Good-runs/attempts percentage

Until further notice: the following holds true: I warmed up by jogging about 300 yards before the start of the scored practice, but did not warm up using theball.

Three segments of P6.1-5T-NS were done (P6.1-5T-NS is described in text and graphics at the top of this page).

Today, the sequence was: off the wall roller pass; one touch trap, then L1 of P6.1-5T-NS in an unspecified or specific direction (all without ball touching ground).

The Graphic top of this page, entitled "1-touch pickup of incoming pass from 12:00 O'Clock...", describes the usual ball incoming and ball outgoing angles during the first segment done today. One can see from the graphic, how I can start facing backwards, facing my own goal at an angle, and with one touch, start the P6.1-5T-NS run. Today once I was able to produce a competent L1 kick after the pickup, the result was consistently, P6.1-5T-NS runs at speeds approx the maximum humanly possible, with angles of turns during the P6.1-5T-NS diverging only slightly from the intended 90 degrees.

Today, all the runs scored as successes manifested the following characteristics: first, the ball kicked at the wall about 21 feet away, with me facing the wall; second, the ball rebounding off the wall and coming at me as a rolling ball or as a ball that is almost rolling (approx 1 bounce per 5'); me facing the ball as it rolled towards me; me using the left foot to stop & lift the ball; me using the left foot again to perform step L1 of the P6.1-5T-NSbefore the ball touched the ground; me performing P6.1-5T-NS up to R4 (4 touches) or L5 (5 touches); me moving the ball in approximately the designated direction on the L1 kick, if such a direction is designated; all this happening without the ball touching the ground.

On all the runs, the ball came to me from the "Twelve O'clock" direction (my body was facing directly at the ball as it rolled towards me).

During the first segment, the direction of L1 was not specified; during the second segment, the direction of the ball after L1 was specified as an attempt at a 45 degree angle to the LEFT, or "Ten Thirty O'Clock" relative to the direction I was facing when the ball first rolled towards me.

During the third segment, the direction of the ball after L1 was specified as an attempt at a 90 degree angle to the right or "Three O'Clock" relative to the direction I was facing when the ball first rolled towards me.

EARPLUGS in both ears. Woke up today at approx noon, after having had approx 8 hours sleep. Had approx 24 oz coffee/cane-sugar/halfnhalf, from 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM approx. Drank 22 oz of distilled ice-water prior to during and after the practice segments which went on for 1.75 hours.

Today the AF1 method was implemented; the speed of the runs was so fast that usually I did not have enough time to consciously apply the AFM method.

Again, all day I was at the start of each run, usually focused on the first two kicks of the runs being done well.

Today the average 'quality' of the P6.1-5T-NS runs that were successfully run after the one-touch pickup of the ball rebounding off the wall, in terms of closeness to 90 degrees on each turn, was close to perfect; and the average speed of the P6.1-5T-NS runs that were successfully executed, was just a shade below the speed-range which I consider the fastest humanly possible.

However, as a result of clumsiness on L-zero (L0), the initial contact with the ball, the touches after L0 often resulted in failure to successfully accomplish the P6.1-5T-NS run after the one-touch pickup off the wall (all with ball kept off ground whole time).

Today I counted P6.1-5T-NS runs as successes even if the pattern was only maintained up to the fourth touch of the pattern, R4. I recorded the average number of touches on the successful runs. This average never dipped below 4.9 (not counting the first trapping touch, as one of the counted touches) today.

During the practice, the other half of the gym was used by Black, White, E. Asian teenagers/young men to play a basketball game. An E. Asian teenager, when he was not playing basketball, sat on the bleacher in my half of the gym, while talking on a cell-phone.

The weather outdoors before the practice was too hot and humid; indoors before the start of practice the temp/humidity felt too warm/humid; during the practice I felt comfortable, because of the combination of me sweating and the 3-4' diameter fan moving the air around.

??%

Quality: 5.5
Speed: 7.7
Length:>21'
Avg touches: 4.9
Goals: high successes/minute rate
Cones: One cone 23' from wall
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

The goal of this segment: high successes/minute rate.

On all the runs, the ball came to me from the "Twelve O'clock" direction (my body was facing directly at the ball as it rolled towards me). The direction of L1 was not specified.

Overall-- quality of successful runs: excellent++ to excellent+++ (numerical 5.5); speed of successful runs: very fast+++++ (numerical 7.7).

Overall, there were 15 successes, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 4.9, not counting the first trapping touch on the ball, which I call L-zero or L0 for this drill (in this drill the first trapping touch is made with the left or L foot).

During this segment, I did not measure the length of the runs because I had not set out the cones, but I estimate that the average length of the successful runs was at least 21' measured odometer style (as opposed to as the crow flies).

Most of the edges of the gym, feature at floor level a small ridge, result being that if you roll-pass a ball at the wall it tends to bounce on its return; this segment I found an edge without such a ridge. The result still was that in order to get a roller pass coming to me from the rebound off the wall, I had to kick the ball at the wall at a slow speed; thus the roller balls coming to me from off the wall, came at me at an embarrassingly slow speed.

I had to maintain distance from the wall, because I wanted to be able to air-dribble in the direction the pass came from, since this was the first, and experimental day.

I realize that it is true, that perhaps if I were closer to the wall when I kicked the ball at the wall, the ball would roll at me faster. Yet also it is true, that the ball does not transition from lots of little bounces, to roller until it has traveled a few feet after rebounding off the wall.

So I sped up the speed of the roller passes I kicked at the wall, and the result was that the rebound was not a roller-rebound but rather a few bounces, the ball coming to me at a bounce.

This was supposed to be a P6.1-5T-NS off the incoming roller-ball-pass segment, but in fact much of it was a P6.1-5T-NS off the incoming lots-of-little-bounces segment.

It is difficult to get the ball to roll on rebound from off the wall, on a wood basketball court floor.

My level of successes per minute went down when I became discomfited by how slow the ball had to come towards me if it was to roll as opposed to take lots of little bounces on its way towards me, with the result being me getting the ball off the rebound off the wall faster, with the ball taking lots of little bounces and travelling at me fast.

My level of successes per minute went up when I was patient with the slow speed of the ball when it rolled towards me after rebounding on the wall.

I found dealing with the ball bouncing alot (once every 5') as it rolled towards me, more difficult than dealing with the ball rolling towards me.

The direction I wanted to be moving in on L1 the first kick of the P6.1-5T-NS pattern, was not specified beforehand during this segment.

I discovered that the natural direction for me (left foot stops ball, then left foot does L1 of P6.1-5T-NS all without ball touching ground) for the ball after the L1 kick, is 45 degrees to the right, or 1:30 O'Clock given 12:00 as the direction from which the ball first came at me.

This segment, after the ball came in to me from straight ahead, I used one left-footed touch to air-trap it (ball is kept above ground or flipped up off the ground) on L0, and used the second left-footed touch to perform L1 of the P6.1-5T-NS, with the ball not bouncing in between L0 and L1.

??%

Quality: 5.5
Speed: 8.0
Length:>21'
Avg touches: 4.9
Goals: high successes/minute rate
Cones: One cone 24' from wall
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

The goal of this segment: high successes/minute rate.

This segment, after the ball came in to me from straight ahead, I used one left-footed touch to air-trap it (ball is kept above ground or flipped up off the ground) on L0, and used the second left-footed touch to perform L1 of the P6.1-5T-NS, with the ball not bouncing in between L0 and L1.

The ball came to me from the "Twelve O'clock" direction (my body was facing directly at the ball as it rolled towards me). The direction of the ball after L1 was specified as an attempt at a 45 degree angle to the LEFT, or "Ten Thirty O'Clock" relative to the direction I was facing when the ball first rolled towards me.

Overall-- quality of successful runs: excellent++ to excellent+++ (numerical 5.5); speed of successful runs: very fast+++++ (numerical 8.0).

Overall, there were 15 successes, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. The average number of touches on the ball (not counting the first trapping touch, which I label for this drill 'L0') during the successful runs was 4.9

During this segment, I did not measure the length of the runs because I had not set out the cones, but I estimate that the average length of the successful runs was at least 21' measured odometer style (as opposed to as the crow flies).

Things were happening so fast during L0 to L2 of the runs today, that I was unable to remember both the direction after L0 and also the direction after L1. All I could remember, was the direction after L1.

??%

Quality: 5.0
Speed: 7.5
Length:>21'
Avg touches: 5.0
Goals: high successes/minute rate
Cones: One cone 24' from wall
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

The goal of this segment: high successes/minute rate.

This segment, after the ball came in to me from straight ahead, I used one left-footed touch, L0, to air-trap the ball (ball is kept above ground or flipped up from ground on L0), and used the second left-footed touch to perform L1 of the P6.1-5T-NS.

The ball came to me this segment from the "Twelve O'clock" direction (my body was facing directly at the ball as it rolled towards me). The direction of the ball after L1 was specified as an attempt at a 90 degree angle to my RIGHT), or "Three O'Clock" direction, relative to the direction I was facing before the ball first rolled towards me.

Overall-- quality of successful runs: excellent++ (numerical 5.0); speed of successful runs: very fast++++ to very fast+++++(numerical 7.5).

Overall, there were 6 successes, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 5.0 (not counting the first trapping touch, 'L0').

During this segment, I did not measure the length of the runs because I had not set out the cones, but I estimate that the average length of the successful runs was at least 21' measured odometer style (as opposed to as the crow flies).

Today, the sequence was: off the wall roller pass; one touch trap, then L1 of P6.1-5T-NS in the 3:00 O'Clock direction (1st segment), 9:00 direction (2nd segment), 7:30 direction (3rd segment), and 4:30 direction (4th segment),.

Four segments of attempting to succeed with the One-Touch-Trap of Incoming Roller Pass + P6.1-5T-NS were engaged in.

P6.1-5T-NS is described in text and graphics at the top of this page.

The Graphic top of this page, entitled "1-touch pickup of incoming pass from 12:00 O'Clock...", describes what was done today in a general sense, however today, the outgoing angles were 90 degrees right (1st segment), 90 degrees left (2nd segment), 135 degrees left (3rd segment), and 135 degrees right (4th segment).

Today, all the runs scored as successes manifested the following characteristics:

first, the ball kicked at the padded wall about 18 feet away, with me facing the wall; second, the ball rebounding off the wall and coming at me as a rolling ball or as a ball that is almost rolling (almost rolling = approx 1 bounce per 5'); me facing the ball as it rolled towards me; me using the left foot to stop & lift the ball; me using the left foot again (without taking any steps between the two touches with the left foot) to perform step L1 of the P6.1-5T-NSbefore the ball touched the ground; me performing P6.1-5T-NS up to R4 (4 touches) or L5 (5 touches); me moving the ball in approximately the designated direction on the L1 kick, if such a direction is designated; all this happening without the ball touching the ground; the angle of the turns during the P6.1-5T-NS not being less than 60 degrees.

EARPLUGS in both ears. Woke up today at approx 5:30 AM, after having had approx 1 hour sleep. Prior to the one hour, I had been awake for 18 hours. From 2:30 AM to 6:30 AM consumed: 12 oz coffee/cane-sugar/halfnhalf, 12 oz Mango Nectar, a little beef-curry & bread. Drank 24 oz of distilled ice-water during the motnin practice, which went on for 1.7 hours. Problem with water: it was so frozen that during the first half hour, I could get very little water out of the bottle to drink. Took a nap from 11:45 AM to 1:45 AM. Drank approx 12 oz of distilled ice-water during evening practice (when most of the water is ice, this complicates the measuring of how much water has been drunk.

Today the AF1 method was implemented; the speed of the runs was so fast that usually I did not have enough time to consciously apply the AFM method.

Again, all day I was at the start of each run, usually focused on the first two kicks of the runs (now L0 & L1) being done well.

I noticed that, once I got warmed up, compared to the previous practice two days ago, today there were many more L1 kicks that were almost good enough to produce runs of the type that I was scoring as successes today.

The last two segments of the day, I noticed that the attempts ending in failure are not being botched at as early a stage as was the case the previous practice day . The trouble point seems to be shifting from L0 & L1 to R2--which is good news because R2 is not as early a step.

Also today, after I got warmed up, L1 kicks that were at least almost good enough to produce runs that would be scored as successes, required less effort to produce compared to yesterday.

Today I discovered that the entire perimeter of the basketball court at the Waltham Y features a low ridge where the wall meets the floor. Such ridges create rebounds off the wall that are composed of lots of low bounces, as opposed to a rolling motion. So I kicked the ball at a padded wall from 18' away from the wall, and started with the rebound of the ball off the padded wall. This method was better at producing rollers than the method used day before yesterday, which was kicking the ball at an unpadded wall area where there is no little ridge where the floor meets the wall.

During the practice, I had the gym to myself during morning practice; during the evening practice there were a couple of Spanish male teenagers on the other side of the gym playing basketball. They greeted me with 'Ola, Amigo!' when they saw me.

The morning practice came to an end, because: the gym space was scheduled for the Waltham Y Sports Camp at 9:00 AM, however it was taken over by a dozen female teenagers & their Coach Ferdinand at 9:00. As of now not counting a couple of 5:30-7:00 AM time slots on Thursday and Friday, there is no open gym on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday!

Jose the Brazilian maintenance man saw me at the Y today. When he saw me he shouted, "David Villa!". For about a month now, Jose has been shouting, "David Villa!" whenever he sees me.

After the practice it rained for the first time in a long time, a fairly heavy rain. I felt emotionally transported back in time, to past days when I was younger and had less soccer skill than I do now, because today was the second day in a row of trying to master a new skill that I lack competence in.

The weather outdoors before the practice was comfortable; indoors before the start of practice the temp/humidity felt comfortable; during the practice I felt comfortable, even though no fan was in use in the gym.

The last three segments today, all came to 0.38 successful runs per minute, the repetition of the 0.38 was not a typo.

??%

Quality: 4.4
Speed: 6.6
Length:>21'
Avg touches: 5.0
Goals: successes/minute
Cones: One cone 18' from padded wall
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

The goal of this segment: high successes per minute rate.

This segment, after the ball came in to me from straight ahead, I used one left-footed touch, L0, to air-trap the ball (ball is kept above ground or flipped up from ground on L0), and used the second left-footed touch to perform L1 of the P6.1-5T-NS (usually no step with right foot between L0 & L1, ball always kept off ground between L0 & L1).

The ball came to me this segment from the "Twelve O'clock" direction (my body was facing directly at the ball as it rolled towards me). The direction of the ball after L1 was specified as an attempt at a 90 degree angle to my RIGHT), or "Three O'Clock" direction, relative to the direction I was facing before the ball first rolled towards me.

Overall-- quality of successful runs: excellent+ (numerical 4.4); speed of successful runs: very fast++++ (numerical 6.6).

Overall, there were 9 successes, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 5.0 (not counting the first trapping touch, 'L0').

During this segment, I did not measure the length of the runs because I had not set out the cones; I I estimate that the average length of the successful runs was at least 21' measured odometer style (as opposed to as the crow flies).

??%

Quality: 5.1
Speed: 7.0
Length:>21'
Avg touches: 4.9
Goals: successes/minute
Cones: One cone 18' from padded wall
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

The goal of this segment: high successes per minute rate.

This segment, after the ball came in to me from straight ahead, I used one left-footed touch, L0, to air-trap the ball (ball is kept above ground or flipped up from ground on L0), and used the second left-footed touch to perform L1 of the P6.1-5T-NS (usually no step with right foot between L0 & L1, ball always kept off ground between L0 & L1).

The ball came to me this segment from the "Twelve O'clock" direction (my body was facing directly at the ball as it rolled towards me). The direction of the ball after L1 was specified as an attempt at a 90 degree angle to my LEFT), or "Nine O'Clock" direction, relative to the direction I was facing before the ball first rolled towards me.

Overall-- quality of successful runs: excellent++ (numerical 5.1); speed of successful runs: very fast++++ (numerical 7.0).

Overall, there were 15 successes, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 4.9 (not counting the first trapping touch, 'L0').

During this segment, I did not measure the length of the runs because I had not set out the cones; I recorded 13% of the runs as being of average length (16 feet to 20 feet); I recorded 87% of the runs as being of long length (longer than 21').

??%

Quality: 5.1
Speed: 6.5
Length:>21'
Avg touches: 5.0
Goals: successes/minute
Cones: One cone 18' from padded wall
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

The goal of this segment:high successes per minute rate.

This segment, after the ball came in to me from straight ahead, I used one left-footed touch, L0, to air-trap the ball (ball is kept above ground or flipped up from ground on L0), and used the second left-footed touch to perform L1 of the P6.1-5T-NS (usually no step with right foot between L0 & L1, ball always kept off ground between L0 & L1).

The ball came to me this segment from the "Twelve O'clock" direction (my body was facing directly at the ball as it rolled towards me). The direction of the ball after L1 was specified as an attempt at a 135 degree angle to my LEFT), or "Seven Thirty O'Clock" direction, relative to the direction I was facing before the ball first rolled towards me.

Overall-- quality of successful runs: excellent++ (numerical 5.1); speed of successful runs: very fast+++ to very fast++++ (numerical 6.5).

Overall, there were 15 successes, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 5.0 (not counting the first trapping touch, 'L0').

During this segment, I did not measure the length of the runs because I had not set out the cones; I recorded 20% of the runs as being of short length (13-16'); 40% of the runs as being of medium length (16 feet to 20 feet); and 40% of the runs as being of long length (20-24').

??%

Quality: 5.1
Speed: 6.1
Length:>21'
Avg touches: 4.9
Goals: successes/minute
Cones: One cone 18' from padded wall
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

The goal of this segment: high successes per minute rate.

This segment, after the ball came in to me from straight ahead, I used one left-footed touch, L0, to air-trap the ball (ball is kept above ground or flipped up from ground on L0), and used the second left-footed touch to perform L1 of the P6.1-5T-NS (usually no step with right foot between L0 & L1, ball always kept off ground between L0 & L1).

The ball came to me this segment from the "Twelve O'clock" direction (my body was facing directly at the ball as it rolled towards me). The direction of the ball after L1 was specified as an attempt at a 135 degree angle to my RIGHT), or "Four-thirty O'Clock" direction, relative to the direction I was facing before the ball first rolled towards me.

Overall-- quality of successful runs: excellent++ (numerical 5.1); speed of successful runs: very fast+++ (numerical 6.1).

Overall, there were 15 successes, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 4.9 (not counting the first trapping touch, 'L0').

During this segment, I did not measure the length of the runs because I had not set out the cones; I recorded 0% of the runs as being of short length (13-16 feet); 57% of the runs as being of medium length (16 feet to 20 feet); 23% of the runs as being of long length (20-24'), and 13% of the runs as being of extra-long length (24-31').

Today, the sequence was: off the wall roller pass with me facing towards the incoming ball; one touch trap (ball flipped into air or kept in air); then, before ball bounces, L1 of P6.1-5T-NS in the 6:00 O'Clock direction with clockwise turn of body (1st segment) or L1 of P6.1-5T-NS in the 6:00 O'Clock direction with counter-clockwise turn of body (2nd segment); followed by the remainder of P6.1-5T-NS.

Two segments of attempting to succeed with the One-Touch-Air-Trap of Incoming Roller Pass + P6.1-5T-NS were done.

P6.1-5T-NS is described in text and graphics at the top of this page.

The Graphic top of this page, entitled "1-touch pickup of incoming pass from 12:00 O'Clock...", describes what was done today in a general sense, however today, the outgoing angle was 180 degrees.

Today, all the runs scored as successes manifested the following characteristics:

First, the ball kicked at the (usually padded) wall about 18 feet away, with me facing the wall; second, the ball rebounding off the wall and coming at me as a rolling ball or as a ball that is almost rolling (almost rolling = approx 1 bounce per 5'); me facing the ball as it rolls towards me; me using the left foot to stop & lift the ball in one touch; me using the left foot again (ideally and usually, without taking any steps between the two touches with the left foot) to perform step L1 of the P6.1-5T-NSbefore the ball touches the ground; me performing P6.1-5T-NS up to R4 (4 touches) or L5 (5 touches); me moving the ball in approximately the designated direction on the L1 kick, if such a direction is designated; all this happening without the ball touching the ground; the angle of the turns during the P6.1-5T-NS not being less than 45 degrees. The closer to 90 degrees the angle of the turn, the better a rating given for quality to the run in question.

EARPLUGS in both ears. Woke up today at approx 1:00 PM, after having had approx 8 hour sleep. From 2:30 PM to 7:00 PM consumed: 12 oz coffee/cane-sugar/halfnhalf. Drank 18 oz of distilled ice-water during the practice, which went on for 2 hours.

Today the AF1 method was usually implemented; the speed of the runs was so fast that usually I did not have enough time to consciously apply the AFM method (Ankle-Force-Minimization method). I did not apply the AFM method on L1, because L1 given the nature of the overall pattern today, required ankle-force.

Again, all day I was at the start of each run, usually focused on the first two kicks of the runs (now L0 & L1) being done well.

Today, I noticed that for the first time since starting these rebound type drills July 23 three days ago, my ability to handle balls that rolled towards me at a fast speed was remarkable. Sometimes if the ball is kicked at the padded wall or at the unpadded wall just right, the result is a rebound that rolls towards me at a high speed, as opposed to rolling slowly, or coming at me while doing alot of ankle-high bouncing. A few times I was like a glamorous cricket batsman, deftly slicing the incoming bowled ball almost straight backwards.

First segment I shared half the gym with a couple of Spanish teenagers; second segment I had my half of the gym to myself.

The weather outdoors before the practice was comfortable; indoors before the start of practice the temp/humidity felt comfortable; during the practice it felt too warm and humid-- Waltham Y has not been using big fans in the gym like Oak Square Y has.

Biro came into the locker room a minute after I sat down at my locker, as if he had been programmed to bump into me. He told me that I was staring into space with a blank look on my face. He wanted to know what was on my mind. I had been thinking about how I had an almost religious experience once, watching a (sex and nudity included) movie made by Penthouse Magazine, about ancient pagan pre-Christian Rome. I told him that I had been thinking about how Christians (I myself am atype of Christian) become mentally dominated by angry thoughts regarding the sins of others, whereas often pagans do not experience this anger because they do not have a laundry list of sins to get angry at others about (I realize that Christianity does teach to be forgiving and to minimize anger and judgemental attitudes regarding others).

Biro said he did not understand a word of what I said. I felt that he did understand but was lying, and questioned him re whether he had a primitive vocabulary in the English language. Then Biro told me: "politics and religion should never be discussed". I told him that this is reputed to be one of the codes of British Royalty, I said to him, "so you're British royalty". And he laughed and smiled as if he was indeed British Royalty. As for me, though I realize there are times when it is best to avoid politics and religion, I believe that: always avoiding politics and religion results in people becoming brutishly servile; always avoiding politics and religion results in persons who are honorably accomplished in such fields being dishonored. I find it to be repulsive, that persons who are accomplished in unimportant fields should be worshipped, while persons who are accomplished in the most important subjects, should be dishonored because they are expected to always sweep their words and their work under the rug.

??%

Quality: 5.7
Speed: 6.3
Length: 20'
Avg touches: 4.6
Goals: successes/minute
Cones: One cone 18' from padded wall
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

The goal of this segment: high successes per minute rate.

This segment, after the ball came in to me from straight ahead, I used one left-footed touch, L0, to air-trap the ball (ball is kept above ground or flipped up from ground on L0), and used the second left-footed touch to perform L1 of the P6.1-5T-NS (usually no step with right foot between L0 & L1, ball always kept off ground between L0 & L1).

The ball came to me this segment from the "Twelve O'clock" direction (my body was facing directly at the ball as it rolled towards me). The direction of the ball after L1 was specified as an attempt at a 180 degree), or "Six O'Clock" direction, relative to the direction I was facing before the ball first rolled towards me. My body turned clockwise to face the ball during and after the L0 touch.

Overall-- quality of successful runs: excellent+++ (numerical 5.7); speed of successful runs: very fast+++ (numerical 6.3).

Overall, there were 15 successes, and ?? failures. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 4.6 (not counting the first trapping touch, 'L0').

During this segment, I did not measure the length of the runs because I had not set out the cones; I estimate that the average length of the successful runs was 20' measured odometer style (as opposed to as the crow flies). This average, gives to the 4-touch runs, a length based on an estimate of how long the run would have been if it had gone on for 5 touches.

The last third of this segment the performance was much better than it was during the first two-thirds of the segment.

??%

Quality: 5.3
Speed: 6.5
Length: 20'
Avg touches: 4.6
Goals: successes/minute
Cones: One cone 18' from padded wall
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

The goal of this segment: high successes per minute rate.

This segment, after the ball came in to me from straight ahead, I used one left-footed touch, L0, to air-trap the ball (ball is kept above ground or flipped up from ground on L0), and used the second left-footed touch to perform L1 of the P6.1-5T-NS (usually no step with right foot between L0 & L1, ball always kept off ground between L0 & L1).

The ball came to me this segment from the "Twelve O'clock" direction (my body was facing directly at the ball as it rolled towards me). The direction of the ball after L1 was specified as an attempt at a 180 degree), or "Six O'Clock" direction, relative to the direction I was facing before the ball first rolled towards me. My body turned counter-clockwise to face the ball after L0.

Overall-- quality of successful runs: excellent++ (numerical 5.3); speed of successful runs: very fast+++ to very fast++++ (numerical 6.5).

Overall, there were 15 successes, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 4.6 (not counting the first trapping touch, 'L0').

During this segment, I did not measure the length of the runs because I had not set out the cones; I estimate that the average length of the successful runs was 20' measured odometer style (as opposed to as the crow flies). This average, gives to the 4-touch runs, a length based on an estimate of how long the run would have been if it had gone on for 5 touches.

This segment, often everything went well up to R2 of the P6.1-5T-NS, and then there was error on the R2. This was because, my body turned counter-clockwise to face the ball after L1, and then this counterclockwise movement of the body had to be reversed to kick the ball at a 90 degree angle to my right on R2.

Seems the 180 degree counter-clockwise turn eventually will work very well for me, so long as I do not obligate myself to turn the ball 90 degrees to my right on R2.

Today, the sequence was: off the wall NEAR-roller pass coming towards me from the 12:00 O'Clock direction with me facing towards the incoming ball; one touch trap (ball flipped into air or kept in air); then, before ball bounces, L1 of P6.1-5T-NS and the rest of the P6.1-5T-NS pattern.

Segment 1, the intended direction of the ball after L1 of P6.1-5T-NS was undefined; Segment 2, the intended direction of the ball after L1 of P6.1-5T-NS was 4:30 O'Clock; Segment 3, the intended direction of the ball after L1 of P6.1-5T-NS was 3:00; Segment 4, the intended direction of the ball after L1 of P6.1-5T-NS was 6:00 O'Clock, with the body turning in a clockwise direction during L0.

Yesterday, the balls that I air-trapped after they bounced off the wall, came to me on the roll most of the time. Today, my intent was that the balls should come at me on the near-roll; by near-roll, I mean that the balls were undergoing lots of approx ankle high bounces as they came towards me and at the time of my first contact with them.

P6.1-5T-NS is described in text and graphics at the top of this page.

The Graphic top of this page, entitled "1-touch pickup of incoming pass from 12:00 O'Clock...", describes what was done today in a general sense, however today, the specified outgoing angles were 135 degrees to the right (2nd segment), 90 degrees to the right (3rd segment), and 180 degrees (4th segment).

Today, all the runs scored as successes manifested the following characteristics:

First, the ball kicked at the (usually padded) wall about 18 feet away, with me facing the wall; second, the ball rebounding off the wall and coming at me as a rolling ball or as a ball that is almost rolling (almost rolling = approx 1 bounce per 5'); me facing the ball as it rolls towards me; me using the left foot to stop & lift the ball in one touch; me using the left foot again (ideally and usually, without taking any steps between the two touches with the left foot) to perform step L1 of the P6.1-5T-NSbefore the ball touches the ground; me performing P6.1-5T-NS up to R4 (4 touches) or L5 (5 touches); me moving the ball in approximately the designated direction on the L1 kick, if such a direction is designated; all this (from L0 to R4 or L5 of the P6.1-5T-NS) happening without the ball touching the ground; the angle of the turns during the P6.1-5T-NS not being less than 45 degrees. The closer to 90 degrees the angle of the turn, the better a rating given for quality to the run in question.

EARPLUGS in both ears. Woke up today at approx 1:45 PM, after having had approx 7hours sleep. From 3:00 PM to 4:40 PM consumed: 12 oz black&green-tea-mix/cane-sugar/halfnhalf. Drank 20 oz of cold distilled water during the practice, which went on for 4 hours.

Today after the first segment, AF1 method was implemented; during the first segment I did not feel loosened up enough to implement the crouched AF1 style.

The speed of the runs was so fast that usually I did not have enough time to consciously apply the AFM method (Ankle-Force-Minimization method). I did not apply the AFM method on L1, because L1 given the nature of the overall pattern today, required ankle-force.

Again, all day I was at the start of each run, usually focused on the first two kicks of the runs (now L0 & L1) being done well.

Today, I was surprised at how well I handled the 'near-roller' balls, that came at me while undergoing lots of little ankle-high bounces. I had encountered plenty of such balls by accident on days such as yesterday when I was working with 'roller balls'. I thought that I would not be as competent as I was today working with them. I'm watching myself progress at a faster rate than I thought I would.

Today, during the third and fourth segments, I noticed that there were a few runs regarding which the descriptive phrase which came to mind was, "real beauties" . These runs featured: L0 setting the ball in the intended direction after the air-trap of the ball coming in from off the wall; speed; angles of turn during the P6.1-5T-NS close to 90 degrees; and long L1 to L5 lengths of around 25'.

Today I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, I noticed that after the first 30 minutes or so of working with the ball, my performance is always better than it was the previous day.

Looking back at the stats in this log, I noticed that way back on January 10, I was achieving 0.38 successes per minute working on the P6.1-5T-NS, with the start involving me rolling the ball back and then flipping it up. 0.38 per minute is close to the stats I've been achieving lately, however: back around January 10, I was not starting with the ball rebounding at me from off the wall. Now that I am working with the ball rebounding at me from off the padded wall, the rebounded ball is often unuseable, because its direction is off, because it is moving too slowly, or because it is rolling instead of making lots of little bounces as it comes towards me--and this reduces the successes per minute rate.

First half of first segment I shared half the gym with a couple of Spanish teenagers; second segment I had my half of the gym to myself. One of them saw one of my runs during the first segment and shouted, "nice!".

The weather outdoors before the practice was comfortable; indoors before the start of practice the temp/humidity felt comfortable; during the practice it felt a little too warm and humid. After the practice, the weather outside felt idyllic, perfect.

??%

Quality: 5.3
Speed: 6.1
Length: 17'
Avg touches: 4.7
Goals: successes/minute
Cones: One cone 22' from padded wall
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

The goal of this segment: high successes per minute rate.

This segment, after the ball came in to me from straight ahead, I used one left-footed touch, L0, to air-trap the ball (ball is kept above ground or flipped up from ground on L0), and used the second left-footed touch to perform L1 of the P6.1-5T-NS (usually no step with right foot between L0 & L1, ball always kept off ground between L0 & L1).

The ball came to me this segment from the "Twelve O'clock" direction (my body was facing directly at the ball as it rolled towards me). The direction of the ball after L1 was unspecified, as I wanted to understand my natural inclinations. 73% of the 15 successful runs involved the ball moving in approx the 4:30 O'Clock direction after L1; 20% involved the ball moving in the 3:00 O'Clock direction after L1; and 7% involved the ball moving in the 6:00 O'Clock direction after L1.

Overall-- quality of successful runs: excellent++ (numerical 5.3); speed of successful runs: very fast+++ (numerical 6.1).

Overall, there were 15 successes, and ?? failures. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 4.7 (not counting the first trapping touch, 'L0').

I estimate that the average length of the successful runs this segment was 17' measured odometer style (as opposed to as the crow flies). This average, gives to the 4-touch runs, a length based on an estimate of how long the run would have been if it had gone on for 5 touches.

The second half of this segment the performance was much better than it was during the first half of the segment.

This segment I learned the advantage of sometimes reaching forwards with the foot to air-trap the ball, as opposed to letting the ball come to me. The only body parts used this segment were the feet. The successful runs involved L0, then L1, with, usually, slight adjustment of the right foot between Lo and L1.

??%

Quality: 5.5
Speed: 6.4
Length: 21'
Avg touches: 4.7
Goals: successes/minute
Cones: One cone 22' from padded wall
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

The goal of this segment: high successes per minute rate.

This segment, after the ball came in to me from straight ahead, I used one left-footed touch, L0, to air-trap the ball (ball is kept above ground or flipped up from ground on L0), and used the second left-footed touch to perform L1 of the P6.1-5T-NS (usually no step with right foot between L0 & L1, ball always kept off ground between L0 & L1).

The ball came to me this segment from the "Twelve O'clock" direction (my body was facing directly at the ball as it rolled towards me). The direction of the ball after L1 was specified as an attempt at a 135 degree, or "Four-Thirty O'Clock" direction, relative to the direction I was facing before the ball first rolled towards me.

Overall-- quality of successful runs: excellent++ to excellent+++ (numerical 5.5); speed of successful runs: very fast+++ (numerical 6.4).

Overall, there were 15 successes, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 4.7 (not counting the first trapping touch, 'L0').

After this segment, I noted that it seems an effective air-trap and start might be, to flip the ball deliberately into my chest and proceed from there.

??%

Quality: 5.5
Speed: 6.9
Length: 25'
Avg touches: 4.7
Goals: successes/minute
Cones: One cone 22' from padded wall
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

The goal of this segment: high successes per minute rate.

This segment, after the ball came in to me from straight ahead, I used one left-footed touch, L0, to air-trap the ball (ball is kept above ground or flipped up from ground on L0), and used the second left-footed touch to perform L1 of the P6.1-5T-NS (usually no step with right foot between L0 & L1, ball always kept off ground between L0 & L1).

The ball came to me this segment from the "Twelve O'clock" direction (my body was facing directly at the ball as it rolled towards me). The direction of the ball after L1 was specified as an attempt at a 90 degree, or "Three O'Clock" direction, relative to the direction I was facing before the ball first rolled towards me.

Overall-- quality of successful runs: excellent++ to excellent+++ (numerical 5.5); speed of successful runs: very fast++++ (numerical 6.9).

Overall, there were 15 successes, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 4.7 (not counting the first trapping touch, 'L0').

??%

Quality: 5.5
Speed: 7.1
Length: 24'
Avg touches: 4.9
Goals: successes/minute
Cones: One cone 22' from padded wall
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

The goal of this segment: high successes per minute rate.

This segment, after the ball came in to me from straight ahead, I used one left-footed touch, L0, to air-trap the ball (ball is kept above ground or flipped up from ground on L0), and used the second left-footed touch to perform L1 of the P6.1-5T-NS (usually no step with right foot between L0 & L1, ball always kept off ground between L0 & L1).

The ball came to me this segment from the "Twelve O'clock" direction (my body was facing directly at the ball as it rolled towards me). The direction of the ball after L1 was specified as an attempt at a 180 degree, or "Six O'Clock" direction, relative to the direction I was facing before the ball first rolled towards me.

Overall-- quality of successful runs: excellent++ to excellent+++ (numerical 5.5); speed of successful runs: very fast++++ (numerical 7.1).

Overall, there were 15 successes, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 4.9 (not counting the first trapping touch, 'L0').

After this segment, I noted that it seems an effective air-trap and start might be, to flip the ball deliberately into my chest and proceed from there.