Freestyle Footbag Fundamentals Flyer: Getting Started - Basic Kicks; Inside, Outside, Toe & Knee
Editor’s Note: This blog is the second in a series of the blog version of the Freedom Footbags’ Freestyle Footbag Fundamentals Flyer (FFFFFF). For a complete overview of the FFFFF with comprehensive links, we recommend you begin with part one.
Getting Started With Freestyle Footbag
Many players, awed by the magic of intense freestyle tricks, tend to want to jump right in and start performing difficult freestyle moves. However, most of these players quickly discover that actually doing these tricks successfully and consistently requires a mastering of the fundamental tricks first. Moreover, before even doing the simplest of freestyle tricks, a at least a minimal proficiency in basic kicks is extremely helpful. Note that the basic kicks are not really even conventionally considered freestyle at all: Freestyle footbag generally refers to actually doing tricks with the bag, not simply kicking it. Proficiency in these basic kicks helps build the neural pathways in the brain and gives the player a feel for just where their feet are.
The following tips can be useful when learning all aspects of footbag from the basic kicks up to the most difficult trick yet to be invented:
- Use both left and right foot equally! Balance kicking promotes balanced muscle and neural pathway growth. This is critical to keep in mind when you are first starting out because the more one-sided you become the more difficult it is balance yourself.
- Keep your eyes on the footbag, not your foot. Pay special attention to the “still points” where the bag stops for that split second when it reaches its apex.
- Keep your shoulders turned towards the footbag as much as possible, particularly in moves like the outside or clipper kick/stall. It’s much easier to turn your whole body toward the bag than to try and twist just your leg around to reach it.
- Bend very slightly forward, keeping your center of gravity over the footbag. Always keep your support leg slightly bent, particularly on the clipper stall.
- You must believe and know that you can do the move your are attempting. Footbag takes not just physical strength, but mental strength as well.
- Unless you are alone, don’t serve the footbag to yourself! This behavior may be considered rude by other players. In the long run, the more you serve the bags to others, the more serves you will get.
- In the words of 40+ time world title holder Kenny Shults, “Practice, practice, practice!” This applies to every kick and trick. Remember, perfect practice makes perfect, not simple practice. Proper balance, form, instruction, mental state, and equipment (shorts, and shoes that are non- slippery, light, and supportive, with flat toes, insides and outsides) are key elements of perfect practice. Freedom Footbags offers some of the best equipment available anywhere as well as top notch instructional videos like Gravity Man and Tricks of the Trade Volume I and Volume II.
- The surface contacting the bag (Toe, Knee, Inside or Outside of foot) should be level with the ground at the point of contact.
- Become a member of the International Footbag Player’s Association (IFPA) and learn from someone more advanced by finding a local club our traveling to a event. It’s generally easier to learn a trick directly from someone who has mastered it than trying to re-invent it yourself!
- Check back here at our blog often for more tips. You can also learn a ton from the new IFPA footbag reference section.
Congratulations if you’ve managed to read all of those tips thus far. We’re ready to start into the basic kicks. All of these moves from the FFFFFF were performed by Jim Penske. You can see more of his advanced videos in his player spotlight, as well as other places in this blog, and on many of our videos for sale including Just Shred II and Fourkast.
THE BASIC KICKS
Here are just a few more tips for the player that is working on basic kicks for the very first time:
- You may want to take a few minutes to step aside from the circle and practice the moves alone. Give yourself a nice, easy, straight-up hand toss (no higher than your chest) and practice kicking the bag back up to your hand, one kick at a time.
- For consistency, kick the footbag straight up, just above waist high.
- Keep in mind that making the bag go back up only takes a very light tap, not a punt. Many starting players tend to boot the bag high into the air, rather than simply meeting the bag with their foot. High kicks can be fun, but they are far more difficult to control.
“The Inside Kick”
Stationary frame by frame picture:
Video version: (Note: If you cannot view the video below, check it out on YouTube, or download the medium resolution version.)
When performing the inside kick, make a light “fist” with your foot: Your toes should be pushing down into the sole of your shoe when you make contact with the bag.
“The Outside Kick”
Stationary frame by frame picture:
In the frame by frame picture version above, Jim Penske demonstrates good form: Shoulders turned towards the bag, body bent slightly over the bag, knee tucked in, and contact with the bag when the foot is level with the ground.
In contrast, (for the record) the video version is probably not the best example of outside kicks since Jim is leaning back when kicking, but for now it’s all we have.
Video version: (Note: If you cannot view the video below, check it out on YouTube, or download the medium resolution version.)
The outside kick is opposite the inside kick in that rather than making a light “fist” with your foot, your toes should be pushing up into the top of your shoe when you make contact with the bag. When the footbag’s path goes behind the body, increase the rotation of your hips and shoulders and perform an outside kick. This is sometimes referred to as a back kick.
“The Toe Kick”
Stationary frame by frame picture:
Video version: (Note: If you cannot view the video below, check it out on YouTube, or download the medium resolution version.)
The toe kick is similar to the outside kick in that your toes should be pushing up into the top of your shoe when you make contact with the bag. Note that only one style of toe kick is shown. Some players keep the knee of the kicking leg fairly rigid throughout the entire kicking motion. Neither way is necessarily the “right” way to do the kick, they are simply different styles.
“The Knee Kick (sometimes called Knee Bump or Gimp)”
Stationary frame by frame picture:
Video version: (Note: If you cannot view the video below, check it out on YouTube, or download the medium resolution version.)
Nowadays, the knee kick is widely underutilized in freestyle. It’s sometimes used in the middle of more advanced moves as a continuation of an uptime set, whereby it is referred to as gimpy.
That should be enough to get you started on your journey. Keep in mind that the average pro can get at least one thousand kicks on demand (though sometimes it may take a try or two).
Once you have the kicks mastered, your ready to move on to stalls, or delays. These are covered in the Part Three, and you can find all of the FFFFF blogs in the beginner’s corner.
