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2011 Soccer Drill Stats Part XI
 

Understanding the blue stats table below: Stats are for me, David Virgil Hobbs.      R2/L2 Bod Pos: Whether the body was in an upright, medium or crouched position on the second kick of the run.       L1R1 Type: Whether I emphasized leg-power or body-power on the first kick of the runs. L means leg power emphasized; B=body power emphasized on first kick.       Style: AF1 means--during the kicks there is a deliberate attempt to involve all parts of the body in the kick.      Good Runs: total number of successful or 'good' runs during practice segment. A successful/good run involves: ball kept off ground from first to last touch; prescribed pattern of ball/footwork movement approximately adhered to.      Minutes: How many minutes it took to achieve the number of successful/good runs recorded. This does not count time lost due to interruptions etc.      Good Runs/Minute: The number of good runs divided by the number of minutes.      Pattern: The name of the pattern that was run during the segment, & a graphic of the pattern run during the segment.

 

  Continued from 2011 Soccer Drill Stats Part X      
  Date
R2/L2
Bod Pos
L1/R1
Type
Style Good Runs Min-
utes
Good Runs/ Minute (estimate of such if I had stopped for 15 secs after each successful run to take notes)

Good-runs/attempts percentage

Pattern Comments

Until further notice: the following holds true: I did not warm up using the ball or not using the ball before beginning to keep score; my sports log also sometimes contains info re practices such as today's practice; I recorded scores every five attempts.

  Wednesday 8/17
Practice @ O'Leary Field

Ran new experimental two-touch 135 degree turn left patterns

Today I did 7 scored segments of Two-Touch, 135-degrees-left turn Type Patterns

Today, all the runs scored as successes manifested the following characteristics: Me using the left foot to flip up the ball (L0); me then adhering to the FOOTWORK between L0 & L1 as prescribed by the pattern; the ball kept off the ground but close to the body from L0 to R2; the direction of the ball after L1 being approx 135-degrees-left relative to the direction I face at the start of L0.

Most of the new variants done today are described in the first row of the August 16 entries. One of them is described in the first row of the August 17 rows in this log.

I decided that the important thing now, is to polish up the L0 to R2 portion of the KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L pattern, first introduced in the row in the row entitled, "Monday 8/15 ROW 3 Angled View of KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L".

So today I did again some of the drills done yesterday, and also did a new drill invented earlier today, named AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2 , which is introduced in the row entitled "Wednesday 8/17 ROW 1 Angled View of AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2".

The performance on KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L-2T (L0 to R2 of KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L-2T) during segments 7 & 8 yesterday, was such that I concluded that lots of repetitions of KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L-2T, would produce slower improvement, compared to practicing alterations of KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L-2T that are similar to KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L-2T but more difficult.

A new alteration of this type done for the first time today was AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2 , described in the row entitled "Wednesday 8/17 ROW 1 Angled View of AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2". AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2 involves: both feet leaving the ground during L0 the initial roll-back & flip-up of the ball; the right-foot landing on the ground; the left-foot executing L1 without landing on the ground between L0 & L1.

When I was thinking about AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2 prior to experimenting with it, and moving a little with my body while thinking about it, I felt as if AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2 would be very difficult. My legs felt too stiff and weak to be competent with AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2. But to my surprise, I improved my performance on AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2 very much during the course of the evening today, and was competent in AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2 by the end of the evening.

This evening's AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2 scores: 3rd segment, 25% Total Score: 40; 4th segment, 60% Total Score: 95; 7th segment, 70% Total Score: 130; last 16 attempts of 7th segment, 81%, total score 156.

EARPLUGS in both ears. Woke up approx 3:30 PM (absence of alarm clock experiment gone awry), 4.5 hours before the practice started at 6:52 PM, after having had approx 8 hours of sleep. Had 12 oz coffee/coconut-palm-sugar/halfnhalf, from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM. Drank 14 oz of cold distilled water during the practice, which went on for 2.3 hours from 6:52 PM - 8:11 PM, & from 9:09 PM - 10:05 PM.

Today the Ankle-Force-Minimization (AFM) method was always implemented during L0 and L1.

Today on every attempt, the 'LL' variant was implemented (see Aug 13, Aug 14 entries for info re the 'LL' variant). LL means leg-power, not ankle-flip power, is emphasized during the #0 kick which flips the ball up into the air, and also during the next kick the #1 kick.

The weather outdoors was comfortable before, and during the practice.

The fourth segment done as the sun was going down in natural light, from 7:49 - 8:11 PM, involved somewhat impaired visibility.

At 7 PM there were about 40 people jogging or walking on the track. By 8 PM there were only 20. But that's alot compared to the YMCA's. 40 people in the gym would come to 7 people at each of the six baskets in the gym, which would be incredibly crowded.

The 5th, 6th & 7th segments were done under dim artificial light conditions in the most brightly lit area of O'Leary Field, after the sun had gone down.

The Texas Governor being on TV and running for President, had been reminding me today of a dream I had a few weeks ago about Texans.

In the dream, some collegiate type white Texas athletes arrived on buses, on a visit to the Boston area. As I looked at them, I realized that I had become better at sports than them.

When I woke up from the dream I was thinking: White Texas people seem to be proud, because of the accomplishments of their sports teams. But does this pride make any sense, given that their sports teams excel because of the presence of blacks, many of whom are not from Texas?

     
  8/17/11 @ O'Leary Field; 6:52 - 7:06 PM
Segment 1
U B AF1

LL
10 14 0.71

50%

Total Score: 80
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0ll1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

10 out of 20 attempts succeeded (50%). I was proud of 6 of the successful runs, 30% of total attempts. Total: 50+30=80.

     
  8/17/11 @ O'Leary Field; 7:07 - 7:23 PM
Segment 2
U B AF1

LL
10 16 0.63

50%

Total Score: 90
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0rl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

10 out of 20 attempts succeeded (50%). I was proud of 8 of the successful runs, 40% of total attempts. Total: 50+40=90.

When the mental chant pre-start was Lo, L, R, Lick Rick (five syllables) the performance was not good; when the mental chant pre-start was Lo. L, R, Lick (four syllables) the performance was much better. In the mental chant, each syllable represents a touch on the ball or a move of the foot.

This segment I found that L0 does not need to put the ball high or sideways for this pattern to succeed. I have become amazingly adept, at flicking the ball backwards and sideways with my left foot, even when the position of the ball when I kick it is low and directly ahead of my body.

     
  8/17/11 @ O'Leary Field; 7:27 - 7:43 PM
Segment 3
U B AF1

LL
5 16 0.31

25%

Total Score: 40
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0+ruprl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

5 out of 20 attempts succeeded (25%). I was proud of 3 of the successful runs, 15% of total attempts. Total: 25+15=40.

This is the newest drill, described in the first row of the August 17 entries. The first 12 attempts were all failures. The last eight attempts, there were 5 successes three of which I was proud of.

Performance on this drill-pattern improved greatly after I began doing a footwork attempt without the ball, before each attempt with the ball.

It helped to understand that the jump and the ball-lift on L0 are simultaneous and come after the roll-back of the ball.

     
  8/17/11 @O'Leary Field;
7:49 - 8:11 PM
Segment 4
U B AF1

LL
12 22 0.55

60%

Total Score: 95
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0+ruprl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

12 out of 20 attempts succeeded (60%). I was proud of 7 of the successful runs, 35% of total attempts. Total: 60+35=95.

This was the second segment ever with the newest drill, described in the first row of the August 17 entries.

It became dark outside during this segment.

     
  8/17/11 @ O'Leary Field; 9:09 - 9:23 PM
Segment 5
U B AF1

LL
11 14 0.79

55%

Total Score: 95
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0ll1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

11 out of 20 attempts succeeded (55%). I was proud of 8 of the successful runs, 40% of total attempts. Total: 55+40=95.

     
  8/17/11 @ O'Leary Field; 9:25-9:41 -
Segment 6
U B AF1

LL
8 16 0.50

40%

Total Score: 70
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0rl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

8 out of 20 attempts succeeded (40%). I was proud of 6 of the successful runs, 30% of total attempts. Total: 40+30=70.

At the beginning of this segment, I had forgotten that during this drill-pattern variant, on L0 the ball has to be lofted high, because there is so much footwork between L0 & L1. This need for loft, is true with this particular pattern, even though I have been surprised at how I can execute different but similar patterns competently without lofting the ball high on L0.

During this segment, I felt that though this drill requires the ball to be lofted relatively high on L0, I was having trouble lofting the ball high on L0 because I was adhering to the 'LL' form-variation, which involves the minimization of ankle-force on L0 & L1.

The drill-pattern variant done this segment was also done during the 2nd segment today. During the 2nd segment, I felt that I did not need very unusually high loft on L0 to succeed; but during this segment, I felt the need for high loft on L0.

     
  8/17/11 @ O'Leary Field; 9:46 - 10:05 PM
Segment 7
U B AF1

LL
14 20 0.74

70%

Total Score: 130
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0+ruprl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

14 out of 20 attempts succeeded (70%). I was proud of 12 of the successful runs, 60% of total attempts. Total: 70+60=130.

This is the newest drill, described in the first row of the August 17 entries; it was done during the 3rd & 4th segments today also.

The first 4 attempts, there was only 1 success and only 1 success that I was proud of. The last 16 attempts, there were 13 successes (81%), and 12 successes (75%) that I was proud of. The total score leaving out the first 4 attempts would have been a respectable 156.

During the first 4 attempts, I rehearsed the footwork for the attempt without the ball prior to each attempt. During the last 16 attempts I did not.

Seems my instinct after the first 4 attempts was right: the rehearsal without the ball had outlived its usefulness and become counterproductive by the time of this segment, although such rehearsal had improved things during the 3rd segment of today.

Seemed that moving the body backwards during L0 produced distance between the body and the ball, resulting in better performance on the L1 kick.

     
  Thursday 8/18
Practice @ O'Leary Field

Same practice as yesterday except for last segment today; Ran new experimental two-touch 135 degree turn left patterns

Today I did 8 scored segments of Two-Touch, 135-degrees-left turn Type Patterns.

Today, all the runs scored as successes manifested the following characteristics: Me using the left foot to flip up the ball (L0); me then adhering to the FOOTWORK between L0 & L1 as prescribed by the pattern; the ball kept off the ground but close to the body from L0 to R2; the direction of the ball after L1 being approx 135-degrees-left relative to the direction I face at the start of L0.

Most of the new variants done today are described in the first row of the August 16 entries. One of them is described in the first row of the August 17 rows in this log.

Today's practice was like yesterday's through the seventh segment; the 8th segment a drill that was not done yesterday was done, namely AS135L-R0L1R2 , which was introduced in the row entitled "Tuesday 8/16 Practice @ Waltham Y ".

EARPLUGS in both ears. Woke up approx 3:30 PM (absence of alarm clock experiment gone awry again), 3.5 hours before the practice started at 6:00 PM, after having had approx 8 hours of sleep. Had 12 oz coffee/coconut-palm-sugar/halfnhalf, from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM. Drank 35 oz of cold or cool distilled water during the practice, which went on for 3.2 hours from 6:00 PM - 7:51 PM, & from 8:43 PM - 10:01 PM.

Today the Ankle-Force-Minimization (AFM) method was almost always implemented during L0 and L1.

Today on every attempt, the 'LL' variant was implemented (see Aug 13, Aug 14 entries for info re the 'LL' variant). LL means leg-power, not ankle-flip power, is emphasized during the #0 kick which flips the ball up into the air, and also during the next kick the #1 kick.

Today throughout the practice, except during the 8th segment which involved for a change the right-foot rolling the ball back and flipping it up at the beginning, I was not attempting to kick the ball to my left on L0, like I was yesterday. Today I figured out that this leftwards ball movement on the L0 kick is not necessary and can just make things more difficult.

Yesterday and today the first seven segments were identical in the sense that the same drills were done in the same order. Yesterday the 'total score' for the seven segments averaged 86 (total score is percent of attempts that succeed, plus percent of attempts I was proud of). Today the 'total score' for the first seven segments averaged 127. Thus the average score today, was 48% higher than the average yesterday.

The perfect 'total score' for a segment is 200 (100% of attempts succeed, with my being proud of all of them).

At the rate that I am progressing comparing yesterday to today, I will be at the point where 100% of the attempts succeed with me being proud of all of the successes, TOMORROW ( I realize that in reality, the daily percent rate of improvement will slow down).

When these drills are at the point where all the attempts succeed and I am proud of all the successes, the first two touches of the KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L pattern (introduced 8/15, row 3), will always produce perfect results-- the problem area with patterns such as KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L has been the first two touches (L0 & L1). When I have become perfect on these drills, KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L-2T will basically be mastered and ready for deployment in a game.

The reverse of the KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L-2T, which produces a 135 degree turn to the left, is the KnockoutAugOne-RFS-Rev-E2-AS-135-R, which produces a 135 degree turn to the right.

I have alreadly achieved a high level of competence with the KnockoutAugOne-RFS-Rev-E2-AS-135-R-2T pattern, as you can see looking at the 8/15 entries.

When the KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L-2T and the KnockoutAugOne-RFS-Rev-E2-AS-135-R-2T are both mastered, I will be, skill-wise, in good position to mount attacks on defenders, that begin with me facing my own goal, receiving a pass, and making a 135 degree turn to the left or to the right.

The weather outdoors was comfortable before, and during the practice.

At 6 PM there were about 20 people jogging or walking on the track, and 10 brown males playing soccer in a field adjacent to the track. By 8 PM there were still 20 on the track and the soccer game had ended.

This evening the wind, and the noise of the traffic, and the sleepy people jogging on the track, combined to produce in me a sleepy, almost depressed feeling.

The 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th segments were done under dim artificial light conditions in the most brightly lit area of O'Leary Field, after the sun had gone down.

     
  8/18/11 @ O'Leary Field; 6:00 - 6:21 PM
Segment 1
U B AF1

LL
13 21 0.62

65%

Total Score: 115
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0ll1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

13 out of 20 attempts succeeded (65%). I was proud of 10 of the successful runs, 50% of total attempts. Total: 50+30=115.

There was no attempt to kick the ball to the left on L0 this segment, the ball was just kicked straight up, and this seemed to improve performance compared to yesterday.

     
  8/18/11 @ O'Leary Field; 6:25-6:43 PM
Segment 2
U B AF1

LL
16 18 0.89

80%

Total Score: 130
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0rl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

16 out of 20 attempts succeeded (80%). I was proud of 10 of the successful runs, 50% of total attempts. Total: 80+50=130.

There was no attempt to kick the ball to the left on L0, the ball was just kicked straight up, and this seemed to improve performance compared to yesterday. The not kicking the ball to the left on L0 involves increase of ankle-force on L1.

This segment I began to feel that an L1 kick that sends the ball in a direction that is about 160 degrees left compared to the direction I was facing during L0, is more natural than an L1 kick that sends the ball in a direction that is 135 degrees left compared to the direction I was facing during L0.

     
  8/18/11 @ O'Leary Field; 6:50 - 7:12 PM
Segment 3
U B AF1

LL
13 22 0.59

65%

Total Score: 115
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0+ruprl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

13 out of 20 attempts succeeded (65%). I was proud of 10 of the successful runs, 50% of total attempts. Total: 65+50=115.

This is the newest drill, described in the first row of the August 17 entries.

The first 10 attempts, I did a footwork rehearsal without the ball, before each attempt with the ball; the score during these 10 attempts was 5/10, 4 successes that I was proud of.

The last 10 attempts, I did not do footwork rehearsals without the ball before each attempt with the ball; the score during these last 10 attempts of this segment was 8/10, 6 successes that I was proud of.

This segment also, it seemed that a 160 degrees turn left is more natural than a 135 degrees turn left.

     
  8/18/11 @O'Leary Field;
7:29-7:46 PM
Segment 4
U B AF1

LL
18 17 1.06

90%

Total Score: 150
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0+ruprl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

18 out of 20 attempts succeeded (90%). I was proud of 12 of the successful runs, 60% of total attempts. Total: 90+60=150.

No rehearsals without the ball were done before attempts this segment.

This segment I noted that a little mental focus prior to an attempt, on L1 producing an accurate kick, seemed to improve performance.

     
  8/18/11 @ O'Leary Field; 8:43 - 9:00 PM
Segment 5
U B AF1

LL
14 17 0.82

70%

Total Score: 115
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0ll1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

14 out of 20 attempts succeeded (70%). I was proud of 9 of the successful runs, 45% of total attempts. Total: 70+45=115.

     
  8/18/11 @ O'Leary Field; 9:03-9:21 -
Segment 6
U B AF1

LL
17 18 0.94

85%

Total Score: 145
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0rl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

17 out of 20 attempts succeeded (85%). I was proud of 12 of the successful runs, 60% of total attempts. Total: 85+60=145.

This segment I could feel how me forcing myself to minimize ankle-force on the L0 kick, was making things difficult.

     
  8/18/11 @ O'Leary Field; 9:26-9:44 PM
Segment 7
U B AF1

LL
13 18 0.72

65%

Total Score: 120
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0+ruprl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

13 out of 20 attempts succeeded (65%). I was proud of 11 of the successful runs, 55% of total attempts. Total: 65+55=120.

This is the newest drill, described in the first row of the August 17 entries.

I did 5 rehearsals without the ball before starting attempts with the ball this segment. During the first ten attempts, there were 3 successes, and 3 successes that I was proud of. During the last ten attempts, there were 10 successes, and 8 successes that I was proud of.

The 5 rehearsals without the ball prior to starting attempts with the ball, seemed to screw things up this segment.

Yesterday also, it seemed that the night-time segment was impaired due to rehearsals without the ball, whereas the daylight segment was not. This could be due to the dim light, or due to me being more warmed up and more loosened up during the night-time segment.

     
  8/18/11 @ O'Leary Field; 9:47-10:01 PM
Segment 8
U B AF1

LL
10 14 0.71

50%

Total Score: 85
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-rol1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

10 out of 20 attempts succeeded (50%). I was proud of 7 of the successful runs, 35% of total attempts. Total: 50+35=85.

The variant done this segment was not done yesterday. It involves the ball being rolled back and flipped up with the right-foot (I am left-footed).

Performance at the beginning of this segment was impaired because I failed to kick the ball sideways to my left on R0. All day things had been going well not kicking the ball to my left on the L0 touch; however when the first touch is with the right foot, for this kind of pattern, a little sideways to the left ball-movement is needed.

     
  Friday 8/19
Practice @ O'Leary Field

Practice today same as first 7 segments yesterday; high score for the As135l-l0rl1r2 variant amongst the two-touch 135 degree turn left patterns

Today I did 7 scored segments of Two-Touch, 135-degrees-left turn Type Patterns.

Today, all the runs scored as successes manifested the following characteristics: Me using the left foot to flip up the ball (L0); me then adhering to the FOOTWORK between L0 & L1 as prescribed by the pattern; the ball kept off the ground but close to the body from L0 to R2; the direction of the ball after L1 being approx 135-degrees-left relative to the direction I face at the start of L0.

Most of the variants done today are described in the first row of the August 16 entries. One of them is described in the first row of the August 17 rows in this log.

Today's practice was like yesterday's, same drills in same order, except that the eigth segment done yesterday was not done today.

EARPLUGS in both ears. Woke up approx 4:00 PM (absence of alarm clock experiment gone awry yet again), 3.2 hours before the practice started at 7:14 PM, after having had approx 8 hours of sleep. Had 12 oz coffee/coconut-palm-sugar/halfnhalf, from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM. Drank =18 oz of cool distilled water during the practice, which went on for 3.2 hours from 7:14 PM - 10:03 PM.

Today the Ankle-Force-Minimization (AFM) method was almost always implemented during L0 and L1.

Today on every attempt, the 'LL' variant was implemented (see Aug 13, Aug 14 entries for info re the 'LL' variant). LL means leg-power, not ankle-flip power, is emphasized during the #0 kick which flips the ball up into the air, and also during the next kick the #1 kick.

Today throughout the practice, except during the 3rd, 4th, & 7th segments during which As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 was done, I was not attempting to kick the ball to my left on L0. Kicking the ball to the left on L0 came naturally during the As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 segments today.

Yesterday the 'total score' for the first seven segments averaged 127 (total score is percent of attempts that succeed, plus percent of attempts I was proud of). Today the 'total score' for the seven segments averaged 136. Thus the average score today, was 7% higher than the average yesterday.

The perfect 'total score' for a segment is 200 (100% of attempts succeed, with my being proud of all of them).

Today I found that mentally focusing on the L0 kick immediately prior to and during the L0 kick, improved performance.

Today 8/19, during the 2nd segment, the As135l-l0rl1r2 pattern, scored 140; , during the 6th segment, the As135l-l0rl1r2 pattern, scored a very high 175.

Yesterday 8/18, during the 2nd segment, the As135l-l0rl1r2 pattern scored 135; during the 6th segment, the As135l-l0rl1r2 pattern scored 145. Thus, As135l-l0rl1r2 was up by 21% today compared to yesterday's better segment.

On 8/17, during the 2nd segment, the As135l-l0rl1r2 pattern 'total score' was 90, and during the 6th segment, the As135l-l0rl1r2 pattern 'total score' was 70.

On 8/16, during the 4th segment, the As135l-l0rl1r2 pattern 'total score' was 85 (first time ever for As135l-l0rl1r2 ).

So from first to latest, the scores for the As135l-l0rl1r2 pattern have been: 85; 90, 70; 135, 145; 140, 175. In three days the As135l-l0rl1r2 score has risen by 106% (though things looked bad the 2nd day ever for As135l-l0rl1r2, when the scores were 90 & 70).

During As135l-l0rl1r2 the right foot does not lift up above the ground while the left foot first lifts the ball up off the ground; but the right foot does lift up off the ground and return to the ground, after the left foot lifts the ball up off the ground and before the left foot strikes the ball for the L1 kick. The L1 kick usually sends the ball about 7 feet in the air, before the right foot kicks the ball for the R2 kick.

When the KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L pattern (introduced 8/15, row 3) is executed, the left foot simply lifts the ball up above the ground, and then the left foot strikes the ball for L1, without any footwork intervening between L0 and L1.

In the KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L pattern (introduced 8/15, row 3) in its original form, L0 to L1 runs as follows: the left foot rolls the ball back; the left foot flips the ball up above the ground for the L0 kick; the left foot kicks the ball for the L1 kick, so that the ball moves at an 135 degree angle relative to the direction I was facing at the beginning of the L0 lift-up of the ball; the right foot kicks the ball.

As135l-l0rl1r2 is an alternative for the L0 to L1 sequence in the KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L pattern (introduced 8/15, row 3).

The As135l-l0rl1r2 runs as follows: the left foot rolls back the ball; the left foot flips up the ball; the left foot hits the ground; the right foot lifts up above the ground; the right foot hits the ground; the left foot strikes the ball on L1.

When the angle is specified as 135 degrees left, after the L1 kick, the ball is supposed to be moving in a direction that is 135 degrees left of the direction I was facing when starting to roll the ball back with my left foot at the very beginning.

Thus the As135l-l0rl1r2 alternative is like L0 to L1 in KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L (introduced 8/15, row 3), except that with the As135l-l0rl1r2 alternative, after L0, the left foot hits the ground, and the right lifts off the ground and then hits the ground, before the L1 kick is executed.

The As135l-l0rl1r2 alternative if perfected, might offer some advantages in that the position of the right foot is adjusted prior to the left foot striking the ball for L1 while the right foot is on the ground.

As135l-l0rl1r2 works most consistently when there is plenty of lift of ball when the ball is first flipped up into the air. But since I have chosen to minimize ankle-force when lifting the ball into the air, it has been difficult to generate the desired level of lift of ball.

Perhaps I should devote some time to working on just the initial lift of the ball and nothing else. Yet I feel as if such work would be degrading humiliating and unglamorous.

During the practice I thought of yet another alternative that I have never mentioned in this log and never done. This new alternative would be called As135l-l0+rupLrl1r2. It would be like As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 (introduced in row entitled 'Wednesday 8/17 ROW 1 Angled View of AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2 '), except that in addition, after flipping the ball up on L0, the left foot strikes the ground before executing L1.

The weather outdoors was comfortable before, and during the practice.

At 7:15 PM there were about 20 people jogging or walking on the track,

After the 2nd segment today, the practice was done under dim artificial floodlight conditions. Yesterday and day before, the first 4 segments were done in daylight.

     
  8/19/11 @ O'Leary Field; 7:14 - 7:30 PM
Segment 1
U B AF1

LL
17 16 1.06

85%

Total Score: 140
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0ll1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

17 out of 20 attempts succeeded (85%). I was proud of 11 of the successful runs, 55% of total attempts. Total: 85+55=140.

There were 10 rehearsals without the ball prior to the start of the attempts with the ball. I found that mentally focusing on L0 during the L0 kick, improved performance.

     
  8/19/11 @ O'Leary Field; 7:35 - 7:51 PM
Segment 2
U B AF1

LL
15 16 1.15

75%

Total Score: 140
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0rl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

15 out of 20 attempts succeeded (75%). I was proud of 13 of the successful runs, 65% of total attempts. Total: 75+65=140.

There were 10 rehearsals without the ball prior to the start of the attempts with the ball. I found that mentally focusing on L0 during the L0 kick, improved performance.

     
  8/19/11 @ O'Leary Field; 8:10 - 8:28 PM
Segment 3
U B AF1

LL
13 18 0.72

65%

Total Score: 110
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0+ruprl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

13 out of 20 attempts succeeded (65%). I was proud of 9 of the successful runs, 45% of total attempts. Total: 65+45=110.

This is the newest drill, described in the first row of the August 17 entries.

I did 10 footwork rehearsals without the ball prior to the start of attempts with the ball.

This segment was done after sunset in dim floodlight supplied light.

     
  8/19/11 @O'Leary Field;
8:33-8:48 PM
Segment 4
U B AF1

LL
17 15 1.13

85%

Total Score: 150
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0+ruprl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

17 out of 20 attempts succeeded (85%). I was proud of 13 of the successful runs, 65% of total attempts. Total: 85+65=150.

No rehearsals without the ball were done before attempts this segment.

     
  8/19/11 @ O'Leary Field; 8:48 - 9:14 PM
Segment 5
U B AF1

LL
14 26 0.54

70%

Total Score: 115
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0ll1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

14 out of 20 attempts succeeded (70%). I was proud of 9 of the successful runs, 45% of total attempts. Total: 70+45=115.

     
  8/19/11 @ O'Leary Field; 9:23-9:43 -
Segment 6
U B AF1

LL
19 18 1.06

95%

Total Score: 175
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0rl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

19 out of 20 attempts succeeded (95%). I was proud of 16 of the successful runs, 80% of total attempts. Total: 95+80=175.

Best ever score for these alternative 2-touch patterns.

     
  8/19/11 @ O'Leary Field; 9:47-10:03 PM
Segment 7
U B AF1

LL
15 16 0.94

75%

Total Score: 125
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0+ruprl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

15 out of 20 attempts succeeded (75%). I was proud of 10 of the successful runs, 50% of total attempts. Total: 75+50=125.

This is the newest drill, described in the first row of the August 17 entries.

I did 5 rehearsals without the ball before starting attempts with the ball this segment.

     
  Saturday 8/20
Practice @ O'Leary Field

Practice today same as yesterday, same segments in same order; As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 variant is star for the day (a different variant was the star yesterday)

Today I did 7 scored segments of Two-Touch, 135-degrees-left turn Type Patterns.

Today, all the runs scored as successes manifested the following characteristics: Me using the left foot to flip up the ball (L0); me then adhering to the FOOTWORK between L0 & L1 as prescribed by the pattern; the ball kept off the ground but close to the body from L0 to R2; the direction of the ball after L1 being approx 135-degrees-left relative to the direction I face at the start of L0.

Most of the variants done today are described in the first row of the August 16 entries. One of them is described in the first row of the August 17 rows in this log.

EARPLUGS in both ears. Woke up approx 4:00 PM (absence of alarm clock experiment gone awry yet again), 3.7 hours before the practice started at 7:40 PM, after having had approx 8 hours of sleep. Had 12 oz coffee/coconut-palm-sugar/halfnhalf, from 4:30 PM to 7:00 PM. Drank =6 oz of cool distilled water during the practice, which went on for 2.4 hours from 7:40 PM - 10:01 PM.

Today the Ankle-Force-Minimization (AFM) method was almost always implemented during L0 and L1.

Today on every attempt, the 'LL' variant was implemented (see Aug 13, Aug 14 entries for info re the 'LL' variant). LL means leg-power, not ankle-flip power, is emphasized during the #0 kick which flips the ball up into the air, and also during the next kick the #1 kick.

Today, I was not attempting to kick the ball to my left on L0; nevertheless, many successful attempts that I was proud of, involved me kicking the ball backwards and to the left on L0 (almost unintentionally?).

Yesterday the 'total score' for the first seven segments averaged 136 (total score is percent of attempts that succeed, plus percent of attempts I was proud of). Today the 'total score' for the seven segments averaged 161. Thus the average score today, was 18% higher than the average yesterday.

The perfect 'total score' for a segment is 200 (100% of attempts succeed, with me being proud of all of them).

During the practice this evening, I felt convinced that most of the failures and imperfections, were due to erroneous L0 kicks (L0 is the touch on which the ball is rolled back and flipped up).

I decided I should in the future devote some time to working on just the initial lift of the ball during the initial L0 touch, and nothing else.

Isolating L0 and working on L0 alone, will enhance my rate of improvement with L0.

I have been trying to minimize ankle-force on L0, because minimization of ankle-force has worked well on different types of kicks and ball-lifts.

During the practice this evening, I realized that on the initial L0 lift of the ball, I had gotten in the habit of keeping the foot perpendicular to the shin when first rolling the ball back with the sole of my foot, because when ankle-force is minimized, the foot is kept perpendicular to the shin on L0 when the ball is lifted up into the air.

I realized that possibly the toe pointing upwards when rolling the ball back, is a superior technique.

Yesterday the star of the evening was the As135l-l0rl1r2 variant; today the star of the evening was a different variant, the As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 variant.

Today 8/19, during the 3rd segment, the As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 pattern, scored 170; , during the 4th segment, the As135l-l0rl1r2 pattern, scored a 170; during the 7th segment, the As135l-l0rl1r2 pattern, scored 165.

The score-history for As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 (days separated by semi-colons): 40, 95, 130; 115, 150, 120; 110, 150, 125; 170, 170, 165.

Today the average score for 3 segments of As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 was 168; yesterday this average was 128. As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 was up 31% today compared to yesterday.

Compared to the first ever As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 (August 17) score of 40, the last segment of As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 this evening was 165, up 313% over three days.

As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 (star today), and As135l-l0rl1r2 (star yesterday) are alternatives for the L0 to L1 sequence in the KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L pattern (introduced 8/15, row 3).

The As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 runs as follows: the left foot rolls back the ball; the left foot flips up the ball, and simultaneously the right foot lifts above the ground; the left stays above ground; the the right foot hits the ground; the left foot strikes the ball on L1.

Thus the As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 alternative is like L0 to L1 in KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L (introduced 8/15, row 3), except that with the As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 alternative, during L0 the initial lift of the ball with the left-foot, the right-foot lifts up above the ground; and the right foot hits the ground before the left-foot kicks the ball for L1.

The As135l-l0+ruprl1r2 alternative if perfected, might offer some advantages in that the position of the right foot is adjusted prior to the left foot striking the ball for L1 while the right foot is on the ground.

The weather outdoors was comfortable before, and during the practice.

At 8 PM there were about 12 people jogging or walking on the track,

Like yesterday, after the 2nd segment today, the practice was done under dim artificial floodlight conditions.

     
  8/20/11 @ O'Leary Field; 7:40 - 7:56 PM
Segment 1
U B AF1

LL
16 16 1.00

80%

Total Score: 140
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0ll1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

16 out of 20 attempts succeeded (80%). I was proud of 12 of the successful runs, 60% of total attempts. Total: 80+60=140.

There were 10 rehearsals without the ball prior to the start of the attempts with the ball.

     
  8/20/11 @ O'Leary Field; 8:02 - 8:19 PM
Segment 2
U B AF1

LL
16 17 0.94

80%

Total Score: 150
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0rl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

15 out of 20 attempts succeeded (75%). I was proud of 13 of the successful runs, 65% of total attempts. Total: 75+65=140.

There were 10 rehearsals without the ball prior to the start of the attempts with the ball. I found that mentally focusing on L0 during the L0 kick, improved performance.

     
  8/20/11 @ O'Leary Field; 8:25 - 8:46 PM
Segment 3
U B AF1

LL
17 21 0.81

85%

Total Score: 170
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0+ruprl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

17 out of 20 attempts succeeded (85%). I was proud of 17 of the successful runs, 85% of total attempts. Total: 85+85=170.

This is the newest drill, described in the first row of the August 17 entries.

I did 10 footwork rehearsals without the ball prior to the start of attempts with the ball.

This segment was done after sunset in dim floodlight supplied light.

     
  8/20/11 @O'Leary Field;
8:48-9:05 PM
Segment 4
U B AF1

LL
18 17 1.06

90%

Total Score: 170
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0+ruprl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

18 out of 20 attempts succeeded (90%). I was proud of 16 of the successful runs, 80% of total attempts. Total: 90+80=170.

No rehearsals without the ball were done before attempts this segment.

     
  8/20/11 @ O'Leary Field; 9:20 - 9:33 PM
Segment 5
U B AF1

LL
16 13 1.23

80%

Total Score: 155
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0ll1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

16 out of 20 attempts succeeded (80%). I was proud of 15 of the successful runs, 75% of total attempts. Total: 80+75=155.

     
  8/20/11 @ O'Leary Field; 9:33-9:44 -
Segment 6
U B AF1

LL
19 11 1.73

95%

Total Score: 175
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0rl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

19 out of 20 attempts succeeded (95%). I was proud of 16 of the successful runs, 80% of total attempts. Total: 95+80=175.

     
  8/20/11 @ O'Leary Field; 9:47-10:01 PM
Segment 7
U B AF1

LL
17 14 1.21

85%

Total Score: 165
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0+ruprl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

17 out of 20 attempts succeeded (85%). I was proud of 16 of the successful runs, 80% of total attempts. Total: 85+80=165.

This is the newest drill, described in the first row of the August 17 entries.

I did 5 rehearsals without the ball before starting attempts with the ball this segment.

     
  Sunday 8/21
AS135L-L0L1R2

Original, natural footwork variant of AS135L-L0L1R2: An easy short simple deadly threat to the defense


AS135L-L0L1R2
Natural Original Beginning of the KnockoutAugone-AS135L Pattern

The graphic is drawn to scale; the distance from L0 to R2 in the graphic is 8.7 feet, the players are represented as having shoulders that are 20 inches wide.

AS135L-L0L1R2 involves me starting with my body facing a direction such that the L1 kick sends the ball in a direction 135 degrees to the left relative to the direction I am facing at the start (another way of saying this is that it involves on L1, me facing towards "Twelve O'Clock" and sending the ball to "Seven Thirty O'Clock" on L1); the ball flipped up with the left foot on L0; the left-foot performing L1.

the left foot does not return to the ground between L0 & L1; the right foot does not lift above the ground between L0 & L1; the right foot stays on the ground during L0.

The ball is kept close to the body but off the ground from the L0 to the R2 kick.

The three players labeled A, B, and C, represent the changing position of my body as it turns counter-clockwise between L0 & L1.

The player with brown hair in a green jersey represents an opponent defender.

The blue circle at the bottom represents the counter-clockwise turning of my body and the ball.

The blue arrows in the top-right corner, represent 3 directions I can shoot the ball in with great force and accuracy on R2.

The reddish circles represent possible locations for marker-cones used in practice.


Terms used here: L0: first touch of run, involving ball rolled back & lifted up with left-foot; L1: first kick of run, involving ball kicked with left foot; R2: second touch of run involving ball kicked with right foot; flight: moving while keeping the ball off the ground and close to the body.

I thought it would not be wrong on a sabbath-day, to entertain myself with non-physical mental exertion of making this entry in my soccer drill stats log.

The graphic in the box in this entry, represents 'AS135L-L0L1R2'. AS135L-L0L1R2 constitutes the natural, original form of the beginning of the KnockoutAugone-AS135L pattern.

The graphic is drawn to scale; the distance from L0 to R2 in the graphic is 8.7 feet, the players are represented as having shoulders that are 20 inches wide.

I am fast approaching the point in skill, where about 95% of my attempts will result in AS135L-L0L1R2 being performed at lightning-fast speed, with the distance between L0 & R2 being about 9 feet, with the R2 kick being made with great force and accuracy if desired, with me being able to use three more touches on the ball to fly with the ball at least another 30 feet if I want.

Aside from the spectacularity and glamor of long fast 45' twisting turning flight, the relatively short simple AS135L-L0L1R2 run at a length of merely 9 feet represents a deadly threat to the defense.

In providing for the necessity of defending against this deadly threat, the defense reduces the strength of its defenses against attacks other than the AS135L-L0L1R2.

A possible advantage of the AS135L-L0L1R2 move is that the body as it moves counter-clockwise between L1 & L2, provides a natural barrier impeding the defender's access to the ball.

Fact is that in top-level soccer, very few goals are scored with the goal-scorer touching the ball more than three times before shooting.


     
  Monday 8/22
New As135L alternatives

Two More New Experimental 2-touch 135 degrees left turn patterns

 vspace=2
 as135rl0r1lrl2

AS-135-L type patterns
Two new variants for L0 - L1-R2
AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2 (top)
As135l-l0rxl1r2 (bottom)

AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2 (top) involves me lifting the ball up with the left foot, while, simultaneously, the right-foot lifts up above the ground; the left foot hitting the ground; the right-foot hitting the ground; the left-foot performing L1; the right-foot performing R2. In this variant, The left-foot DOES hit the ground in between the flip-up of the ball on L0, & the L1 kick. The ball is kept close to the body & off the ground from the L0 to the R2 kick.

As135l-l0rxl1r2 (bottom) involves me lifting the ball up with the left-foot on L0, NOT touching the ground with the left-foot & keeping the left-foot above the ground, lifting the right-foot up, putting the right-foot down, kicking the ball with the left-foot on L1, & kicking the ball with the right-foot on R2. In this variant, the left foot does NOT return to the ground in between L0 & L1, but the right foot lifts up off the ground and returns to the ground between L0 & L1. The ball is kept close to the body & off the ground from the L0 to the R2 kick.

These variants are similar to the variants described in the row of this log entitled 'Tuesday 8/16 Practice @ Waltham Y'.

Nesta photo source

The graphic shows two new experimental two-touch patterns for 135 degree turns to the left.

The AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2 variant came into my mind while I was practicing;

the As135l-l0rxl1r2 variant established itself in my mind after I created a table featuring columns for variant, and for various characteristics of the variant. In the table I created all possible variants and then ruled out the impossible variants, I was then left with the remaining possible variant for L0 to L1.

With the introduction of AS135L-L0+RupRL1R2 and As135l-l0rxl1r2, I believe I now have invented and experimented with all the feasible alternatives in terms of footwork/ballwork from the L0 step to the L1 step in the AS135L type drills.

I had the feeling that if I attained to variety in its fullest extent, in terms of variations of the 135L two-touch drills, I would maximize my improvement rate. I felt as if somewhere along the line in the past, I had learned how variety in drill can increase the rate of improvement.

When only some of the possible varieties of a technique are tested, there exists the possibility that a technique that is useful for training or for game-time, goes undiscovered.

In summary as of now there exist, the original natural form of procedure from L0 to L1 for the 135-degrees left turn, and five alternative forms of procedure. These all differ in terms of the footwork between L0 & L1, and the footwork during L0.

All five alternatives were tried out during the Monday August 22 practice.

     
  Monday 8/22
Practice @ Waltham Y

Toe-Up compared to Toe-Down on Roll-back of Ball; Rule for Targetting L0 lift developed; All Known As135L L0 to L1 footwork variants tested.

Today I started out with the first segment testing the toe being above the heel on the initial roll-back of the ball (L0rbtu), and the second segment testing the toe being about even in elevation with the heel during the initial roll-back of the ball (L0rbtd). These mini-patterns ended with the L1 touch.

After comparing the two, I felt satisfied with choosingL0rbtd; and I suspected that I had underestimated the number of failures caused by error on the L1 kick.

Next, I did 5 scored segments of Two-Touch, 135-degrees-left turn type patterns.

Today, all the variants of the Two-Touch, 135-degrees-left-turn type runs scored as successes manifested the following characteristics: Me using the left foot to flip up the ball (L0); me then adhering to the FOOTWORK between L0 & L1 as prescribed by the pattern; the ball kept off the ground but close to the body from L0 to R2; the direction of the ball after L1 being approx 135-degrees-left relative to the direction I face at the start of L0.

Two of the variants done today were new, and are introduced in the first row for August 22.

EARPLUGS in both ears. Woke up approx 4:00 PM (absence of alarm clock experiment gone awry yet again), 3.7 hours before the practice started at 6:56 PM, after having had approx 10 hours of sleep. I overslept because I temporarily misconstrued the Sabbath-day-rest as involving sleeping late Sunday night. Had 12 oz green-tea/coconut-palm-sugar/halfnhalf, from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM. Drank 31 oz of cool distilled water during the practice, which went on for 2.6 hours from 6:56 PM - 9:30 PM.

Today the Ankle-Force-Minimization (AFM) method was usually implemented during L0 and L1.

Today on most attempts, the 'LL' variant was implemented (see Aug 13, Aug 14 entries for info re the 'LL' variant). LL means leg-power, not ankle-flip power, is emphasized during the #0 kick which flips the ball up into the air, and also during the next kick the #1 kick.

Today, for the first time, I mentally targetted a specific spot to put the ball, when moving the ball with the L0 lift-off touch after rolling it back with the sole of my foot. The spot I targetted: 2' from L0, on the line running from L0 to R2.

I believe this targetting improved improved performance. Up till now, when lifting the ball into the air on L0, I had been content to simply achieve adequate lift of the ball, in a general area in front of me or to the side of me.

Segments 4, 5, and 6 today were the same as segments 1, 2, and 3 on August 20, same segments in same order. The average score for segments 1,2, and 3 August 20 was 153; the average score for segments 4,5, and 6 today was 167. Thus today's performance was up 9% compared to August 20.

Segments 3 to 7 today featured one segment each for the five known variants different from the original natural AS135L-L0L1R2. The average score today from segment 3 to 7 was 165. At a 9% daily improvement, the average score will be the maximum score of 200, indicating extreme reliability for the moves practiced, in just 3 days.

I attribute this improvement to the mental targetting of a certain spot for the ball to be sent to by the L0 lift-up of the ball, and also to confidence in the relative superiority of the L0rbtd roll-back method, confidence generated by the first two segments of the evening. I don't believe the loosening up produced by the first two segments was that important because the short L0 to R2 run does not require much loosening up.

The As135l-l0rxl1r2 variant, practiced for the first time in segment 7, performed very well for a first time out (percentage: 90%; proud-of: 80%).

As135l-l0rxl1r2 involves: the sole of the left foot rolling the ball back; the left foot lifting the ball up; the left-foot staying above the ground while the right-foot leaves the ground and returns to the ground; the left-foot executing the L1 kick.

As135l-l0rxl1r2 is similar to the older As135l-l0rl1r2 variant except that in As135l-l0rl1r2 the left-foot returns to the ground between L0 & L1, whereas in As135l-l0rxl1r2 the left-foot does not return to the ground between L0 & L1.

The perfect 'total score' for a segment is 200 (100% of attempts succeed, with me being proud of all of them).

Day before yesterday, I felt convinced that most of the failures and imperfections, were due to erroneous L0 kicks (L0 is the touch on which the ball is rolled back and flipped up). Today it seemed that L1 was often erroneous.

The weather outdoors was comfortable before, and during the practice.

I had my half of the gym to myself. On the other side, a couple of Spanish boys were shooting baskets.

     
  8/22/11 @ Waltham Y; 6:56 - 7:10 PM
Segment 1
U B AF1


17 14 1.21

85%

Total Score: 160
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


L0rbtu

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

17 out of 20 attempts succeeded (85%). I was proud of 15 of the successful runs, 75% of total attempts. Total: 85+75=160.

There were rehearsals without the ball prior to the start of the attempts with the ball.

     
  8/22/11 @ Waltham Y; 7:14 - 7:39 PM
Segment 2
U B AF1


20 25 0.80

100%

Total Score: 185
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


L0rbtd

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

20 out of 20 attempts succeeded (100%). I was proud of 17 of the successful runs, 85% of total attempts. Total: 100+85=185.

There were rehearsals without the ball prior to the start of the attempts with the ball.

     
  8/22/11 @ Waltham Y; 7:48 - 8:04 PM
Segment 3
U B AF1

LL
18 16 1.13

90%

Total Score: 155
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0ll1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

18 out of 20 attempts succeeded (90%). I was proud of 13 of the successful runs, 65% of total attempts. Total: 90+65=155.

There were about ten rehearsals without the ball prior to the start of the attempts with the ball.

     
  8/22/11 @ Waltham Y; 8:08 - 8:27 PM
Segment 4
U B AF1

LL
19 19 1.00

95%

Total Score: 175
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0rl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

19 out of 20 attempts succeeded (95%). I was proud of 16 of the successful runs, 80% of total attempts. Total: 95+80=175.

There were about ten rehearsals without the ball prior to the start of the attempts with the ball.

     
  8/22/11 @ Waltham Y; 8:38 - 8:54 PM
Segment 5
U B AF1

LL
18 16 1.13

90%

Total Score: 170
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0+ruprl1r2

The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

18 out of 20 attempts succeeded (90%). I was proud of 16 of the successful runs, 80% of total attempts. Total: 90+80=170.

I did about 10 footwork rehearsals without the ball prior to the start of attempts with the ball.

     
  8/22/11 @ Waltham Y;
8:57 - 9:14 PM
Segment 6
U B AF1

LL
16 17 0.94

80%

Total Score: 155
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


AS135L-L0+RupLRL1R2

FIRST TIME EVER FOR THIS VARIANT


The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

16 out of 20 attempts succeeded (80%). I was proud of 15 of the successful runs, 75% of total attempts. Total: 80+75=155.

About ten rehearsals without the ball were done before attempts this segment.

FIRST TIME EVER FOR THIS VARIANT

     
  8/22/11 @ Waltham Y; 9:16 - 9:30 PM
Segment 7
U B AF1

LL
18 14 1.29

90%

Total Score: 170
Goals: percentage, quality
Cones: 3 cones marking 9' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi


As135l-l0rxl1r2

FIRST TIME EVER FOR THIS VARIANT


The goal of this segment: achieve a high successes per attempts percentage, achieve a high number of runs that I can be 'proud' of.

18 out of 20 attempts succeeded (90%). I was proud of 16 of the successful runs, 80% of total attempts. Total: 90+80=170.

I did about 10 footwork rehearsals without the ball prior to the start of attempts with the ball.

FIRST TIME EVER FOR THIS VARIANT

     
  Continued at 2011 Soccer Drill Stats Part XII