Good-runs/attempts percentage

Unless otherwise noted, the following holds true: I did not warm up using the ball or not using the ball before beginning to keep score.

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 6:00 O'Clock, with the body turning in a counter-clockwise direction during L0; segment 2, the intended direction of the ball after L1 of P6.1-5T-NS was 1:30 O'Clock; segment 3, the intended direction of the ball after L1 of P6.1-5T-NS was 10:30.

Today, as yesterday, 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 180 degrees (1st segment), 45 degrees to the right (2nd segment), and 45 degrees to the left (3rd 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 3:45 PM, after having had approx 7hours sleep. From 4:00 PM to 4:30 PM consumed: 12 oz black&green-tea-mix/cane-sugar/halfnhalf. Drank 26 oz of distilled water during the practice, which went on for 3.75 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). During most of the 3rd segment of the day, I implemented AFM method during the L0 kick.

Today, being distracted by the difficulties involved in what I was doing, I was at the start of the runs, usually not focused on the first two kicks of the runs (now L0 & L1) being done well.

The noise of the two giant fans in the gym was somewhat distracting. When I pulled out my earplugs, I was amazed at how loud the noise was. The monotonous sound produced by the fans, alternating every few seconds between a low hum and a higher hum, bothered me and depressed me.

Today I felt fatigued by hunger, something I usually do not experience despite not eating before a practice. This probably due to low amount of food I've consumed the past few days.

Today I felt an emotion something like self-pity: July 22 I was at the top of the world, running 5-touch patterns featuring 90 degree turns on every step, at speeds as fast as humans can do such things, succeeding on 90 percent of attempts. And then suddenly for the past week, I've been back to struggling with attempting to attain to basic competence with some difficult new thing, namely, controlling incoming passes while keeping the ball in the air, and then starting the air-dribble flight-like pattern.

I struggled for six months to attain mastery over flight, I attained the mastery, and then I had not even one day to parade my new skills before admiring eyes; as soon as I attained the mastery, I was back to the frustration and humiliation involved in learning some new extremely difficult skill. So it goes, when you have become wise enough to not waste time showing off by doing that which you have already learned to do.

I've learned over the past six months, that sometimes, plunging ahead into doing the more difficult thing, results in automatic mastery of the less difficult thing, without much time having to be put into the less difficult thing. And so, from the start I've been doing combinations of very difficult air-traps of simulated incoming passes followed immediately by very difficult air-dribble patterns. I've skipped intentionally doing air-traps involving more than one touch on the ball; I've skipped air traps involving steps being taken during which the ball is not touched.

I could have chosen to start with easier methods of trapping incoming balls, I could have chosen to start with easier flight-patterns after the trap or no pattern at all, but I started with difficult things. This has resulted in emotional stress, but I expect that the end result will be that I will attain to a given level of skill at a minimal cost in terms of time and energy.

A comforting thought: when I get to the point where I am highly competent in the art of controlling all kinds of incoming passes and immediately starting tightly controlled 'flights' involving complete directional control, I will undoubtedly be respected by almost everyone as a top-level player. Top level play involves not just a leisurely start involving rolling the ball back, flipping it up, and then kicking it; top level play involves lightning-fast establishment of control over incoming passes combined with lightning-fast initiation of movement with the ball.

Come to think of it, the approach I've chosen over the past week, is the approach someone expecting to be double-teamed by the defense would be expected to take. Seems I have not forgotten the dream I had about being on the US team, and being double-teamed by the Swedish defenders, and basically shut down by the double-team. Almost all of the runs I've counted as successes after July 22, have involved very little time passing in between my first contact with the ball, and the initiation of the air-dribble pattern; almost all of them have involved extremely tight control over the ball, the ball being touched on every step.

I think I've been following an intelligent approach. If your goal is best-in-the-world type skills, you'd be foolish to ignore the fact that the best in the world are double-teamed.

I warmed up prior to the start of the scored practice today by jogging about 300 yards.

During the practice I was sharing the gym with: black teenage males; East Asian teenage males; white teenage/young-adult males.

The weather outdoors before the practice was comfortable; indoors before the start of practice the temp/humidity felt comfortable; during the practice it felt comfortable. two big yard-diameter fans were running in the gym, making a huge amount of noise.

??%

Quality: 5.1
Speed: 6.7
Length: 27'
Avg touches: 4.8
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 (with my body turning counter-clockwise during L0).

Overall-- quality of successful runs: excellent++ (numerical 5.1); speed of successful runs: very fast++++ (numerical 6.7).

Overall, there were 15 successes, and ?? failures. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 4.8 (not counting the first trapping touch, 'L0').

I estimate that the average length of the successful runs this segment was 27' from L0 to L5, 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.

Two of the successful runs involved one extra touch on the ball, and two of them involved two extra touches on the ball.

The first ten minutes were very clumsy, which is not surprising seeing that as usual, there was no warmup work with the ball prior to the start of the segment.

This segment was the first segment during which extra touches on the ball prior to the initial L1 kick of the P6.1-5T-NS were noticeable.

During this segment, a couple of times, the following happened : after L1 , the ball was in the air moving in the same direction it was moving when it came towards me after it bounced off the wall, and I was facing the ball; I did not feel comfortable with executing the prescribed 90 degree turn to the right on R2; I kicked the ball forward once or twice without turning, while keeping the ball in the air, and not taking more than one step between kicks; then when I felt balanced enough to make the 90 degree turn to the right , I did so. This kind of multi-touch trap looks promising.

??%

Quality: 5.8
Speed: 6.6
Length: 24'
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 45 degrees to the right, or "One 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 5.8); speed of successful runs: very fast++++ (numerical 6.6).

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').

I estimate that the average length of the successful runs this segment was 24' from L0 to L5, 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.

One of the successful runs involved at least one extra touch during the pickup of the ball.

??%

Quality: 5.9
Speed: 6.7
Length: 27'
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 45 degrees to the left, or "Ten 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 5.9); speed of successful runs: very fast++++ (numerical 6.7).

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, 'L0').

I estimate that the average length of the successful runs this segment was 27' from L0 to L5, 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.

Most of this segment, the method used for pickup of the ball coming at me after rebounding off the wall, was a new method: keeping the foot perpendicular to the shin, and lifting the knee. This generally worked well, except for when the apex of the bounces of the incoming ball were very low, less than 6 inches above the floor.

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 9:00 O'Clock; segment 2, the intended direction of the ball after L1 of P6.1-5T-NS was 7:30 O'Clock.

Today, as yesterday, 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-to-shin-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 90 degrees to the left (1st segment), 135 degrees to the left (2nd segment).

Today, all the runs scored as successes manifested the following characteristics (same as has been the case the past few days):

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 5:00 PM, after having had approx 8 hours sleep. From 4:15 PM to 6:00 PM consumed: 12 oz black&green-tea-mix/cane-sugar/halfnhalf. Drank 8 oz of distilled water during the practice, which went on for 1.3 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) after the first kick. During both segments done today, I implemented AFM method during the L0 kick.

Today I was at the start of the runs, usually focused on the first kicks of the run (L0) being done well.

After the practice, I felt, for the first time since I started drills of the type done today involving difficult pick-ups of the ball prior to commencing the P6.1-5T-NS run, confident regarding my future progress working on what I've been working on: the difficult skill of quickly mastering control of incoming passes while keeping the ball off the ground, and then quickly beginning a fast air-dribble (ball kept off the ground but close to the body) in a predetermined direction.

Prior to today, I had felt these difficult air-trapping skills would never be mastered, or would be mastered after at least a year of practice; today after practice I felt that such skills will be mastered in less than three months.

I attribute the breakthrough today to my implementation of something I learned over the past six months: one should during a practice segment, choose to implement this or that technique, as opposed to sometimes implementing this technique, and sometimes implementing that technique, or not even being aware of what technique one is implementing.

Today I successfully, consciously and deliberately chose to implement a certain technique during the pickup-of-the-incoming-ball phase of the runs: keeping the foot perpendicular to the shin, while using the hip-joint, not the knee-joint, to raise the foot (foot should be a little in front of knee).

Many of the attempts today, featured the Lo kick positioning the ball correctly, followed by error on the L1 kick (straight ahead) or the R2 kick (90 degree turn to the right). This was good news for me, because I have been feeling intimidated by the difficulty of the Lo kick, not the difficulty of the L1 kick.

Many of the L1 kick errors were a source of failure because, given the very strict requirements that have to be fulfilled for the runs to be called a 'success' as of now, I was unable to follow the L1 kick with a touch on the ball with the right foot on the very next step. However during such 'failures', I was still in a position to shoot or pass effectively on L1; and I was still in a position to continue the run after allowing the ball to bounce once after L1.

If during the attempts that failed due to error on the R2 kick, I had not been attempting to make a difficult 90 degree turn to the right, I could have on the R2 kick pressed ahead and continued the run with the ball kept off the ground but under control, or I could have passed or shot the ball away.

Today for the first time, I felt like a classy professional, because even during many of the runs that were not scored as successes, I was able to air-trap the ball on Lo, and then kick the ball in the predetermined direction on L1. Although during such 'failures', I was not able to follow L1 with a 90 degree turn to the right on R2 without taking any steps between L1 and R2, I would have been able to get off a good pass or shot on L1 if I wanted to; and I would have been able to continue the air-dribble doing something other than a 90 degree turn to the right on the very next R2 step.

I warmed up prior to the start of the scored practice today by jogging about 300 yards.

The two giant fans were running today, however their noise did not bother me as much as yesterday.

During the practice, the curtain dividing the gym was up. An East Asian man was shooting baskets in the other half of the gym, and there were a couple of black teenagers sitting in the bleachers watching me and talking on their cell-phones.

The gym schedule said, that there would be open gym from 7:00 to 10:00 PM. However, the teenagers took over the gym for full-court basketball games, and I did not get a chance to do my thing, until 8:30 PM. I had to use up a gallon of gas driving to the Oak Square YMCA and back, because there was no open gym at the Waltham YMCA (my car gets good highway mileage, but less city mileage than the sticker said it would). It's frustrating. The entire gym at the Waltham Y is always being set aside for this group or that group. Even when the gym-time is officially scheduled as open, the entire gym is sometimes taken over for full-court basketball, and often half the gym is taken over for half-court basketball (this in addition to large amounts of gym-time being specifically set aside for basketball). My feeling is that they should try to set aside half the gym for these groups, not the whole gym. There are lots of outdoor basketball courts everywhere. There is an outdoor basketball court right next to the Oak Square Y.

Before they started their full-court basketball this tall black teenager, who had a brown stripe running through the middle of his hair from front to back, looked at me, stiffly saluted military-style, and gave me the thumbs-up. I looked around to see who he was saluting--I've gotten used to incidents wherein it seems I am being greeted, whereas actually someone near me or behind me is being greeted. But no, he was saluting me. Reminds me of how a few days ago, Jose at the Waltham Y was in his car as he passed me in my car, and gave me a stiff military-style salute. In both instances the salute was quick and stiff, arm and hands tense and straight.

The Oak Square boys and young men, played a style of basketball that involved plenty of through the legs dribbling when changing direction. I was thinking, but rarely do you see the pro players dribbling the ball through their legs...and in soccer, you never see the pro players flipping the ball up from behind their backs to in front of them using the heel.

The weather outdoors before the practice was comfortable; indoors before the start of practice the temp/humidity felt comfortable; during the practice it felt comfortable.

??%

Quality: 5.6
Speed: 6.9
Length: 26'
Avg touches: 4.6
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 degrees to left, or "Nine O'Clock" direction, relative to the direction I was facing before the ball first rolled towards me (with my body turning counter-clockwise during L0).

Overall-- quality of successful runs: excellent+++ (numerical 5.6); speed of successful runs: very fast++++ (numerical 6.9).

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').

I estimate that the average length of the successful runs this segment was 26' from L0 to L5, measured odometer style (as opposed to as the crow flies).

This length average, the past few days, gave 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. However today, and probably into the future, I am no longer extrapolating how long a 4-touch run would have been if it had been 5 touches for the purposes of this average. Sometimes extra touches during the pickup of the ball phase add extra length to the runs. So I decided to just use the raw figures, as opposed to attempting to extrapolate how long a run would have been had it been 5 touches instead of 4 touches, or how long a run would have been had there been no extra touches.

Two of the successful runs involved two extra touches on the ball. The extra touches during both runs, took the form of kicks straight ahead after the correct direction had been established.

The successes per minute score was 0.25 during the first seven successful runs, and 0.67 during the last eight successful runs. Such is to be expected given that I do not warm up with the ball before the start of the first segment.

??%

Quality: 5.6
Speed: 7.6
Length: 26'
Avg touches: 4.8
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 degrees to the 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 5.6); speed of successful runs: very fast+++++ (numerical 7.6).

Overall, there were 15 successes, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 4.8 (not counting the first trapping touch, 'L0').

I estimate that the average length of the successful runs this segment was 26' from L0 to L5, measured odometer style (as opposed to as the crow flies).

This length average, the past few days, gave 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. However today, and probably into the future, I am no longer extrapolating how long a 4-touch run would have been if it had been 5 touches for the purposes of this average. Sometimes extra touches during the pickup of the ball phase add extra length to the runs. So I decided to just use the raw figures, as opposed to attempting to extrapolate how long a run would have been had it been 5 touches instead of 4 touches, or how long a run would have been had there been no extra touches.

I did not record any of the successful runs as involving extra touches.

A lethal new Air-Dribble 'Flight' Pattern, 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne', (a new alternative to P6.1-5T-NS etc)

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-5T-knockoutaugone,
touch ball every step or every two-steps,
with changes of direction

P6.1-5T-NS-Knockoutaugone involves the ball flipped up with the left foot and kicked forward with the left foot, approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked at a 90 degree inwards angle to the left with the right foot on R2 on the very next step; a step taken with the left foot; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right with the right foot on R3; on the very next step, the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left with the left foot on L4; on the next step, the ball touched on R5. The ball is kept close to the body but off the ground the entire time, and kicked on every step, except for the step between R2 and R3. There are no skips between steps in the NS (No Skips) version. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the usual location of the gym curtain, the gray line represents the usual location of the wall.

I've learned, that one factor that can impair the rate of improvement in terms of skill-aquisition, is a kind of inertia, wherein the culprit (sometimes the culprit is myself), gets addicted and habituated to a certain drill, or a certain subcomponent of a certain drill, and does not move on to making changes in the drill, due to laziness or the lack of time and energy required to make the change.

Hence, since I have decided that I am going to use my wits to minimize the amount of time and energy expended to acquire a given soccer skill, I decided that it was time to move on to a new drill, P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne. I'm confident that P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne will often so-to-speak "knock out" the defense. I used what I've learned over the past six months, and over the past six years, to design P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne.

The more clever I am implementing P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne, type maneuvers, the more competent I will be in the art of beating the defender(s).

The P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne drill does not illustrate any of the most common routes of attack I will be using against defenders, because some of the turns and steps are altered for the sake of practicing the more difficult skill, so as to be able to automatically master the less difficult skill.

I implemented chess-player type tactics I learned when improving my ground-dribble-techniques, in the composition of P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne. Iexpect that when I implement P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne, the results will be even more successful than ground-dribble precursors of P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne. I have developed the skills needed to effectively implement P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne in games.

A factor taken into account in the construction of P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne: I expect to be able to develop the ability to keep my shoulders a couple of feet in front of the ball when the ball contacts my right foot, on turns such as R2 in P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne.

A doctrine I've developed: maximizing the number of touches on the ball to overall steps taken during practice ratio, is a wise idea. This doctrine influenced the construction of P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne.

I'm beginning to realize that drill-construction is an art, and that the player utilizing better-constructed drills has a significant advantage, keeping in mind that there needs to be wisdom in terms of how different drills are combined.

I was feeling tired and paralyzed by the possibility that the federal government would do something with regards to the famous 'debt ceiling' and 'deficit' issues that would drastically negatively effect my finances. Then I found that to a large extent their roller-coaster-scary hot-potato-game with regards to blame for economic-apocalypse, had not effected my finances at least for now. Then I heard on TV that they had come to some kind of agreement, which however was an agreement some of them found to be 'disgusting'. Then I got over the feeling of fatigue and paralysis produced by the wrangling over the 'debt ceiling' and deficit, and I was able to write this post for today Monday August 1, which I consider to be one of my best posts.

One reason I think I was able to write the relatively superior blog-post you are now reading, is that I've been on Sundays resting from physical activity. This Sunday rest has I believed sharpened my mind and restored some of the creativity and incisiveness I had begun to lose due to lack of regular physical rest.

When combined with my reception in drills of simulated passes in the form of rebounds of the ball off the wall, I will be using L0 to air-trap the ball (control it while keeping it in the air or flipping it up into the air); then on L1 I will be performing the first touch of P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne while sending the ball in the directional angle specified for the practice segment; then I will perform the rest of P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne.

'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne', & 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-QS' Plugged into Near-Roller Simulated Incoming Passes

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne is described in text and graphics in the the first row of the 8/01/11 entries of this log, in the previous row.

Today I so-to-speak plugged the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' into the air-trap of Near-roller simulated passes coming into me after rebounding off the wall. For the first time in memory, today I plugged a new pattern into the simulated incoming pass, as opposed to first working on the new pattern in isolation before plugging it into the simulated incoming pass.

The first segment, 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' was plugged into the incoming simulated pass; during the first segment, the first touch L0 air-trapped the ball, and the second touch L1 performed L1 of the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' in a 135 degrees to the left direction relative to the direction the incoming pass came at me from.

The second segment, 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-QS' was plugged into the incoming simulated pass; during the second segment, the L0 touch was eliminated, and L1 served to air-trap the ball, and perform L1 of the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-QS' pattern. 'QS' stands for 'Quickstart'.

During the first 15 minutes of the first segment, there was only one success during the first 15 minutes of attempts, this successful run occurred in the third minute of the practice.

Today, as yesterday, my intent was that the balls should come at me on the near-roll; by near-roll, I mean that the balls are undergoing lots of approx ankle-to-shin-high bounces as they came towards me and at the time of my first contact with them.

Today, all the runs scored as successes manifested the following characteristics (same as has been the case the past few days):

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 ball that is almost rolling (almost rolling = approx 1 bounce per 4'); me facing the ball as it rolls towards me; me using the left foot to stop & lift the ball (L0), and then performing L1 of the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' pattern in the prescribed direction, with the ball not touching the ground between L0 & L1...OR... me using the left foot to stop & lift the ball while at the same time performing L1 of the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-QS' pattern; me performing P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne(QS) 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-KnockoutAugOne) 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 4:00 PM, after having had approx 8 hours sleep. From 6:40 PM to 7:30 PM consumed: 12 oz coffee-/cane-sugar/halfnhalf. Drank 18 oz of spring water during the practice, which went on for 1.5 hours.

Today after the first half of the first segment, 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 (Ankle-Force-Minimization method) after the first kick. During both segments done today, I implemented AFM method during the first contact with the ball.

Today I was at the start of the runs, usually focused on the first kicks of the run being done well.

During the practice, I had the half of the gym I was practicing in, to myself, except for some East Asian young adults, and except for some white teenagers playing basketball on the other side.

I appreciated having the chance to practice more than I usually do today, because the 'debt-ceiling' crisis, reminded me of how having the opportunity to work out inside a modern gym, is an opportunity that is becoming more and more rare. I appreciated the cleanliness of the Waltham Y, the competence with which the interior contents of the Y are organized, more than I usually do today.

Before I started practice, this brown-caucasian Spanish teenager I sometimes run into or coincide with, was staring at me, he held his hands limp in front of his chest, the back of his hands facing outwards, and he dragged a foot as if he had been crippled. He told me that I looked 'cute'. I told him to stop acting silly. I've never seen him act silly before. He claimed that he had been crippled in a car accident.

The weather outdoors before the practice was comfortable; indoors before the start of practice the temp/humidity felt comfortable; during the practice it felt comfortable with my shirt off, but before the ball-work, running laps in the gym while wearing a sleeveless t-shirt, it felt too warm and humid.

??%

Quality: 5.7
Speed: 6.5
Length: 27'
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-KnockoutAugOne (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 degrees to the 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 5.7); 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').

I estimate that the average length of the successful runs this segment was 27' from L0 to L5, measured odometer style (as opposed to as the crow flies).

I did not record any of the successful runs as involving extra touches, but a couple may have involved extra touches.

??%

Quality: 5.7
Speed: 7.8
Length: 23'
Avg touches: 4.5
Goals: successes/minute
Cones: One cone 12-18' from padded wall
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

The graphic portrays P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne; this segment I did P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-QS.

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 to simultaneously perform L1 of the P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-QS, with the next touch being R2, with the ball not touching the ground between L0 and L1. Thus in this variant, L0 and L1 are merged into one touch, which is counted when the number of touches during the run are totalled in the stats. QS stands for Quickstart.

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 degrees to the 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 5.7); speed of successful runs: very fast+++++ (numerical 7.8).

Overall, there were 06 successes, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 4.5 (counting as a touch, the first trapping touch, which is simultaenously L1 of the pattern in the 'QS" variant 'L0').

I estimate that the average length of the successful runs this segment was 23' from L1 to L5, measured odometer style (as opposed to as the crow flies).

I did not record any of the successful runs as involving extra touches, but a couple may have involved extra touches.

'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2' A Directionally Reversed Form of 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne'

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-5T-knockoutaugone-Rev-E2,
touch ball every step or every two-steps,
with changes of direction

P6.1-5T-NS-Knockoutaugone-rev-E2 involves the ball flipped up with the left foot and kicked forward with the left foot, approx 6 feet on L1; a step taken with the right foot; the ball kicked approx 6 feet at a 90 degree angle to the right, inwards, on L2; a step taken with the right foot; the ball kicked approx 5' at a 90 degree angle to the left, outwards, on L3; on the very next step, the ball kicked approx 5' at a 90 degree angle outwards to the right, outwards on R4; on the very next step the ball touched with the left foot on L5. The ball is kept close to the body but off the ground the entire time, and kicked on every step, or on every other step. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents a possible location of the gym curtain, the gray line represents a possible location of the wall.

I invented today, a clockwise reversal of the P6.1-5T-NS-Knockoutaugone pattern. The P6.1-5T-NS-Knockoutaugone pattern involves a counter-clockwise turn when the ball is received from the "Twelve O'Clock" (12:00) direction, and L1 sends the ball in the 7:30 direction relative to the direction from which the simulated pass came in. The P6.1-5T-NS-Knockoutaugone-rev-E2 reverses this, so that the turn is clockwise when the ball is received from the "Twelve O'Clock" (12:00) direction, and the direction of the ball after L1 is in the 4:30 O'Clock direction relative to the direction from which the ball came in.

Factors influencing the construction of the P6.1-5T-NS-Knockoutaugone-rev-E2 : I wanted to continue with the first air-trapping touch, touch 0, and the subsequent first touch of the pattern, touch 1, to be done with the left-foot, as I am left-footed, and as I have decided to develop given skills with the left-foot before I develop them with the right foot. I wanted L2 to be done with the left foot, so that it would be an inwards turn against the player guarding me, which would allow my shoulders to be a couple of feet in front of the ball. I wanted a step with the right foot between L2 and L3 because I wanted to be able to optionally use that step with the right foot to fake a cut right with the right, or to actually make a cut right with the right; I wanted to make L3 and R4 as difficult as possible.

When combined with my reception in drills of simulated passes in the form of rebounds of the ball off the wall, I will be using L0 to air-trap the ball (control it while keeping it in the air or flipping it up into the air); then on L1 I will be performing the first touch of P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2 while sending the ball in the directional angle specified for the practice segment; then I will perform the rest of P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2. Optionally I will merge L0 and L1 into one kick.

'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' Plugged into Two-Bounce Simulated Incoming Passes, Produces Long, Fast, Sharply Angled Results

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne (first segment today) is described in text and graphics in the the first row of the 8/01/11 entries of this log, in the previous row.

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-rev-E2 (first segment today) is described in text and graphics in the the first row of the 8/02/11 entries of this log, in the previous row.

Today I so-to-speak plugged the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' into the air-trap of Two-Bounce simulated passes coming into me after rebounding off the padded wall.

The first segment, 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' was plugged into the two-bounce incoming simulated pass; during the first segment, the first touch L0 air-trapped the ball, and the second touch L1 performed L1 of the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' in a 135 degrees to the left direction relative to the direction the incoming pass came at me from.

The second segment (9 minute segment with no successful runs), 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2' was plugged into the incoming simulated pass; the specified direction of the ball after L1 was 135 degrees to the right, or 4:30 O'Clock relative to the direction the incoming simulated pass from off the wall came from.

Today, all the runs scored as successes manifested the following characteristics (same as has been the case the past few days):

First, the ball kicked at the (usually padded) wall about 15 feet away, with me facing the wall; second, the ball rebounding off the wall and coming at me after bouncing TWICE; me facing the ball as it bounces towards me; me using the left foot to stop & lift the ball (L0), and then performing L1 of the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' pattern in the prescribed direction, with the ball not touching the ground between L0 & L1; me performing P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne up to R4 (4 touches) or L5 (5 touches)...OR...me performing P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2 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-KnockoutAugOne) happening without the ball touching the ground; the angle of the turns during the P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne 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 yesterday Monday at approx 4:00 PM, after having had approx 8 hours sleep. Had 3 Pancakes with butter and maple syrup, and 12 oz coffee/cane-sugar/halfnhalf from 330 AM to 500 PM. Drank 8 oz of spring ice-water during the practice, which went on for 1.5 hours. Hence when practice started, I had been awake for 16 hours.

Today after the first half of the first segment, 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 (Ankle-Force-Minimization method) after the first kick. During both segments done today, I implemented AFM method during the first contact with the ball.

Today I was at the start of the runs, usually focused on the first two kicks of the run being done well.

Today the 15 successful runs during the first segment were not a high percentage of the attempts, however, the successful runs: were of high quality in terms of how closely the turns adhered to the prescribed 90 degrees; were on average at a speed that is approximately equal to the fastest a human being can do such runs (8.0 speed rating = fastest possible, avg speed today 7.7); were on average 26' in length from the first touch to the last touch; averaged 4.4 touches per run not including the first L0 air-trapping touch.

Thus what we see looking at the sunrise of the simulation of the actual attacks upon the defender: the successful runs second segment yesterday and first segment today have been, even on average: long, lightning-fast 4-5 touch runs featuring sharp, well-formed angles.

The P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne (QS sometimes)runs ending at L4, after four touches not counting the initial L0 air-trapping touch, have been long, well-angled, and fast; it's not hard to imagine these runs ending on L4 with a goal-scoring shot or chip-pass leading to a goal.

I was at a low successes/attempts percentage like this about four months before I perfected the P6.1-5T-NS type drills, however at that time the average quality of the successful runs in terms of turn-angles was low, and the average speed of the successful runs was slow.

During the practice, I had the gym to myself.

I felt disadvantaged by having to practice until 10 PM Monday night, and then having to start packing up to leave for the Y at 4:30 AM. When am I supposed to sleep? The open gym time is scheduled so as to make it basically impossible for me to sleep normally.

The weather outdoors before the practice was comfortable; indoors before the start of practice the temp/humidity felt comfortable; during the practice it felt comfortable with my shirt off.

??%

Quality: 5.7
Speed: 7.7
Length: 26'
Avg touches: 4.4
Goals: successes/minute
Cones: One cone 15' 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-KnockoutAugOne (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 degrees to the 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 5.7); speed of successful runs: very fast+++ to very fast+++++ (numerical 7.7).

The average quality of the successful runs was the same this segment as first segment yesterday; the number of successful runs per minute was the same this segment as first segment yesterday--such is not a typo.

Overall, there were 15 successes, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. The average number of touches on the ball during the successful runs was 4.4 (not counting the first trapping touch, 'L0').

I estimate that the average length of the successful runs this segment was 26' from L0 to the final touch (R4/L5), measured odometer style (as opposed to as the crow flies).

I did not record any of the successful runs as involving extra touches, but a couple may have involved extra touches.

??%

Quality: --
Speed: --
Length: --
Avg touches: --
Goals: successes/minute
Cones: One cone 12-18' 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, the idea was to do basically the same thing as was done the first segment, but reversed. In 9 minutes there were zero successes.

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2 involves steps taken with the right foot in between L1 and L2, and in between L2 and L3.

I know from experience that the air-dribble is easier when steps are taken between kicks (compared to zero steps taken between kicks), if one has been practicing a step between kicks as much as one has been practicing no steps between kicks.

However this segment there were no successes because I have had so little practice this year, involving the ball kicked with the left foot, a step with the right foot in between each touch with the left foot, and changes of direction on the touches with the left foot.

'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2-AS-135-R' as a way to accelerate improvement

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-5T-knockoutaugone-Rev-E2-AS-135-R,
touch ball every step or every two-steps,
with changes of direction

P6.1-5T-NS-Knockoutaugone-rev-E2-AS-135-R involves me starting with my body facing a direction such that the L1 kick sends the ball in a direction 135 degrees to the right relative to the direction I am facing at the start (another way of saying this is that it involves on L1, me facing towards "Twelve O'Clock" and sending the ball to "Four Thirty O'Clock" on L1); the ball flipped up with the left foot and kicked with the left foot, approx 6 feet on L1; a step taken with the right foot; the ball kicked approx 6 feet at a 90 degree angle to the right, inwards, on L2; a step taken with the right foot; the ball kicked approx 5' at a 90 degree angle to the left, outwards, on L3; on the very next step, the ball kicked approx 5' at a 90 degree angle outwards to the right, on R4; on the very next step the ball touched with the left foot on L5. The ball is kept close to the body but off the ground the entire time, and kicked on every step, or on every other step. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents a possible location of the gym curtain, the gray line represents a possible location of the wall. The red circles represent marker cones placed as guideposts for the 'flight'.

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-rev-E2-As-135-R is described in text and graphics in the box in this entry. I designed it as a tool to be used to accelerate improvement in terms of performing 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2' immediately after receiving a simulated pass rebound off the wall, with the direction of ball-movement established by L1 of 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2' being 135 degrees to the right, relative to the incoming path of the ball.

My intention is to implement P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-rev-E2-As-135-R without the start involving air-trapping a ball coming at me after rebounding off the wall.

In the last row of the 8/2 entries, I wrote:

I know from experience that the air-dribble is easier when steps are taken between kicks (compared to zero steps taken between kicks), if one has been practicing a step between kicks as much as one has been practicing no steps between kicks.
     However this segment there were no successes because I have had so little practice this year, involving the ball kicked with the left foot, a step with the right foot in between each touch with the left foot, and changes of direction on the touches with the left foot.

This was an attempt to explain failure on the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2' clockwise turn to the right, with incoming ball angle 12:00 and outgoing ball angle 4:30.

I felt tempted to press ahead with simply more of what I attempted during the last segment of 8/2: attempts to turn the incoming ball on L0 and L1 so that L1 sent the ball in the specified 135 degree turn to the right direction, followed by the rest of the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2' pattern. Doing so would continue the new practice of plugging new patterns directly into the air-trap of simulated incoming passes in the form of bouncing balls rebounding off the wall.

This temptation to press ahead with a drill that was producing an excessively high percentage of failure , had to do with: the development of obsession with immediate improvements in score for the particular drill being done at the present time; a stubbornness (sometimes useful), which reacts to failure with more attempts at the same task failure is being experienced in; an excessive interest in skipping skill-building preliminary steps.

Pondering the 'temptation', I thought: this could be another of those strategic mistakes that significantly slows the speed with which I acquire a skill; if a new pattern can effectively plug into incoming pass reception without the preliminary of the pattern being run by itself in isolation first well and good, but if not, the wiser course could be running the pattern in isolation first.

The weakest point as of now on the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2' attempts is the L1 kick; yet when practicing the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2' I've been getting less opportunities to practice L1 compared to practice opportunities with L0. The rebound off the wall not being adequate or the type of rebound that is being practiced further reduces the number of L1 kick opportunities.

Therefore, practicing 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2' in a way that produces more opportunities for the L1 kick, and that makes the L1 kick easier, could accelerate improvement on the L1 kick in the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2' pattern.

It was possible to with some success plug the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' into receipt of the simulated pass rebound off the wall. This involved a step taken with the left foot in between R2 and R3 of 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne'. For someone not used to stepping between touches a step after R2 can be less awkward than a step after L1, because clumsiness produced by the difficulty of L0 effects L1 more than it effects R2.

The fact that such was possible with 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' does not mean that it would be wise to now spend time attempting to plug 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2' directly into the reception of the simulated pass rebound off the wall. 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2' involves a non-touch step taken after L1; L1 is often impaired due to error on L0 the initial contact with the ball.

This is another example of how, although sometimes there are surprising advantages to mastering a more difficult task before attending to the less difficult task, because mastering the more difficult task produces automatic mastery of the less difficult task, it is not always advantageous to first plunge ahead with attempts to master the more difficult task.

Yea, the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' was successfully plugged into the rebound off the wall, without preliminary work on the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' in isolation, meaning without the start of the run being ball coming in after rebounding off wall; however elements of the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' were practiced when the 'P6.1-5T' type drills were practiced in isolation earlier.

'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L' as a way to accelerate improvement

Drill WC06/10-P6.1-5T-knockoutaugone-AS-135-L,
touch ball every step or every two-steps,
with changes of direction

P6.1-5T-NS-Knockoutaugone-AS-135-L involves me starting with my body facing a direction such that the L1 kick sends the ball in a direction 135 degrees to the left relative to the direction I am facing at the start (another way of saying this is that it involves on L1, me facing towards "Twelve O'Clock" and sending the ball to "Seven Thirty O'Clock" on L1); the ball flipped up with the left foot and kicked with the left foot, approx 4.5 feet on L1; the ball kicked approx 7' at a 90 degree inwards angle to the left with the right foot on R2 on the very next step; a step taken with the left foot; the ball kicked approx 5' at a 90 degree angle to the right with the right foot on R3; on the very next step, the ball kicked approx 5' at a 90 degree angle to the left with the left foot on L4; on the next step, the ball touched on R5. The ball is kept close to the body but off the ground the entire time, and kicked on every step, except for the step between R2 and R3. The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents a possible location of the gym curtain, the gray line represents a possible location of the wall. The red circles represent marker cones placed as guideposts for the 'flight'.

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L is described in text and graphics in the box in this entry. I designed it as a tool to be used to accelerate improvement in terms of performing 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' immediately after receiving a simulated pass rebound off the wall, with the direction of ball-movement established by L1 of 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne' being 135 degrees to the left, relative to the incoming path of the ball.

My intention is to implement P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L without the start involving air-trapping a ball coming at me after rebounding off the wall.

'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2-AS-135-R' done, without start involving ball rebound off wall

'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2-AS-135-R' (first segment today) is described in text and graphics in the the first row of the 8/03/11 entries of this log.

Today I did two segments of 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2-AS-135-R', with the start involving me rolling the ball back and then flipping it up with my foot, instead of air-trapping a ball rebounding at me from off the wall.

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

me using the left foot to flip up the ball (L0), and then performing L1 of the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2-AS-135-R' pattern in the prescribed direction, with the ball not touching the ground between L0 & L1; me performing 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2-AS-135-R'up to 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 L5 of the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2-AS-135-R') happening without the ball touching the ground; the angle of the turns during the 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2-AS-135-R' 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 yesterday Tuesday at approx 8:00 PM, after having had approx 7 hours sleep. Had some rice and ground-beef curry, and 12 oz coffee/cane-sugar/halfnhalf from 330 AM to 430 AM. Drank 29 oz of cold spring water during the practice, which went on for 2.5 hours. Hence when practice started, I had been awake for 14 hours.

Today after the second segment, AF1 method was implemented.

Usually I did not have enough time to consciously apply the AFM method (Ankle-Force-Minimization method) after the first kick.

Today when I was at the start of the runs, focused on the first two kicks of the run being done well, the performance was better.

During the practice, I had 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 comfortable with my shirt off.

??%

Quality: 5.6
Speed: 6.6
Length: 25'
Goals: successes/minute
Cones: Four cones marking 22' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

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

Overall-- quality of successful runs:excellent+++ (numerical 5.6); speed of successful runs: very fast++++ (numerical 6.6).

Overall, there were 17 5-TOUCH successes adhering to pattern from L1 to L5, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. There were 0.38 successes per minute, not counting time spent keeping score.

I estimate that the average length of the successful runs this segment was 25' from L1 to L5, measured odometer style (as opposed to as the crow flies).

??%

Quality: 5.5
Speed: 7.0
Length: 25'
Goals: successes/minute
Cones: Four cones marking 22' long course
Ball: Adidas Jabulani World Cup 2010 NFHS Top Training Soccer Ball @ 11.6 psi

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

Overall-- quality of successful runs:excellent++ to excellent+++ (numerical 5.5); speed of successful runs: very fast++++ (numerical 7.0).

Overall, there were 31 5-TOUCH successes adhering to pattern from L1 to L5, ?? failures, & ?? bad first kicks. There were 0.70 successes per minute, not counting time spent keeping score.

I estimate that the average length of the successful runs this segment was 25' from L1 to L5, measured odometer style (as opposed to as the crow flies).

'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-RFS-AS-135-L', a right-footed on 1st Touch, Angled-Start Version of 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne'

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-RFS-AS-135-L
touch ball every step or every two-steps,
with changes of direction

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-RFS-AS-135-L is basically the same as P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L', except that with P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-RFS-AS-135-L, the first touch of the run is made with the right foot, whereas with P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-AS-135-L, the first touch of the run is made with the left foot.

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-RFS-AS-135-L involves the ball flipped up with the left foot and kicked with the right foot, approx 6 feet on R1; a step taken with the left foot; the ball kicked at a 90 degree inwards angle to the left with the right foot on R2; a step taken with the left foot; the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the right with the right foot on R3; on the very next step, the ball kicked at a 90 degree angle to the left with the left foot on L4; on the very next step, the ball touched on R5.

The ball is kept close to the body but off the ground the entire time, and kicked on every step, except for the steps between R1, R2 and R3.

The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the usual location of the gym curtain, the gray line represents the usual location of the wall.

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne is described in the August 1 entry of this log. It involves the left-foot being used on the 1st touch, with me facing in the direction I kick the ball on L1 the first touch with the left, when I roll the ball back and flip it up (L0), prior to the first kick with the left foot on L1.

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-RFS-AS-135-L', described in text/graphic in the box in this entry, is like P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne, except that: R1 the first touch of the run after L0 is made with the right foot (L0 represents the first contact with the ball on an incoming pass, or the ball being rolled up by the left foot); and, P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-RFS-AS-135-L' features an angled start direction of the body, such that R1 sends the ball at a 135 degrees left direction relative to the direction I am facing at the start of the run.

'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-RFS-Rev-E2-AS-135-R', a right-footed on 1st Touch, Angled-Start Version of 'P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2'

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-RFS-Rev-E2-AS-135-R
touch ball every step or every two-steps,
with changes of direction

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-RFS-Rev-E2-AS-135-R is basically the same as P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2, except that with P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-RFS-Rev-E2-AS-135-R, the first touch of the run is made with the right foot, whereas withP6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2, the first touch of the run is made with the left foot. Another difference is that with P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-RFS-Rev-E2-AS-135-R, I start with my body facing the ball at an angle such that the R1 kick sends the ball at a 135 degree angle to my right, relative to the direction that I am facing when I first touch the ball.

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-RFS-Rev-E2-AS-135-R involves the ball flipped up with the left foot and kicked with the right foot, approx 4 feet on R1; on the very next step, the ball kicked about 7' at a 90 degree inwards angle to the right with the left foot on L2; a step taken with the right foot; the ball kicked about 5' at a 90 degree angle to the left with the left foot on L3; on the very next step, the ball kicked about 5' at a 90 degree angle to the right with the right foot on R4; on the very next step, the ball touched on L5.

The ball is kept close to the body but off the ground the entire time, and kicked on every step, except for the step between L2 and L3.

The blue and wiggly line in the graphic represents the usual location of the gym curtain, the gray line represents the usual location of the wall.

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2 is described in the August 2 entry of this log. It involves the left-foot being used on the 1st touch, with me facing in the direction I kick the ball on L1 the first touch with the left, when I roll the ball back and flip it up (L0), prior to the first kick with the left foot on L1.

P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-RFS-Rev-E2-AS-135-R, described in text/graphic in the box in this entry, is like P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-Rev-E2, except that: R1 the first touch of the run after L0 is made with the right foot (L0 represents the first contact with the ball on an incoming pass, or the ball being flipped up by the foot); and, P6.1-5T-KnockoutAugOne-RFS-Rev-E2-AS-135-R features an angled start direction of the body, such that R1 sends the ball at a 135 degrees right direction relative to the direction I am facing at the start of the run.