120 minutes of Off-left-wall slant-left, slant-right dribble drills

Dribble Drill F2012-OLWSLSR

F2012-OLWSLSR Drill. F2012 stands for February 2012; OLWSLSR stands for Off-Left-Wall, Slant-Left, Slant-Right. All variants of this drill start with: (1) me kicking the ball at the wall (C) to my left; on first contact with the rebound (2 & 3) starting a diagonal dribble to my left with my left-foot; me stepping with my right-foot; me starting a slant right with my left-foot at the L1 (left-1) point.

The variants differ in terms of what happens after the slant to the right is started at the L1 point. L2 stands for a step with the left-foot; R3 stands for a step with the right-foot; L4 stands for a step with the left-foot; a red-arrow indicates a feinted movement of the ball; the black arrow shows the actual directional movement of the ball.

The orange dots show possible locations for marker cones.

I vary aspects such as whether I use the sole of my foot or the side of my foot for various touches during the dribble.

I started off today in the morning at the Waltham Y, doing the new F2012-OLWSLSR drill described in the graphic/text box in this log-entry.

I spent about 30 minutes each on the LS-1L, LS-1R, LS-2L, & LS-2R variants.

This morning I ended up feeling astounded at the how many different ways these variants can be done. For the feint, the ball can be not touched, touched with the sole of the foot, or touched with the side of the foot. For the actual movement the ball can be not touched, touched with the sole of the foot, or touched with the side of the foot. Behind the back kicks can be used or not used for the actual movements. Clockwise or counterclockwise movements can be used for the actual movement of the ball after the feint.

I now face plenty of work producing a table showing all the different ways in which the feints and the actual moves can be done (sole of foot vs side of foot etc), together with the good and bad points of each alternative. But I do not intend to allow laziness or a lack of time/energy re producing and analyzing such tables to prevent me from producing the tables and getting involved in the analysis of the tabulated data. I believe that by looking at every conceivable alternative, and noting the good and bad points of each, I will put myself in the optimal position tactically speaking, and maximize my chances of noticing things other players and coaches have not noticed.

Off-left-wall, slant-right, slant-left dribble drills

Dribble Drill F2012-OLWSRSL

F2012-OLWSRSL Drill. F2012 stands for February 2012; OLWSRSL stands for Off-Left-Wall, Slant-Right, Slant-Left. All variants of this drill start with: (1) me kicking the ball at the wall (C) to my left; on first contact with the rebound (2 & 3) starting a diagonal dribble to my right with my left-foot; me stepping with my right-foot; stepping with my left-foot; me starting a slant left with my right-foot at the R1 (right-1) point.

The variants differ in terms of what happens after the slant to the left is started at the R1 point. L2 stands for a step with the left-foot; R3 stands for a step with the right-foot; L4 stands for a step with the left-foot; a red-arrow indicates a feinted movement of the ball; the black arrow shows the actual directional movement of the ball.

The orange dots show possible locations for marker cones.

I vary aspects such as whether I use the sole of my foot or the side of my foot for various touches during the dribble.

I started off today in the evening at the Waltham Y, doing soccer ground-dribbling drills using a 3 Kg (6.6 lb) medicine ball. I practiced movements that have come to the fore over the past few days doing drills without the medicine ball.

Next for 25 minutes I did the new F2012-OLWSRSL drill described in the graphic/text box in this log-entry.

I did the RS-1L, LS-1R, RS-2L, & RS-2R variants.

Off-Right-wall, slant-left, slant-right dribble drills

Dribble Drill F2012-ORWSLSR

F2012-ORWSLSR Drill. F2012 stands for February 2012; ORWSLSR stands for Off-Right-Wall, Slant-Left, Slant-Right. All variants of this drill start with: (1) me kicking the ball at the wall (C) to my right; on first contact with the rebound (2 & 3) starting a diagonal dribble to my left with my left-foot; me stepping with my right-foot; me starting a slant right with my left-foot at the L1 (left-1) point.

The variants differ in terms of what happens after the slant to the right is started at the L1 point. R2 stands for a step with the right-foot; L3 stands for a step with the left-foot; R4 stands for a step with the right-foot; a red-arrow indicates a feinted movement of the ball; the black arrow shows the actual directional movement of the ball.

The orange dots show possible locations for marker cones.

I vary aspects such as whether I use the sole of my foot or the side of my foot for various touches during the dribble.

I concluded the practice by for 25 minutes doing the new F2012-ORWSLSR drill described in the graphic/text box in this log-entry.

I did the LS-1L, LS-1R, LS-2L, & LS-2R variants.

The Friday March 2 practice is described in this log entry and also in the previous log entry. Overall I found that to further complicate things, yet another option for actual-movements/feints, is that the foot behind the foot that kicks the ball can skip forwards, or, the foot can skip forwards as it kicks the ball.

Minutes spent on today's log-entry: 127 minutes producing the graphics, including 55 minutes producing an erroneous graphic not presented in the log entries; 78 minutes creating the text for the log-entry; total 205 minutes (3:05). Log-entry contains 478 words, which is a rate of 1.195 400-word book-pages per day, 373 400-word book-pages per year given work 6-days a week and Sundays off. The amount of time spent on text reported here includes several minutes trying to figure out what went wrong with the errant graphic. Hard to believe that as few words as were produced today, the rate is still 373 book-pages per year. The word-count does not include this paragraph re the production rate etc.

634 - 746 PM
Waltham Y
72 minutes
New 2-Dribble Corner Drills

Brand New Double-Dribble Corner Drills Done for First Time

Corner Dribble Drill M2012CD

M2012CD involves a corner of the gym. While doing the drill, I l (A) kick the ball at both the wall on my left (B), and the wall on my right (C). The orange dots represent marker cones. The arrows represent the direction of the the ball.

Characteristics of M2012CD: the 1st contact of the foot with the rebound off the wall C, is used to dribble the ball; next the ball is dribbled a 2nd time; next the ball is kicked at wall B; next there are 2 of the same types of touches on the ball; next the ball is kicked at wall C. and so the process is repeated in a cycle alternating between kicking the ball at wall B, and kicking the ball at wall C.

For each variant of M2012CD I predetermine: which foot I will attempt to use to kick the ball on 1st contact with the rebound; which foot I will use to kick the ball on the next dribble; which direction I will kick the ball on the 1st dribble; which direction I will kick the ball on the 2nd dribble; and, which wall I will attempt to kick the ball at what time.

Doing M2012CD I keep going, alternating between kicking at wall C and and kicking at wall B, until something prevents me from continuing.

Directionally speaking, the dribbling patterns result in me: moving further and further away from the corner, closer and closer to the corner, closer and closer to one of the walls, or remaining approximately stationary I have recorded, what direction I move in when executing a given pattern. Thus I am able to see where a pattern will send me, and avoid other colliding with persons in the crowded gym.

I classify the variants of M2012CD in a shorthand that describes which foot is used to dribble the ball in which direction on the 2 dribbles that come between the kicks at the walls.

In this shorthand: L stands for left-foot; R stands for right-foot; S stands for dribbling the ball straight ahead; R stands for dribbling the ball to the right; B stands for dribbling the ball in a backwards direction; and, L stands for dribbling the ball to the left.

In this shorthand, for example: LR, LS means the 1st dribble involves the left-foot (L) dribbling to the right (R), and the 2nd dribble involves the left-foot (L) dribbling straight-ahead (S). DD stands for dribble directions, which direction the ball is dribbled in on the 1st & 2nd touches.

Thus the variations are:

DD= 1st S, 2nd S: LS, LS; LS, RS; RS, RS; RS, LS.
DD= 1st S, 2nd R: LS, LR; LS, RR; RS, RR; RS, LR.
DD= 1st S, 2nd B: LS, LB; LS, RB; RS, RB; RS, LB.
DD= 1st S, 2nd L: LS, LL; LS, RL; RS, RL; RS, LL.
DD= 1st R, 2nd S: LR, LS; LR, RS; RR, RS; RR, LS.
DD= 1st R, 2nd R: LR, LR; LR, RR; RR, RR; RR, LR.
DD= 1st R, 2nd B: LR, LB; LR, RB; RR, RB; RR, LB.
DD= 1st R, 2nd L: LR, LL; LR, RL; RR, RL; RR, LL.
DD= 1st B, 2nd S: LB, LS; LB, RS; RB, RS; RB, LS.
DD= 1st B, 2nd R: LB, LR; LB, RR; RB, RR; RB, LR.
DD= 1st B, 2nd B: LB, LB; LB, RB; RB, RB; RB, LB.
DD= 1st B, 2nd L: LB, LL; LB, RL; RB, RL; RB, LL.
DD= 1st L, 2nd S: LL, LS; LL, RS; RL, RS; RL, LS.
DD= 1st L, 2nd R: LL, LR; LL, RR; RL, RR; RL, LR.
DD= 1st L, 2nd B: LL, LB; LL, RB; RL, RB; RL, LB.
DD= 1st L, 2nd L: LL, LL; LL, RL; RL, RL; RL, LL.

Medicine-ball dribble, 35 minutes:

For 35 minutes, I dribbled using an 8-pound medicine-ball, in the Multipurpose Room. I put down two cones, each representing a foot of a defender, and ground-dribbled at and by and through the two cones.

M2012CD corner drill, 72 minutes:

For 72 minutes, I did the M2012CD, described in graphic and text in box this entry. I started wtih a ball PSI of 7.0. I did the four different left-foot/right-foot sequence variants, for each of the following directional variants: SS, SR, SB, SL, RS, RR, RB. Thus in total I did 28 variants in 72 minutes, 2.6 minutes per variant. I continued with a variant until I had succeeded with it and then went on to the next variant.

While I was doing the medicine-ball dribbling & talking with Francione, this white adult male stormed into the multipurpose room. He looked at me and made derogatory statements about [deleted]. He said, [deleted] is is a 'doofus' (it's interesting the various definitions given for such slang terms). Then he stormed out again. It was all over in a few seconds. After the practice I saw a bus with US Naval Academy Annapolis written on it, sitting in the lot at the Don's Service Center, I was thinking, the guy who stormed in & out to complain looked like a Navy type.

I had been discussing with Francione, the lighting situation in the Multipurpose Room, the Free-weights Room, and the Machine weights room. Things I said: the lighting is the same in all 3 rooms (simple off/on ceiling panel top-lighting); the interior dec in terms of walls and floors in all 3 rooms is the same (basically nothing on the walls and minimal floor covering, with the entire room given the same floor covering); when lighting, walls, and floor are the same in all 3 rooms things look dreary & jail-like and this impairs people because people are human; when the type and amount of lighting can be varied, this helps people to accurately gauge their progress in terms of how their ability to look good in various types of light is improving; the lighting, walls, and floor at the Oak Sq Y are better than the jail-like version of such at the Waltham Y.

I was telling Francione if I were handling the matter what I would do: use my magic-like analytical methods to select from the Waltham Y community a committee of half a dozen persons to decide how to improve the lighting and interior dec in the rooms; anthropomorphize the sum of their opinions (i.e., Mr Y-Light (sum of the opinions) likes the home gym design look the best). The result of the process would be in a sense a quintessence of art, because the lighting/dec in the room would be a result of the sum of the opinions of half a dozen persons chosen by magical yet respectable analytical methods.

Seemed as if me discussing this with Francione, resulted in every one in the gym becoming incensed at the idea that they were losing out on this magical YMCA produced by the opinions of persons chosen by magical yet respectable processes and formulas, due to the fact that I, the magician, was not being hired and others were being hired instead. Seemed this feeling struck such a deep nerve within them, that they somehow knew what I had been talking about with Francione, without actually hearing it with their ears.

While in the multipurpose room I noted that my arms were looking strong from the weightlifting (even though over the past 6 weeks very few reps have been done), and my face was looking acceptable (overhead white panel lighting, white painted walls and one mirrored wall plus other mirrors) .

The soccer workout was impaired, because although the schedule said the gym would be open 6-8 PM, the birthday party took up both sides of the gym and went on until 630 PM. Then after the birthday party, the party equipment obstructed half of the gym for 50 minutes until 720 PM, because it was just lying there while nobody picked it up.

So there were crowded conditions in the gym after the birthday party ended, because we were all packed into one half of the gym, while the other half was obstructed by birthday party equipment that had not been returned to the gym closet yet.

First part of the soccer practice I was wearing sweatpants. Conditions were crowded there was a half court basketball game going on, plus me trying to do the soccer drill. The guys playing basketball looked like middle-eastern & South Asian brown people. A couple of them I thought looked like stocky short jolly moderate Muslim Mullahs, minus the turbans. I heard one of them (somehow I knew it was one of the 'Mullahs') look my way and tell me to take my sweatpants off so they could see me. I don't usually wear sweatpants and he was freaked that I was being different and wearing sweatpants. Later these brown folks helped to pack up the birthday party equipment on to the cart to be loaded into the gym closet.

Minutes spent on today's log-entry: 131. Log-entry contains 1564 new words. Thus 716 new words per hour rate today.

805 - 850 PM
Oak Sq Y Weights Room
45 minutes
Medicine Ball Dribble

855 - 935 PM
Oak Sq Y Weights Room
40 minutes
New Stomach Exercises

935 - 1000 PM
Oak Sq Y Weights Room
40 minutes
Punching Bag

1000 - 1016 PM
Oak Sq Y Weights Room
40 minutes
Palm-up Wrist Curl Exercises

Brand New Double-Dribble Corner Drills Done Aerially for First Time; Stomach Exercises Done for first time in years; punching bag work done first time ever; palm-up wrist curl @40 lbs each hand

Corner Dribble Drill M2012CD

M2012CD involves a corner of the gym. While doing the drill, I l (A) kick the ball at both the wall on my left (B), and the wall on my right (C). The orange dots represent marker cones. The arrows represent the direction of the the ball.

Characteristics of M2012CD: the 1st contact of the foot with the rebound off the wall C, is used to dribble the ball; next the ball is dribbled a 2nd time; next the ball is kicked at wall B; next there are 2 of the same types of touches on the ball; next the ball is kicked at wall C. and so the process is repeated in a cycle alternating between kicking the ball at wall B, and kicking the ball at wall C.

For each variant of M2012CD I predetermine: which foot I will attempt to use to kick the ball on 1st contact with the rebound; which foot I will use to kick the ball on the next dribble; which direction I will kick the ball on the 1st dribble; which direction I will kick the ball on the 2nd dribble; and, which wall I will attempt to kick the ball at what time.

Doing M2012CD I keep going, alternating between kicking at wall C and and kicking at wall B, until something prevents me from continuing.

Directionally speaking, the dribbling patterns result in me: moving further and further away from the corner, closer and closer to the corner, closer and closer to one of the walls, or remaining approximately stationary I have recorded, what direction I move in when executing a given pattern. Thus I am able to see where a pattern will send me, and avoid other colliding with persons in the crowded gym.

I classify the variants of M2012CD in a shorthand that describes which foot is used to dribble the ball in which direction on the 2 dribbles that come between the kicks at the walls.

In this shorthand: L stands for left-foot; R stands for right-foot; S stands for dribbling the ball straight ahead; R stands for dribbling the ball to the right; B stands for dribbling the ball in a backwards direction; and, L stands for dribbling the ball to the left.

In this shorthand, for example: LR, LS means the 1st dribble involves the left-foot (L) dribbling to the right (R), and the 2nd dribble involves the left-foot (L) dribbling straight-ahead (S). DD stands for dribble directions, which direction the ball is dribbled in on the 1st & 2nd touches.

Thus the variations are:

DD= 1st S, 2nd S: LS, LS; LS, RS; RS, RS; RS, LS.
DD= 1st S, 2nd R: LS, LR; LS, RR; RS, RR; RS, LR.
DD= 1st S, 2nd B: LS, LB; LS, RB; RS, RB; RS, LB.
DD= 1st S, 2nd L: LS, LL; LS, RL; RS, RL; RS, LL.
DD= 1st R, 2nd S: LR, LS; LR, RS; RR, RS; RR, LS.
DD= 1st R, 2nd R: LR, LR; LR, RR; RR, RR; RR, LR.
DD= 1st R, 2nd B: LR, LB; LR, RB; RR, RB; RR, LB.
DD= 1st R, 2nd L: LR, LL; LR, RL; RR, RL; RR, LL.
DD= 1st B, 2nd S: LB, LS; LB, RS; RB, RS; RB, LS.
DD= 1st B, 2nd R: LB, LR; LB, RR; RB, RR; RB, LR.
DD= 1st B, 2nd B: LB, LB; LB, RB; RB, RB; RB, LB.
DD= 1st B, 2nd L: LB, LL; LB, RL; RB, RL; RB, LL.
DD= 1st L, 2nd S: LL, LS; LL, RS; RL, RS; RL, LS.
DD= 1st L, 2nd R: LL, LR; LL, RR; RL, RR; RL, LR.
DD= 1st L, 2nd B: LL, LB; LL, RB; RL, RB; RL, LB.
DD= 1st L, 2nd L: LL, LL; LL, RL; RL, RL; RL, LL.

M2012CD corner drill, 44 minutes:

For 44 minutes, I did the M2012CD, described in graphic and text in box this entry. I started wtih a ball PSI of 8.0. I did the four different left-foot/right-foot sequence variants, for each of the following directional variants: RL, BS, LR, & SB. I chose these variants because the space available was limited and with these variants my position on the floor does not vary much. The SB variant was done in aerial form, meaning aiming for a point about 7 feet high on the wall when kicking the ball. In total I did 15 variants in 44 minutes, 2.9 minutes per variant (aerial variants take longer to accomplish). I continued with a variant until I had succeeded with it and then went on to the next variant.

The footwork variants done for the SB directional variant (aerially done): LL, LR, & RR. With the LL footwork variant I succeeded partially, meaning: I was able to adhere to prescribed dribble-pattern up to the point where I kicked the ball at the wall that is perpendicular to the wall the rebound came from; but I was not able to adhere to prescribed dribble pattern up to the point where the ball is kicked at the wall the ball came from, after the rebound and subsequent dribbles have been executed twice.

With the LR & RR footwork variants I succeeded completely, meaning: I was able to adhere to prescribed dribble-pattern up to the point where I kicked the ball at the wall the rebound came from; after handling the first rebound off the wall according to pattern, and then also handling the second rebound off the other perpendicular wall according to pattern also. I started by kicking the ball at the wall to my right.

While doing the aerial versions I had the definite feeling that the fun-to-be glamorous magical aerial genie that will be soon unleashed in actual games, was manifesting itself during the LR & RR variants I succeeded with completely. I felt that the aerial variant of M2012CD will quickly unlock the door allowing me to be an aerial genie not just in practice, but in games also.

After the practice the stocky black haired bespectacled white guy named Rich, gave me a smiling facial version of the thumbs up. He said something like, 'Ya...the aerial corners...'. What his face was saying was that I was doing good on the aerial corner drill and that the aerial corner drill was the key to victory.

After the soccer in the weights room, a stocky white teen walked by me. He said, 'he's a forward'. Cryptoquote translated: in soccer, I'm positionally speaking a forwards.

During the soccer practice I felt as if for the first time in weeks, I was being spectacular, and that the special thing was that I was being spectacular in ways that are highly applicable to actual game situations. I was able to encounter a bouncing rebound, air-dribble forwards, air-dribble backwards (ball not touching ground), shoot at the other wall that is perpendicular to the wall the rebound came from, do the same thing with the rebound again, all with the ball not touching ground while in my possession.

During and after the soccer I was thinking: nobody noticed the birth of the actual-games aerial genie today during practice; the actual-games aerial-wizard manifested himself only for about 15 minutes; everybody is self-absorbed, nobody even notices anybody involved in a different game than his own. But events after the game tell me otherwise. I've been surprised how even when I do mundane things like ground dribbling, or just running without the ball, people think they can tell that I'm a superstar-to-be.

The exact goal was when working aerially: start a directional dribble on the first touch of the rebound, do a second touch, and then kick at the perpendicular wall. However I allowed myself to touch the ball three times before kicking at the perpendicular wall and still called it a success.

Medicine-ball dribble, 35 minutes:

For 45 minutes, I dribbled using 6, 6.6, & 8 lb medicine-balls, in the Multipurpose Room. I put down two cones, each representing a foot of a defender, and ground-dribbled at and by and through the two cones.

Weightlifting Type Activities

From 855 - 935 PM for 40 minutes I finally got around to doing exercises for the waist area, for the first time in about ten years. I did leg raises, situps, back-raise. I had procrastinated doing these exercises because I was afraid of the low stomach strength that would become evident, and afraid of the fatigue and exhaustion generated by the stomach exercises. Today I convinced myself that the fatigue and exhaustion would be no worse than with other exercises and that the performance would improve fast like the other exercises. Also I have become increasingly aware that: with skills exercises diversity pays because an unpracticed skill improves faster than a faster one; diversity also seems to pay with weightlifting type exercises for the same reason; diversity is feasible because I can improve on an exercise at a fast rate even when the number of reps done per week is less than 20.

Punching Bag

From 935 - 100 PM for 25 minutes for the first time in my life I worked on the punching bag. At the Waltham Y, the punching bag is never out you have to go through a long laborious process just to set it up. I did the punching bag work because I have learned to value diversity. I figure that ten hours of punching bag work, will improve my strength in punching-related ways by at least 200%, and that the improvement rate in terms of physical ability related to punching type stuff will be greater than the improvement rate would be working on something I have already worked on for 100 hours.

During and after the punching bag work, I felt that punching bag work indeed adds to the diversity, because it is different from weightlifting, throwing, running, and kicking, yet an important aspect of natural physical activity. I could feel certain parts of my body growing stronger through the punching bag work. Looking at the mirror I could see how 20 minutes of punching bag work had changed the way my body looked. I could feel how it was physically/mentally enjoyable (how it felt during and after) in a different way compared to weightlifting, and running. The fist sort of pushes into the bag until it stops, like a car coming to a stop, but before the arm is completely extended, which is different than weightlifting. The often unfortunate reality of human history is that man has been at war for thousands of years; I suspect that this history is a major reason something like a little punching bag work could produce dramatic physical/psychological improvements.

One of the blacks watching me work on the punching bag started laughing and told his brotherly teen black friend that I was "showing him how it's done".

I suspect that I may have a hidden never utilized talent for punching and boxing. They say the most powerful weightlifters are not the hardest punchers.

Palms up wrist curl. I ended the evening spending 16 minutes on the palm-up wrist curl. For the first time I did them with my forearm on the bench. I did 3 reps at 40 lbs with each hand and then lower weights. 5 weeks ago the best I could do was 4 reps at 35 lbs. Just 60 reps over the 5 weeks improved my strength on the palms up wrist curl by 14%.

Minutes spent on today's log-entry: 121 (105 minutes log-entry, 16 minutes setting up new page). Log-entry contains 1421 new words. Thus 812 new words per hour rate today.

Double-Dribble Corner Drills Done on Ground & Aerially

Corner Dribble Drill M2012CD

M2012CD involves a corner of the gym. While doing the drill, I l (A) kick the ball at both the wall on my left (B), and the wall on my right (C). The orange dots represent marker cones. The arrows represent the direction of the the ball.

Characteristics of M2012CD: the 1st contact of the foot with the rebound off the wall C, is used to dribble the ball; next the ball is dribbled a 2nd time; next the ball is kicked at wall B; next there are 2 of the same types of touches on the ball; next the ball is kicked at wall C. and so the process is repeated in a cycle alternating between kicking the ball at wall B, and kicking the ball at wall C.

For each variant of M2012CD I predetermine: which foot I will attempt to use to kick the ball on 1st contact with the rebound; which foot I will use to kick the ball on the next dribble; which direction I will kick the ball on the 1st dribble; which direction I will kick the ball on the 2nd dribble; and, which wall I will attempt to kick the ball at what time.

Doing M2012CD I keep going, alternating between kicking at wall C and and kicking at wall B, until something prevents me from continuing.

Directionally speaking, the dribbling patterns result in me: moving further and further away from the corner, closer and closer to the corner, closer and closer to one of the walls, or remaining approximately stationary I have recorded, what direction I move in when executing a given pattern. Thus I am able to see where a pattern will send me, and avoid other colliding with persons in the crowded gym.

I classify the variants of M2012CD in a shorthand that describes which foot is used to dribble the ball in which direction on the 2 dribbles that come between the kicks at the walls.

In this shorthand: L stands for left-foot; R stands for right-foot; S stands for dribbling the ball straight ahead; R stands for dribbling the ball to the right; B stands for dribbling the ball in a backwards direction; and, L stands for dribbling the ball to the left.

In this shorthand, for example: LR, LS means the 1st dribble involves the left-foot (L) dribbling to the right (R), and the 2nd dribble involves the left-foot (L) dribbling straight-ahead (S). DD stands for dribble directions, which direction the ball is dribbled in on the 1st & 2nd touches.

Thus the variations are:

DD= 1st S, 2nd S: LS, LS; LS, RS; RS, RS; RS, LS.
DD= 1st S, 2nd R: LS, LR; LS, RR; RS, RR; RS, LR.
DD= 1st S, 2nd B: LS, LB; LS, RB; RS, RB; RS, LB.
DD= 1st S, 2nd L: LS, LL; LS, RL; RS, RL; RS, LL.
DD= 1st R, 2nd S: LR, LS; LR, RS; RR, RS; RR, LS.
DD= 1st R, 2nd R: LR, LR; LR, RR; RR, RR; RR, LR.
DD= 1st R, 2nd B: LR, LB; LR, RB; RR, RB; RR, LB.
DD= 1st R, 2nd L: LR, LL; LR, RL; RR, RL; RR, LL.
DD= 1st B, 2nd S: LB, LS; LB, RS; RB, RS; RB, LS.
DD= 1st B, 2nd R: LB, LR; LB, RR; RB, RR; RB, LR.
DD= 1st B, 2nd B: LB, LB; LB, RB; RB, RB; RB, LB.
DD= 1st B, 2nd L: LB, LL; LB, RL; RB, RL; RB, LL.
DD= 1st L, 2nd S: LL, LS; LL, RS; RL, RS; RL, LS.
DD= 1st L, 2nd R: LL, LR; LL, RR; RL, RR; RL, LR.
DD= 1st L, 2nd B: LL, LB; LL, RB; RL, RB; RL, LB.
DD= 1st L, 2nd L: LL, LL; LL, RL; RL, RL; RL, LL.

M2012CD corner drill, 70 minutes:

For 70 minutes, I did the M2012CD, described in graphic and text in box this entry. I started wtih a ball PSI of 8.0. I did the four different left-foot/right-foot sequence variants, for each of the following directional variants: BR, BB, BL, LS, LB, & LL on the ground, and SS in the air. By in the air I mean that when I kicked the ball at the wall prior to controlling the rebound, I kicked the ball so as to hit the wall at an altitude of at least 7 feet.

The footwork variant results for the aerially done SB directional variant (aerially done): LL & LR, split success; RR & RL, whole success. By split success I mean: I was able to adhere to the prescribed dribble-pattern up to the point where I kicked the ball at the wall that is perpendicular to the wall the rebound came from, when kicking the ball at the wall to my right; I was able to do the same thing when kicking the ball at the wall to my left; but I was not able to combine the right-wall success and the left-wall success in one attempt, without the ball hitting the ground while in my possession.

With the RR & LR footwork variants I achieved 'whole success', meaning: I was able to adhere to the prescribed dribble-pattern up to the point where I kicked the ball at the wall that is perpendicular to the wall the rebound came from, when kicking the ball at the wall to my right; I was able to do the same thing when kicking the ball at the wall to my left; & I was able to combine the right-wall success and the left-wall success in one attempt, without the ball hitting the ground while in my possession in between the right-wall success and the left-wall success.

As soon as I achieved two separate split-type successes, one against each wall, I considered the sum of the two success with a particular variant, and moved on to the next variant. Also as soon as I achieved a whole success with a variant I consided that a success and moved on to the next variant.

The 6 directional variants done keeping the ball low ('ground') (all 4 footwork variants were done for each) took me 49 minutes to complete (8.2 minutes per directional variant). The one aerial directional variant done (all 4 footwork variants were done for it) took me 20 minutes to complete (20 minutes per directional variant).

Sometimes the rebound off the wall would hit my chest or my thigh; then (all without the ball touching the ground) I would kick it in the prescribed direction with the prescribed foot; then I would kick it again in the prescribed direction with the prescribed foot; & then I would kick it at the wall that intersects at a right angle with the wall the rebound came from. I considered such event-sequences to be good enough to score the event-sequence as a split success, and when they happened twice in a row without error a whole success. But the exceedingly unattainable ideal was to (all without the ball touching the ground) dribble the ball in the prescribed direction with the prescribed foot using the first contact with the rebound, then dribble the ball in the prescribed direction with the prescribed foot again, and then kick the ball at the target-wall.

I noted that I felt that the 'ground' versions of the BB and LB directional variants were special directional variants. The movements of ball and body during these variants: closely reflected potential actual game situations; were natural; produced cool possibilities for feints and actual movements.

The ease with which two split successes or one whole success is obtained on the M2012CD variants, is effected by factors such as the starting point relative to the corner, the padding on the walls, the presence of a basketball hoop, etc.

The skills that were being developed today involved: discerning whether the rebound off the wall should be contacted with the chest, thigh, or foot; making initial contact with the rebound precisely so as to enable the subsequent air-dribbling and kicking that satisfy the dictates prescribed by the particular variant in terms of direction and which foot is used.

I felt that the important thing was to, while the rebound of the ball coming at me was still far off, quickly make up my mind whether I was going to use my chest, thigh, or foot, and get my body into position so as to be able to use the part of the body decided upon. I for now conclude that indecision re which part of the body is going to be used to control the rebound, impairs performance.

After I stopped practicing and the children took over the gym for a game of tag, Waltham Y Exec Director Jack Fucci, walked into the gym, with the custodian/janitor named Lenny (Jose told me Lenny was his name). Mr. Fucci was wearing a jacket of the suit and tie type without a tie. He was pointing at various spots in the complicated looking ceiling, and high up on the poles connecting the basketball backboards to the ceiling, while he walked around with Lenny and talked to Lenny.

I was thinking (I admit my thoughts are not always saintly): '...damn. Fucci's one up on me here....look at him walking around grandstanding like on parade, showing off what important irreplaceable knowledge he has re scary complicated looking things like the gym ceiling and the powered moveable basketball backboards. He can walk around and talk knowledgeably about the complicated looking ceiling, like he's some kind of engineer. But I myself don't know much about ceilings and basketball backboards that can be leveraged up and away...then again, if it got to be some serious problem with the ceiling or the basketball backboard device, the responsible thing to do in the eyes of the law and to be safe in court in terms of lawsuits, would be to get expert-specialists involved in complex decisions re the ceiling or the powered moveable backboard device'.

After the practice on my way to get groceries I stopped at New York Pie, a new pizza place on Moody St. The Italian guy working there was convinced that I was Italian looking and scorned the idea that I was Spanish looking (the Greek thinks I'm Greek looking, the Spanish think I'm Spanish-looking, the Indians think they can see the Indian in me, the East Asians think I'm American-Indian Native-American looking, white people think I look white). I suspect that people respect and like me and so like to associate their own ethnic ancestry with mine. On Sunday at Church there was this jovial Italian-American man who in authoritative decisive official fashion, declared that I was not Spanish-looking, but rather Italian-looking.

Italian men are famous for their good-looks, I think I remember some survey concluded people think Italian ancestry men are the most handsome men. But I also remember a book by some Italian, that asserted that all Italian men are sociopaths.

Minutes spent on today's log-entry: 55. Log-entry contains 1239 new words. Thus 1352 new words per hour rate today.

825 - 905 PM

Oak Sq Y Wts Rm
40 minutes
dbell bench press, triceps kickback, triceps extension

Aerial M2012CD, Chest/Triceps Weightlifting

Corner Dribble Drill M2012CD

M2012CD involves a corner of the gym. While doing the drill, I l (A) kick the ball at both the wall on my left (B), and the wall on my right (C). The orange dots represent marker cones. The arrows represent the direction of the the ball.

Characteristics of M2012CD: the 1st contact of the foot with the rebound off the wall C, is used to dribble the ball; next the ball is dribbled a 2nd time; next the ball is kicked at wall B; next there are 2 of the same types of touches on the ball; next the ball is kicked at wall C. and so the process is repeated in a cycle alternating between kicking the ball at wall B, and kicking the ball at wall C.

For each variant of M2012CD I predetermine: which foot I will attempt to use to kick the ball on 1st contact with the rebound; which foot I will use to kick the ball on the next dribble; which direction I will kick the ball on the 1st dribble; which direction I will kick the ball on the 2nd dribble; and, which wall I will attempt to kick the ball at what time.

Doing M2012CD I keep going, alternating between kicking at wall C and and kicking at wall B, until something prevents me from continuing.

Directionally speaking, the dribbling patterns result in me: moving further and further away from the corner, closer and closer to the corner, closer and closer to one of the walls, or remaining approximately stationary I have recorded, what direction I move in when executing a given pattern. Thus I am able to see where a pattern will send me, and avoid other colliding with persons in the crowded gym.

I classify the variants of M2012CD in a shorthand that describes which foot is used to dribble the ball in which direction on the 2 dribbles that come between the kicks at the walls.

In this shorthand: L stands for left-foot; R stands for right-foot; S stands for dribbling the ball straight ahead; R stands for dribbling the ball to the right; B stands for dribbling the ball in a backwards direction; and, L stands for dribbling the ball to the left.

In this shorthand, for example: LR, LS means the 1st dribble involves the left-foot (L) dribbling to the right (R), and the 2nd dribble involves the left-foot (L) dribbling straight-ahead (S). DD stands for dribble directions, which direction the ball is dribbled in on the 1st & 2nd touches.

Thus the variations are:

DD= 1st S, 2nd S: LS, LS; LS, RS; RS, RS; RS, LS.
DD= 1st S, 2nd R: LS, LR; LS, RR; RS, RR; RS, LR.
DD= 1st S, 2nd B: LS, LB; LS, RB; RS, RB; RS, LB.
DD= 1st S, 2nd L: LS, LL; LS, RL; RS, RL; RS, LL.
DD= 1st R, 2nd S: LR, LS; LR, RS; RR, RS; RR, LS.
DD= 1st R, 2nd R: LR, LR; LR, RR; RR, RR; RR, LR.
DD= 1st R, 2nd B: LR, LB; LR, RB; RR, RB; RR, LB.
DD= 1st R, 2nd L: LR, LL; LR, RL; RR, RL; RR, LL.
DD= 1st B, 2nd S: LB, LS; LB, RS; RB, RS; RB, LS.
DD= 1st B, 2nd R: LB, LR; LB, RR; RB, RR; RB, LR.
DD= 1st B, 2nd B: LB, LB; LB, RB; RB, RB; RB, LB.
DD= 1st B, 2nd L: LB, LL; LB, RL; RB, RL; RB, LL.
DD= 1st L, 2nd S: LL, LS; LL, RS; RL, RS; RL, LS.
DD= 1st L, 2nd R: LL, LR; LL, RR; RL, RR; RL, LR.
DD= 1st L, 2nd B: LL, LB; LL, RB; RL, RB; RL, LB.
DD= 1st L, 2nd L: LL, LL; LL, RL; RL, RL; RL, LL.

M2012CD corner drill, 70 minutes:

For 138 minutes in (2:18) total, I did the M2012CD, described in graphic and text in box this entry. I started wtih a ball PSI of 7.7 (this second Adidas Replique holds its air better than the other one). I did (AERIAL form) the four different left-foot/right-foot sequence variants, for each of the following directional variants: SR, SL, RS, RR, & RB. By aerial I mean that when I kicked the ball at the wall prior to controlling the rebound, I kicked the ball so as to hit the wall at an altitude of at least 7 feet; and, I kept the ball off the ground in between contacting the rebound and kicking the ball away.

All the successes today were 'split' successes (see March 6 entry), because although I was doing a drill designed for corners, I had only one wall to work with. Thus my approach today was to first try until I succeeded kicking the ball to my right after controlling the rebound, and then try until I succeeded kicking the ball to my left after controlling the rebound. Therefore a success was never a 'whole' success in that the success off one wall was never immediately followed, without any break in the sequence of events, by success off the other wall.

Today I understood, that when doing the ground version of M2012CD, having a corner available is more important than it is when doing the aerial version; with the aerial version just one wall is more acceptable. This is because since working with the ball on the ground is easier, when keeping the ball on the ground and/or low, it is much easier to keep the pattern going off one wall and then off the other for several rebounds in a row.

As soon as I achieved two separate split-type successes, one against each wall, I considered the sum of the two to be success with a particular variant, and moved on to the next variant.

The 5 directional variants done (all 4 footwork variants were done for each) took me 138 minutes to complete (27.6 minutes per directional variant). The variants that involved a turn to the left or right immediately before the kick at the wall were more difficult and took longer to complete, because half of attaining to success with these variants, involved ending with a backwards kick towards a wall I was facing away from.

Today I kicked the ball at the vertical axis of a cone target in front of a wall 22 feet away from where I was kicking from. The first touch of the rebound was usually made with the chest.

Previously more than a year ago, I had achieved surprising success aerially controlling a rebound off the wall and then air-dribbling in a predetermined direction. The M2012CD done today was similar to that done previously, but different: the chest and thigh were used for first contact with the ball today, whereas previously best I can recall the foot and head were; the ball was kicked at the wall today, not thrown at the wall; the ball today bounced on its way to me instead of coming to me without bouncing as was the case previously; the ball today came at me at a greater velocity compared to the previous similar drill; the footwork today in terms of what foot was to be used on what touch was tightly prescribed this time but not specified the previous time; today more than one change of direction was prescribed from the rebound-control point on this time whereas previously, what was prescribed was simply aerial dribble in a straight line in a given predetermined direction; this time the variation and diversity of what was done was extreme, whereas previously, the exact same thing was attempted for a relatively long time; and, today the aerial runs performed after contact with the rebound were shorter, involved less touches this time.

The main cause of the difference between the previous drill involving aerial control of the rebound and the current one, is my interpretation of my observations of the events in the games in the soccer league games I played in earlier this year (described in previous log entries).

In the evening I weightlifted in the weights room for 40 minutes. I had been procrastinating attempting to dumbbell bench press with 52.5 lbs in each hand, because: attempting 52.5 had previously been traumatic for me; and, I was afraid that I would not register any improvement. But I just mentally told myself that 52.5 lbs in each hand dumbbell bench press, is just another exercise and like all other exercises and will possibly sometimes have its ups and downs.

Last time I did the dumbbell bench-press was February 8 a month ago, but still in terms of number of reps at 52.5 lbs, my strength was up 50% today compared to last time a month ago.

Today was the first day I tried to do the kickback with 32.5 lbs in a hand. January 24, 6 weeks ago the best I could do on the kickback was 5 reps at 27.5 lbs. From January 24 up to today (not counting the reps done today) in 6 weeks, I did just 55 reps with each hand on the kickback (9 per week), but my strength in terms of max weight I can lift is up 18%.

Last time I did the triceps extension was February 8 a month ago, but in terms of number of reps at 25 lbs, my strength was up 36% today compared to last time.

See Weightlifting Scores Table for David Virgil Hobbs, Jan 19, 2012 onwards.

Today I saw something I'd never seen before that's been going on for a while: a team containing Calder the soccer ref, and a few of the teen-types who often play basketball at the Oak Sq Y gym, played in a full-court league with ref, electronic scoreboard clock etc. The team containing Calder etc was named 'Oak Square Royalty'. They lost to 'Dorr's Team'.

Watching the game I was thinking: Dorr's team looks like they play well despite not practicing; the Oak Sq Royalty reminds me of myself (tired out by full-court); the Oak Sq Royalty team looks like all the practice they do in the Oak Sq Y gym is hurting them not helping them; the Oak Sq Y Royalty, remind me of myself: they sometimes look great in practice but then in the actual game they seem winded, unused to full-court play, used to a game that is different from full-court play, namely half-court using one basket and half-court using two baskets. I've learned it's not wise to underestimate differences such as the difference between types of half-court play and full-court play.

After the game I spoke with some of the Dorr's players. They said they were from Brighton and that they never practice basketball just play in the league games at the Y. One of them volunteered that he drinks at bars.

The main point remaining in my mind, is that persons such as the 'Oak Square Royalty' Basketball team, and me myself, are endangered by a failure to understand how practicing a ball-game in one setting, can fail to improve performance in the ball-game in another similar but different setting, and even impair performance in the other similar different setting.

Matti from Netherlands was energetic, & skilled in dribbling/shooting during the games and he said that he never practiced.

When I researched such matters a while back, I read that a paradox is that throwing a ball that is heavier than a baseball, or moving a weight heavier than a baseball in the same motion as a baseball is thrown, impairs performance when it comes to throwing a normal baseball in an actual game. A respectable sports scholar wrote a long intelligent understable article about it. Best I can recall, his main point was that though the movement of the arm when throwing or going through the motion of throwing the heavy ball is similar to the throwing motion of an actual baseball, the movement is slightly different, and so therefore the practicing with a heavy ball throws off the performance with the normal ball, and that this principle applies to activities similar to throwing a baseball also.

As of now my theory: practicing something (example basketball practice or soccer practice) results in physical, neural, & brain resources being used to build up performance in the practiced activity; this diverts physical neural & brain resources from other possible uses; one area that resources are diverted from, is skills utilized in games that are not practiced in practice; the person who does not practice can have more resources available for actual games; by having more resources available for actual games, he builds up his ability in actual games at a fast rate; in order to get ahead instead of fall behind as a result of practice, one's practices have to include activities that do an excellent job of replicating actual game-conditions; activities that do not do an excellent job of replicating actual game-conditions, when not combined with activities that do do an excellent job of replicating game-conditions, can impair performance.

When I was asking 'Dorr's Team' questions, they acted as if it was almost beneath their dignity to answer. I was thinking: 'special people are different from everyday folks...everyday folks who disrespect people who are different from their own selves, and who disrespect people who they do not know, do not treat special people as if they are special'.

Minutes spent on today's log-entry: 98 (89 minutes for log-entry, 9 minutes to update table). Log-entry contains 1634 new words. Thus 1102 new words per hour was the rate today for the log-entry.

933 - 1016 PM

Oak Sq Y Wts Rm
43 minutes
biceps curl, lateral shoulder raise, shoulder press, front shoulder raise, dumbbell row

Total: 93 minutes

Super new sports drink explained

Aerial M2012CD, Shoulders/biceps Weightlifting, Recipe for My Great New Sports Drink/cooler-refresher

Corner Dribble Drill M2012CD

M2012CD involves a corner of the gym. While doing the drill, I l (A) kick the ball at both the wall on my left (B), and the wall on my right (C). The orange dots represent marker cones. The arrows represent the direction of the the ball.

Characteristics of M2012CD: the 1st contact of the foot with the rebound off the wall C, is used to dribble the ball; next the ball is dribbled a 2nd time; next the ball is kicked at wall B; next there are 2 of the same types of touches on the ball; next the ball is kicked at wall C. and so the process is repeated in a cycle alternating between kicking the ball at wall B, and kicking the ball at wall C.

For each variant of M2012CD I predetermine: which foot I will attempt to use to kick the ball on 1st contact with the rebound; which foot I will use to kick the ball on the next dribble; which direction I will kick the ball on the 1st dribble; which direction I will kick the ball on the 2nd dribble; and, which wall I will attempt to kick the ball at what time.

Doing M2012CD I keep going, alternating between kicking at wall C and and kicking at wall B, until something prevents me from continuing.

Directionally speaking, the dribbling patterns result in me: moving further and further away from the corner, closer and closer to the corner, closer and closer to one of the walls, or remaining approximately stationary I have recorded, what direction I move in when executing a given pattern. Thus I am able to see where a pattern will send me, and avoid other colliding with persons in the crowded gym.

I classify the variants of M2012CD in a shorthand that describes which foot is used to dribble the ball in which direction on the 2 dribbles that come between the kicks at the walls.

In this shorthand: L stands for left-foot; R stands for right-foot; S stands for dribbling the ball straight ahead; R stands for dribbling the ball to the right; B stands for dribbling the ball in a backwards direction; and, L stands for dribbling the ball to the left.

In this shorthand, for example: LR, LS means the 1st dribble involves the left-foot (L) dribbling to the right (R), and the 2nd dribble involves the left-foot (L) dribbling straight-ahead (S). DD stands for dribble directions, which direction the ball is dribbled in on the 1st & 2nd touches.

Thus the variations are:

DD= 1st S, 2nd S: LS, LS; LS, RS; RS, RS; RS, LS.
DD= 1st S, 2nd R: LS, LR; LS, RR; RS, RR; RS, LR.
DD= 1st S, 2nd B: LS, LB; LS, RB; RS, RB; RS, LB.
DD= 1st S, 2nd L: LS, LL; LS, RL; RS, RL; RS, LL.
DD= 1st R, 2nd S: LR, LS; LR, RS; RR, RS; RR, LS.
DD= 1st R, 2nd R: LR, LR; LR, RR; RR, RR; RR, LR.
DD= 1st R, 2nd B: LR, LB; LR, RB; RR, RB; RR, LB.
DD= 1st R, 2nd L: LR, LL; LR, RL; RR, RL; RR, LL.
DD= 1st B, 2nd S: LB, LS; LB, RS; RB, RS; RB, LS.
DD= 1st B, 2nd R: LB, LR; LB, RR; RB, RR; RB, LR.
DD= 1st B, 2nd B: LB, LB; LB, RB; RB, RB; RB, LB.
DD= 1st B, 2nd L: LB, LL; LB, RL; RB, RL; RB, LL.
DD= 1st L, 2nd S: LL, LS; LL, RS; RL, RS; RL, LS.
DD= 1st L, 2nd R: LL, LR; LL, RR; RL, RR; RL, LR.
DD= 1st L, 2nd B: LL, LB; LL, RB; RL, RB; RL, LB.
DD= 1st L, 2nd L: LL, LL; LL, RL; RL, RL; RL, LL.

M2012CD corner drill, 70 minutes:

For 50 minutes, I did the M2012CD, described in graphic and text in box this entry. I started wtih a ball PSI of 8.0. I did (AERIAL form) the four different left-foot/right-foot sequence variants, for each of the following directional variants (minutes taken to complete): RL (23), BS (14). For the BR directional variant, I did the LL footwork variant & half (off right-wall) of the LR footwork variant (20).

By aerial I mean that when I kicked the ball at the wall prior to controlling the rebound, I kicked the ball so as to hit the wall at an altitude of at least 7 feet; and, I kept the ball off the ground in between contacting the rebound and kicking the ball away.

All the successes today were 'split' successes (see March 7 entry).

As soon as I achieved two separate split-type successes, one against each wall, I considered the sum of the two to be success with a particular variant, and moved on to the next variant.

Today I kicked the ball at the vertical axis of a cone target in front of a wall 22 feet away from where I was kicking from. The first touch of the rebound was usually made with the chest.

The soccer time was limited today because surprise! The electricians were putting in a new row of lights into the ceiling of the Waltham Y gym, hence the gym could not be used all day.

In the evening I weightlifted in the weights room for 43 minutes. Again, I did not feel like weightlifting and I was looking for excuses to just go home. I felt especially afraid of the biceps curl and the shoulder press. Instead of going home, I took a long shower, went to the local deli and got a slice pizza and a cheeseburger sub, returned to the gym, and did almost all of the shoulders/biceps weightlifting routine. They say not to eat a meal less than 6 hours before a game, but this meal immediately before weightlifting seemed to give me the energy I needed to weightlift.

Last time I did the alternate biceps curl was February 15 3 weeks ago; in terms of number of reps at 35 lbs, my strength was up 40% today compared to 3 weeks ago.

Last time I did the lateral shoulder-raise was February 15 3 weeks ago; in terms of number of reps at 25 lbs, my strength was up 14% today compared to 3 weeks ago.

Last time I did the dumbbell shoulder-press was February 15 3 weeks ago; in terms of number of reps at 40 lbs, my strength was up 13% today compared to 3 weeks ago.

See Weightlifting Scores Table for David Virgil Hobbs, Jan 19, 2012 onwards.

There was a mistake in terms of weight done on the standing row and the front shoulder raise. I did 5 lbs less than I was supposed to on both exercises. Since I usually stop once I've done 12 reps, my performance on these two exercises was the same as 3 weeks ago. The mistake was due to the fact that I relied on the hard to read handwriting in my spiral notebook, to determine the weight to be done, and failed to notice that I had done the exercises on February 15. Moral of story: rely on your internet log, not your hard to read scribblings in the paper notebook, to plan the next weights event.

The highlight of the day was that I consumed 64 ounces of a delicious rejuvenating sports drink that I invented and prepared. Whereas usually with liquids my thirst is limited because my stomach feels somewhat full, I easily and quickly drank down 32 ounces of this great beverage in the afternoon, and also another 32 ounces in the evening during the soccer. The drink tasted especially good in a glass filled with ice. Recipe for the drink (@2012 David Virgil Hobbs):

4 oz liquid tea concentrate (available at Whole Foods)
28 oz coconut water (good deal on Zico Brand available at Trader Joe's)
5 Tablespoons Demerara Sugar (I prefer the 'Native' brand organic available @ Whole Foods)

Mix together (done easily in transparent sports drink bottle with marked ounce levels, available @ Whole Foods). Partially freeze in freezer.

Minutes spent on today's log-entry: 52 (39 minutes for log-entry, 13 minutes to update table). Log-entry contains 768 new words. Thus 1182 new words per hour was the rate today for the log-entry.

815-945 PM
Oak Sq Y Gym
90 minutes
Aerial M2012CD 2-dribble corner soccer drills

Total: 145 minutes

biceps, chest, forearms weightlifting, Aerial M2012CD corner-type soccer drills

Corner Dribble Drill M2012CD

M2012CD involves a corner of the gym. While doing the drill, I l (A) kick the ball at both the wall on my left (B), and the wall on my right (C). The orange dots represent marker cones. The arrows represent the direction of the the ball.

Characteristics of M2012CD: the 1st contact of the foot with the rebound off the wall C, is used to dribble the ball; next the ball is dribbled a 2nd time; next the ball is kicked at wall B; next there are 2 of the same types of touches on the ball; next the ball is kicked at wall C. and so the process is repeated in a cycle alternating between kicking the ball at wall B, and kicking the ball at wall C.

For each variant of M2012CD I predetermine: which foot I will attempt to use to kick the ball on 1st contact with the rebound; which foot I will use to kick the ball on the next dribble; which direction I will kick the ball on the 1st dribble; which direction I will kick the ball on the 2nd dribble; and, which wall I will attempt to kick the ball at what time.

Doing M2012CD I keep going, alternating between kicking at wall C and and kicking at wall B, until something prevents me from continuing.

Directionally speaking, the dribbling patterns result in me: moving further and further away from the corner, closer and closer to the corner, closer and closer to one of the walls, or remaining approximately stationary I have recorded, what direction I move in when executing a given pattern. Thus I am able to see where a pattern will send me, and avoid other colliding with persons in the crowded gym.

I classify the variants of M2012CD in a shorthand that describes which foot is used to dribble the ball in which direction on the 2 dribbles that come between the kicks at the walls.

In this shorthand: L stands for left-foot; R stands for right-foot; S stands for dribbling the ball straight ahead; R stands for dribbling the ball to the right; B stands for dribbling the ball in a backwards direction; and, L stands for dribbling the ball to the left.

In this shorthand, for example: LR, LS means the 1st dribble involves the left-foot (L) dribbling to the right (R), and the 2nd dribble involves the left-foot (L) dribbling straight-ahead (S). DD stands for dribble directions, which direction the ball is dribbled in on the 1st & 2nd touches.

Thus the variations are:

DD= 1st S, 2nd S: LS, LS; LS, RS; RS, RS; RS, LS.
DD= 1st S, 2nd R: LS, LR; LS, RR; RS, RR; RS, LR.
DD= 1st S, 2nd B: LS, LB; LS, RB; RS, RB; RS, LB.
DD= 1st S, 2nd L: LS, LL; LS, RL; RS, RL; RS, LL.
DD= 1st R, 2nd S: LR, LS; LR, RS; RR, RS; RR, LS.
DD= 1st R, 2nd R: LR, LR; LR, RR; RR, RR; RR, LR.
DD= 1st R, 2nd B: LR, LB; LR, RB; RR, RB; RR, LB.
DD= 1st R, 2nd L: LR, LL; LR, RL; RR, RL; RR, LL.
DD= 1st B, 2nd S: LB, LS; LB, RS; RB, RS; RB, LS.
DD= 1st B, 2nd R: LB, LR; LB, RR; RB, RR; RB, LR.
DD= 1st B, 2nd B: LB, LB; LB, RB; RB, RB; RB, LB.
DD= 1st B, 2nd L: LB, LL; LB, RL; RB, RL; RB, LL.
DD= 1st L, 2nd S: LL, LS; LL, RS; RL, RS; RL, LS.
DD= 1st L, 2nd R: LL, LR; LL, RR; RL, RR; RL, LR.
DD= 1st L, 2nd B: LL, LB; LL, RB; RL, RB; RL, LB.
DD= 1st L, 2nd L: LL, LL; LL, RL; RL, RL; RL, LL.

First I weightlifted in the weights room for 55 minutes. I was able to calmly do the exercises without excess time between exercises; I reminded myself that overall in the long run I'll be better off if I minimize time between exercises; I reminded myself that I'll feel better after the day's exercises are done, if I just push ahead and don't diddle daddle between exercises. Previously I sometimes used to spend many minutes between exercises as I was taking the score in terms of reps achieved too seriously.

Last time I did the alternate reverse biceps pracher curl was February 21 a couple of weeks ago; in terms of number of reps at 20 lbs, my strength was up 50% today compared to approx 2 weeks ago.

Last time I did the Fly was February 21 a couple of weeks ago; in terms of number of reps at 30 lbs, my strength was up 40% today compared to approx 2 weeks ago.

I concluded the weightlifting by doing first the palm-down & second the palm-up wrist curls. I was supposed to do 22.5 lbs on the palm-down wrist curl but I started off attempting 27.5 lbs instead, because somewhere along the way I read a 2 as a 7. The attempts at 27.5, 25.0, & 22.5 lbs tired out my wrists so that at 22.5 lbs I could only do 0.5 reps (1 rep with left hand, 0 with right). This was worse than the 2.5 reps achieved Feb 21 a couple of weeks ago.

On the palm-up wrist curl I could do zero at 40 lbs whereas Feb 21 I could do 3 at 40 lbs. This was because the misguided attempt to do 27.5 lbs on the palm-down wrist curl, overstressed my wrists.

While I was doing 27.5 lbs when I was supposed to be doing 22.5 lbs on the palm-down wrist curl, I thought (mistakenly) that the reason I was not able to equal Feb 21 performance, was that I had stressed my wrists during the Feb 21 performance.

See Weightlifting Scores Table for David Virgil Hobbs, Jan 19, 2012 onwards.

Moral of story same as moral of story yesterday: rely on your internet or PC log, not your hard to read scribblings in the paper notebook, to plan the next weights event.

M2012CD corner-type drill, 90 minutes:

For 90 minutes, I did the M2012CD, described in graphic and text in box this entry. I started wtih a ball PSI of 8.0. I did (AERIAL form) the four different left-foot/right-foot sequence variants, for each of the following directional variants (minutes taken to complete): BR (55 minutes to complete, counting yesterday & today); BB (22); BL (22).

'Aerial defined: when I kicked the ball at the wall prior to controlling the rebound, I kicked the ball so as to hit the wall at an altitude of at least 7 feet; and, I kept the ball off the ground in between contacting the rebound and kicking the ball away.

All the successes today were 'split' successes (see March 7 entry). Though I was doing a corner-drill, I was doing it without a corner available, using one wall.

As soon as I achieved two separate split-type successes, one against each wall, I considered the sum of the two to be success with a particular variant, and moved on to the next variant.

Today I kicked the ball at the vertical axis of a cone target in front of a wall 22 feet away from where I was kicking from. The first touch of the rebound was usually made with the chest, sometimes made with the thigh.

It's become clear that the minutes per variant accomplished stat is meaningless because some of the directional variants are much more difficult than others.

During the practice I consumed approx 48 oz of the same drink I celebrated in the previous log-entry, except that today water replaced coconut juice. The drink today was not nearly as good as with the coconut juice yesterday. The same amount of sugar was used today and yesterday but the drink yesterday was much sweeter. Coconut water by nature is slightly sweet, its sweetness is different than the sweetness of demerara sugar; the two types of sweetness compliment and enhance each other.

Minutes spent on today's log-entry: 76 (39 minutes for log-entry, 37 minutes to update & structurally modify weightlifting table). Log-entry contains 802 new words. Thus 1234 new words per hour was the rate today for the log-entry.

445-645 PM
Oak Sq Y Gym
120 minutes
Aerial & Ground/Aerial M2012CD 2-dribble corner soccer drills

Total: 151 minutes

comments re basketball practices, possible 'non-basketball open gym' time

Chest/Triceps weightlifting; Aerial & Ground/Aerial M2012CD corner-type soccer drill done using one wall; re basketball practices space & time

Corner Dribble Drill M2012CD

M2012CD involves a corner of the gym. While doing the drill, I l (A) kick the ball at both the wall on my left (B), and the wall on my right (C). The orange dots represent marker cones. The arrows represent the direction of the the ball.

Characteristics of M2012CD: the 1st contact of the foot with the rebound off the wall C, is used to dribble the ball; next the ball is dribbled a 2nd time; next the ball is kicked at wall B; next there are 2 of the same types of touches on the ball; next the ball is kicked at wall C. and so the process is repeated in a cycle alternating between kicking the ball at wall B, and kicking the ball at wall C.

For each variant of M2012CD I predetermine: which foot I will attempt to use to kick the ball on 1st contact with the rebound; which foot I will use to kick the ball on the next dribble; which direction I will kick the ball on the 1st dribble; which direction I will kick the ball on the 2nd dribble; and, which wall I will attempt to kick the ball at what time.

Doing M2012CD I keep going, alternating between kicking at wall C and and kicking at wall B, until something prevents me from continuing.

Directionally speaking, the dribbling patterns result in me: moving further and further away from the corner, closer and closer to the corner, closer and closer to one of the walls, or remaining approximately stationary I have recorded, what direction I move in when executing a given pattern. Thus I am able to see where a pattern will send me, and avoid other colliding with persons in the crowded gym.

I classify the variants of M2012CD in a shorthand that describes which foot is used to dribble the ball in which direction on the 2 dribbles that come between the kicks at the walls.

In this shorthand: L stands for left-foot; R stands for right-foot; S stands for dribbling the ball straight ahead; R stands for dribbling the ball to the right; B stands for dribbling the ball in a backwards direction; and, L stands for dribbling the ball to the left.

In this shorthand, for example: LR, LS means the 1st dribble involves the left-foot (L) dribbling to the right (R), and the 2nd dribble involves the left-foot (L) dribbling straight-ahead (S). DD stands for dribble directions, which direction the ball is dribbled in on the 1st & 2nd touches.

Thus the variations are:

DD= 1st S, 2nd S: LS, LS; LS, RS; RS, RS; RS, LS.
DD= 1st S, 2nd R: LS, LR; LS, RR; RS, RR; RS, LR.
DD= 1st S, 2nd B: LS, LB; LS, RB; RS, RB; RS, LB.
DD= 1st S, 2nd L: LS, LL; LS, RL; RS, RL; RS, LL.
DD= 1st R, 2nd S: LR, LS; LR, RS; RR, RS; RR, LS.
DD= 1st R, 2nd R: LR, LR; LR, RR; RR, RR; RR, LR.
DD= 1st R, 2nd B: LR, LB; LR, RB; RR, RB; RR, LB.
DD= 1st R, 2nd L: LR, LL; LR, RL; RR, RL; RR, LL.
DD= 1st B, 2nd S: LB, LS; LB, RS; RB, RS; RB, LS.
DD= 1st B, 2nd R: LB, LR; LB, RR; RB, RR; RB, LR.
DD= 1st B, 2nd B: LB, LB; LB, RB; RB, RB; RB, LB.
DD= 1st B, 2nd L: LB, LL; LB, RL; RB, RL; RB, LL.
DD= 1st L, 2nd S: LL, LS; LL, RS; RL, RS; RL, LS.
DD= 1st L, 2nd R: LL, LR; LL, RR; RL, RR; RL, LR.
DD= 1st L, 2nd B: LL, LB; LL, RB; RL, RB; RL, LB.
DD= 1st L, 2nd L: LL, LL; LL, RL; RL, RL; RL, LL.

I set up in the Oak Sq Y gym but had to quickly abort the practice around 4 PM, because half the gym was rented out for a birthday party. The other half, which was supposed to be open, was occupied by teen male basketballers, playing a 2-basket half-court game. So to me it seemed that though the schedule said the gym was half open, defacto, it was not.

So as I could not use the gym, I weightlifted in the weights room for 31 minutes.

Last time I did the dumbbell bench press was March 7, three days ago; in terms of number of reps at 52.5 lbs each hand, my strength was up 33% today compared to three days ago.

Last time I did the Dumbbell One-arm Bent-over Kickback was March 7, three days ago; in terms of number of reps at 32.5 lbs, my strength was up 33% today compared to three days ago.

I was able to without much stress, sail into the an exercise that had previously been frightening me, the d-bell bench press at 52.3 lbs each hand. I simply implemented psychological attitudes described the in the previus one or two entries.

See Weightlifting Scores Table for David Virgil Hobbs, Jan 19, 2012 onwards.

M2012CD corner-type drill, 120 minutes:

For 120 minutes, I did the M2012CD, described in graphic and text in box this entry. I started wtih a ball PSI of 8.0.

I did (AERIAL form) the four different left-foot/right-foot sequence variants, for each of the following directional variants (minutes taken to complete): LS (20); LR (19); LB (14); LL (16). I did (ground/aerial form) the four different left-foot/right-foot sequence variants, for each of the following directional variants (minutes taken to complete): SS (17); SR (13).

'Aerial' defined: when I kicked the ball at the wall prior to controlling the rebound, I kicked the ball so as to hit the wall at an altitude of at least 7 feet; and, I kept the ball off the ground in between contacting the rebound and kicking the ball away.

'Ground/Aerial' defined: when I kicked the ball at the wall prior to controlling the rebound, I kicked the ball so as to hit the wall at an altitude of less than 1 foot; and, I got the ball up off the ground and kept it off the ground from the point I contacted the rebound to the time at which I kicked the ball away .

All the successes today were 'split' successes (see March 7 entry). Though I was doing a corner-drill, I was doing it without a corner available, using one wall.

As soon as I achieved two separate split-type successes, one against each wall, I considered the sum of the two to be success with a particular variant, and moved on to the next variant.

Today I kicked the ball at the vertical axis of a cone target in front of a wall 18 feet away from where I was kicking from. The first touch of the rebound was usually made with the chest, sometimes made with the thigh.

In the Wednesday March 7 log-entry three days ago, I wrote about how it seemed that the Oak Sq Y basketball players, when practicing, were practicing in such a way that the practice was not helping them or even hurting them:

"... the Oak Sq Royalty reminds me of myself (tired out by full-court); the Oak Sq Royalty team looks like all the practice they do in the Oak Sq Y gym is hurting them not helping them...they seem winded, unused to full-court play, used to a game that is different from full-court play, namely half-court using one basket and half-court using two baskets...persons such as the 'Oak Square Royalty' Basketball team, and me myself, are endangered by a failure to understand how practicing a ball-game in one setting, can fail to improve performance in the ball-game in another similar but different setting, and even impair performance in the other similar different setting...his main point was that though the movement of the arm when throwing or going through the motion of throwing the heavy ball is similar to the throwing motion of an actual baseball, the movement is slightly different, and so therefore the practicing with a heavy ball throws off the performance with the normal ball, and that this principle applies to activities similar to throwing a baseball also. ...one's practices have to include activities that do an excellent job of replicating actual game-conditions; activities that do not do an excellent job of replicating actual game-conditions, when not combined with activities that do do an excellent job of replicating game-conditions, can impair performance".

Seems that ever since I posted those words, one-basket half-court basketball games (use up approx a quarter of the entire gym) have disappeared at the Oak Sq Y Gym, and have been replaced with two-basket half-court basketball games (use up one half of the entire gym). Seems as if my log-entry post alerted the Oakies to the fact that they needed to play one-basket games less and two-basket games more. I've been staying out of their way, because I've realized that they need to play with two baskets not just one and I felt doing a soccer drill in the corner would discourage them from using two baskets.

Problem is, that now that their basketball games are two-basket games, there is even less space and time available for me to do the soccer drills in the gym.

A large percentage of the time, when the gym is supposed to be open on both sides, the defacto result is that one or both sides are occupied by intense basketball games. This is also true when the gym is supposed to be 'open' one one side, or half-open.

Here's an idea: set aside some hours every week, which are 'open' gym time hours, during which basketball cannot be played. The basketball hoops can be pulled up so that they cannot be used during this non-basketball gym time.

Possible results of instituting non-basketball open gym time:

Oakie Basketball players spend more time on conditioning drills, and this improves them as players.

Oakie Basketball players spend more time playing full-court on big courts outdoors, and this improves them as players.

Oakie Basketball players, spend more time on games other than basketball, and this improves them as players and also as persons.

Number of persons using the gym for activities other than basketball increases, as a result of them becoming aware of times when the gym is set aside for things other than basketball.

Minutes spent on today's log-entry: 60 (55 minutes for log-entry, 5 minutes to update weightlifting table). Log-entry contains 1204 new words. Thus 1313 new words per hour was the rate today for the log-entry.