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AL MORRISON,
a 14 year old footer
from Michigan, was selected as the August 2002
Footer of the Month.
I nominated Al Morrison for footer of the
month this month for several reasons. I'll do my best to explain
them.
About 2 weeks prior to the Midwest
Regionals, I received a call from Keith St. Onge. Keith was
yelling and screaming and I could hardly understand him. He told
me he was conducting a Junior Development Clinic and Al Morrison had
just learned a toe-turn. I said "That's great, but a toe-turn
is fairly easy to learn." He then went on to tell me that Al
not only learned a toe-back on his feet that day, but he had also just
completed a toe front feet-to-feet on his first try; and on his feet to
boot. Keith couldn't believe it, and if it hadn't been him telling
me, I wouldn't have believed it either.
In a single day, Keith started Al out on
the new Extreme Footers and taught him toe-backs and toe-fronts. Then in
his last set, he had Al try them on his feet, and he pulled them
off. Unbelievable!!! I was both happy for Al and extremely
jealous at the same time.
Two weeks later, I got a chance to meet
Al while Paul Stokes and I were attending the Midwest Regionals.
We sat and talked while we were waiting for some rain to subside during
the tournament. I was eager to get Al's insights on how he learned
the trick. It was a bit strange. Here I'm pushing 40 getting
advise from a 14 year old. I figured he would think I was wacko
for asking. But to my surprise, Al was very polite and answered
all of my questions and detailed as possible. He also asked my a
lot of questions about BarefootCentral.com. He wanted to know if
he could contribute in any way to the sight. He explained that he
visited the sight frequently and thought it was cool.
So I gave Al a small project. I
told him that a lot of people would be interested in knowing how he
learned such an advanced trick so quickly. I also told him that a
lot of people may not believe it. So I asked him to write me a
story about his experience learning the trick, and if possible, send me
a video of him doing one.
About a week later a package shows up on
my door step. I had written the article and sent a video. He
then followed up with a phone call and email to make sure I had
everything I needed and wondered if he could do more.
So, I decided to select Al as the Footer
of the Month for several reasons.
1. For accomplishing something most of us will only be able to dream
of.
2. For displaying maturity in the way he handled himself while I was
pumping him for information.
3. For not only displaying a desire to help promote the sport, but for
acting on it and sharing his experiences.
4. For making me extremely jealous.
Below is the
article Al wrote for us, as well as the video that proves he's got the
trick nailed:
How
I learned the toe turn
by
Al Morrison
While
at the jr. development camp in Tampa, Fl. with Keith St. Onge, I
decided to work on toe turns. I put on one Extreme Footer on my pivot
foot and started on the 5 foot extension on the boom. Keith had me
keep my elbows by my waist and move them as if they were on a table.
The first one I tried I got around backwards, but I lost my balance
and fell over. The next time I made it perfect! I flopped to my butt
and stood up and did it again. The next pass Keith had me try the toe
front feet to feet. He told me the lean forward a lot, and exaggerate
it. The first time I tried it, I slipped out, and fell to my butt. I
needed to lean forward even more. The next time I tried, I really
crunched forward and stuck it. I did this again and again until I felt
solid. After that, Keith had me take the Extreme Footer off. He told
me to do the same exact thing that I did on the Extreme Footer. We
took off and headed down the lake. I felt a bit nervous, but I
went for it. I made it around backwards and skied for a little and
lost my balance. Now that I had tried it, I felt more comfortable and
the next time I stuck it. Since I had been doing the toe
front feet to feet on the shoe skis, I tried it on my feet and I made
it. Keith was so amazed that he jumped in the water with all of his
clothes on just to give me a high five! I was so happy. When I learned
it behind the boat, I went through the same process of skiing first on
the shoe skis and then to my feet.
Click
Here to launch video
video editing by Junior Barefooter
Andrew
Martin
If you don't have RealPlayer,
download it for free.
Congratulations Al on being selected as
the BarefootCentral.com Footer of the Month. You are now eligible
to become the 2002 Footer of the Year. See you at Nationals!
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