DoubleTrouble backflips on grass

[DoubleTrouble]

Main quests

Do a backflip on grass by the end of the challenge

Run 2X a week

Maintain leg strength: Leg day 2X a week

Shoulder physio: Face pulls, band external rotations, band pull aparts and band overhead pull aparts, at least 2X a week

 

Side quests

Double kong the length of a picnic table

Try new moves

 

[Bixby]

good luck!

[WhiteGhost]

On 8/2/2020 at 4:24 AM, DoubleTrouble said:

Do a backflip on grass by the end of the challenge

I am a little bit jealous that you have a place to be working on these.  OK, maybe more than just a little  

 

Looking forward to flipping vicariously through you.

[raptron]

You got thissss

[Manarelle]

The gif straight up made me cackle out loud. Following again, of course.  You've got this!

[DoubleTrouble]

On 8/2/2020 at 6:29 PM, Bixby said:

good luck!

 

Thank you!

 

On 8/3/2020 at 1:00 AM, WhiteGhost said:

I am a little bit jealous that you have a place to be working on these.  OK, maybe more than just a little  

 

Looking forward to flipping vicariously through you.

 

I'm happy to have a place! It definitely gives me more options and safety than trying to learn flips without it.

Looking forward to having you along for the journey

 

On 8/3/2020 at 10:36 AM, raptron said:

You got thissss

 

I think I do! But only if I don't slack off

 

On 8/3/2020 at 11:50 AM, Manarelle said:

The gif straight up made me cackle out loud. Following again, of course.  You've got this!

 

Jiembasands is his name, stunting is his game. Welcome, and thanks!

 

-----------------

 

During zero week I bought a cover that covers the entire crash mat.

Yesterday, I worked on back rolls off the picnic table, it was scarier than I thought it would be. But it's exactly what I need to work on. The backwards motion is so similar to a backflip, and the tucking motion has a lot of carryover too. Definitely worth putting more time into this.

Today I bought a swiss ball and a small shovel. Can you guess what it's for? Answer is in the spoiler below

 

 

Subquests for the backflip main quest:

- Maintain leg strength: Leg day 2X a week

- Increase ab/core strength: Abs/core 2X a week

- Eye rolling/flicking: whenever I remember. This is to help prepare them for spotting stuff during the flip

- Back rolls off the table: try to get the roll just from the knee drive. Go straight backwards

Spoiler

- Backflip off a swiss ball on sand: The swiss ball, partially buried in the sand, will give me a height boost. I'm thinking this will be a nice bridge between doing them on the crash mat VS on grass.

 

[Manarelle]

12 hours ago, DoubleTrouble said:

Spoiler

- Backflip off a swiss ball on sand: The swiss ball, partially buried in the sand, will give me a height boost. I'm thinking this will be a nice bridge between doing them on the crash mat VS on grass.

 

 

Brilliant. And Very cool to have an actual cover for the crash pad. Does that eliminate the spongedust problem? 

 

12 hours ago, DoubleTrouble said:

Yesterday, I worked on back rolls off the picnic table, it was scarier than I thought it would be. But it's exactly what I need to work on. The backwards motion is so similar to a backflip, and the tucking motion has a lot of carryover too. Definitely worth putting more time into this.

 

Can definitely see the scary, you're basically rolling back and then DROP STRAIGHT ON YOUR HEAD if you don't flip enough. Geez. Looking good though, you definitely built up confidence. Were you aiming for side rolls at the end?

[raptron]

Ahhhh, I am always so jealous of the beach swiss ball shenanigans I see on the 'gram. Have fun, be safe.

[DoubleTrouble]

On 8/5/2020 at 8:47 AM, Manarelle said:

Does that eliminate the spongedust problem?

Kind of? It helps but somehow a little bust of dust still comes up

 

On 8/5/2020 at 8:47 AM, Manarelle said:

Can definitely see the scary, you're basically rolling back and then DROP STRAIGHT ON YOUR HEAD if you don't flip enough. Geez. Looking good though, you definitely built up confidence. Were you aiming for side rolls at the end?

I can catch myself with my hands if I don't flip enough, but yeah I did land straight on my head a few times. It was fine though. I would decide what to go for and then do it, so if I was doing side rolls then I meant to do side rolls. However, it could have been because I was too scared to go straight back. Or I might have been trying to figure something out. I don't remember.

 

On 8/5/2020 at 12:07 PM, raptron said:

Ahhhh, I am always so jealous of the beach swiss ball shenanigans I see on the 'gram. Have fun, be safe.

Huh. Thought you would have done plenty of that already for some reason. I'll do my best to not die

 

--------------

 

I ran into a slight hiccup, it turns out not backflipping for 2 and a half weeks can make the fear come back. I forced one out but it was so low I pretty much landed on my head and rolled over. I've lost count of how many times I've had to re-conquer the same fear. Back to basics. Again. Ugh.

 

 

[PaulG]

Following because welcome to shoulder physio land! Now you're in the mud with the rest of us.

 

On 8/1/2020 at 1:24 PM, DoubleTrouble said:

Double kong the length of a picnic table

 

SINGLE KONG IT!

[WhiteGhost]

3 hours ago, DoubleTrouble said:

I've lost count of how many times I've had to re-conquer the same fear. Back to basics. Again. Ugh.

Don't bother counting, the number gets very depressing after a while  It's almost like the metal part of the skill disappears faster than the physical part, and conquering the fear is on ever ongoing problem.  Not sure if Raptron still has to face it, but I know it always rears up to bite me every time I pause training

[Nyx, Daughter of Chaos]

What a fun and cool goal! I love that you're sharing videos with us! 

Following along!

[DoubleTrouble]

On 8/6/2020 at 11:16 PM, PaulG said:

Following because welcome to shoulder physio land! Now you're in the mud with the rest of us.

Hi! I've been in the mud for a while now, my mud house is right over there. My shoulder is fine now, but I've decided to live here to keep it that way.

On 8/6/2020 at 11:16 PM, PaulG said:

SINGLE KONG IT!

OK!

 

On 8/7/2020 at 1:22 AM, WhiteGhost said:

Don't bother counting, the number gets very depressing after a while  It's almost like the metal part of the skill disappears faster than the physical part, and conquering the fear is on ever ongoing problem.  Not sure if Raptron still has to face it, but I know it always rears up to bite me every time I pause training

Good to know. I'm sure everyone has to deal with it for new/rusty skills. I'm kinda enjoying it now actually, weirdly enough.

 

21 hours ago, Luxia said:

What a fun and cool goal! I love that you're sharing videos with us! 

Following along!

It's tough! Taking videos helps me to see what I'm doing right and wrong, and is also useful for showing off. Win-win!

Welcome!

 

----------

 

I did some bar pullovers to remind my brain what it feels like to go backwards. Also filmed a short bar cast video for @Vidd while I was there. It has some (probably useless) progressions, hey I'm not a coach. The next day, I attempted to backflip on the crash mat, couldn't do it, did some back rolls, and suddenly the backflip was back! It didn't feel forced either, which was nice.

 

 

[Vidd]

You make that bar jump look so easy I need to find a low bar somewhere nearby that I can train that on. That looks a lot safer and won't require me to muscleup to train the skill.

 

I really like your method for getting your mind right when it comes to the backflip. Sort of an exposure therapy without actually having to do the move.

[Rubble]

This is such a cool challenge! You've already made so much progress!

 

I'm so excited to see your final flip!

[Manarelle]

On 8/8/2020 at 11:00 AM, DoubleTrouble said:

I did some bar pullovers to remind my brain what it feels like to go backwards. Also filmed a short bar cast video for @Vidd while I was there. It has some (probably useless) progressions, hey I'm not a coach. The next day, I attempted to backflip on the crash mat, couldn't do it, did some back rolls, and suddenly the backflip was back! It didn't feel forced either, which was nice.

 

Don't forget that the "one step backward" is still paired to two steps forward! There are days where I make solid progress on handstand progressions, and days I struggle to get upside down at all, much less balanced. Very cool that you got the backflip back and feeling natural. 

[DoubleTrouble]

On 8/9/2020 at 2:43 AM, Vidd said:

You make that bar jump look so easy I need to find a low bar somewhere nearby that I can train that on. That looks a lot safer and won't require me to muscleup to train the skill.

 

I really like your method for getting your mind right when it comes to the backflip. Sort of an exposure therapy without actually having to do the move.

I've practiced it quite a bit, I want to do it on a high bar one day. You can also use a low wall to train it, the technique can be a bit different though

Exposure therapy is a great way to put it!

 

On 8/9/2020 at 11:51 AM, Rubble said:

This is such a cool challenge! You've already made so much progress!

 

I'm so excited to see your final flip!

I've worked on it on the last challenge, and for several months before that too in the parkour gym. And that's not considering the other related moves that I learned to get over my fear of going backwards. So its been cooking for a while now

Haha hopefully its not my "final" flip ☠️

 

19 hours ago, Manarelle said:

Don't forget that the "one step backward" is still paired to two steps forward! There are days where I make solid progress on handstand progressions, and days I struggle to get upside down at all, much less balanced. Very cool that you got the backflip back and feeling natural. 

That's fine, I know I can get it back every time. It's much more enjoyable when it's not panicky.

 

------------

 

I went to the beach to try out the swiss ball. As soon as I stood on it I knew it wasn't going to happen that day, so I did some front flips off it instead. I also stood on the boardwalk and had a friend spot me, but I couldn't do it there either. For future reference, the height difference between the boardwalk and the sand was less than a foot. The height difference should theoretically make it easier but it wasn't because it was an unknown variable to me, since I hadn't practiced it off a height. Also, there were people around, so it was harder to focus than in my backyard. But the major factor was that I just wasn't ready and I didn't have enough confidence in my flip. Great learning experience overall (I also got a tip from my friend to improve my front flip).

The next day, I drilled some more backflips onto the crash mat. I started jumping higher and actually landed one properly (you can see I'm excited in the video). Then I thought about doing it on the small crash mat, that didn't happen. Not surprising. It was useful to get a sense for how much more practice I still need. Went back to big crash mat, starting jumping even higher but without as much rotation, and landing uncomfortably close to the table. There's a balance between height and rotation, the flip needs the right amount of each. At that point the sun was up high enough to start blinding me, so I left it at that.

 

 

I want a faster tuck, and I don't think my current abs goal of 2X a week will get it done in time. I'm replacing that goal with "tuck every hour". This doesn't mean backflip, it means doing a few reps of any exercise where I bring my knees to my face quickly (skateboard tucks, mountain climber style tucks, explosive hanging knee raises, any other ideas??) every hour.

[WhiteGhost]

16 hours ago, DoubleTrouble said:

any other ideas??

Jump tucks?  Standing can openers? Back rolls?

[DoubleTrouble]

On 8/11/2020 at 8:08 AM, WhiteGhost said:

Jump tucks?  Standing can openers? Back rolls?

 

Yeah that'll work! Except can openers, I looked that up and it looks more like a stretch? Also monkey vaults up onto things or kongs up stairs might work too

 

-------------------

 

So I had a little accident. Spoilered for fails:

 

Spoiler

I flipped too close to the edge of the table and my face caught the table. I have a cut on my nose and a patch of redness between my eyebrows that looks like the batman logo.

 

 

The last time I had a bail, I was physically fine, but it made it scarier to do flips afterwards. I only fully recovered from that recently when I landed one.

But that was different because the cause of the bail was that I didn't commit to the flip. This fail was because I made a judgment error about how far away from the table to flip. I'm not sure what kind of effect it'll have on my mental game.

 

The parkour gym is open now so I have another option/place to practice.

Running is going well. Leg day could be better. Physio is going well.

For the kong, I'm 2 of my feet away from clearing it. The double kong is terrible, I can barely make it halfway across the table.

[WhiteGhost]

3 hours ago, DoubleTrouble said:

Except can openers, I looked that up and it looks more like a stretch?

I only know them from diving, which is instead of doing a cannonball you pull one leg up to your chest in a tight tuck and keep the other leg straight.  If you get the angle right and open up from the tuck on hitting the water, you will get a splash of much greater magnitude than a pitiful cannonball    What I meant for this is basically to do single leg tucks while standing (like a very exaggerated but slower high knees)

 

3 hours ago, DoubleTrouble said:

So I had a little accident

Yikes, hope you are ok.  This is really one the worst kinds of accidents from a mental game standpoint, because ideally you want to be getting close to the place you jumped from.  If you are worried about hitting the place you jumped from, you will tend to try going the opposite and jump too far, which will kill your height (there is always a tradeoff between height and distance).  I hope this doesn't kill you backflip mental game

[DoubleTrouble]

On 8/12/2020 at 9:40 PM, WhiteGhost said:

I only know them from diving, which is instead of doing a cannonball you pull one leg up to your chest in a tight tuck and keep the other leg straight.  If you get the angle right and open up from the tuck on hitting the water, you will get a splash of much greater magnitude than a pitiful cannonball

Thanks, I'll make sure to abuse this knowledge to the best of my ability

 

On 8/12/2020 at 9:40 PM, WhiteGhost said:

Yikes, hope you are ok.  This is really one the worst kinds of accidents from a mental game standpoint, because ideally you want to be getting close to the place you jumped from.  If you are worried about hitting the place you jumped from, you will tend to try going the opposite and jump too far, which will kill your height (there is always a tradeoff between height and distance).  I hope this doesn't kill you backflip mental game

I'm ok. I'm jumping back more now so it's killed my height, like you said. It wasn't too bad of a mental hurdle though

 

-----------

 

The mental impact from the fail wasn't too bad. I took some time to figure out where I could land safely, and got some backflips in on the crash mat. It took a longer prep time than usual, and my jump height suffered but at least I can still do them. There was one backflip where my brain threw up a memory of the pain (I'm not sure how to describe it) that made me hesitate at a crucial moment, but I was able to get around. I took several naps throughout the day (to let my brain mull it over) and headed to the beach that evening. After a bunch of prep and walking in circles, I landed my first backflip on sand off the swiss ball. After a break, I did another one. And then I was mentally exhausted so I just did random stuff.

 

 

[Manarelle]

On 8/14/2020 at 4:24 PM, DoubleTrouble said:

The mental impact from the fail wasn't too bad. I took some time to figure out where I could land safely, and got some backflips in on the crash mat. It took a longer prep time than usual, and my jump height suffered but at least I can still do them. There was one backflip where my brain threw up a memory of the pain (I'm not sure how to describe it) that made me hesitate at a crucial moment, but I was able to get around. I took several naps throughout the day (to let my brain mull it over) and headed to the beach that evening. After a bunch of prep and walking in circles, I landed my first backflip on sand off the swiss ball. After a break, I did another one. And then I was mentally exhausted so I just did random stuff.

 

Ah man, glad you didn't break anything other than skin but dang, that looked ow. Glad you were able to get past it and have fun at the beach. The swiss ball backflip looked solid. 

 

Yay for the parkour gym being open! That's exciting news! How is it? 

[DoubleTrouble]

On 8/17/2020 at 11:28 AM, Manarelle said:

Yay for the parkour gym being open! That's exciting news! How is it? 

 

I haven't been back, I'd rather be outside since the weather is nice.

 

-------------

 

Haven't done much filming, but practice continues. I went to the beach again twice, the first time I didn't do any backflips, but the second time I did at least 4. Stupidly I didn't film any of it. After a ridiculous amount of prep time, I underpowered the first one (landed hands and knees). I gave up halfway through the second one and had to catch myself with my hands, luckily I was still in a tuck so I landed on my feet and hands. I think the third one was good? Some of the other ones were weird because I would land so close to the ball that one foot would sink into the edge where the ball meets the sand. I landed one beside the ball, with one foot sunk in the edge and the other on the solid-er sand.

My friend did his first backflips off the ball with me spotting (but I did pretty much nothing), I was happy about that.

 

I need to relearn how to spot the ground, and become better at aiming my flips (jump height and how much I lean back). I'm thinking if I can progress to doing it on flat sand without the ball, I should be able to do it on grass.

 

[WhiteGhost]

On 8/20/2020 at 4:47 AM, DoubleTrouble said:

My friend did his first backflips off the ball with me spotting (but I did pretty much nothing), I was happy about that.

Having a flip friend is great.  I always find having someone else there not only brings a nice morale boost, but also makes everything more fun

[DoubleTrouble]

On 8/21/2020 at 12:30 AM, WhiteGhost said:

Having a flip friend is great.  I always find having someone else there not only brings a nice morale boost, but also makes everything more fun

 

For sure. Also nice to bounce thoughts/ideas off someone.

 

--------

 

More beach flips! With a spotter this time. The difference in the mental aspect was like going to a gym, being able to curl 50lbs, but only curling 5lbs instead.

A fail the next day I landed on my neck on the crash mat and its sore. I'm having commitment issues on the crash mat, I guess its because of my previous bails. I'll try going over sideways first and then going straight back, once my neck is better.

 

 

 

I only did the "tuck every hour" goal for a day, and not much after that, so I'll go back to abs 2X a week instead. I've been good with runs so far, but I might have to skip one because of my neck. Leg day is meh, I think I missed quite a few. Same with physio.

During my last parkour session, I broke a jump and a dive kong I've looked at for a while but never done, and I think it was all due to the backflip mental gains.