 kicks landed less
than 1.5 feet from the target, and in the second half 19 landed less than
1.5 feet from the target. Thus I wonder if a mania for hitting the
target can distort judgement.
Still I feel as if the TMB in the
second half, was clearly better than the MTB in the first
half. The five hits and six near misses the second 15
minutes of the second half were the best 15 mins ever on this
exercise. My guess is that I make 13-14 attempts per 15 minutes. I
probably tend to in my head count the 40 seconds of rest between runs, a
little slower than what is actually 40 secs according to a clock, because
I get hot sweaty and winded.
With the MTB, right before
the kick the eye goes to the midpoint, then to the target above the
midpoint, and then all the way back down to the ball. That is alot
of bouncing around with the eye.
I always look at the target before I start my
approach to the ball, regardless of what eye-focus method I am using. Thus
what I mean by say TMB eye-focus method, is that I look at target, then
midpoint, then ball on the approach to the ball after I
start moving my body at the ball prior to kicking it. I now feel
that the eye looking 3 different places after the body starts moving
towards the ball is too much work for the eye/mind, a distraction.
Thus my plans for the
future regarding this group of methods that features the eye on the ball
at the time the ball is kicked is: re-test TMB; test a simple MB,
featuring after approach the eye first on the midpoint and then on
the ball; test a simple TB, featuring after approach
the eye first on the target and then on the ball; and test
a simple B, meaning after the approach starts the eye is on the ball
alone.
I figure I should buy some more thin
socks so as not to distort the experiments with the thickness of the
socks. Not sure what effect the thicker socks had today. Thick
socks combined with two layers of padding added to the inside sole of the
shoe, can create a potentially clumsy thick soft striking area in the
foot.
I noted that I am improving in my ability to
turn 90 degrees to the right on the first contact with the ball
rebounding off the wall, and then air-dribble 18 yards. This improvement
can be credited to this drill that I did today. I am not as good at
turning right as I am at turning left. When the air-dribble starts with
turning a ball that is hurtling towards one 90 degrees to the side,
you get alot of situations that are awkward and difficult to handle but I
am improving in terms of my ability to handle such.
Faces in the Crowd: I kicked
the ball at the wall 16 yards away; the rebound came to me on a bounce and
I turned it 90 degrees on the first touch to start the air dribble. I got
near a black guy, about freshman in high school age who was playing
basketball with about five boys similar to himself, and attempted to flip
the ball up to continue the air dribble--the ball went off the toe in a
line drive at the black guy 5 yards away. The ball hit the black guy in
the head. I put no effort into this accidental kick but he
was holding his head for 5 minutes. I patted him on the back, and
said 'sorry buddy, it was a mistake, I'll try to be more careful next
time'. After I touched his body, my feeling was, these guys look tough,
wiry, muscular, even scary, but on the inside there is a vulnerable human
being who is not as macho as he looks. I was thinking, what I have not
mentioned in these hyar reports on the practices, and what onlookers are
not seeing since I have not been ending the air-dribbles with a shot, is
that an EXTREMELY powerful shot can be produced when the ball is
in the air but under control and both body and ball are already moving
forward at almost sprint speed before the ball is shot.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with gel layer and also foam layer indoor sole cushions inserted in each shoe; thicker black soccer socks Ball Adidas Replique 7.5
psi |
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Thursday
August 9 2007
Indoors gym
Waltham Y
800-945 PM
|
LC90ADWindsprints,
turning to left on contact with ball; 45
minutes, 15 minute break, 45 minutes
total 90 minutes
BT and BM eye focus methods tested.
|
8 PM 69 degrees 40 percent
humidity
9 PM 65 degrees 50 percent humidity 10 PM 67 degrees 47
percent humidity
Gym thermometer: 83 degrees
More hot and humid in the gym than outdoors.
Gym fan on. Felt much cooler in the gym than in previous days.
What a big difference humidity can make.
LC90ADWindsprints, turning to left on contact with ball; chips made with left foot This drill (explained previously) features a chip at the wall 16 yds away, followed by turning left at a 90 degree angle on contact with the rebound, air dribbling approx 18 yds, then ground dribbling back to the starting point (this phase approx 14 paces), then walk/stand rest interval which today was 40 seconds counted in the head. The ball was chipped with the left foot. Today as previously, the kicking style was to
have: me before approaching the ball, the ball, and the target, all in a
straight line; and with the ball hit with the upper portion of the
toe area (not the ridge at the exact front of the toe).
Definition of Air-Dribble:
Running forward while keeping the ball off the ground and close to the
body, or running forward keeping the ball close to the body and off the
ground except for an occasional (say one bounce per 10 yds) bounce.
Target: Rectangular
wall hanging about donating to the Y, approx 3 feet wide and 5.5
feet high, its center approx 11 feet above the ground, its narrow side
pointed downwards.
1st 45 min 800-845 PM:
Method used--BT for eyes (see Friday Aug
3 Analysis entry), During approach to ball, eyes first focused on ball,
then on target at time foot hits ball (eye always looks at target before
approach to ball regardless of method).
2ndt 45 min 900-945 PM:
Method used--BM for eyes (see Friday Aug
3 Analysis entry), During approach to ball, eyes first focused on ball,
then on midpoint of line between ball and target at time foot hits ball
(eye always looks at target before approach to ball regardless of method).
Overall Notes: Got slightly
hot sweaty and winded during 1st half, mildly hot sweaty, and
winded in second half. What a huge difference humidity
makes.
In the first seven or so minutes of
the entire evening I hit the target 3 times using the BT eye-focus
method. This is important. It means I can hit target alot without
any warmup using the unorthodox BT eye-focus method, which features my eye
being on the target at the exact moment that my foot strikes the
ball--as opposed to the usual method of the eye being on the ball at the
moment the foot strikes the ball.
The unorthodox BM method featuring
the eye on the midpoint at the exact time the foot strikes the ball, also
produced an admirable 4 hits on target in the second 15 minutes of
the second half.
Today I noticed that by
doing this drill and similar drills, I have dramatically improved in terms
of my ability to turn the ball (that is coming towards me fast usually on
one bounce), to the side accurately with my thigh so as to produce a
good start for an air-dribble. I have improved tremendously at
turning the ball to the side with my right thigh over the past few days,
even though I am left footed. I have learned to manipulate both how far
and how high I send the ball to the side on first contact with the
rebound.
Technically it appears that if I take
my eye off the ball to look at midpoint or target too quickly as the foot
is about to strike the ball, the kicks become inaccurate.
I do not want to rush into judging the BT and
BM eye-focus methods tried out today, because they are both new to me, I
have no experience with them.
Faces in the Crowd: A South
Asian Indian looking guy, one of their many
handsome-pretty-faced civilized and kind looking young men, who was clean
shaven, was watching me for the first ten minutes. Seemed as if his
eyes were big with astonishment at what he was seeing, which was me doing
the drill I did today. He said,
"that's good!" as he looked at me. I was thinking, I felt so clumsy the
first 15 minutes, which was the phase during which this guy was watching
me, and he thought I was good.
A couple of black approx 9th grade types
boys were playing basketball. I told one of them that he had left his
wallet on the metal bleachers, and that someone else who had done the same
thing a few days ago, had lost his wallet. His response was to make this
noise that sounded like the hubub of a crowd, a bunch of nonsensical
syllables strung together in a deep loud voice. The India/Indian man
working the cash register at the CVS makes this same noise sometimes, as
does the Puerto Rican guy working the register at the Exxon gas station. I
do not know what this noise is supposed to mean, but this noise
they make sort ot annoys me because I feel like it represents the
typicalism that bothers me. I admit I do not know whether God approves of
the annoyance I feel re this noise.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with gel layer and also foam layer indoor sole cushions inserted in each shoe; thin white soccer socks Ball Adidas Replique 7.5
psi |
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Friday
Aug 10 2007
Outdoors
Peter Gilmore Playground
Corner of Lowell & High
Waltham
810 PM -955 PM |
E3ADGDWindsprints total 90 minutes
45 mins
15 break
45 mins |
Weather
conditions were:
8 PM 58 degrees wind=4.6 mph 78
percent humidity
9 PM 56 degrees wind=3.5 mph 87 percent humidity 10 PM 54
degrees wind=calm mph 90 percent humidity (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/8/10/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) E3ADGDWindsprints
Basic Approx Method: Air Dribble (ball kept
off ground but close to body while running forward) ball 20 yds to
fence, ground ball, ground dribble to starting point, Interval
rest period 40 seconds.
I estimate the air-dribble runs
today were at 80% speed first half, 80% speed second half,
(100%=maximum-sprint-speed). The ground drib back to target were at about
85% I guess. I did not feel as energetic as the last time I did these E3s.
I had to endure some stressful events during the day prior to doing the
workout in the evening.
1st 45 minutes 810-855 PM:
First 45 minutes I concentrated on artistry and
technique as opposed to speed. I got somewhat hot/sweaty and fairly
winded--it was worse than yesterday doing the LC90 indoors. I suspect
these E3ADGD are more tiring than the LC90s and LC180s.
810 PM I was on an unlit basketball court,
there was a hispanic soccer game on the one court that was lit. At 815 PM
I realized that the hispanics on the lit court had vacated it. I went over
to the lit court. I was wondering (vanity?) if the hispanic youths
had vacated the lit court so that I could use it.
On the concrete bench near where I did
the runs on the lit court, four husky grade school whitish hispanic
looking boys, black haired, were sitting. Sitting with them was a boy who
in body looked about 9 years old. To me he looked like a mix of
black, white, and hispanic. He seemed like a boy who was light
and thin for his age, and also immature for his age. He was thin,
much lighter than the other boys he was with. He looked to me like he was
ethnically speaking a combination of white black and hispanic. From 815 to
830 PM he (in my mind I named him Little-Shriek-Coach) was
constantly screaming at me in a shrill high pitched tone of voice.
But I held my own despite his
incessant noise and constant attention. I was resting 40 seconds
counted in the head between runs. Every time that 25 seconds or so of
interval rest time had passed, Little-Shriek-Coach, screamed at me in a
shrill falsetto tone of voice to get on with the next run without delaying
any longer. The screaming demanding that I start the next run would go on
from approx the 25th second of the interval rest time to the 40th second
of the interval rest time at which time I would start the run. This
hysterical sounding falsetto-sounding screaming went on for 15
minutes approx nonstop.
His shrieking took some of the joy
out of the runs, but mentally I just concentrated on doing my best, and
there were several stellar runs during the 15 minutes that
Little-Shriek-Coach was screaming at me constantly
demanding that I reduce the rest intervals between the runs. It
was as if I had won an important victory over Little-Shriek-Coach by
performing the several stellar runs despite his constant attention and
disconcerting screaming. For the rest of the evening after the 15 minutes
of screaming there was nothing but silence from
Little-Shriek-Coach.
A Mexindboy who looked about 12, dark
skinned, husky to the point of obesity, came out on to the court and
grabbed my ball. He wanted me to kick it around with him. I explained to
him that I had to do what I was doing for 45 minutes nonstop as a way of
building up my endurance. He left me alone. But it seemed the
thought had crossed his mind, of mischievously cooking up with his fellow
boys all sorts of inconveniences for me.
The performance was off the
first 5 minutes in the first half, the next 15 minutes were good
despite Little-Shriek-Coach's screaming, the 15 minutes after this were
good also, and then in the last 10 minutes there was a rustiness pehaps
due to a combo of not having practiced E3 for a while and
fatigue.
2nd 45 minutes 910-955 PM: I
had space to do the drill on the one court that was lit.
Second 45 minutes focus was on speed as
opposed to artistry and technique. I did not become hot or sweaty but I
became slightly winded. It was a pleasantly winded feeling not a tortured
one. There were good runs throughout this half all the way up to the
end, but in general I felt rusty especially in the first 10 minutes.
Overall Notes: These outdoors E3s have not been done since August 5
five days ago. I felt rusty doing the E3s today. The LC90s and
LC180s in some ways help you improve on the E3s, but in some ways doing
LC90s & 180s results in rustiness on the E3s. Today I
felt improved in terms of my ability to handle imperfection/error in kicks
made by myself in the course of a run.
I wonder if some of the rustiness,
some of the wildness today, was due to a natural inner desire to get wild,
in the sense of straying from the disciplined choreographed straight-ahead
tightly controlled course I intend on at the beginning of the run.
In the course of such wildness I do
alot of things that could be useful in a game, such
as: change of direction; ball kicked every 4-6 paces with the
left foot alone with ball going over 8 feet high between kicks; ball
kicked over 12 feet high between touches; ball kicked far ahead but
reached on just one bounce; ball touched on every right footed pace (I am
left footed) while sprinting at almost 100% speed for several touches
in a row; 180 degree turn followed by another 180 degree turn while
air-dribbling keeping the ball off the ground but under
control.
Today I found it amazing how I
can kick the ball at a hard line drive trajectory to a point where it
bounces approx more than 10 yds ahead of me, and still easily reach
it on one bounce, due to the fact that there is so much backspin on the
ball when I kick it, which has to do with the way I kick the ball
and the fact that the ball is in the air not on the ground when I kick it.
Days on which I have done E3s
outdoors since returning to practice July 22
2007:
Date/psi of ball used
aug 10 7.5
aug5 6.5 aug 4 7 aug 1 7.5 july 27 7.5 Faces In the Crowd:
Besides Little-Shriek-Coach, a teenage hispanic female said 'hi' to
me as I sat on the bench by the court during the 15 minute half time. She
seemed relatively normal in her interaction with me compared to the other
faces in the crowd so far this year.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin white socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi
|
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Saturday
Aug 11 2007
Outdoors
Peter Gilmore Playground
Corner of Lowell & High
Waltham
846 PM -930 PM |
E3ADGDWindsprints total 45 minutes
45 mins |
Weather
conditions were:
9 PM 73 degrees wind=5.8
mph 59 percent humidity
10 PM 69
degrees wind=4.6 mph 70 percent humidity (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/8/11/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) E3ADGDWindsprints
Basic Approx Method: Air Dribble (ball kept
off ground but close to body while running forward) ball 20 yds to
fence, ground ball, ground dribble to starting point, Interval
rest period 40 seconds counted in head. On air-dribble segment attempt to
kick ball with feet every 3 paces alternating between left foot and right
foot.
I estimate the air-dribble runs
today were at 80% speed first half, (100%=maximum-sprint-speed). The
ground drib back to target were at about 85% I guess. I felt
tired, I think because my anwering machine was filled with these stress
producing messages from these people today such as: someone
inviting me to dinner; someone calling me to apologize for being rude to
me six days ago, while he was yet again under the influence of voluminous
amounts of cheap vodka; someone calling me wanting to use my computer yet
again.
45 minutes 846-930 PM: First 45 minutes I concentrated on artistry and
technique as opposed to speed; I tried hard to avoid letting the ball
bounce even once, tried hard to touch the ball with alternating left and
right feet every 3 paces.
I got a little sweaty, slightly winded,
did not get hot.
Of the 3 basketball courts, the basketball
court nearest Moody St. was lit. The other two basketball courts were not
lit. The lit court and the middle court were occupied by a baseball game
using a tennis ball featuring 8 grade school approx age boys some of them
white some of them hispanic. Thus I used the far unlit court.
Despite the fact that the light on
this court resembled twilight (lit by the light on the court on the other
side and the light of the streetlamps outside the fenced off area
including the courts), from minute 5 all the way up to minute 45 there
were good runs. I noticed again that I have significantly improved in
terms of my ability to handle the ball with a kick after a preceding
imperfect kick creates an awkward situation for the subsequent
kick (an air-dribble can be kick after kick while
sprinting, keeping the ball off the ground but close to the body and under
control).
The 8 boys had their baseball game set up so
that the batting team including the batter, would constantly be
looking directly in my direction--I was always in the background behind
the pitcher. More constant attention. But I just concentrated on
doing my best on every run, and good runs kept coming from beginning to
end.
Overall Notes: By 10 PM all the lights were out.
Faces In the Crowd:
Coach Little-Shriek was one of the boys out there this evening. But his
face had changed, he looked in his face almost like a completely different
person than he did when he was haranguing me the evening before. The color
and the structure of his face had changed. He looked less gaunt and
reddish. Seemed he (Coach Little-Shriek) was being reproached by his
fellow boys for his misbehavior the evening before. He was completely
silent the entire evening. He had this sort of 'I'm Aware I'm in the
Presence of a Superstar' look to his eyes.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin orange socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi |
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Monday
August 13 2007
Indoors gym
Waltham Y
800-945 PM
|
LC180AD Windsprints 45 mins, 15 min break, 45
mins.
Total 90 minutes
INJURED
|
9 PM 67 degrees 93
percent humidity
10 PM 69 degrees 75
percent humidity
Gym thermometer: ?? Gym thermom
disappeared
More hot and humid in the gym than outdoors.
Temp coolish but very humid. LC180ADWindsprints
The method was a left footed chip at the wall
from 16 yds away from the wall, followed upon first contacting the
ball on the rebound: stopping the ball with the some part of the
body, making a 180 degree turn, commencing an air dribble of up to 9
yds; or, heading the ball so as to propel it in approximately the
direction it was already moving, turning the body 180 degrees, and
commencing an air dribble of up to 9 yds; or, starting the air
dribble and 180 degree turn with the thigh or the foot on first contact
with the ball.
The air dribble runs were each followed by a
ground dribble of approx 15 yds, a 180 degree turn and then a
ground dribble of approx 10 yds back to the starting point 16
yds from the wall, stop of the ball, and stand/walk for prescribed
interval which was 40 seconds again today.
Shooting method, as it has been for all the shooting drills on this
page so far, was to start with the body ball and target all in a straight
line, approach the ball from directly behind the ball, hit the ball with
the top of the toe area, not the ridge wall at the exact front of the
foot.
I estimate the air-dribble runs today were at 65% speed
first and second half (100%=maximum-sprint-speed). The ground drib back to
target were at about 75% I guess. I suspect that switching from
green tea to coffee reduced my endurance level. I have
not felt as good before during and after practice since
I switched from tea to coffee.
What it is is that I heard on TV that coffee is good for the
liver. Yet more proof that everything that is good for you in some way is
bad for you in some way. And there is the related point that when you
consume something that is good for you that leads to consuming less of
something else that is also good for you.
Definition of Air-Dribble:
Running forward while keeping the ball off the ground and close to the
body, or running forward keeping the ball close to the body and off the
ground except for an occasional (say one bounce per 10 yds) bounce.
Target: Rectangular
wall hanging about donating to the Y, approx 3 feet wide and 5.5
feet high, its center approx 11 feet above the ground, its narrow side
pointed downwards.
1st 45 min 800-845 PM:
Method used--TB for eyes (see Friday Aug
3 Analysis entry), During approach to ball, and on contact with ball, eye
is kept on ball (eye always looks at target before approach to ball
regardless of method).
2ndt 45 min 900-945 PM:
Method used--MB for eyes (see Friday Aug
3 Analysis entry), During approach to ball, eyes first focused on
midpoint, then on ball (eye always looks at target before approach to ball
regardless of method).
Overall Notes: Got hot
sweaty and slightly during 1st half, hot sweaty, and somwehat
winded in second half.
Obviously both halves showed a
dramatic and sudden improvement in terms of the number of hits on target
per minute, compared to previous days in general and also
compared to previous days using same or similar methods.
I am more familiar with the TB than I am with
the MB, a fact that balances TB's superior performance today.
The mental attitude was to just think
about doing my best, an attitude which served me well when doing
the E3s while closely watched at the outdoors Gilmore
playground.
I noted significant improvement in
the general ability to both start the air-dribble in the general direction
the approaching ball is already moving on the first touch of the
ball that is moving at me after ricocheting off the wall, and also in
terms of the first couple of touches on the air dribble once the turn
is made.
I noted dramatic improvement in terms
of the ability to on the first touch, use my thigh to hit the ball which
is coming at me fast on one bounce as I face the ball to a point
behind me in the
general direction the ball is already moving, (with the ball
placed well enough so that I can start an air-dribble) then turning approx
180 degrees with the body, and commencing the air-dribble.
I noticed watching the New England Revolution
play the Los Angeles Galaxy yesterday, that the MLS players, seem
to tend to ground balls that come at them on a bounce, or stop such balls
before proceeding somewhere with them on the dribble. By way of
contrast what I have been doing is on the first touch deflecting balls
that come at me in this or that predetermined direction so as to start a
dribble.
Some would say the above para is impolite. My
response: I need to know what I am good at. Good is a relative term with
this subject. Good means, good compared to other players.
Seemed to me watching some of the
Revs Galaxy game that the players just give the defense time to get all
set up, by like goodie-goodies dutifully grounding the ball or stopping
the ball before passing shooting or dribbling somewhere.
Example: what happened at minute 2:55 into
the game between Revolution and Galaxy Sunday August 12. I felt if I was
in the goodie-goodie Rev guy's shoes I could have easily started an
air-dribble to some placer very dangerous for the defense on the
first touch, or knocked the ball to a Rev who was open on the first touch.
But the Rev who was out there gave the defense a chance to set up by
grounding the ball like a good little boy.
I have yesterday's Galaxy Revs game
on my computer and am going through it little by little.
The first 45
minutes I felt the pain in my calves and in the soles of my feet. I have
not felt that pain for a long time. Possible reasons for the pain:last
couple of days I've switched from approx 8 oz coffee and 30 oz green tea
per day to approx 30 oz coffee per day and no tea.
reduced amount of beer drunk a few hours after practice to 24
oz.
This LC180 thing, is the practice of a skill
that is more difficult than the LC90 or the E3. I do not look forward to
doing the LC180 drill.
Nevertheless by doing the LC180 drill
I have begun doing things I never thought I'd be able to do:
using both my left and right thighs to deflect a ball that comes at me on
a bounce, up above me and behind me, to a point where upon turning around
I am able to start an air-dribble continuing in the general direction the
ball was moving before it came at me.
Previous to today the LC180 has only been
done twice: July 25 80 minutes; August 2 65 minutes.
Faces in the Crowd: Zero I
had the gym to myself today.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin orange socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi. |
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Tuesday
August 14
|
Analysis of 1st quarter (1st 22:30) of Galaxy vs Revolution Game |
Notes on 1st quarter of New England Revolution vs Los Angeles Galaxy game of Sunday August 12 2007 2:55 The Rev player (I think it was #14) got
an easy one-bounce pass, with time and space, approx 30 yds from the
Galaxy goal. He grounded the ball and set a short roller pass in on a left
angled forward slant. Nothing came of it. Seems the players just give the
defense time to get all set up, by like goodie-goodies dutifully grounding
the ball before passing shooting or dribbling somewhere. I felt if I was
in the goodie-goodie Rev guy's shoes at this point I could have easily
started an air-dribble to some place very dangerous for the defense on the
first touch, or knocked the ball to a Rev who was open on the first touch.
But the Rev who was out there gave the defense a chance to set up by
grounding the ball like a good little boy.
2:57 Seems at first the Rev had a couple of
team-mates further away from him and closer to the center of the field
than the one he passed the ball to in the end; seems he would have
done better to hit one of them. Seems he prefers sending short rolling
ground passes to sending longer air or one-bounce passes. Looks like the
disease has two sides--a reluctance to get the ball in the air on passes,
and a reluctance to keep a ball that is received in the air in the air,
the preference being to ground the ball.The rev he passed to seemed
unaware of the possibilities open to him if he were to let the pass coming
to him from behind him and to his right, continue on to in front of him
and to his left, and follow the ball. Such a situation is ideal for moving
the body across the ball as if to send the ball to one's right, but then
cutting left. This player getting the pass seemed unaware of where people
were on the field relative to himself. He got the pass and slanted forward
and to the right, away from the goal, into a couple of defenders and ended
up with a throw-in from near the corner.
5:09 Rev knocked ball away from oncoming
dribbler, Rev was facing to side, one foot closer to dribbler than other,
stuck closer foot out knocked away ball
6:15 a Rev (#14 Ralston again) got the ball
approx 35 yard from goal on a bounce. He did the stereotypical
goodie-goodie predictable thing, grounded the ball, started a give and go
into the right side of the field that ended up numerically overwhelmed by
Galaxy men. Imagine if he had been able to start an air-dribble off that
bouncer, slanting forward and towards the middle of the field. I can't
understand why these Revs on offense head for the corner and get buried,
instead of slanting towards the middle. Did you know the enemy goal is in
the middle of the field?
8:15 great pass/shot-attempt by revs the rev
was dribbling towards the right corner, passed inwards to his left at
approx 110 degree angle relative to direction of his dribble, pass a low
line drive travelled 25 yds on a bounce, Twellman slid at it, ball hit the
post. This ability to pass in at more than a 90 degree angle is notable. I
should check if I can do it and to what distance. The guy passing and
Twellman seemed to be psychically connected or they had pre-planned what
to do in such a situation.
14:00 Twellman heads ball forward and towards
ground, ball knocked away. Seems to manifest an unwise obsession with
getting ball down to earth. I know with a bouncer coming to my head on one
bounce, were I in Twellman's position, I could have started an air-dribble
towards the enemy goal. With time I predict I will be able to do with
air-balls what I now do with one-bounce bouncers.
16:35 the Rev guy #14 again had a bouncer for
starting an air-dribble at the enemy goal, he was 40 yards from the Galaxy
goal, he grounded the ball and passed it backwards. At the position he
plays, he gets alot of balls that could start air-dribbles. If you have
someone dropping back to cover for the guy attacking on the
air-dribble such is feasible.
19:43-20:00 the Galaxy started a long retreat
from 30 yards from the Rev goal all the way back to their own goalie. It
all looked blameless and goodie-goodie-ish but seems ridiculous.
General notes: the skill of the Galaxy forwards at trapping air balls with back to enemy goal facing pass coming towards them. They knock the ball in front of them to a safe point where they can control it. This kind of skill should not be difficult to master for me I've mastered much more difficult things. Nevertheless if it is not practiced it could still be a weak point. Players who are not forwards like #14 Ralston, who is a midfielder,
get alot of chances to initiate air-dribble attacks. I also noticed this
during the latest world cup games. These non-forward players can safely go
on their air-dribble attacks if there is someone to drop back to cover for
them defensively.
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Tuesday August 14 2007
Indoors gym
Waltham Y
800-945 PM
|
LC90ADWindsprints,
turning to left on contact with ball; 45
minutes, 15 minute break, 45 minutes
total 90 minutes
BT and BM eye focus methods tested.
|
8 PM 67 degrees 66 percent
humidity
9 PM 64 degrees 70 percent humidity 10 PM 61 degrees 81
percent humidity
Gym thermometer: Thermom is
missing
More hot and humid in the gym than outdoors.
LC90ADWindsprints, turning to left on contact with ball; chips made with left foot This drill (explained previously) features a chip at the wall 16 yds away, followed by turning left at a 90 degree angle on contact with the rebound, air dribbling approx 18 yds, then ground dribbling back to the starting point, then walk/stand rest interval which today was 40 seconds counted in the head. The ball was kicked with the left foot. Today as previously, the kicking style was to
have: me before approaching the ball, the ball, and the target, all in a
straight line; and with the ball hit with the upper portion of the
toe area (not the ridge at the exact front of the toe).
Definition of Air-Dribble:
Running forward while keeping the ball off the ground and close to the
body, or running forward keeping the ball close to the body and off the
ground except for an occasional (say one bounce per 10 yds) bounce.
Target: Rectangular
wall hanging about donating to the Y, approx 3 feet wide and 5.5
feet high, its center approx 11 feet above the ground, its narrow side
pointed downwards.
1st 45 min 800-845 PM:
Method used--BT for eyes (see Friday Aug
3 Analysis entry), During approach to ball, eyes first focused on ball,
then on target at time foot hits ball (eye always looks at target before
approach to ball regardless of method).
2ndt 45 min 900-945 PM:
Method used--BM for eyes (see Friday Aug
3 Analysis entry), During approach to ball, eyes first focused on ball,
then on midpoint of line between ball and target at time foot hits ball
(eye always looks at target before approach to ball regardless of method).
Overall Notes: Got slightly
hot sweaty and winded during 1st half and 2nd half.
These BT and BM methods were last
used August 9.
The big story today,
was of course the big improvement with the unorthodox BT eye-focus method,
as manifest in 13 hits on target in the first half.
The BT performance today continued the
pattern of great performance in the first seven minutes using the BT
method, the first instance of this pattern was August 9. Today similar to
August 9, the first two kicks of the entire evening were hits on target;
there were four hits on target in the first seven minutes. The last shot
of the first half was also a hit on target.
The BM eye-focus method in the second half
was about the same in performance as last time experimented with August 9.
I had said previously that I did not
want to rush to judgement re the BT eye-focus method. I also said that I
felt practicing both eye on target and eye on ball at time foot contacts
ball, would produce good results for whichever method became my primary
method. What happened today seems to support both these ideas.
The preoccupation with the shooting
accurately at the target, and the score and the score-keeping, detracted
from the performance on the turn of the rebound and the air-dribble this
evening. I want to do this drill without keeping score of hits on
target so as to concentrate on the turn of the rebound and the subsequent
air-dribble.
I watched an imaginary line 7 yards to my
left, running to the wall parallel to the line my shots at the wall would
follow. This line represented a defender, blocking my path to the goal
which I would set out on after turning the rebound (rebound simulates a
pass coming to me from the side, a pass running parallel to the end line).
Usually my second touch of the ball on the
air-dribble (on the first touch I deflected the ball to my left at approx
90 degree angle) would come anywhere from 0-4 yards away from the first
touch, long before I reached the line representing the imaginary
defender.
Thus I feel I am well on my way to
being able to execute the one touch turn followed by air-dribble without
having the ball stolen by the nearest defender due to excessively
loose ball control.
Sometimes the ball would go, usually at a
fairly high arch, over the line representing the imaginary defenders 7
yards away, on the first touch of the rebound--but I would still reach the
ball on one bounce running at approx full speed to get to it.
It is questionable what the result of
such balls popped over the heads of defenders would be in a game.
I have the advantage of not having to turn around, acceleration,
knowing better where the ball is going. Even if the defender got to the
ball before I did, I would be right on top of him to harass him when he
touched the ball, and he would have his face towards his own goal.
Since the ball is sort of popping up chip-style over the imaginary
line, even if the defender got to where the ball was going before I did, I
would be right on top of the defender at the time he got into position to
touch the ball. Also it could be that a team-mate would get to
the ball before the defender.
I found myself quite capable of
air-dribbling over the boys who were playing basketball to my left, after
turning the rebound to start the air-dribble. After turning the
rebound I would go right at them. If they got in the way I popped the ball
up over them and then joined up with the ball behind them, about half the
time getting to the ball on the bounce and half the time before it hit the
ground, all without slowing down and minimal change of direction. And I
would control the ball well when touching it after putting it past them so
as to continue the air-dribble.
I showed I have pretty much mastered turning
the ball to my left with my head on the first touch and starting an
air-dribble with the ball kept close enough to the body to not be stolen
by the defense. But there was plenty of imperfection on the turns done
with the thighs.
Today there was in me a kind of mania for
turning the rebound to the left on the first touch on every rebound. This
because of my success with the thighs yesterday on the LC180. Several
of the thigh turns today were hit too far. A few hit my knee and bounced
away from me because they were too low to execute a succesful thigh turn
with even if I lowered my knee to try to get the thigh under the ball. I
did not use the chest much today seemed I replaced this with crouching
down to head the ball, or getting up on my tip toes to thigh it.
Seems that you can develop new abilities by
attempting to turn on the first touch; also you can end up attempting the
impossible by trying to turn on the first touch. Not just turning on the
first touch but also turning on the second touch should be practiced.
My solution is that in
the first third of a half I should turn on second touch; in the second
third I should turn on either first or second touch whichever I choose;
and in the last third of the half I should always turn on first
touch.
Faces in the Crowd: A couple
of black kids who seemed to be approx 9th graders, were playing basketball
at the basket I would run at after turning the rebound. They could have
moved to the basket on the other side where I would not have run into them
but they chose not to. They were there during the first 30 minutes of the
first half, which were the best 30 minutes of the evening for me.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with gel layer and also foam layer indoor sole cushions inserted in each shoe; thin white soccer socks Ball Adidas Replique 7.5
psi |
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Tuesday
August 14
2007
|
Commentary on minutes 22:30 to 33:45 of Revolution vs Galaxy game of Sunday August 12 |
24:25 20 yd chip pass way off 26:07 galaxyman has ball stripped by rev on
dribble
26:36 Attempted 25 yd chip pass way off. He
slanted to his right before chipping to his left. He is used to
approaching the ball on a slant. This makes his passes predictable
compared to approaching the ball from straight behind. Because when he is
about to chip he first slants; and because the direction of the chip can
be judged by the direction of the slant he takes prior to the chip. A
defender read the coming chip and retreated to cover the intended
recipient of the chip.
27:10 rev gets one bounce lead pass as he
races forward ball bounces weird he loses control
27:42 Treadwell gets long chip. The defender marking him misjudged the chip. Treadwell chested the ball downwards and to his left, at approx 90 degree angle relative to the incoming pass. He then tried immediately to shoot the shot was deflected. If Treadwell instead of shooting at this point had cut backwards and to his right, he and a team-mate of his would be all alone facing just the goalie and he would have had room to maneuver. At this point if he had faked the shot and cut back and to his right a goal would have been easy. The angle of the shot vs the goal would have been more favorable. We have to learn to sometimes fake or forsake the first thing that comes to mind and do the next thing that comes to mind. 29:31 A Rev defender got the ball passed back to him, he pushed it
forward and slightly to his right. Seems since he was used to approaching
the ball from the left of the ball, his body
approach-to-ball slanting right prior to a kick, he kicked the ball
to his left, when a pass straight ahead or to his right would have been
better. His attempted 30 yard chip pass was off, too low,
intercepted
29:38 Galaxy guy, was off low on attempted 15 yd chip. Seemed since
he had to take a little dribble to his right before chipping it, as is
habitual with those who approach ball on a slant, this created a
clumsiness which led to the mis-chip.
31:11 Rev got ball rolling back to him. He could have used the fact
the ball was rolling back to him, to easily loft up a chip/cross to his
left and down the field leading a team-mate but hanging the ball enough to
give the team-mate time; instead he sent a low bouncing 15 yd pass
straight ahead, which was off, to someone who had two defenders right on
him. Seems since he was used to approaching the ball at a slant, he had an
accuracy problem kicking a ball that was rolling straight back to
him.
31:39 Rev moved to his right towards sideline, reached a bouncer,
attempted a one touch chip 25 yds straight ahead, overled his man. This
brings to mind that a drill I could do that I have not been doing
involves having the ball come at me and then commencing an air dribble
approx opposite in direction to the ball coming at me. I have not
been practicing this so far I have been practicing things that are more
difficult like turning the ball to the side or starting a movement in the
direction the ball is moving when it comes at me.
32:45 Twellman misses header-shot, the ball had come to him in the
air without bouncing. I want to find out how long it takes me to
master starting an air dribble off of a non-bouncing ball coming at me,
right now I am just doing the turning of high fast one bouncers. To
do this I will have to move closer to the wall when I make the kick which
I deal with on rebound. Cant do that yet because I am testing out
various kicking methods from a standard distance from the target on the
wall.
33:36 Galaxy man's attempted 25 yds chip pass was way off too long.
Here you can see that he pushed the ball to his left before chipping it,
because he is used to approaching the ball from a slant. But if he had
pushed the ball straight ahead, he had a hole to dribble through, and
would still have the option to chip pass forward if he was able to
approach the ball from behind as opposed to from the side. Seemed the
reason he did not move the ball straight ahead towards the hole, was that
he felt this would take away his option to pass, since he is not used to
passing a ball that is directly in front of him.
22:30-33:45 summary: this segment was chock-full of examples showing
that the soccer-world has under-rated the utility of approaching the ball
from straight behind, the ball, the kicker, and the target all being in a
line at the time the kicker starts the approach to the ball. This straight
approach is the kind of kick that an ignorant American style tackle
football player would classify as not being soccer-style--but that does
not mean that therefore the soccer world should forsake this straight
approach type of kick. The straight approach type of kick is the type of
approach I have been using in all the kicking workouts recorded on this
page. |
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Wednesday
August 15 2007
Indoors gym
Waltham Y
800-950 PM
|
LC180AD Windsprints 45 mins, 15 min break, 40
mins.
Total 85 minutes
INJURED |
8 PM 75 degrees 62
percent humidity
9 PM 73 degrees 66
percent humidity 10 PM 72 degrees 61
percent humidity
Gym thermometer: ?? Gym thermom
disappeared
More hot and humid in the gym than outdoors.
LC180ADWindsprints
The method was a left footed chip at the wall
from 16 yds away from the wall, followed by upon first contacting the
ball on the rebound: stopping the ball with some part of the body on
the first touch, making a 180 degree turn on the second touch and,
commencing an air dribble of up to 9 yds; or, hitting the
ball with some part of the body on the first touch of the rebound,
so as to propel it in approximately the direction it was already
moving, turning the body 180 degrees, thus commencing on the first
touch an air dribble of up to 9 yds in the general direction the ball
was already moving after it rebounded off the wall.
The air dribble runs were each followed by a
180 degree turn, a ground dribble of approx 20 yds, another 180
degree turn and then a ground dribble of approx 10 yds back to
the starting point 16 yds from the wall, stop of the ball,
and stand/walk for prescribed interval which was 40 seconds
again today.
Kicking method, as it has been for all the shooting drills on
this page so far, was to start with the body ball and target all in a
straight line, approach the ball from directly behind the ball, hit the
ball with the top of the toe area, not the ridge wall at the exact front
of the foot.
I estimate the air-dribble runs today were at 65% speed
first and second half (100%=maximum-sprint-speed). The ground dribbles
back to target were at about 75% I guess.
Definition of Air-Dribble:
Running forward while keeping the ball off the ground and close to the
body, or running forward keeping the ball close to the body and off the
ground except for an occasional (say one bounce per 10 yds) bounce.
Target: Rectangular
wall hanging about donating to the Y, approx 3 feet wide and 5.5
feet high, its center approx 11 feet above the ground, its narrow side
pointed downwards.
1st 45 min 800-854 PM (forced break
831-840 PM): Method used--MB for
eyes (see Friday Aug 3 Analysis entry), During approach to ball,
eye looks at midpoint between ball and target; on contact with ball, eyes
on ball (eye always looks at target before approach to ball regardless of
method).
2ndt 40 min 910-945 PM:
Method used--TB for eyes (see Friday Aug
3 Analysis entry), During approach to ball, and on contact with ball,
eyes on ball (eye always looks at target before approach to ball
regardless of method). Parentheses show estimate of what scores would have
been if 3rd period of this half had been the usual 15 minutes instead of
10 minutes.
Overall Notes: Got hot
sweaty and slightly winded during 1st half and second
halves.
The first half had to be stopped at 831 PM
and resumed at 840 PM because the teenage Lady Cougars basketball team had
to use the entire gym to shoot free throws.
During the entire first half, I felt
pain, tightness/stiffness in the soles of my feet and in the front muscles
of the lower leg in the shin area.
I noted accelerated
improvement in terms of handling difficult balls on the rebound to make
the 180 degree turn. I attribute this to the introduction of the
methodology wherein in the first 15 minutes a two touch turn is made, in
the second 15 minutes either a two touch or a one touch turn is made, and
in the third 15 minutes a one touch turn is made.
This new approach resulted in less
minutes spent on one touch turns, but the development of these one
touch turns was enhanced because during the 15 minutes I was doing one
touch turns, I had no doubt that on every rebound I would be attempting a
one touch turn so the element of indecisiveness was removed. It
also helped to eliminate the indecisiveness when the two touch turns were
being practiced.
Before the break at 831 PM I was hot sweaty
and slightly winded, I felt pain the the muscles in the front of the lower
leg and in the soles of the feet. The break was 831-840 PM; the last third
of the first half was mostly 840-854 PM. After the 9 minute break the
first 5 minutes of the last 14 minutes of the first half I felt
rejuvenated, then I got hot and sweaty again and the pain came back to the
shin-area muscles.
The second half: I got hot sweaty and
slightly winded; the pain in the shin-area muscles and the soles of the
feet was much less than during the first half, but there was still a
stiffness and a soreness.
As for the pain, I had had approx 24
oz beer 3 coffees and 1 tea in the 24 hours prior to the practice on
August 13 in which I felt pain; I had approx 40 oz beer 3 teas and 1
coffee prior to the practice on August 14 in which there was no
pain; and I had had approx 40 oz beer 1 tea and 3 coffees prior the
practice today August 15, in which there was pain.
Thus as of now it seems
that pushing beer consumption up to 40 oz from 24 oz might be part of the
solution; however it is more certain, that reduced coffee and increased
tea is part of the solution.
The performance was down compared to what it
had come up to yesterday and the day before, but it was still better than
what it was before the improvement.
Why was the performance down? Some
possibilities: today was the third day in a row on which I've made 90 hard
kicks of the ball--could be I need a break the way pitchers in a rotation
need breaks; the pain today was in the front muscles of the lower leg, not
the rear muscles of the lower leg--pain in the front might be more of an
impairment; in the first third of the first half the combination of using
a new method, pain in the legs and feet, and not having warmed up was enough to impair performance; in the
second half, the combination of stiffness/soreness and fatigue was enough
to impair performance.
Generally it appears
that there are about six different things that can contribute to
performance impairment, and that it takes two or three of these
things being present simultaneously to cause performance impairment.
In the second half I felt a
soreness if I extended my toe (as in bringing the front of the
foot down as much as possible compared to the heel). This toe down
position is the proper style for the kind of kick I am doing, but I felt
reluctant to put my toe into this position on the kicks as I feared the
combination of soreness and impact with the ball. On several of
the kicks in the second half I made errors such as hitting the ball
with the ridge at the extreme front of the foot, hitting the ball with the
left or right side of the front of the foot instead of the center of the
front of the foot.
Faces in the Crowd: I was in
the gym about 735 PM, watching the mostly-white-female-teenager Cougars
basketball team, coached by the guy who looks like a black Buddha this
other black, and a young East-Asian looking man. This balding white
middle-aged husky a-little-shorter-than average guy with a brown mustache
was watching the practice; I think he is a cop and one of the girls
is his daughter. Seemed a couple of the
dozen or so young women on the Cougars were beauties (people rail at
liberal 'massholes' but the area has its share of beauty).
The black guy who is not the Black-Buddha
black guy, courteously asked me if I wanted to use the other half of the
gym. I said yes, I drew the curtain between the two halves of the gym he
said I could do so. As I began drawing the curtains the Cop-daddy guy
asked me why I was drawing the curtains, as if he felt offended that I
would draw the curtain between their practice and mine. I told him that
this was so balls would not ricochet from my practice into their practice
and disturb them. Then after I had drawn one half of the
curtain he (Cop-daddy) encouraged me to draw the other half of the
curtain also.
831 PM the Cougars and their coaches took
over my half of the gym and so the entire gym, for nine minutes. They
wanted to practice free throws. I asked the not-Buddha Black-guy coach if
he wanted me to stop while they did free throws, he said yes. Then after
they were done, as Black Buddha was walking back to his side of the gym, I
told him that I was trying to get in shape, that when I got in shape I
would join in on the basketball. After I said this to him, he moved his
head and smiled, looking like a baby that had been tickled; and said
something loudly that I found to be unintelligible.
Later I was thinking, the folks around here
seem to be in a stage where they want to reproduce without resorting to
sperm banks and also without being restricted by conventions such as
monogamy and marriage. But still there are people in the area who
shout and rage against polygamy, extramarital reproduction etc., as if
they the raging shouters represented the actual attitude of the community.
After the workout I went to the Kentucky
Fried Chicken (KFC) on Main Street. I walked into the KFC. As I was about
to order, I patted my right pocket and noticed my wallet was missing. At
this exact instant, a well-groomed well-dressed brown-skinned black guy
with a mustache, (he would also fit into the light-skinned-black
category), who looked sort of like WCVB announcer Jim Boyd but lighter
skinned, presented me with my wallet.
I felt so shocked and humiliated that I
forgot to offer him some of the money in the wallet as a reward; I sort of
felt it would be beneath this man's dignity that I should offer him some
of the money. None of the cards or the money or the important
receipts in the wallet was missing.
Paul Dufresne, a dark-skinned balding
mustachioed Hatian-type husky jovial black guy, the manager of this KFC,
was working the cash register. I asked him if I could give him the change
on the five dollar chicken dinner I was paying for with a ten dollar bill,
as a tip. I explained to him that this was to celebrate the man, who I
forgot to give a reward to, returning my wallet to me. Paul accepted
the tip.
Then a couple of brown-skinned hispanic
immigrant adult females who could barely speak English began talking. I
did not understand them. I asked Paul what they were saying. He said that
they said that one of them, a hispanic lady, found my wallet and gave it
to the black gentleman who returned it to me. I wanted to give the
hispanic lady money as a reward for returning the wallet but she refused.
And on top of this there was a few months ago
the brown-skinned Puerto-Rican guy who works the register at the Exxon
Tiger-Mart on Main St., named Ronaldo, who had found my wallet near the
register and left it with the manager so they returned it to me the next
day. There was nothing missing from it.
It is indescribable, how much stress and
fatigue and wastage-of-time and depression people save you from when they
return your wallet to you.
After I left the KFC I was feeling ashamed of
racist thoughts that I have had about blacks and hispanics; I was
thinking, a racist generalization is just that--a mere generalization,
that is atrociously unfair to the relatively well-behaved persons who are
found amonst the discriminated-against groups.
Note: I bought the KFC dinner at 10:20 PM, I
took it home, I did not open up the package until 11:20 PM. An hour's
delay but it tasted warm and better than it does when it is eaten
immediately; it was as if the flavors of the mashed potatoes and gravy,
and the cole slaw, and the chicken, all subtly mixed with each other
sitting in the package. This is important because I need apparently
to consume protein within 2.5 hours after I finish practice to get the
muscle on in the right places, but I do not feel like eating immediately
after I finish practice.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin orange socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi. |
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Thursday
August 16 2007
Indoors gym
Waltham Y
800-945 PM
|
LC90ADWindsprints,
turning to right on contact with ball;
45 minutes, 15 minute break, 45 minutes
total 90 minutes
BM and BT eye focus methods
tested
INJURED
|
10:30 PM 78 degrees 99
percent humidity reported for Waltham. The Bedford station whose hourly
reports I usually use was not reporting this evening. The Waltham temp and
humidity was significantly greater than in neighboring areas as of 1030
PM.
Gym thermometer: Did not understand thermom
reading top of dial was at 80, bottom of dial at 70. It looked like maybe
it was not working.
Less hot and humid in the gym than
outdoors. Gym fan was on.
LC90ADWindsprints, turning to right on contact with ball; chips made with left foot This drill (explained previously) features a chip at the wall 16 yds away, followed by turning right at a 90 degree angle on contact with the rebound, air dribbling approx 18 yds, then ground dribbling back to the starting point, then walk/stand rest interval which today was 40 seconds counted in the head. The ball was kicked with the left foot. Today as previously, the kicking style was to
have: me before approaching the ball, the ball, and the target, all in a
straight line; and with the ball hit with the upper portion of the
toe area (not the ridge at the exact front of the toe).
Definition of Air-Dribble:
Running forward while keeping the ball off the ground and close to the
body, or running forward keeping the ball close to the body and off the
ground except for an occasional (say one bounce per 10 yds) bounce.
Target: Rectangular
wall hanging about donating to the Y, approx 3 feet wide and 5.5
feet high, its center approx 11 feet above the ground, its narrow side
pointed downwards.
Turn-Styles: 1st 15 minutes of a 45 min
segment: second touch; meaning, the first touch of the rebound brings the
ball under stationary control (in the air), and the second touch starts
the sideways movement all without the ball touching the ground. 2nd 15
minutes of a 45 min segment: choice, meaning it is left up to my choosing
if the turn sideways starts on the first or second touch, with the ball
kept in the air between the first and second touch. 3rdd 15 minutes of a
45 min segment: 1st touch, meaning on the first touch of the rebound I
knock the ball sideways, and then on the second touch continue the
sideways movement, the ball never hitting the ground between the first and
the second touch.
1st 45 min 800-845
PM: Method used--BM for eyes
(see Friday Aug 3 Analysis entry), During approach to ball, eyes first
focused on ball, then on midpoint between ball and target at
time foot hits ball (eye always looks at target before approach to ball
regardless of method).
2nd 45 min 900-945 PM:
Method used--BT for eyes (see Friday Aug
3 Analysis entry), During approach to ball, eyes first focused on ball,
then on target at time foot hits ball (eye always looks at target before
approach to ball regardless of method).
Overall Notes: Got hot
sweaty and slightly winded by end of 1st half; by end of 2nd
half I was hot sweaty and and winded, more than just slightly winded or
somewhat winded but not as winded as quite winded or very
winded. Continued soreness in the lower left front
muscle of the lower left leg, was tiring. The turns and
air-dribbles were not so hot today but there were several bright points.
The first 15 minutes were pain-free without
stiffness; the next 30 minutes were almost pain-free except for the lower
left front muscles of the lower left leg. This area was not as painful as
yesterday but still sore and quite stiff in the second 30 minutes of the
first half. Second half everything was OK except for soreness/stiffness
(not pain) in the outside shin-area muscles of the lower left leg. I
distinguish between soreness and stiffness soreness is much milder.
Seems that me
switching from coffee to a tea that was a combo of organic green tea and
organic brown tea, cured the moderately stressed muscles but not the
severely stressed muscles. August 13 and August 15 the pain/soreness was
in both calves, or in the shin-area muscles of both legs, and in soles of
feet in both feet. Today the only sore/stiff area was the outer
shin-muscles of the lower left leg.
In the first half, and also in the second
half, several of the kicks and about a third of the hits on target
involved me hitting the ball with the exact front of the toe, the ridge
that is perpendicular to the ground when I am standing up. I always
attempt to avoid doing this, as I have been taught from a youth that such
is not kosher soccer so to speak. I had to concentrate quite hard
to keep myself from toe-ing the ball in such fashion today, especially in
the second half. The style I have been attempting to use, is one
in which the top of the front of the foot as opposed to the ridge at the
extreme front of the toe is used to kick the ball.
The reason I kept slipping into
toe-ing the ball, is that the muscles that were sore in the kicking foot,
are the exact muscles that are stressed by the shock of the ball when the
ball is kicked with the top of the front area of the foot. They
are the same muscles that are stretched when you attempt to force your toe
down to as low a level relative to the heel as possible. Thus I kept
avoiding proper style. But when I forced myself to use proper
style I found that actually no pain resulted to the sore
muscles.
In the 24 hours prior to this
practice I consumed zero beer. This coincided with me feeling an unusual
lack of energy and windedness during and after the practice.
Still in the practice I got alot of
experience with bouncers that are hard to turn. There were several
runs that would look great on videotape, which featured me turning a
difficult to control ball to my right (while keeping the ball in the air)
establishing tight control over the ball while the ball is still
air-borne, and proceeding with a long fast tightly controlled
air-dribble.
I placed a cone marker seven yards to the
right of the point from which I was kicking. This marker represented a
hypothetical defender. I was able to establish moving,
traveling air-dribble control of the ball long before reaching the
general area of this marker; I was also able to after establishing
air-dribble control of the ball, or on the first touch of the rebound,
chip the ball high over the marker and catch the ball on one bounce
beyond the marker. This marker took some of the joy out of the drill
(making life less like the spirit of that movie-score that goes, 'born
free...as free as the wind blows...')
I felt kind of miserable today. Fatigued I
think from abstaining from all beer in the previous 24 hours. Depressed
over the low number of hits on target. Sick and tired of soreness and
stiffness in my leg. Oppressed by heat and humidity. But I could see how
despite the misery, I was getting a good practice that would improve me as
a player.
My plan is to devote at least 45
minutes to toe-ing the ball with the extreme front of the toe, the hard
ridge that is beyond the extreme front top of the toe which I was trying
to kick with today. I realize that such is a form of extreme
heresy, it is the way field goal kickers used to kick balls in the old
days in American style tackle football; but I am not the type to shy away
from experiments in heresy. I do not like to just take somebody's word for
something. When you know something for a fact yourself as opposed to just
trusting someone's word, this is good for morale and consistency, so you
avoid erring by switching to a worse style in a panic simply because
things are not going well using the most effective style. I have
noticed there is an underestimated need in soccer to kick the ball when
yourself, the ball and the target are all in a straight line--and if
something works, then it works.
In retrospect, the big score days so
far, shooting at the 3' x 5.5' target from 16 yds away have been: Mon aug
13, 1st 45 min 800-845 PM, Method used--TB for eyes;
13 hits on target, 13 near misses. AND, Tues aug 14 1st 45 min 800-845 PM: Method used--BT for eyes; 13 hits on target, 7 near misses. Today the scores were 7 hits and 17
near misses first half and 7 hits and 16 near misses second half.
This shows that what happened today
was a reduction in accuracy as opposed to a complete loss of accuracy.
The hits and near-misses combined were approx what such was on
the 13 hits on target days that made me feel happy. But today I felt
depressed due to the low number of hits on target. This indicates that I
am psychologically hyper-emphasizing the superiority of a hit on target
compared to a near miss.
In so doing (the hyper-emphasis) I failed to
note that on the two big-score 13 hit in 45 min days 25% of the
near-misses were from 6" or less whereas today 40% of the near-misses were
from 6" or less.
Faces in the Crowd:
Basically I was by myself today.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin green socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi.
|
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Friday
Aug 17 2007
Outdoors
Peter Gilmore Playground
Corner of Lowell & High
Waltham
800 PM -945 PM |
E4(left)ADGDWindsprints 45 minutes
E5ADGDWindsprints
45 minutes
total 90 minutes
INJURED |
Weather
conditions were:
9 PM 70
degrees wind=10.4 mph 60 percent humidity
10 PM 68
degrees wind=5.8 mph 73 percent humidity (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/8/17/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) E4(left)ADGDWindsprints.
E5ADGDWindsprints
Basic Approx Method: Air Dribble (ball kept
off ground but close to body while running forward) ball 20 yds to
fence, ground ball, ground dribble to starting point, Interval
rest period 40 seconds counted in head. On air-dribble segment for
E5 attempt to kick ball with feet every 5 paces alternating
between left foot and right foot. In E4 The ball is kicked every four
paces with only the left foot or only the right foot.
I estimate the air-dribble runs
today were at 80% speed first half during the E4,
(100%=maximum-sprint-speed) and 85% speed second half during the E5. The
ground drib back to target were at about 90% I guess (100% = max speed
while dribbling with ball under control).
45 minutes 800-845 PM:
Did E4 with my left foot. Concentrated on artistry and technique as opposed to speed; I tried
hard to avoid letting the ball bounce even once, tried hard to touch the
ball with only my left foot, kicking the ball every four paces.
The first seven minutes were clumsy; after
the first seven minutes good runs began which lasted throughout the 45
minutes.
I estimate on the
E4(left) maximum ball elevation mostly varied from face level (5.5')
to 5' above head (11'); I guess the average maximum ball elevation
between touches at 1.5' above the head (7.5').
During the first 15 minutes of the first half
I felt OK in terms of stiffness/soreness/pain in the front lower left
muscles/tendons of the lower left leg. From minutes 15-45, said
area of the leg became very stiff, sore, tight. It got worse weith every
minute but I kept going.
This
(pain) occurred despite me having in the previous 24 hours
consumed tea instead of coffee and having had 80 oz beer.
Seems the 80 oz beer resulted in me
getting less fatigued than I did when I had zero oz beer in the 24 hours
prior to the practice of yesterday August 16. But the big amount of beer
did not cure the pain the most severely stressed area of my
legs/feet.
Note to Temperance Society:
Seems there is something about the kind of 90 minute ball juggling
anaerobic endurance exercises that I have been doing, that has resulted
for me in an inability to get even slightly drunk after drinking 80 oz of
beer.
I ended the first 45 minutes feeling less
tired and winded than ever before. Slightly sweaty. Could be that
the stiffness/soreness in the left leg slowed me down with the result that
less energy was expended.
The E4-left runs in this 45 minutes
were generally slower and less tightly controlled than the E3s that have
been run prior to today. But several of the runs would look really slick
and glossy on videotape: over the entire 20 yards--a speed of at least
approx 85% of max sprint speed was kept up for most of the run, the ball
was kicked exactly every four paces with just the left foot, the ball was
tightly controlled and kept off the ground for the entire 20 yards.
(the first 3 yards or so in in such
air-dribbles is of course slow approx 50% max sprint
speed).
45 minutes 900-945 PM:
Attempted E5 with alternating left and right feet. First 45 minutes I concentrated on artistry and
technique as opposed to speed; I tried hard to avoid letting the ball
bounce even once, tried hard to touch the ball with alternating left and
right feet, kicking the ball every fve paces.
There was much less
soreness/stiffness in the lower-left shin-area muscles/tendons of the left
leg, compared to the first 45 minutes.
I could not achieve anything resembling
success on the E5 in the first 12 minutes. Then I began to achieve
glimmers of success that went on for about the next 25 minutes. Then I
cooled off the glimmers of success faded away.
I found it difficult to succeed
in running the entire 20 yards doing a perfect E5, which is touching the
ball every five paces with alternating left and right feet, while keeping
the ball under control and off the ground. A few times I was able to go
about 15 yards doing a perfect E5.
Often I slipped by force of habit into doing
the E3 when what I was trying to do was the E5. In the E3 the ball is
touched every THREE paces with alternating left and right
feet.
As of now the E3 is the leader in
speed and control, second place goes to the E4, and 3rd to the E5. The E5
at this stage of development is really not a methodology which gives me
control over the ball and speed at the same time.
I estimate maximum ball
elevation between touches on the E5, mostly varied from above head
level (6.5') to 6' above head (12'); I guess the average maximum
ball elevation between touches at 2.5' above the head (8.5').
During and after these second 45 minutes, I
got a little sweaty, a little winded. Overall
Notes:
Why I decided to do E4s and E5s
instead of the usual E3s today.
The hoopla over Beckham coming to town
with the Los Angeles Galaxy, the studying of the videotapes of the
ensuing game between the Galaxy and the Revolution, got me to thinking in
practical realistic terms about performing in a game. I set out a cone
marker on Aug 16 yesterday to represent a defender in the area.
I got to doing some serious thinking re keeping the ball away from
defenders.
I had realized
that with the E3 the maximum elevation of the ball between kicks was
usually on average approx chest high (5')
(the ball moves like a
spectacular supernatural space-age wave over 20 yards
gradually rising and falling between an elevation of approx 1 foot and 5
feet while moving at a fast forward speed).
NOTE: I have
concluded that the musical piece that best captures the spirit of these
often-spectacular air-dribble workouts of mine is 'Outta Space' by
Billy Preston. You can find this song at: http://www.rhapsody.com/billypreston
Spectacular and space-age as it may
look, a 5 foot max elevation means there is never a time
when the defense is unable to reach the ball. Thus the
idea was that the E4s and the E5s should be experimented with to see if
they produce typical max elevations of the ball between kicks such that
the the defense is unable to reach the ball.
E3/E4/E5 is like the gears on car. When
I am in E3 gear, I am attempting to touch the ball with alternating left
and right feet every three paces, and at the same time if the
situation arises that I cannot stick to the exact pattern I accept the
reality and race along, using the head, or the thigh, or the foot at
a non-patterned moment (other than strictly once every 3 paces) to keep
going fast with the ball controlled. Same holds true for the E4 and E5
gears. The idea is that there might be times in a game in which it would
be advantageous to kick myself into E4 or E5 gear to keep the
ball a safe distance away from defenders. Faces In the Crowd:
The first half it looked more classically American than it has in a while,
about a dozen high school age and junior high school age boys,
blacks and whites, playing basketball. About intermission time the
hispanic boys began coming on to the playground. Minutes 15 to 30 of the
second E5 45 minutes went by, during which I was not that bad on
the E5 runs.
Then the hispanic boys began kicking the ball
around on the court I was practicing on for about 10 minutes while I
messed up as they watched. Then the hispanic boys began moving these trash
cans into place to serve as goals and I moved to the far unlit court for
five minutes.
I knew that this was going to happen, that my
reputation would take a beating as hispanic boys watched me mess up the
E5. Maybe I should hide in the indoors YMCA gym when I do
difficult new things like E5s. Maybe I am too macho about not
avoiding spectators when doing difficult new things like E5s.
It was sort of depressing being watched while
trying to learn how to do the E5. Then again looks like I have to
grab ahold of myself psychologically speaking, so as to prevent things
like being watched while trying to learn something difficult, or, aside
from being watched failures in the initial stages of learning something,
from depressing me. Come to think of it I surprised myself by
making great strides in the art of the rainbow kick, while hiding in the
YMCA gym where all the soccer-wise hispanic soccer enthusiasts could not
see me.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin orange socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi |
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Saturday
Aug 18 2007
Indoors
Waltham Y Gym
600 PM -745 PM |
E6(left)ADGDWindsprints 45 minutes
E7ADGDWindsprints
45 minutes
total 90 minutes
INJURED during first
half |
Weather
conditions were:
6 PM 70 degrees 40
percent humidity
8 PM 64 degrees 49
percent humidity
(http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/8/18/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) Gym thermom: top reading, 70 bottom reading 75. Was a little warmer
and more humid outdoors compared to indoors but, it felt pleasantly un-hot
and un-humid indoors in the gym today. E6(left)ADGDWindsprints.
E7ADGDWindsprints
Basic Approx Method: Air
Dribble (ball kept off ground but close to body while running
forward) ball 20 yds to wall, ground ball, ground dribble to
starting point, interval rest period 40 seconds counted in head. On
air-dribble segment for E6 attempt to kick ball with left
foot every 6 paces. E7 attempt to kick ball with
alternating left and right feet every 7 paces.
Speeds: I estimate the
air-dribble runs today on average were at 80-85% speed first
half during the E6, (100%=maximum-sprint-speed) and 85-90% speed second
half during the E7. The ground dribbles back to starting
point were at about 90% I guess (100% = max speed while dribbling
with ball under control). When I set forth these speed estimates I
discount the fact that on air-dribble the first 3 yards or so tend to
especially slow compared to sprint without ball.
45 minutes 600-845 PM:
Did E6 with my left foot. Concentrated on artistry and technique as opposed to speed; I tried
hard to avoid letting the ball bounce even once, tried hard to touch the
ball with only my left foot, kicking the ball every six paces.
My first success, running 20 yds touching the
ball every six paces keeping the ball off ground but controlled for 20
yards, was at 6:06 PM; the first six minutes you could say were bumbling.
There were good runs with the E6 pattern closely adhered to throughout the
first half after the first six minutes. There were a few stellar
runs that were fast and technically perfect, in that the ball was kicked
every six paces with the left foot alone over the course of the 20 yards,
and a high forward speed (90-95% max sprint speed) was maintained.
There were several merely good runs that were like the stellar runs but
with a slower sprint speed kept up (70-85% estimate).
Seems that the E6 imparts a backspin
to the ball that is even more intense than the E3, E4, or E5. I
am due to practice good at heading balls with alot of backspin on them.
But one of the balls today had such intense backspin on it that it just
completely slipped off of my wet-with-sweat forehead in a kind of line
drive to a point behind me.
Ball altitudes--On the
first kick after the flip-up the ideal elevation is lower than
usual--middle of ball face height 5.5' off ground appears to be ideal.
Thereafter on the subsequent kicks in the E6 runs, when the E6 pattern is
adhered to the max ball altitude between kicks varies between chest
high (5') and 8, 10, 12 or 14 feet. On fast technically good tightly
controlled E6 runs max ball altitude between kicks varies between
chest high (5') and 10'. Affecting the equation is the fact that the paces
taken between kicks can be long strides or short choppy steps.
I got a little hot and sweaty and somewhat
winded during and after these first 45 minutes.
45 minutes 700-745 PM:
E7 with alternating left and right feet. Concentrated on artistry and technique as opposed to
speed; I tried hard to avoid letting the ball bounce even once, tried hard
to touch the ball with alternating left and right feet, kicking the ball
every seven paces.
The first technically good E7 run
with the E7 pattern adhered to throughout the 20 yards came at
7:09. Thereafter I surprised and impressed myself by managing to
execute 16 good or perfect E7 runs all the way through to the
end of the 45 minutes. I considered a run to be a good E7
run if the kick-every-seven-paces pattern was adhered to for every
touch-on-ball except one, and the ball bounced less than two
times over the 20 yards.
I estimate these E7 runs varied between 60%
max sprint speed and 95% max sprint speed; I would guess on average they
were at 80-85% max sprint speed. The E7 is a fast pattern
producing high speeds because the ball is touched less times per distance
covered.
On the E7 also there is sometimes a
tremendous level of backspin imparted to the ball.
The E7 appears to be a good pattern
for leading onself long with the ball so as to catch up to it on one
bounce. With the E7 as explained previously the intention of the
mind is always to kick the ball with alternating feet every seven paces
but often what ends up happening as of now, is that the ball is kicked
long, a little too far for adherence to the technically perfect prsecribed
pattern, but caught at full sprint on one bounce.
Ball
altitudes--maximum ball altitude between kicks on the E7 varied from
8-14' but the 14' was an aberration on a slow run. There were fast
technically good (ball kicked every seven paces) E7 runs on which the
ball maximum ball altitude betwen kicks was 8', and there were fast
technically good E7 runs on which the maximum ball altitude between kicks
was 12'. The usual between-kicks max ball altitudes on the fast and
also technically good E7 runs recorded was (in feet): 8, 8, 9, 9, 9, 8, 12, 12; the average of these nine recordings is 9
feet.
I estimate that typically on the E7
runs, the ball was touched once every five yards, this distance being of
course lower between the first kick and the second.
Overall Notes: There
was pain in the lower front muscles/tendons of the lower left leg from
minute 15 to minute 45 of the first half. This pain was gone in the second
half. Thus the pain pattern was the same as yesterday. In the previous 24
hours approx 50 oz beer, some tea, and zero coffee was consumed.
I surprised myself by doing so well on the E6 and shocked
myself by doing so well on the E7 after flubbing up yesterday on the E5 at
the outdoors Gilmore playground.
One would expect that the E7 would be even more difficult than the
E5. Possible reasons for the good performance today compared to yesterday:
practice started 6 PM instead of 8 PM; I was indoors at the Y instead of
outdoors; privacy quiet etc. found in the indoors gym is good for
developing new difficult skills; the E4 and E5 work done yesterday
prepared me for today.
Seems I foolishly felt depressed that there was nobody around to
watch my good performance today in the gym, but there were about eight
hispanic boys around to see me flub up my first attempts at the E5
yesterday. At least I think I heard one of the hispanic boys watching me
yesteday say something like 'he's trying something new'. Good for them to
be so perceptive.
I have to stop allowing myself to become foolishly depressed
by things that should not depress me. I have to remind myself
that luck will even out; on some day in the future I'll get lucky and
there will be lots of people to see me have a good day, and on some day in
the future I will luck out and there will be nobody around to watch while
I screw up.
Faces In the Crowd:
The first 15 minutes I was out there, this white young man, clean-shaven
with straight brown hair of normal length, was practicing some game in
which he hit this little golf-ball sized ball at a wall with this tennis
racket like thing. He was absorbed in his own activity. Aside from that I
had the gym to myself. |
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin white socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi |
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Sunday
Aug 19 2007
Indoors
Waltham Y Gym
700 PM -745 PM |
E8(left)ADGDWindsprints 45 minutes
total 45 minutes
|
Note re yesterday's report:
Yesterday I said: "I estimate that typically on
the E7 runs, the ball was touched once every five yards, this distance
being of course lower between the first kick and the second". A
recalculation: since the last kick would usually come right
before the wall marking the 20 yard point from the start, this should be
revised to: "I estimate that typically on the E7 runs, the ball
was touched once every SEVEN yards, this distance being of course
lower between the first kick and the second, and higher thereafter on
the subsequent kicks of the run".
Weather
conditions were:
6 PM 72 degrees 41
percent humidity
7 PM 68 degrees 49
percent humidity
(http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/8/18/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) Gym thermom: top reading, 70 bottom reading 74.
Before the workout started the big gym, with the wall hangings
announcing the generosity of the contributors to the Y, looked and felt so
pleasant and pretty. I think because I knew I would be only doing 45
minutes today instead of slogging through an entire 90 minutes.
E8(left)ADGDWindsprints.
Basic Approx Method: Air
Dribble (ball kept off ground but close to body while running
forward) ball 20 yds to wall, ground ball, ground dribble to
starting point, interval rest period 40 seconds counted in
head. Utilize E8-left pattern, kicking ball every 8 paces with
left foot.
Speeds: I estimate the
air-dribble runs today on average were at 70% speed during the
E8 segments, (100%=maximum-sprint-speed-without-ball).
I estimate the speed on the ground dribbles,
at approx 90% of the max speed I am capable of on such dribbles.
The 100% speed is without ball for the
air dribble and with ball for the ground dribble. Why? I think it's
because the air-dribbles can go so fast, more effort is put into them,
airborne balls are being chased with zeal, air-dribbles can simply be
faster believe it or not.
45 minutes 700-745 PM:
Did E8 with my left foot. Concentrated on artistry and technique as opposed to speed; I tried
hard to avoid letting the ball bounce even once, tried hard to touch the
ball with only my left foot, kicking the ball every eight paces.
From 705 to 745 there were several E8 runs
that fell into one of two groups. Some were technically OK in that
the ball was kicked every 8 paces, but most of these were slow with the
ball being kicked too close and too high. And some were fast but the
placement of the ball produced by one of the kicks in the run was off
directionally or in terms of length.
722 PM there was an almost perfect run except
that on the last touch the ball was kicked one step early, with the right
foot (the exact pattern is kick ball with left foot only every eight
paces). 725 a run was technically good but slow, the ball too close
between kicks. 728 the run was a success, but slow at 65% speed. 735 the
first kick of the run was almost perfect. 737 the E8 pattern was adhered
to over 20 yards but the run was slow. 739 almost perfect first kick. 742
the run was fast and almost perfect on the last touch right before the
wall the ball was hit one pace too late in terms of adherence to the exact
E8 pattern. 744 there was a slow zig-zagging 5 touch run in which the E8
pattern of kick ball every 8 paces with left foot alone was adhered to
exactly.
On the 735 and 739 runs I noted that it seems
that ideally on the first kick of an
E8
run the ball should
reach a max height of 12 feet, traveling in a trajectory such that it
would touch the ground approx 7 yards away from the point at which it was
kicked.
Looking at the runs today it appears
that ideally (max speed ideal) the second kick
of the run should send the ball on an arc trajectory reaching a maximum
height of approx 18' that is such that the ball if left unmolested
would land approx 11 yards away from the point at which it was
kicked.
Looks like for E9 and E10 I will have
to start as far away from the wall as possible, and for anything beyond
E10 I will have to run length-ways on the court not width-ways.
The first 15 minutes
the first kicks of the runs did not send the ball out far enough. At
this point I started visualizing the arc that I wanted to send the ball on
this seemed to help alot. Seems that such visualizing is more helpful when
the intended kick is an arc as opposed to a straight line.
During and after the workout I was a little
sweaty and felt slightly winded. Who knows maybe this slight
windedness is the way people in good anaerobic fitness would also be if
they did the same drill as I did this evening.
Seems I am stuck in a stage where two 45
minute halves separated by a 15 min break every evening is too much, too
tiring, while one 45 minute half is too little. I might feel just
"slightly winded" after the 90 minutes are over, but the feeling of
fatigue stays with me almost constantly through the 24 hours following the
practice.
I use 45 minute segments because I realize
that generally the number of substitutions allowed in a game is very
limited.
At this point I am clumsy in terms of
consistently adhering to the exact E8 pattern at a high speed. But I
demonstrated today that I am relatively skilled in terms of accurately
chipping an airborne ball on first touch to some spot on the field. The 45
minutes spent on E8 today did not overnight turn me into an E8 maestro,
but I am sure these 45 minutes did improve my ability to: flip a
ball up and chip it in a high arc to a spot approx 7 yards away; and,
chase down an airborne ball and use my foot to, before the ball hits the
ground, chip the ball in a high arc to a spot approx 11 yards away.
I have to be on guard against taking too long
a break between runs due to time spent taking notes. Sometimes it is wise
to forsake notes, but at other times such as now, when a new methodology
is in the development stage, observation and notes are appropriate.
The entire 45 minutes today the
stiffness/soreness/pain in the front lower left area of the lower left
leg, was so slight as to be insignificant. The previous 24 hours
I had no coffee, about 36 oz tea (made with 1 organic brown teabag and 1
organic green teabag per 12 oz), and some beer dont remember how much
beer. I guess approx 50 oz beer.
It is beginning to seem to me that if
I combine this anaerobic stuff I've been doing with
aerobic stuff, my psychological-emotional mood will improve, and I will
feel less tired in between workouts. Aerobic exercise seems to improve
psychological-mood and endurance for the everyday life we go through
between workouts, better than anaerobic
exercise
alone.
Faces In the Crowd:
The first 30 minutes I was out there, this clean-shaven, white young
man, with straight brown hair of normal length, tanned skin, sporting a
sleeve-less sweatshirt with U MASS printed on it, was practicing
shooting baskets. He was similar to the I guess Squash guy yesterday
except taller. At the 30 minute point he stopped, overcome with heat, to
sit in front of the fan that was running n a corner of the gym.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin green socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi |
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Monday
August 20 07
|
Explanation of How to Use a Soccer Play Animated Diagram Creating Program This 1950 word report took 4.5 hours on
Aug 20 and it was tiring, not alot of fun.
Aug 22 I spent 45 minutes updating it with
569 words.
|
Explanation of How to Use a Software that Creates Animated Soccer Play Diagrams TRUSTORM SOCCER PRO 2006 Demo Version
1.1.2684.29688
Price: $79.00, free 30 day trial downloaded from: http://www.download.com/Soccer-Pro/3000-2136_4-10679755.html?tag=lst-0-5 The help section of this program is
inadequate. The program contains defects and bugs. Seems with some
continued development work it could be improved. I do not know how it
compares with other similar programs.
You probably fail to appreciate my high level
of skill when it comes to explaining how to use such programs to people.
There are technical writers getting paid lots of money who are not my
equal (but they are obsessed with credentials, experience, and hiring
persons the rude label as dorks). I created a web page explaning how to
use the Swish program that works with flash swf format stuff, thousands of
people have read that web page many have bookmarked it in favorites and
returned to it.
Notes on how to use Trustorm Soccer
Pro 1.1:
1 You have to click in the field, sometimes,
before you can drag players and balls into it or get the menu working
properly.
2 The players and the balls are simply
dragged into the field from the toolbox.
3 you change the starting position of a
player through mode-move in the menu and click and drag on the player in
the field diagram.
3.1 you program a player to move in a given
direction during the play through mode - draw - draw line. You go into
this mode, and then click on the player and drag the player to where you
want him to move to during the play.
3.2 You program a player to begin whatever
movement he is programmed to execute, after and not before another player
has reached a certain point on the field, by going into mode - draw - draw
delay line, clicking on the player to be delayed, and dragging to the
end-point of another player's programmed course of movement (shown by an
arrow leading from that player to some destination). The result will be
that the movement programmed for the player will not be executed until the
other player he has been connected to has gotten to the spot you have
connected to through the delay line.
3.3 Mode -draw - player marking. Use this
mode to assign a player to mark another player. Click on the player who
will be doing the marking and drag to the marked player. When the play is
run, the marking player will move to be next to the marked player, and
follow the marked player wherever the marked player goes during the
play.
3.4 You can create a rectangular or
elliptical darker colored zone on the field. When two such zones overlap
the color is even darker than that used to show one zone. To do this in
the toolbox you go to miscellaneous, and then drag the ellipse or the
rectangle to the desired spot. Then when you go into zone mode via
mode-zone in the menu, you can click/drag to move the entire zone, or drag
on the border markers of the zone to reshape the zone.
4 You set the direction a player will move in
during the play, by clicking on a player and then dragging in the
direction you want the player to move to. A line showing the programmed
course of movement will appear on the field. A dialog box will open giving
you choices re the speed at which the player will move. The move can
be move (intermediate speed), move slow (slow speed), or move fast (fast
speed).
5 To command that a player move in a zig zag
or other non-straight-line pattern during a play, you program the player
to move in the usual way and then run Play-play; then after the player is
moved you again program the player to move in another direction by
clicking on the player and dragging ( you must be in mode-move on the menu
to do this).
6 Window-show layers, produces a window in
which you can add or delete layers on the field. This window is closed by
clicking the x inside of it. These layers can be rendered visible or
invisible during the playback of the animated diagram. They can each
contain moving balls, moving players.
7 A layer is rendered visible by clicking in
the checkbox next to the layer list. It is rendered invisible by emptying
the checkbox next to the layer name in the layer list by clicking in the
checkbox next to the layer name again.
8 When the layer name in the layer list is
checked and also hilited, you can position players in the layer and
program them to move and in general edit the layer.
9 Edit - insert image supposedly allows you
to put a jpeg etc in as the background field that the players move on.
Watch out! In my experience doing this simpy results in the main work
screen simply turning into a big white box with an orange cross in it. I
could not undo this. I was stuck, the project, I had not saved it, it was
lost! This edit insert image simply does not work so far as I can
tell. Better save your work before attempting to use it. It is designed to
allow you to provide your own background for the player movements.
10 Edit copy: the help section was inadequate
for copy it just listed the file menu when I looked for info re copy. You
can click-drag to select a player on the field, then use edit-copy, and
then use edit-paste. A copy of the selected copied thing will be placed
right on top of the thing that was copied; then you can click-drag to move
the copied thing some other place on the field, and when the play is run
the copied thing will move at the same angle, the same distance, the same
direction as the thing it was copied from. The help section does not tell
you this (it does not tell you lots of things), but you have to be in
mode-move in the menu in order for this copying to work.
11 Edit - insert auto comments. This produces
an automatic text list of everything that the players on the field have
been programmed to do. You can edit this text list, change the text in it.
12 Edit - clear all: this clears the field of
all objects. Strangely it cannot be undone.
13 Edit - clear lines: this clears the
movement lines and the effect they have from the field diagram, weirdly it
cannot be undone.
14 - Edit - clear delay lines: this clears
the delay lines and the effects they have from the field it cannot be
undone.
15 - Edit - clear player marking: this clears
the player marking lines and the effects they have from the field it
cannot be undone.
16 View - horizontal/vertical: affects
whether the field is displayed narrow side up or narrow side to the
side.
17 Play - play/pause/stop: this allows you to
run the play you have programmed to occur and view the movements, pause
the playback, or send the play back to the beginning moment.
18 options - labels - players/lines/markers
allows you to remove the player names from the field, remove the labels
accompanying the lines from the field, or remove the labels accompanying
the markers from the field. Or you can render such labels
visible.
19 Options - playing - loop allows you to
loop the playback of the play you have programmed so it runs over and over
until you stop it.
20 Options - playing - speed: this allows you
to set the speed at which the play is run when you view it. Strangely if
you push the control all the way to the right you get the slowest playback
if you push it all the way to the left you get the fastest
playback.
21 Window - show toolbox puts a window
containing the toolbox onscreen. This window is closed by clicking the x
in it.
22 Window - show coach plan puts a window
containing the coach plan for the particular project onscreen. This window
is closed by clicking the x in it. This window is labeled toolbox, the
same name given to the toobox window, a mistake. It is empty if a coach
plan has not been created. A coach plan is created by clicking file- new -
coach planner.
23 Window - show comments: this opens the
comments window, which contains the automatically generated description of
all the moves on the field, which you can edit. Clicking an x in this
window closes it.
24 Window - show layers opens the layers
window with the list of layers. Clicking an x in this window closes
it.
25 window - show video library produces a
window with a list of videos you have added from your computer to the
Trustorm soccer program to be connected with the particular project your
are working on. Clicking the x in this window closes it. Clicking the +
sign in this window allows you to import videos into the project. It then
becomes simple for you to switch in between the animated soccer play
diagram you are working on and the videos.
26 Right-click on player icon or the ball
icon in the toolbox window, produces a dialog box that allows you to give
a player to be used in the animated diagram a name. It allows you to
specify a png format image to use as the graphic representation of the
player in the field diagram. It also allows you to choose a 'ball image'
for the player, this of course undocumented aspect I do not understand.
You have to specify the same image for 'ball image' and 'image' in the
dialog box. So why do you have to spec both? Looks like images with
confusing overly long file names will not work with this.
27 right clicking on a player on the field
allows you to change the direction the player is facing or remove him from
the field, change the image representing him, or change his name. Mode in
the menu has to be in move or draw for this to work.
28 right clicking on ball in the toolbox does
the same thing as described in #26.
29 File - export image exports a png image
file showing your animated diagram as it is before it starts to
play.
30 File - export HTML produces an HTML page
which contains a big boldface title that you gave it on export, and also
the edited Auto Comments you added to the particular animated diagram
project. The exported HTML does not contain the coach plan or even links
to the videos if any that you associated with the particular
project
31 File - export - Flash produces a swf
format flash movie of the animated diagram. A little knowledge of the html
or javascript coding involved to manipulate how a swf format flash movie
is presented could come in handy here. The flash movie produced does not
contain the auto comments or the coach plan, or a title, or anything
related to the videos you associated with the particular project, just the
animated swf. Whatever you name the Flash file that you export, it will be
exported as test.swf. So you have to watch out and rename the exported swf
named test from time to time or your next flash export will wipe out your
previous one.
32 Undoing a pass to a player in an animated
diagram file can permanently render that player unable to be passed
to. The problem remains even after the Trustorm soccer program has been
closed and re-opened. You can workaround this player-disability
bug by passing near the effected player and then having the player
move to the ball to gain possession of it. However the problem
I encountered attempting to export a diagram file to Flash swf format that
contained this work-around for a pass recipient, was that whenever I
attempted to export to Flash, I got a message box telling me that there
was some malfunction and the Trustorm soccer program had to now close--I
could not export the Flash. Next I implemented an analytical method
learned from writing Javascript programs. Step by step I rebuilt the
animated diagram that I was unable to export to flash. I found
that I could export it until I added the step in which I used the
work-around to pass to the player who could not receive a pass due to the
bug in the program; this work-around features the ball being passed near
the player and then having the player move to it and obtain possession of
it. I concluded that the problem was that the program could not export to
flash, an animated diagram file containing a player whose ability to
receive a pass had been compromised due to the bug that caused the
dysfunction wherein a player to whom a pass line has been drawn and undone
becomes unable to receive a pass. The solution for me this time: I copied
all the players on the field in the animated diagram file that had become
corrupted with the problem of players unable to receive passes, and pasted
the players into a completely new diagram file. In the new diagram file
their ability to receive passes was not impaired. In the new diagram file
I built up the animated play that I had previously been unable to export
to flash, and succesfully exported it to flash swf format.
33 A problem is, that though one should be
able to pass a ball at a velocity that is much faster than the fastest a
human can sprint, the fastest velocity passes in the animated diagrams
created by the program, travel at approx the same speed as the fastest
human can sprint over short distances.
34 This program makes it easy to quickly
modify various aspects of an animated soccer play diagram simply by
clicking and dragging players line endpoints and intersections of lines.
You can build a complex animated play in which the various movements of
ball and bodies, and the timing connections specifying that this moves
only after that has moved there; then you can easily modify the complex
diagram by clicking and dragging objects, end-points of lines, and
intersections of lines/objects, and the animated diagram will still run in
the same way as before but in a modified incarnation. The lines connecting
the various objects to each other will simply stretch with the simple
click-and-drag.
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Monday August 20 07 |
SWF Flash movie animated soccer play diagram |
Here is an animated soccer play diagram
I made using the Trustorm Soccer Pro Software to view this link in its very own separate window click
on: https://www.angelfire.com/ma/vincemoon/test.swf
The diagramstarts with the star of the play
(red circle/dot) at the midline on his left side. He passes to the center
of the field to a team-mate in orange, receives the return pass,
air-dribbles towards the center of the field, and pops a high chip forward
for his team-mates to converge on. Problem is that the Trustorm Soccer Pro
program does not contain any way to illustrate an air-dribble (ball kept
off the ground but close the body as it is dribbled forward) or a
vertically high chip pass that hangs in the air.
The program does not take into account the
vertical dimension on passes and how this effects things.
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Monday August 20 07 |
Test to See if You Think Like I Do When it Comes to Operating the Trustorm Soccer Software |
Do You Think Like Me Re Stuff Like the
Trustorm Soccer Software?
What is the first thing that comes to mind
analytically regarding the Trustorm soccer software described in the
previous two entries? Does your mind function like mine? Pause to think
what comes to your mind before reading what is below this next line
marker:
Using the Trustorm program I find,
the following to be the case (approx).
With the program's general speed at the
slowest, 14 on the slide rule conjured up via Options - Playing - Speed on
the menu, the following holds true:
2.8 secs per 20 yds move fast 3.7 secs per 20 yards move intermediate speed 8.6 secs per 20 yds move slow With speed via options - playing - speed set at the fastest, 0 on the
slide rule, the speeds are:
0.5 secs 30 yds move fast speed
0.7 secs 20 yds move intermediate speed 0.9 secs 20 yds move slow speed I calculated the above based on the idea that the center circle
diameter is 20 yards; I measured how long it takes a player in the diagram
to traverse the 20 yards with speeds at various settings.
Re how fast the fastest athletes can run 20 yards we find the
following: "Running Backs: 1. Jerious Norwood is a prospect that is kind
of flying under the radar. Good sized at 6-0 210 pounds and as fast as
lightening...Norwood had the fastest 20 yard split time of 2.51"
-- http://www.nfldraftblitz.com/insidethenumbers.htm So let's assume that fast soccer players run the 20 yds in 2.8
seconds about ten percent slower than Norwood.
To get a realistic high caliber type of speed in the players in the animated diagrams produced by the Trustorm soccer software, the slide rule should be set at 14 (assuming extreme left marker on slide rule is 0 and extreme right marker is 14) because then the player running at move-fast speed, which is the default intermediate speed, will cover 20 yards in approx 2.7 seconds, a little slower than Norwood.. With the Options - speed sliderule set at 14, the slowest general
speed for the animations, the player moving at intermediate speed will be
moving at the speed you move at when you run the mile in 5:26 (11.0 mph);
the player moving at slow speed will be moving at the speed you run the
mile when you run the mile in 12:37 (4.8 mph); and the player moving at
fast speed will be moving at the speed you move at when you run the mile
in 4:06 (14.6 mph).
It is very surprising that a player ten percent slower than a
speedster like Norwood would run the 20 yards at a 4:06 per mile pace.
Just goes to show how much having to accelerate from a stationary position
slows you down, I guess.
It does not seem that the Trustorm soccer program accounts for the
fact that runners are slower when they are first accelerating from being
stationary.
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Monday
Aug 20 2007
Indoors
Waltham Y Gym
900 PM -945 PM |
E9ADGDWindsprints 45 minutes
total 45 minutes
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Weather
conditions were:
9 PM 61 degrees 67
percent humidity
10 PM 55 degrees 86
percent humidity
(http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/8/20/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) Gym thermom: top reading, 70 bottom reading 72.
During the day before the workout I felt so physically decrepit and
fatigued, it seemed like the evening workout would be a nightmare. But
I found as I have found before, that after about ten minutes or
working out I felt athletic and fit and capable of doing the workout, even
though before the workout I felt as if I was too decrepit for such a
demanding workout.
E9ADGDWindsprints.
Basic Approx Method: Air
Dribble (ball kept off ground while running forward) ball 20 yds to
wall, ground ball, ground dribble to starting point, interval
rest period 40 seconds counted in head. Utilize E9 pattern, kicking
ball every 9 paces with alternating left and right
feet.
Speeds: I estimate the
air-dribble runs today on average were at 85% speed during the
E9 air-dribble segments,
(100%=maximum-sprint-speed-without-ball).
I estimate the speed on the ground dribbles,
at approx 90% of the max speed I am capable of on such dribbles.
The 100% speed benchmark is
without ball for the air dribble and with ball for the ground dribble.
45 minutes 900-945 PM:
Did E9 with alternating left and right feet. Concentrated on artistry and technique as opposed to
speed; I tried hard to avoid letting the ball bounce even once, tried hard
to touch the ball with only my left foot, kicking the ball
every eight paces.
A well executed E9 for me consists of rolling
the ball back with the left, flipping it up with the left, kicking it
forward with the left, running approx 10 yards in 9 paces, kicking the
ball before it reaches the ground, running another 12 yards in 9 paces and
again kicking the ball before it reaches the ground, so that the ball and
I together cover 20 yards fast without the ball touching the ground.
905 there was a good first kick ball
apex approx 13'; 909 first technically good fast 20 yd run
with E9 pattern adhered to; 910 1st kick good; 914 1st kick good;
919 the 1st kick was great, far and high, its apex was
approx 15' it would have landed 10 yds away from the point at which it was
kicked if left unmolested, it was placed almost perfectly,
reached after 9 fast long paces; 921 technically good fast 20 yds E9
pattern adhered to, off by 1-2 paces on second kick, meaning the second
kick was not exactly 9 paces after the first; 923 technically good fast 20
yarder E9 pattern adhered to, off by one pace on 2nd kick; 925 fast four
kicks over 20 yds zig zag some kicks 1-2 paces off of exact E9 kick every
9 paces pattern; 926 good 1st kick; 928 almost a technically good fast 20
yarder with E9 pattern adhered to, on the second kick I got to the ball on
a bounce; 929 a good kick after exactly 9 paces on which 180 turn made,
followed by 9 paces and another kick; 930 perfect fast 20 yarder E9
pattern adhered to; 931 good 15' apex kick on second
kick; 933 three-kick fairly fast 20 yard run E9 pattern
adhered to ball reaching approx 18' apex between kicks; 934 good well
placed first kick reached at fast speed on 9 paces; 937 good second kick,
the ball was reached at a fast 9 pace run after it was kicked; 938
good almost perfect 10 yd in distance, 16' high 1st kick caught
on a fast run after 9 paces; 941 fast 20 yard zig zag 3 touches over 20
yds including the kick of the ball right before the wall 20 yds from the
start, E9 adhered to; 944 run would have been good and fast with E9
pattern adhered to but after second kick ball hit a ceiling bar 24 feet
above the ground.
Altitude and distance on first kick
on E9: My estimate for the E8 was that the first kick should be
about 7 yards in length and approx 12' high at the apex. Apexes
reported today for good first kicks (a good kick allows for the E9 pattern
to be adhered to at speed) were: 13, 15, 16'. Distances reported today for
good E9 first kicks were 10 yds and 10 yds.
Thus my estimate is that a perfect first kick on the E9 should
reach an apex height of 15' and a distance of 10 yards.
Altitude and distance on E9 kicks
after the first kick: My estimate for the E8 for kicks after the
first kick was that they should send the ball approx 18' high at
the max on the arc, and 11 yds in length. Today doing the E9 it
seemed that the good second kicks sent the ball about 18' high and 12 yds
in length. Thus my estimate as of now is that
on the E9 the kicks after the second kick should send the ball 18' high
and 12 yds in distance.
It is a tough new thing for me to on
the first kick of the run, roll the ball back with the left foot, flip it
up with the left foot and while stationary, trying to keep my balance,
kick the ball with the left foot far and high so as to place it well to
reach after 9 paces before it hits the ground. Again today I found
that on the first kick visualizing the intended arc trajectory helped. I
approached the ball at slant with the ball on my left, and leaned to my
right as I kicked the ball forwards and upwards.
There was definitely significant improvement today in terms
of competence in executing long high chips on the first kick. I never
thought I would get good at such long high first kick kicks but I am
getting good at it.
Today as on previous days I have noticed that I am developing
the ability to accomplish tightly controlled fast 180 degree turns while
keeping the ball in the air and under control. At almost full
speed I chase down a ball, kick it upwards before it reaches the ground,
turn my body around, and proceed in the opposite direction all without the
ball touching the ground.
Today it occurred to me, that an interesting facet of these once
every this or that number of paces air-dribble runs, is that no matter how
far forwards the ball goes on a kick, the ball always stays airborne for
about the same amount of time on each kick. A genius or someone such as
myself when not tired as I am now, might be able to make tactical use of
this fact. During and after the 45 minutes this
evening I got hot and sweaty and somewhat winded. It was
cooler than yesterday but more humid.
My estimate is that the ceiling is
25.5 feet high, and certain bars on the ceiling are 22.5 feet
high. Looks like once I get into things like E11 and E12
there will be a problem with the ceiling getting in the way. Also
looks like I will have to run the length of the gym instead of the width
for E11 and beyond as I am running out of horizontal space running the
approx 20 yds width of the gym. My last touch on the air-dribble runs is
getting to be right before the wall I run at.
Problem is, that when the vertical barrier I
run at (to minimize ball retrieval problems) is an outdoors fence, the
ball ends up being kicked over the fence.
Universities tend to have best I can recall
gym ceilings higher than 25 feet, but universities and me have not been
getting along so well.
Imagine that, universities
with majestic high ceilings in their indoor
athletic facilities, an athlete who can do
majestic things like sprint 30 yards keeping the ball off
the ground, kicking the ball 3 times on arc trajectories that reach
an average of 25 feet in height over the course of the 30 yards
(first kick second kick and third touch at the 30 yard point) so as
to have control over the ball after the 30 yards have been aerially
traversed--but for some reason this majesty and that
majesty go their opposite ways.
In fact the universities seem to be at war
with every conceivable type of majesty, since they it
seems are devoted to a hyper-typicalist philosophy.
When in this five person department and in
that ten person group you are constantly trying to mirror the public, you
end up with hyper-typicalism. When you try to mirror the public with 10
people you naturally end up discriminating more against non-typicals than
you do when you try to mirror the public with a million
people.
Suppose 50% of the population is basically
typical. If you set aside 50% of the openings in some job for typicals,
when only 20% of the typicals can do the job but 60% of the non-typicals
can do the job, you end up discriminating harshly against
non-typicals.
They overestimate the percentage of the
population that is typical. You could make the case that non-typicals are
actually greater in number than typicals.
Hyper-typicalism is depressing because it
respects nothing. You could excel in this or that way, but it would mean
nothing to a hyper-typicalist.
"Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous;
but who is able to stand before envy?"
-- Proverbs 27:4
So looks like the best
policy for now is to stop at E10 until some place with a high fence and
more than 20 yards horizontal runway space can be located.
Fact is that naturally when you start getting
into things like E9 like I did today, things begin to get more
approximate, less exact in terms of the exact number of paces you
take between kicks. If I can digest this kind of inexactitude, I
think I can soon become good enough at the E9 so as to be able to apply
the E9 to game situations. I think eventually I could become skilled
enough to in a game chip the ball approx 10
yards ahead, reach it before it bounces after running approximately 9 paces, then chip it approximately 12 yds ahead, reach the
ball before it bounces, and establish control over the ball, all at
close to max sprint speed and with high level of ball
control.
What I saw today was myself
making headway towards the goal of being able to sprint 20 yards or so at
full speed, touching the ball approximately every 10 yards, approximately
every 9 paces, with a high level of ball control.
Surely in general aside from
producing lots of technically perfect fast E9 runs, I am improving in my
ability to accurately chip airborne balls far and high.
I had no beer the previous 24 hours,
no coffee, some tea. Seems the absence of beer resulted in improvement in
skill. There was no pain/soreness, just a little stiffness in my lower
left leg.
Faces In the Crowd:
There were none the gym was empty.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin orange socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi |
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Tuesday
Aug 21 2007
Indoors
Waltham Y Gym
900 PM -945 PM |
E10(left)ADGDWindsprints 45 minutes
total 45 minutes |
Weather
conditions were:
9 PM 56 degrees 77
percent humidity
10 PM 51 degrees 89
percent humidity
(http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/8/21/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) Gym thermom: Did not check
E10(left)ADGDWindsprints.
Basic Approx Method: Air
Dribble (ball kept off ground while running forward) ball 24 yds
towards wall, ground ball, ground dribble fast back to 11 yards from
start, then coast effortlessly to start point; interval rest period
40 seconds counted in head. Utilize E10 pattern, kicking
ball every 10 paces with the left
foot.
Today was the first day that I ran along the
length of the gym while doing these drills. The gym is approx 25 yards
wide and 35 yards long. Up to now all the drills have featured me running
parallel to the width of the gym not the length of the gym. Today I ran
parallel to the length of the gym.
I placed cone #1 to mark the start, a
yard north of the southern free-throw line (I call one of the
main free throw lines on the basketball court the southern free throw
line, the opposite one, the northern free throw line. Cone #2 was
a yard north of the middle line splitting the two sides of the
court. Cone #3 was two yards north of the northern free
throw line.
Digression re a Musical
Score
So you could say regarding the drills today, that
I was like the Southern Confederacy charging the North,
as in Pickett's Charge. And I guess that is the way it will be in the
future because for some reason in the gym I feel more comfortable
moving towards the north.
On the internet you can find a video clip of Pickett's
charge, taken from the movie Gettysburg. Alot of people have
listed the musical score in this Gettysburg movie as being one of the best
ever, many say it is simply the best ever. I am not aware of any
battle-scene movie scores better than the one used in the Gettsburg move
and in the video clip of Pickett's charge. The way the Pickett's
charge segment combines military drumming of the troops in the field with
the musical score, the way the musical score changes when the color of the
land the troops are marching on changes from green to brown--it is
masterful. You can find this clip at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6081687165759262171&q=gettysburg&total=1218&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
I find listening to and watching this clip to be
inspiring maybe it helps me to get revved up and perform at soccer
practice. Not because I believe the South was right, but because
I appreciate good music and the beauty of nature; and because the
picturesque armies symbolize in my mind the armies of righteousness. The
movie and its score in general set a tone that asserts that the men
of the South and the men of the North were similar like brothers,
dignified despite the occasional violence.
Plus in the movie segment the long distances covered by
the cannon shells, the tremendous force of the explosions of the cannon
shells, reminds me of the kind of soccer I am practicing and playing.
End of Digression re a
Musical Score
The object of the drill this evening was to
flip the ball up at cone #1 and kick it forward so that it would bounce
approx at cone #2 if not kicked; sprint forward and upon reaching cone #2
kick the ball again before it reached the ground; continue sprinting
forward and kick the ball a third time, before it touched the ground at
cone #3. Cone #2 was approx 11 yds from cone #1; cone #3 was approx 13 yds
from cone #2; the wall was 6 yds beyond cone #3.
A perfect run would be: fast, ball kicked at
cone #1, after 10 paces at cone #2, after 10 paces at cone #3;
all without ball touching the ground. A perfect kick #1 places the ball
perfectly so that it can be accurately kicked on kick #2 after a sprint of
10 paces. A perfect kick #2 places the ball perfectly so that the ball can
be accurately kicked on kick #3 after a sprint of 10 more paces. Good
means close to perfect but off in some way.
Speeds: I estimate the
air-dribble runs today on average were at 93% of max speed
during the E10 air-dribble segments,
(100%=maximum-sprint-speed-without-ball).
I estimate the speed on the ground dribbles,
at approx 95% of the max speed I am capable of on such dribbles.
The 100% speed benchmark is sprint
without ball for the air dribble and with sprint with ball for the ground
dribble.
45 minutes 900-945 PM:
Did E10 with alternating left and right feet. Concentrated on artistry and technique as opposed to
speed but runs were fast anyway. I tried hard to avoid letting the ball
bounce even once, tried hard to touch the ball with only my left foot,
kicking the ball every ten paces.
My intention as I started the
practice was to send the ball 11 yds forward and 17' high at the apex on
the first kick, and 13 yds forward and 20' high on the second kick. As it
turned out, these distances and apexes were about right for
producing fast E10 runs touching the ball every ten paces with the
left foot only keeping the ball off the ground.
903 a perfect E10 run
covering 25 yards in the air on two kicks, with the ball touched before
hitting the ground on the third touch at 25 yards; 907
good except 2nd kick sent ball too far ball reached right after
it bounced rn was fast; 908 OK run 1st kick short zig zag; 909 OK 1st
short 2nd long reached on 1 bounce; 912 1st kick perfect 2nd
hit ceiling; 913 1st kick good reached at sprint on 10
paces; 914 1st kick short 2nd reached at sprint on 1 close bounce (close
bounce means the time between the ball bouncing and me reaching it was
brief); 916 good fast run except ball after 2nd kick
reached on bounce; 917 good fast run except ball reached
after 2nd kick on close bounce; 920 1st kick good reached ball after 1st
kick after sprint of 10 paces before ball bounced, 2nd kick was an
effortlessly hard well placed shot to the wall 20 yds away; 921
slow but technically good ball kept in air kicked every 10 paces; 922 1st
kick reached on close bounce at sprint with chest, but run covered
25 yds fast on just 1 bounce and ball was controlled at 25 yd
mark; 923 off it was a slow 1 bounce run; 925 1st kick reached on 1 close
bounce, run covered 25 yds fast on 1 bounce with ball
controlled at 25 yd mark; 1st segment kick and sprint to second kick was
slow but good, 2nd kick hit ceiling; 927 1st segment kick
and sprint to 2nd kick fast and good 2nd segment 2nd kick and
susequent sprint slanted but 20 yds covered fast; 929
fast good 25 yd run--1st kick reached fast on 1 close bounce 2nd
kick perfect reached at 25 yd mark 3rd kick a shot;
930 perfect fast run no bounces ball controlled well
on 3rd touch at 25 yd mark ball kept off ground entire time; 931 1st kick
well placed reached at sprint after 10 paces 2nd kick long; 933
perfect fast run, 25 yds covered in air with 2 kicks, ball
controlled and trapped to ground on 3rd kick; 934 good fast run
covering 30 yards, 2nd kick sent ball a little far it war reached
after the 2nd kick on 1 close bounce at the 30 yd mark; 937 technically
good slow zig zag reached the 20 yd mark at least ball was kept off the
ground and kicked every 10 paces; 939 1st kick was long 2nd close but
25 yds covered fast on 1 bounce--ball was touched at 25
yds; 940 the 1st kick was good but the run to reach it before it bounced
was a little slow and the kick was a little too high; 941 good
fast run covers 30 yds on 1 bounce 1st kick was well placed
reached on sprint before ball hit ground after approx 11 yds, the 2nd kick
was replaced with a header, the header sent the ball a little long, the
ball was reached and touched on 1 close bounce at 30 yds--a kick was
replaced by a header but 30 yds were covered fast on 1 close bounce; 943
1st kick was long, caught on 1 close bounce with the chest at a fast
sprint at approx 12 yds, but 25 yds were covered fast on one
bounce and ball was controlled at the 25 yd distance so it was a
good run; 944 1st kick was long, reached at sprint after approx 12 yds,
2nd kick was an effortlessly powerful shot to the
wall.
Why did I take and report such
detailed notes on the 45 minutes of practice? One reason is, to convince
myself that I really can do what I did this evening, because it seems
unbelievable to me. Knowing something of psychology, I realize that the
more that I can believe that I can do something, the better my chances of
being able to do it.
It seems unbelievable,
because of the speed--I reach higher speeds using the E10 kicking the ball
every 10 paces than I do using the E3 kicking the ball every 3
paces.
It seems unbelievable
because of the distance height and accuracy of the kicks. These
balls are being flipped up and kicked (such is awkard and difficult) to a
precise spot 11 yards away. The balls are being chipped to this precise
spot on a high arc trajectory reaching 20' at apex; it is harder to hit a
target using such an extreme arc than it is using a straight line but the
arc has to be used to allow me to reach the ball before it hits the ground
or on one close bounce.
It seems unbelievable,
because of the distances. Sprinting 25-30 yards keeping the ball off the
ground but under control is more difficult than doing the same over 15-20
yards.
It seems unbelievable,
because the YMCA gym looks so much bigger to me when I do the runs
parallel to the long side of the gym as opposed to parallel to the short
side of the gym. The gym looks gigantically long and wide when I am about
to start a run traversing the length of the gym instead of the
width. Everything about the gym seems
emasculating, cold, bright, and intimidating running the length of
the gym compared to how it seems when running the width of the
gym. 20 yards traversed running the length of the gym seems a
longer distance than 20 yards traversed running the width of the gym. When
I started this evening I felt as if the sheer psychological intimidation
of running the length instead of the width of the gym would impair my
performance and maybe it did.
And so I remind myself via the records I keep
that I can do unbelievable things.
The detailed records teach me for example
that this evening, even when the technical
perfection was not there because the ball was reached on a bounce or
reached on 9 paces not 10 etc., or the ball was headed or chested instead
of kicked, still, nevertheless, something impressive was accomplished, 25
yards was covered fast in the air, the ball was controlled at the 25 yard
point.
The detailed records teach me that
the problem is generally not the ball being kicked off to the left or off
to the right, or too far, or too close. the problem as it relates to games
featuring defenders is that sometimes the ball is kicked too low. Lesson: kick the ball in a direction such that if it is
accidentally chipped too low a defender will not be able to intercept it.
This evening I noted that there is a problem
with the length of the interval between runs and how this interval is
effected by keeping notes and using the watch vs counting seconds off in
the head. Variance in terms of the note-taking and
time-counting-methodology can end up increasing the length of the rest
intervals after poor quality runs and reducing the length of the rest
interval after low quality runs. This can produce something to
beware of--a Pavlov-dog-type counter-productive effect because poor
performance is rewarded with more of the cherished rest than high
performance.
IMHO as of now, it seems possible
that I could accelerate improvement and improve performance by allowing
myself more rest after good runs and less rest after low quality
runs.
Inconsistency in terms of how or what kind of
notes are taken, and in terms of time-keeping, can make one day's workout
more tiring than another day's workout, thereby screwing up comparisons
between days. I think that when developing new skills such as the
E10 worked on today, it could be advantageous to de-emphasize conditioning
and increase rest interval time between runs. But I think that the
plan of action re the rest intervals between runs should be decided
beforehand and adhered to so as to not screw up the comparisons based on
the records.
I am reminded of the Oak Square Y
situation. Yea it could be, that week to week and game to
game changing of the ball used and changing of the psi of the ball used is
advantageous. But the ball and the psi should be decided on and
announced several days before the game, during the game the ball and the
psi should be what was earlier announced, and a record should be kept of
the ball and the psi that were in effect during the games.
During and after the practice I got somewhat
hot and sweaty and somewhat winded. Could be the length of gym runs
require more effort than the width of the gym runs even though I try by
adjusting the length of the ground dribble back to the starting point to
even this out.
During the first 20 minutes approx there was
slight pain in both calves and both soles of the feet. In the previous 24
hours I had just tea no coffee I forget how much beer.
Methodology of 1st kick on
E10: I feel I improved today after
the first 10 minutes. How? After a little waffling I decided that this was
a kick involving the entire leg not an ankle-powered flip of the foot. I
decided that I needed to flip the ball up a little higher prior to kicking
it because the kick is a leg based kick. I decided that instead of
visualizing the entire arc the ball would follow on the kick, I should in
my mind and with my eye focus on the half-way point of the arc, the apex,
and aim to hit the apex (this was a little hard because this apex point is
in the middle of nowhere, in the air). And from minute to 10 to the end
minute 45 I stuck to my decisions.
Altitude and distance on first kick
on E10: My estimate before starting the practice was that the
ball should be kicked 17 feet high at arc apex and 11 yards out. I
was too involved in the difficulty of accomplishing the frighteningly
unbelievable to keep mental or written records re the apex and the
distance today, but my guess using the
experience derived from the practice this evening is that 18 feet at
apex and 12 yards out would be correct.
Altitude and
distance on E10 kicks after the first kick: I was too caught up
in the proceedings to record altitudes and distances. The 13 yards out and
20' high estimate is what I tried to stick to this evening. Taking
into account the height of the bars hanging 3 feet below the ceiling,
which were rarely hit today, I now estimate 13
yards out and 18 feet high for the E10 after the first
kick.
My latest estimate is that the ceiling is
25.5 feet high, but there are lots of bars hanging
from the ceiling that are 22.5 feet high sometimes the ball hits these
bars sometimes it luckily sails over them without hitting the
ceiling.
The Waltham Y
ceiling is not a problem for the E10 the ceiling was only hit 2 or 3
times.
This evening's events
showed that definitely, for the E10 and E11 E12 etc which may come in the
future, the length of the gym not the width of the gym should be used.
Faces In the Crowd:
There was a middle aged black guy with a mustache who came out to shoot
baskets after I set up the cones for the drills but he left before I
started the drills. Can't say he was bad luck. I had the gym to myself the
entire 45 minutes of doing the runs.
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin white socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi |
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Wednesday
Aug 21 07 |
Update News |
Today I updated the Aug 20 07 entry entitled "SWF Flash movie animated soccer play diagram". I replaced the first animated diagram with a second more advanced animated diagram. I also updated the Aug 20 07 entry entitled "Explanation of How to Use a Soccer Play Animated Diagram Creating Program". |
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Wednesday
Aug 22 2007
Indoors
Waltham Y Gym
905 PM -950
PM |
E11ADGDWindsprints 45 minutes
total 45 minutes |
Weather
conditions were:
9 PM 63 degrees 67
percent humidity
10 PM 63 degrees 70
percent humidity
(http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/8/22/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) Gym thermom: Did not check
E11ADGDWindsprints.
Basic Approx Method: Air
Dribble (ball kept off ground while running forward) ball 27 yds
towards wall, ground ball, ground dribble fast back to 13 yards from
start, then coast to start point; interval rest period 40 seconds
counted in head or with watch. Utilize E11 pattern, kicking
ball every 11 paces with alternating left and right
feet. Of course if the E11 air drib pattern breaks down
etc sprint to wall and back anyway hopefully while dribbling
ball.
Today was the second day in a
row that I ran along the length of the gym while doing these drills.
The gym is approx 25 yards wide and 35 yards long. Today I ran
parallel to the length of the gym.
I placed cone #1 to mark the start,
a few yards south of the southern free-throw line (I call one of
the main free throw lines on the basketball court the southern free throw
line, the opposite one, the northern free throw line). Cone #2 was
a few yards from the middle line splitting the two sides
of the court. Cone #3 was a few yards north of the northern
free throw line.
The object of the drill this evening was to
flip the ball up at cone #1 and kick it forward so that it would bounce
approx at cone #2 if not kicked; sprint forward and upon reaching cone #2
kick the ball again before it reached the ground; continue sprinting
forward and kick the ball a third time, before it touched the ground at
cone #3. Cone #2 was approx 13 yds from cone #1; cone #3 was approx 14 yds
from cone #2; the wall was a few yds beyond cone #3.
A perfect run would be: fast, ball kicked
with left foot (I am left footed) at cone #1, after 11 paces
kicked with right foot at cone #2, after 11 paces kicked with
left foot and brought under control at cone #3; all without ball
touching the ground. A perfect kick #1 places the ball perfectly so that
it can be accurately kicked on kick #2 after a sprint of 11 paces. A
perfect kick #2 places the ball perfectly so that the ball can be
accurately kicked on kick #3 after a sprint of 11 more paces. Good means
close to perfect but off in some way.
Speeds: I estimate the
air-dribble runs today on average were at 90% of max speed
during the E12 air-dribble segments,
(100%=maximum-sprint-speed-without-ball).
I estimate the speed on the ground dribbles,
at approx 90% of the max speed I am capable of on such dribbles.
The 100% speed benchmark is sprint
without ball for the air dribble and with sprint with ball for the ground
dribble.
45 minutes 905-950 PM:
Did E11 with alternating left and right feet. Concentrated on artistry and technique as opposed to
speed but runs were fast anyway. I tried hard to avoid letting the ball
bounce even once, tried hard to touch the ball with alternating left and
right feet, kicking the ball every eleven paces.
My intention as I started the
practice was to send the ball 13 yds forward and 18' high at the apex on
the first kick, and 14 yds forward and 18' high on the second kick. Hard
to say if these distances were optimum for E11 based on what happened at
practice this evening.
905 START (things to be
proud of in red):
911 Good fast 27 yd E11 only defect
first kick was short (did'nt sent ball far enough); 913 1st kick
looked good but hit ceiling; 916
good fast 27 yd E11 1 bouncer only defect 1
close bounce along way; 919 Perfect E11
run; 923 good 30 yds zig zag
E11; 925 20 yds airborne zig
zag--technically imperfect slow zig-zag no-bounce E11 run covered
20 yds with ball in the air. I felt this run showed that I am beginning to
master the art of chipping weird high air balls on the first touch; 927
good first kick second right footed kick off (I'm left footed);
928 good first kick got me wondering is 13 yds too short a
distance on the first kick?; 931
would have been good fast 25 yd 1-bouncer but hit
ceiling--1st kick short low but good reached on 11
paces second kick felt and looked good hit ceiling;
933 good fast 30 yds E11 1
bouncer--ball controlled at end ball bounced an instant
before it was kicked the 3rd time; 934 1st kick good 2nd kick with right
off; 935 1st kick good 2nd with right off; 937 1st kick a little long but
good 2nd with right off; 938 good fast 30 yd
E11 one bouncer--ball bounced once along the 30 yds, the
chest was used on the bouncer; 940 would have
been good 27 yd E11 pattern zero-bounce run but
the ball passed through the metal bars hanging from the ceiling
without touching them, as a result of which I somewhat misjudged the
ball on its way down because it had merged into the ceiling
visually for me; 944 good fast 30 yard 1
bouncer--1st kick was low reached on 1 bounce but the run
ended as a fast 30 yarder with the ball bouncing once along the way and
controlled at the 30 yd mark; 946 good fast 30
yard run 1 bouncer--ball bounced once along the 30 yards,
controlled at end of 30 yds; 949 Would have
been good fast 30 yd zero-bouncer--1st kick was good
reached at a fast pace 2nd kick hit the ceiling but
looked and felt as it it would have produced good results.
The practice showed that I am skilled in the
art of at high speed chasing down a ball, touching it after it has
bounced once so as to commence a high speed
air-dribble covering approx 15 yds keeping the ball off the
ground but under control.
The practiced showed that this series of
E4-E10 drills has signficantly improved my ability to chip high air balls
accurately, sending high long chips off the air-balls.
Translation of above para: There
are these balls that fall to the ground from high in the air, falling from
heights of more than 12 feet. I kick such balls with my foot before they
hit the ground, sending high chips that reach an altitude of more than 12
feet accurately to targets several yards away I wish to send the ball
to. The chipped balls reach their targets without hitting the ground. I
have improved at doing such things.
Practice showed that my right foot is lagging behind
my left foot in terms of being able to at a fast run chase down an
airborne ball that if high above me and far from me, and then before
the ball hits the ground kick it sending it long and high, so as to reach
it yet again at a sprint before it hits the ground.
This is no surprise. I am left footed. The first
kick in the E4-E10 series is always with the left foot. Half of the E4-E10
series drills are left foot only and half are alternating left and right
foot. The right foot is getting less practice in these drills. When the
right foot does get a chance to practice it relatively speaking screws up
so that I do not get a chance to practice the subsequent kicks that would
come on the run because the ball has gone awry.
You could say I should use the right
foot more on the E4-E10 type stuff but there is this problem
that when the right screws up this gives me less chances to
practice the kind of kicks that are made in these drills because the ball
goes awry so the subsequent kicks in the run are not done as intended
according to the setup of the E11 drill.
This is not to say that I am incompetent with the
right foot at air-dribbling. It is to say that on these
high-number-of-paces-between-kicks drills the right is more inferior to
the left than is the case with the low-number-of-paces-between-kicks
drills.
I noticed today that as things deviated from the
prescribed E11 pattern, I covered about 20 yards fast kicking the ball
with my right foot alone approx every 7 paces, sending the ball on arcs
apexing at approx 8 feet (high enough to avoid most defenders), keeping
the ball off the ground but close to the body.
I would have been proud of this if such was the
intent of the E11 drill. I should have been proud of it. It shows that I
have been advancing in the use of the right in E5 and E7 type stuff
perhaps as a result of drills such as E9 and E11. Fact remains my right
foot is very competent on the E3.
During and after the practice I got a
little hot and sweaty and somewhat winded.
As was the case yesterday during the
first 20 minutes approx there was slight pain in both calves and both
soles of the feet. In the previous 24 hours I had just tea no
coffee and approx 50 oz beer.
Methodology of 1st kick on
E11: Implemented methodology described in previous
entry.
Altitude and distance on first kick
on E11: My estimate before starting the practice was that the
ball should be kicked 18 feet high at arc apex and 13 yards out on
the first kick. I did not observe and note much re if this was right
during the practice. So for now 18 feet and 13
yds out is still the estimate.
Altitude and
distance on E11 kicks after the first kick: I was too caught up
in the proceedings to record altitudes and distances. The 14 yards out and 18' high estimate is what I tried
to stick to this evening. And it continues to be the
estimate.
The (for all practical purposes 22.5' high)
Waltham Y ceiling interfered with E11 on the first kick once, and on
the second kick 3 times today. It is definitely possible to execute
perfect E11 runs in the Waltham Y despite the ceiling.
E11 is definitely a length-of-gym as opposed
to width-of-gym drill.
Today there were approx 10 runs to be proud
of, but I did not feel as if there were 10 runs to be proud of. And so I
put the runs to be proud of in the minute-by-minute report paragraph found
above, into boldface red type.
I should not foolishly allow the ceiling
hitting a ball screwing up a good run to get me down.
I should not get so impractically
obsessed with aerialism that I fail to appreciate fast runs of the type
performed FIVE TIMES this evening featuring the ball kept off the
ground and kicked twice to cover 30 yds with the ball controlled at the
end with the third touch, simply because the ball bounced once while the
30 yards were covered (either before the second kick in the run or
before the 3rd touch at the end at approx the 30 yd
point),
the big thing today was that at 530 AM
Wednesday Aug 22 the morning before the evening practice, I ate three of
the 5 mg 'Nature's Bounty' melatonin pills. My guess is that the melatonin
slightly impaired me during the practice skill-wise. Hard to say because
today was alternating left and right feet and yesterday was left foot
alone, but the first kick that is always done with the left seemed a
little worse than what you would expect today after getting the practice
in yesterday.
Seems the melatonin impaired my level of
happiness during and after the practice.
My estimates re melatonin as of now
based on my personal experience:
On the positive
side: it melatonin increases the level of endurance and
strength, it feels like a natural anti-oxidant like tea or tangerine juice
in terms of its impact on the body. It can be good for getting the body to
perform physiologically taxing conditioning/endurance-building type
workouts. It can decrease the soreness stiffness fatigue etc that
comes after practice.
On the negative side: it
melatonin makes you feel more depressed than you would feel without it. I
suspect that using it the pill-form-melatonin impairs the body's ability
to naturally produce natural melatonin. Sometimes after consuming
melatonin you feel wide awake and cannot get to sleep, even though one of
the main purposes of melatonin is to help you get to sleep.
In general I now think melatonin taken once
or twice a week can improve endurance and recuperative abilities, but I
would not want to take it more often.
Faces In the Crowd:
The teenage female Cougars basketball team
was winding up at 900 PM as I started.
After the workout I went to the Exxon Tiger
Mart, the gas station, on Main St. The owner of the place, George,
was there. He told me that he read the email that I sent him, containing
among other things my own new and original doctrines in metaphysics and
theology, and a couple of long rhyming poems that wrote. He
said that he read the entire contents of the email (it was a very long
email) from beginning to end ten times. He said to me, 'you should be
a philosopher'.
Him saying he had read it ten times would
have made me feel happy, except because of the melatonin I think, what he
said did not impact me much. But I told him that him saying that he had
read it ten times made me feel good, because I felt that if I had not
taken the melatonin him saying what he said would have made me feel good.
When I first send him the email, to his Yahoo
account, the text and background colors of the email, which is an html/css
email, did not manifest properly in the yahoo mail program. This is
because of the way Yahoo Mail is coded in my opinion. I saved the email I
had sent him to html form, uploaded it to my server online,
all without changing any codes, and gave him George the URL of the
page. It looked perfect on server as it does in my RCN connected Outlook
Express email program.
Tell you what I'll let you spy on this email
it is at:
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin green socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi |
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Thursday
Aug 23 2007
Indoors
Waltham Y Gym
905 PM -950
PM |
E12ADGDWindsprints 45 minutes
total 45 minutes |
What is the Point of
these drills like E12?
Surely some feel that an explanation is long
overdue. Many probably are thinking, what is the point in this, if he
kicks the ball at a high chip to a point 15 yards away from himself, an
enemy player will be able to get to the ball before he does.
Response:
If I chip the ball to
point X 15 yards away from myself, an enemy player might be able to get to
point X before I do, but I will be right on top of him at the time he is
able to touch the ball at point X to discomfit him. If a team-mate and an
enemy player both get to point X before the ball arrives, I will be at
point X when the ball arrives to turn the equation in my favor.
I can use the kind of
chips practiced in these drills to send the ball to areas of the field
that are clear of players, hanging the ball up in the air, allowing
team-mates and/or myself to reach the ball without being called for
offsides.
And of courseI can use the skills
learned in these drills to send simple chip-passes to my team-mates.
I can do all these
things while to a large extent keeping the ball so high in the air that
enemy players cannot touch it.
Weather/Workout-Fatigue/Intervals/Diet:
9 PM 69 degrees 78
percent humidity
10 PM 68 degrees 84
percent humidity
(http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/8/23/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) Gym thermom: 70/72 Dont know what it means
More hot and humid than yesterday. During and after the practice got
hot and sweaty and slightly winded.
Intervals today were as follows: For a run I was not
impressed by--40 seconds counted off in the head if no note taken (nothing
written with pen on paper on clipboard), if note taken time to write note
re run, plus 20 seconds counted in the head; for a respectable
run--time taken to write note re run plus 30 seconds counted off in the
head; for better than respectable--time taken to write note plus 35
seconds counted in the head; for top-notch time taken to write note plus
40 seconds counted in the head.
Day before yesterday the method in timing intervals was: runs on
which notes taken: time taken to write note on run counted with watch,
remainder counted in head; runs on which no notes taken: time counted in
head. Notes were taken on a greater percentage of the good runs compared
to the lesser runs. Since this resulted in the luxury of counting in the
head after lesser runs, which sort of rewarded lesser runs, I made notes
on almost every run and then tried to give a 10 second reward of extra
rest for good runs.
In the 24 hours previous to the workout I consumed no beer no
melatonin no coffee. I was practically fasting
the previous 24 hours, I had just tea, a couple of glasses
of mango-guava-tangerine juice by Noble (excellent), and about five
mouthfuls of 'Master Zen Party Mix' from Hannaford Supermarket.
E12ADGDWindsprints.
Basic Approx Method: Air
Dribble (ball kept off ground while running forward) ball 29 yds to
wall, ground ball, ground dribble fast back to 14 yards from start,
then coast to start point; rest for prescribed interval,
repeat. Attempt to utilize E12 pattern, kicking
ball every 12 paces with left foot. Of course
if the E12 air drib pattern breaks down etc sprint to wall and back
anyway hopefully while dribbling ball.
Today again I ran along the length of the gym
while doing these drills. The gym is approx 25 yards wide and 35 yards
long. Today I ran parallel to the length of the gym.
I placed cone #1
to mark the start, under the southern basket (I call one
of the two main baskets on the basketball court the southern basket,
the opposite one, the northern basket). Cone #2 was one yard south of the
middle line splitting the two sides of the court. Cone #3 was 1 yard south of the north
basket. Cone #2 was 14 yards approx from cone #1; cone #3 was
15 yds approx from cone #2.
The object of the drill this evening was to
flip the ball up at cone #1 and kick it forward so that it would bounce
approx at cone #2 if not kicked; sprint forward and upon reaching cone #2
kick the ball again before it reached the ground; continue sprinting
forward and kick or otherwise legally touch the ball a third time, before
it touched the ground at cone #3.
A perfect run would be: fast, ball kicked
with left foot (I am left footed) at cone #1, after 12 paces
kicked with left foot at cone #2, after 12 paces kicked
with left foot and brought under control at cone #3; all without ball
touching the ground. A perfect kick #1 places the ball perfectly so that
it can be accurately kicked on kick #2 after a sprint of 12 paces. A
perfect kick #2 places the ball perfectly so that the ball can be
accurately kicked on kick #3 after a sprint of 12 more paces. Good means
close to perfect but off in some way.
If I say, there was a 30 yard one bounce
air-dribble, that means that the ball was at least touched at the point 30
yards from the start and that the ball bounced once along the 30 yard
route.
Speeds: I estimate the
air-dribble runs today on average were at 93% of max speed
during the E12 air-dribble segments,
(100%=maximum-sprint-speed-without-ball).
I estimate the speed on the ground dribbles,
at approx 95% of the max speed I am capable of on such dribbles.
The 100% speed benchmark is sprint
without ball for the air dribble and sprint with ball for the ground
dribble.
45 minutes 905-950 PM:
Did E12 attempting to use left foot only. Concentrated on artistry and technique as opposed to
speed but runs were fast anyway. I tried to avoid letting the ball bounce
even once, tried to touch the ball with the left foot alone, kicking the
ball every twelve paces.
My intention as I started the
practice was to send the ball 14 yds forward and 18' high at the apex on
the first kick, and 15 yds forward and 18' high on the second kick. Hard
to say if these distances were optimum for E12 based on what happened at
practice this evening.
905 START (things to be
proud of in red):905 good
first kick; 907 1st kick short second
kick hit ceiling; 909 good first
kick reachd at sprint after 12 paces, second kick grounded
the high ball sent it rolling hard and fast forward on the second kick as
foot hit ball at same time as ball hit ground; 910 first kick reached on nine pace sprint this not E12 but
was good, second kick off hit with right foot;
913 good 9 paces between each kick
run disrupted by ball hitting ceiling after third
kick; 915 ball kicked approx every 9
paces a fast no bounce zig zag reached 20 yards without the ball
bouncing; 917 fast 8 paces
between kicks run covered 25 yds without ball bouncing; 919 first kick was
low, but reached before bouncing after approx 12 fast paces on
sprint, second kick was off when kicked with right, ball
went to wall shot-style; 920 1st kick low
reached on sprint before bouncing after 10 paces, 2nd kick
off; 922 almost perfect fast 30 yd run done
according to E12 pattern, 2nd kick kicked ball a pace too
far ball kicked 3rd time immediately after bouncing; 924 1st kick
caught before bouncing after 11 sprinted paces 2nd kick
was off right-footed; 926 1st kick was good,
caught before bouncing after 11 sprinted paces next kick
was off right-footed, a replay of 924; 928 1st
kick caught after 13 sprinted paces on 1 close bounce, end result was a
fast 1 bounce 30 yard air-dribble; 930 fast 3 touch zig zag reached 20
yards from start without a bounce, approx 12 sprinted paces between
kicks; 932 OK first kick long but reached on one close
bounce after 14 sprinted paces;
933 1st kick was long reached after 14 sprinted paces on a
close bounce, ball was headed, end result fast
30 yard 1-bounce air-dribble but not according to the exact E12
pattern; 935 1st kick good
reached after 11 fast paces before bouncing second kick
with right foot sent ball a little too far, ball caught on one close
bounce after 14 sprinted paces, net result
fast 1-bounce 30 yd air-dribble; 939 low 1st kick reached after 8 sprinted
paces before bouncing, ball kicked with left again, after another 8
sprinted paces ball kicked with left again, covered 20 yds fast on 2 kicks, without a
bounce; 942
1st kick low reached after 12 sprinted paces on 1 bounce, end result fast 30 yd air-dribble with 1
bounce; 946 1st kick low caught after 14 sprinted paces on
1 close bounce end result 30+ yard fast
air-dribble run with 1 bounce; 948 1st kick low and short
caught before bouncing after 7 sprinted paces 2nd kick miskick with
right.
About 16 things to be proud
of, 16 things that would impress the hispanic boys and leave me
un-embarrassed before them.
What stood out today was that there were
many runs that were fast and cool and contained elements that
could have been effective in a game, even though these runs deviated
somewhat from the E12 ideals such as the ball being kicked
exactly every 12 paces with just the left foot, the ball never bouncing
over the course of a 30 yd air-dribble.
Another thing that stood out was that there
were alot of good prescribed E12 pattern 1st kicks and alot of 1st kicks
that produced good results in terms of approx 11 yds being covered fast at
a sprint in an air-dribble on zero bounces, even though they deviated
from the prescribed E12 pattern featuring the ball being reached
after a sprint of exactly 12 paces.
Generally today the first kicks were better
than last couple of days but the second kicks seemed a little worse. And
today, my standards for myself were not as high as
yesterday. Why did today stand out in these ways? The
two factors that come to mind are, 1) I was practically fasting
the previous 24 hours; 2) today I used a Pavlovian system of giving myself
more rest after the better runs.
But it must be admitted that it could be
that the increased rest between runs was the factor that improved
performance in certain ways, as opposed to the fact that certain
better runs were followed by more rest than other lesser
runs. There were so many runs on which I found something to be
pleased with that alot of the runs were rewarded with extra rest seconds
in the intervals between runs.
Since the distances covered by the kicks were so
long today I was sort of easy to please in terms of how much I pleased
myself with the kicks today.
Its as if today I was consistently getting
at least close to the ideal on the first kick. I consider this
important.
Methodology of 1st kick on
E11: Implemented methodology described in previous
entry.
Altitude and distance on first kick
on E12: My estimate before starting the practice was that the
ball should be kicked 18 feet high at arc apex and 14 yards out on
the first kick. I did not observe and note much re if this was right
during the practice. So for now 18 feet and 14
yds out is still the estimate.
Altitude and
distance on E12 kicks after the first kick: I was too caught up
in the proceedings to record altitudes and distances. The 15 yards out and 18' high estimate is what I tried
to stick to this evening. And it continues to be the
estimate.
The (for all practical purposes 22.5' high)
Waltham Y ceiling interfered with E12 on the second kick once,
and on the third kick once today. It is possible
to execute perfect E12 runs in the Waltham Y despite the ceiling.
Nevertheless, even though the ceiling
is not being hit that often it is still an intimidating factor that
probably impaired performance on the E12s. The ceiling is
generally 22 feet high and in some places 20 feet high due to venting
pipes and hanging bars. Thus when the intention is to reach an altitude of
18 feet, altitudes lower than desired are reached due to fear of the
ceiling.
E12 is definitely a length-of-gym as opposed
to width-of-gym drill. The gym length wise is long enough to accomodate
the E12.
Faces In the Crowd:
None had gym to self today
|
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin orange socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi
|
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Friday
Aug 24 2007
Outdoors
Peter Gilmore Playground
Corner of Lowell & High
Waltham
845 PM -945
PM |
E5ADGDWindsprints
60 minutes
(extensive note taking during
intervals)
|
Weather
conditions were:
9 PM 78
degrees wind=11.5 mph 74 percent humidity
10 PM 76
degrees wind=8.1 mph 79 percent humidity
(http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBED/2007/8/24/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA) Interval rest period approx 40 seconds counted in
head. Allowed myself a little extra rest between attempts because of
the extensive note taking. Runs followed by note taking were also runs
that were followed by a little extra rest compared to runs not followed by
note taking. The idea being to encourage note taking and to encourage
doing things that are notable, and to encourage observation during the
runs. Segment stretched from 45 min to 60 min today.
Pain: no pains
Diet: Previous 24 hours had a #1 KFC dinner (a
breast, a small cole slaw and a small mashed potatoes), organic brown tea,
Master Zen Party mix, guava-mango-tangerine juice, no beer, less
than normal amount food but not fasting either. Had a cup coffee at 530
AM.
Fatigue: Got hot and sweaty and a little winded.
Today for the first time since I began doing
these drills that combine air-dribbling windsprints and intervals, I felt
during the practice a signficant improvement in terms of muscular
strength, the strength of the muscles required to do the things done in
these drills. This kind of strength is not the same thing
as anaerobic fitness or aerobic fitness, but it has an effect on morale,
on the level of pleasure derived from the workout, on fatigue, and on
performance.
E5ADGDWindsprints Basic Approx Method: Air
Dribble (ball kept off ground but close to body while running
forward) ball 20 yds to fence, ground ball, ground dribble to
starting point, On air-dribble segment for E5 attempt to kick
ball with feet every 5 paces alternating between left foot and right
foot.
If for example I say, there was a 'fast 20
yard 1 bounce air-dribble run', this means that the ball was touched
at the 20 yard mark, and the ball touched the ground only once between the
start and the 20 yard mark.
Speeds: I estimate the
air-dribble runs today on average were at 88% speed. The
ground drib back to target were at about 93% I guess (100% = max speed
while dribbling with ball under control).
45 minutes 845-945 PM:
Did E5 with alternating left and right feet. Concentrated on attempting to stick to e5 pattern
(touch ball every five paces with alternating left and right feet) as
opposed to speed; I tried hard to avoid letting the ball bounce even
once.
845 START: 847 good fast E5/6 (first kick reached after 5 paces second
kick after 6 paces) the second kick was a little high at
apex of arc; 850 technically good E5 run a little slow one of the
kicks in the e5 pattern was replaced by a header; 853
good run e5 pattern adhered to a little slow; (type of
notes taken changes at this point); a 2nd kick 9 yards out
and 12' high can be a segment in a fast perfect e5 run; estimate is first
kick out 5 yds reaching chest height at apex of arc; paying attention to
such (how high the ball was kicked, how far it was kicked) impairs
performance; a 1st kick out 6 yds reaching 7' at apex of arc could be a
good 1st kick for establishing a fast paced E5 pattern; a good e5 1st kick
reaches 5 or 6 feet at apex of arc; a 1st kick that is waist high at apex
of arc can still be a good first kick on the e5 it produces a very fast
start when it is caught after 5 paces; chest high at apex of arc on 1st
kick produces a medium-fast speed on the e5; a 2nd kick 8 yds out 9 feet
high at apex of arc can be a good medium-fast segment in an E5 pattern
run; a ball had such intense backspin on it that it was mis-headed; it
might be safer to aim for shoulder height as apex of arc on the first
kick; I am showing significant improvement in terms of handling mis-kicks;
a good first kick did not spin the ball; a good first kick involves leg
and a little ankle action; a 1st kick 10 feet high at apex of arc and 7
yds out was caught at high speed after five paces according to the e5
pattern; a good 1st kick had only a little spin on it; aiming for a
shoulder height at apex arc not spinning the ball on the kick and using
the leg and the body on the kick seems to produce good results on the
first kick; a new fantastic and deadly move
that it seems I will eventually be able to execute at will, and that I did
accidentally this evening, could be as follows: I flip the ball up
slightly upwards while air dribbling forwards so that it bounces
immediately behind my back--the ball and my body will continue forward
with the body in front of the ball; sometimes the ball will bounce to in
front of me after bouncing behind me.
Ball Altitude/Distance E5 1st
Kick: the notes in the para above boiled down are:
y=yards f=feet
distance-ball-kicked/apex-height-on-arc
5y/4.5f good; 6y/7f good; ?/5.5f=good;
5y/3.5f=fast,low good; ?/4.5f=med fast good; ?/5.0f=safer good; 7y/10f=good fast; Thus one can get good results on 1st kick on
the E5 anywhere from 5y/3/5f to 7y/10f. The median is 6y/7f. Mostly today
I was aiming for 5y/5f. My estimate now is
that on E5 first kick one should aim for 6y/6f meaning aim for apex height
on arc of 6 feet and distance traveled before hitting ground of 6 yards.
Ball Altitude/Distance E5 2nd
Kick: the notes in the para above boiled down are:
y=yards f=feet
distance-ball-kicked/apex-height-on-arc
9y/12f; 8y/9f=medium fast good;
Thus one can get good results on 2nd
kick on the E5 on average at 8.5y/10.5f. I was not consciously attempting
to reach any particular elevation or distance as measured in feet or yards
on the second kicks such is the usual case. My
estimate is if I aim I should aim for 8 yards out and 10 feet high at apex
of arc. Technique on 1st Kick:
Judging from today the method should be: no
attempt to spin ball. Leg and body thrown into kick with only a little use
of ankle. Aim for arc apex point of imagined kick. Mental attitude do your
best.
General Notes: It is getting
to the point where it is wise to take detailed intelligent notes on
heights distances, techniques etc., even if this means a little extra rest
between runs. The extra rest between runs can be compensated for by
lengthening the practice time today it was 60 minutes instead of 45
minutes. True keeping the eye and the mind focused on recording
facts such as how high did the ball go or how far did it go impairs
performance--but such is a price a mature person has to be willing
to pay for improvement, it's immature to be so obsessed with
immediate success, so obsessed with avoiding a day or so of disrepute as a
result of observed performance impairment, that one fails to take
necessary observational and notational steps.
Today Aug
24 the E5 performance as a whole was about 800 percent better than
the E5 performance the last time I did the E5 a week ago on August
17--I kid you not. 95% of the runs got the ball 20 yards
in distance (the ball was touched at approx the 20 yd mark) fast and
controlled, even though a few bounced once along the way and several
deviated from the exact E5 pattern. So suddenly the E5 is getting
close to the kind of consistency it has to be at to be game-worthy.
All I can think
is that the E6 to E12 drills I did in the days between the last time I did
the E5 and today, somehow had a dramatic beneficial effect on the E5
skills. I think this has to do with E6-E12 helping me to
get over the fear of hitting the ball too far on the E5. The fear of
hitting the ball too far on the E5 has to do with the fear of the ball
bouncing and the fear of the ball going so far in front that it gets out
of control. The fear of the ball bouncing is of course a major ingredient
in producing competent air-dribbling but said fear can get out of hand.
E12 is harder than E11 which is
harder than E10 etc etc. Having to face the difficulties involved with
such difficult patterns forced me to invent methods which I this evening
applied to the E5 the result of the application of such methods will be
significant acceleration of rate of improvement.
Kind of depressing to succeed as well as I
did this evening. This kind of success means the sane thing to do is to
live like a prizefighter training for a ten million dollar fight--and who
wants to live like a high-pressure prize-fighter like that? This kind of
success means that the gap or gulf between the way the world treats me and
my actual stature in the world has grown greater--and the bigger
this gap the more depressing it is.
Faces In the Crowd:
This evening the playground contained black
grade school boys and girls don't know where the hispanics kids were.
They gathered around me silently for the first ten minutes of the
practice. Then they dispersed.
This evening the people watching were
watching from dark places where I could barely see them, as opposed to
from being on the basketball court itself, or outside the court some place
where they could be clearly seen.
Someone came out to sit on the wooden steps
of a house on Hall St across the street from the playground for about half
an hour. She was facing towards me. Some boys sat on cars parked on the
street right outside the corner of the court in front of me and to my
right as I began the runs. They sat on the cars and watched for about half
an hour. They were almost invisible in the darkness, except for the bright
white T-shirt one of the boys was wearing. I could tell from the bright
white T-shirt that I could clearly see (though his body was almost
invisible) that he was leaning against a car facing towards me the
whole half hour he was there. |
Shoes Adidas Bracara Indoors with two layers
padding on the sole of the foot, thin white socks.
Ball
Adidas Replique
7.5 psi |
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Saturday
August 25 07
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Soccer-play software "Drillboard" experimented with. |
Drillboard is another software that is designed to produce graphic representations of soccer plays. It is simple enough to learn without a help section in fact it does not have a help section. Drillboard produces still images of plays, however, a series of such still images can be used to represent a play, and run like a slideshow inside of the Drillboard software. However if you want to put such a slideshow on the internet you will have to know how to do the required HTML/Javascript coding and you will have to do the coding yourself. You can download Drillboard at: http://www.download.com/DrillBoard/3000-2136_4-10453140.html?tag=lst-0-4
Below you can see the first play that I
designed using the Drillboard software. You can view the picture in a
separate window at: https://www.angelfire.com/ma/vincemoon/resizedcropped.jpg.
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Sunday August 26 07 |
Soccer-play software "Datacoach Manager" experimented with. |
Datacoach Manager is yet another
software that is designed to produce graphic representations of soccer
plays. Datacoach Manager is extremely similar to Drillboard (see previous
log entry above, for Saturday August 25), they are like twins. Drillboard
was added to download.com November 13, 2005; Datacoach Manager was added
to download.com February 20 2006. One is tempted to prefer Drillboard
because it seems that Datacoach Manager is a copy of Drillboard.
Datacoach Manager does not provide an option
provided by Drillboard--with Drillboard you can impose a grid on the field
that helps you keep track of distances.
It is simple enough to learn without a help
section in fact it does not have a help section. Drillboard produces still
images of plays, however, a series of such still images can be used to
represent a play, and run like a slideshow inside of the Drillboard
software. However if you want to put such a slideshow on the internet you
will have to know how to do the required HTML/Javascript coding and you
will have to do the coding yourself.
You can download Datacoach Manager at: http://www.download.com/DataCoach-Manager/3000-2136_4-10498928.html?tag=lst-0-2
The graphic below (separate window: https://www.angelfire.com/ma/vincemoon/arg4312.jpg) was
made using Datacoach Manager. The offensive formation used is the 4-3-1-2
favored by the world's #2 ranked team Argentina (see http://www.cbc.ca/sports/worldcup2006/groups/teams/argentina.html).
(1) Blue Player #7 runs towards the middle of the field as Blue
Player #11 moves towards the middle of the field to impede and confuse Red
Player #4; (2) Blue Player #6 hits Blue Player #7 with an aerial pass such
that Blue Player #7 can commence an air-dribble upon touching the ball,
while Blue Player #11 moves back to cover for Blue Player #6; (3) Blue
Player #7 on first touch swerves to his left towards the opposing goal,
while Blue players #6, #10, and #9 move towards the same point that Blue
Player #7 is moving to; (4) Blue Player #7 after air-dribbling (ball kept
off ground but under control) 15-20 yards towards the opponent goal has
the option of continuing on towards the opponent goal or passing the
ball right left, backwards or straight up (a skilled player can send an
airborne or bounced ball straight up or backwards). Conclusion: at stage 4
a good chance for a score is created because bouncing balls and airborne
balls can be shot very hard at the goal.
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Monday
August 27 07
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Report re 'Championship Manager', a game software
useful for planning tactics and training for soccer
Swam approx 1300 yds in 30
minutes |
A Game Software called
'Championship Manager' is potentially very useful for planning tactics and
training
I found a game software called "Championship Manager" which I downloaded and experimented with. It appears to be potentially extremely useful for purposes such as planning tactics and training in soccer. Championship Manager allows you to among
other things, observe an animated moving game in progress between two
teams, with the camera picture for the game
always showing most or all of the players in the action, in such a way
that you can see exactly where every player is located on the field at any
time during the game. It allows you to look at the game from 11 different
camera angles. It allows you to at all times be able to see where the ball
is, what team every player belongs to, and the number or name of every
player on the field.
"Championship Manager' (IMHO as of now)
produces games that are a very scientifically accurate approximation of
reality. Therefore 'Championship Manager' allows you to devise tactics
working from player positionings that reflect reality.
Championship Manager features camera
angles that allow you to do things like pause the game, take a
screenshot of the game (using software separate from Championship
Manager), and then draw in ball movements showing not just the horizontal
movement of the ball but the vertical also.
The first thing I decided to figure out
through experimentation with Championship Manager, was whether the game
proceeds at a faster speed than the actual games it is based on, with the
players moving faster than they do in reality. This was hard to do because
the players speed up at times such as when the ball goes out of bounds,
the Championship Manager clock does not display seconds, and Championship
Manager does not have a rewind feature all you can do is go back to the
very beginning of the game.
I finally found a minute in the soccer match
I produced using the game, in which there were no unusual situations such
as the ball going out of bounds. I concluded that the players in
the game move at about 1-2 percent faster speeds than they move at in
reality during the course of normal play; and they move about five times
faster than reality at times when the action is speeded up when the ball
goes out of bounds etc.
Armed with this knowledge you can use
Championship Manager to devise fitness training programs for yourself and
to figure out if your are fit enough for Match Play yet. You might come up
with something better than the advice you can find in books, on the
internet, and from soccer people you know. This because with 'Championship
Manager' you can turn on a feature that results in the name or the number
of the player being displayed wherever he moves.
IMHO as of now, the vast majority of
soccer coaches out there are fools for not using "Championship Manager"
for coaching purposes, it is an inexpensive software costing less
than $100 and you can download a useable trial version for free. For me
this is more verification of how society screws up by over-emphasizing
credentials, experience, and the hiring of persons that rude people label
as 'dorks'. How can so many coaches miss the point?
I do not have experience in coaching or an
academic degree related to coaching but I was able to discover,
without anybody helping me, how Championship Manager is of
potential value to coaches and players.
I realized that the kind of thing that was
needed in order to devise reality based tactics was overhead camera type
recordings of the goings on in the soccer games.
So I did a Google images search and got the
following result:
At the page produced by this search I found
out about this very expensive software/hardware combination called
"Prozone" that is used by some of the top pro soccer teams of the world.
Prozone keeps detailed track of the movements of players during
games.
Then I found that Prozone is now a part of
the latest version of the "Championship Manager" game. This led to me
downloading "Championship Manager" from http://www.championshipmanager.co.uk/shownews.php?id=276 .
If you go to software listing sites such as
download.com, you will find that 'Championship Manager' is not listed. It
takes a little skill/ability to look for unlisted softwares and find them
(as opposed to credentials, experience, and being the kind of person the
rude would label as a 'dork').
Some interesting links I discovered
while learning about Prozone and 'Championship Manager':
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Tuesday August 28 07 |
Modified still from a 'Championship Manager' game |
Still from a Championship Manager game, with
air-dribble lines marked on to it
The yellow line (from the 'Championship
Manager' animation) shows a lobbed pass going to a player; the red line
containing the arches shows the path the ball would follow on a
22 yard E5 pattern (see Aug 24 entry) air-dribble, with the first
kick going 6 yards in length and 6 feet high and the subsequent kicks
going 8 yards in length and 8 feet high; the straight red line shows
possibility of continued dribble forward; the purple line shows the
possibility of a shot; the blue line shows the pass possibility; the
white lines shows supporting movements of team-mates. I drew this as
carefully and accurately as I could.
The still was taken from a game between Paris
SG and Tours. The game featured lots of air-dribble chances such as that
shown in this still. But of course the air-dribble was never executed and
the game ended 0-0 how exciting. Throughout the game the attacking players
in the other team's half, were always outnumbered by the
defenders.
The red line drawn is a reference line. It
shows a straight air-dribble but the air-dribble can zig-zag. It shows an
E5 pattern but the E5 pattern need not be adhered to.
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