A Newcomers Guide to Footbag

By Anssi Sundberg and Jay Boychuk

When you become interested in freestyle footbag it is common to want to do what you see the elite do in videos. While there is no clear direct route in footbag to get to the top, there are many common habits, techniques and mindsets that will make the progression from the beginning stages much faster. Along your way your fellow players and personal success will keep you motivated, however it is important to note that there are always highs and lows of progress. Those who have been through these obstacles before are writing this article to make your start more oriented, continuous and most importantly, fun! If you use these tips you will get the hang of things faster and start progressing as a freestyle footbagger.

Obtain information. If you don’t personally know any players, you can get information about the sport on the internet. Search for as much information on as many different pages as possible and absorb it. Footbag has a lot of unique and descriptive terms, and it is useful to learn them and use them fluently. Learn trick names, study the tricks from videos, and you will start to recognize them as well as their components. Once you fully understand a variety of tricks, begin to think about which ones you want to learn.

Make contacts. Be bold in making contact with other players and clubs. On internet forums you can easily discuss with other players, ask questions and get many specific tips. Because everyone’s body is different, and learns things uniquely you can learn footbag easiest with an experienced player, in real time. You should try to find out about other players and clubs close to you and if they have frequent sessions. Although playing with experienced players can be intimidating by the vast difference in skill, all freestylers are more than happy to help.

Get proper gear. If you are serious about becoming a good freestyler, you must also invest the amount of money into the gear. On the internet it’s easy to order freestyle shoes and a good freestyle footbag from reliable sites, such as www.fourkast.com. For best performance, the gear you get for freestyle will need some adjusting to your needs, like a baseball glove. Read tutorials online and watch videos of how to properly modify your shoes and break in your footbags.

Start from the basics. Basic kicks must be mastered before learning to stall, because learning this vital tool is a great stepping stone for habits in the future. Always when learning something new the foundation must be solid, without any holes. It is important also to note that learning both sides is fundamental in creating a good foundation. Footbag at it’s highest level, unlike many other sports is perfectly ambidextrous.

Practice. Practice makes perfect. In footbag, once you hit a trick one time, that doesn’t mean your body will be capable of hitting it in all conditions at all times. A good goal for mastering a trick is to be able to hit it ten times, in ten tries. Sometimes repeating something over and over might become boring but practicing pays off in development. When you come across an overwhelming obstacle, stop and take a minute to observe the situation from another point of view. Why did you succeed? How can you use this success to model future ones?

Learn from the best. Along the path to becoming a good freestyle player, you will meet many beginner freestyle friends along the way. However, always take their advice with a grain of salt, due to the fact that their advice hasn’t been precisely refined over thousands of hours, to perfection like the elite. Ask feedback from better players and value development proposals more than compliments. Watch videos of your favorite players and learn from their technique.



Set goals. Never be satisfied with your current level, and never consider yourself the worst or the best player. Having and meeting obtainable goals is an important part of growing motivation. You’ll find if you ask professional players, in their formative years they all had and made goals that got them where they are today.



Continue. Practicing can feel like having fun one day and like work on the other, all part of the ups and downs. The best players got to be the best because they practiced even when it felt like work. Once you reach a certain level, you can learn to love to practice because you realize how beneficial it is to progression.



Help others. After all the practicing when you get good, it’s your turn to help out the newcomers in this sport. Relate to their hardships and give them your experience that could help them along their way, and enjoy seeing their success. Footbag is a great community, have fun!

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