Tweak 102 2K7, Can we learn what the masters of tweak really know?

Hey MFF family:

There is one skill that I am currently really putting some time into and that is tweaking, it is a skill that some take to like A fish to water, and others well you get the idea, now before Smitty & Sean (I love you guys) jump on me, the information on there DVD is great, but a person like myself always strives to learn all I can, My friend Bluesman280 had the honor of getting some tips from the great Vince Peatros (man im so jelous, but he's my friend so ill get over it) but just for him to learn hands on from such a great figure in our hobby im sure will last a lifetime, I myself have gotten some tips from greats like Norbert Revels, Don Smith & Mike Pratt information that i have written down and saved, also Jimbo unbeknownst to him even taught me how to Tweak RLs at last years Seawall Brawl on some downtime we had. The way Geno H has just stormed on the scene with his incredible tweaking ability is just astonishing, also even though some may not know this Coach S. Carter is an incredible speed tweaker. The point im trying to make is that Tweaking is important part of the hobby and one that takes time to master i am willing to to put in the trigger time to learn it, but I am asking the tweak Masters and anyone else who has tips on Tweaking to share some tips , what bases they get the best results from, what bases may be best at key positions, what bases may help on that run for the title, I always wanted to thank the Great Wally Jabs for Tweak 101 (I have saved on comp file and on paper over 100 times) that was my first taste of tweaking, but I feel it is time for a new version Tweak 101 2K7 with tips,tricks & secrets from the Tweak Jedis any & all please respond or just share on this post believe me if this post generates the Buzz that I hope it will it will be filed next to the Great Wally Jabs contibution to our beloved Hobby. peace

[Jamel_G]

Big lock we haven't been introduced and I'm fairly new to the electric football scene so I will introduce myself as Jamel G one of the founders of the Detroit City EFL and member of the Great Lakes EFL. I believe in my heart that we have some pretty good tweakers in the state of Michigan. Norbert Revels, Patrick Casey (**** good) Jim Davis, (Champ) Simmie Lassiter and Greg Hardmon. Initially when I started playing with these coaches the only way I could get their kind of power was to buy from these coaches. I have watched first hand these guys creating power bases, skilled bases, and speed bases. I was willing to learn. I just didn't get it. I would watch over and over. Yeah I was able to make some decent bases but not those 100 yards in 3 seconds speed or that animal power base. UNTIL I just decided to put in the work. I bought what I believe was THE power base and THE speed base (from Maryland) and just went into the lab not to return until I beat both of those bases. A funny thing happed along the way. I got better and created my own method. I even learned to re-tweak the older bases that I bought. To make a very long story short it dawned on me that the master tweakers are also master businessmen, well most of them, which means they will give you the training wheels and work with until you're down to just one training wheel then both wheels are gone now they can let you go. Go ride your bike. You are a rider and now you have crossed into that business where money is made and competitions are won. Base tweaking is no different from any other competition that requires equipment. Except that they can't patient their work. If you truly learn their craft you are:

A.) No longer a customer (loss of revenue)
B.) More of a threat in competition. (Loss of wins)
C.) A threat to teach others (Combination of A & B)

Now I'm sure some tweakers will come on here and dispute my claims above and before they do please answer this question first.

If I'm wrong then why is there a cost for bases in some cases where the cost is $50-$100 for one base?

Why do you have to pay for a DVD?

Also, if I'm wrong then why are you still asking for assistance after how many years have you been back in the hobby (nationally)? I believe it's been 2-3 years.

Maybe it's just me and my experiences. Don't get me wrong. These coaches will teach. But like I said before that just will go so far. You will need to find your own tools (because not all tweakers work the same), process and results. Then you will never need to buy a base ever again. Trust me. Unless you want but there will not be a need to just a want!

Just my 2cents!

Originally Posted by Biglock

Can we learn what the masters of tweak really know?

Lock,

The short and simple answer is... yes.

Actually you can learn as much if not more than we know. The first thing you need to realize is certain parts of tweaking (such as strength and speed) are subjective. What's fast and strong to one person or league may not be the case in another. Also you should know that good tweakers tend to cancel each other out when they are on the board together.

Tweaking for me is all about two things…

1.) Knowing when to say when: Sometimes people tend to overtweak a base and lose the skills they initially gain, or end up ruining the entire base itself.
2.) Consistency: When you start developing your own techniques, make sure you keep doing what you’re doing and then start to build off of that. Consistency also involves knowing how each and EVERY base on your team runs.

When I play, I never worry about what the other guy is doing. My only concern is that my players’ movements should be consistent with how their bases have been tweaked to run. If they do… I’m all set. If they don’t… I’ll just have to figure out what’s going on and make adjustments during the game.

- OldSchool

Jamel's A, B and C scenarios are right on point. I remember at the Memphis Convention this one young cat asked me to tweak a team for him that he had just bought and I told him "I will show YOU how to do it yourself." He left and found someone to give $10 a base to. I was annoyed that someone took advantage of a new guy, but after I thought about it, that was his choice. Oh well. I firmly believe in Jesus' parable of "teaching a man to fish." I have a pack of bases right now that someone wants me to tweak but I haven't touched them because I told him "I would show you!" I'm still waiting for that visit. (You know who you are!)

Honestly, BigLock, you have EVERYTHING you need and if I read your post correctly, you have 100 copies of it!!! The key to it is the very last part that may or may not be there, or maybe it's MY additional note to self: "Repeat if necessary! Repeat over and over until you get the result you're looking for." I think that Pat Casey let the cat out of the bag a while ago as far as what the GLEFL guys do/did. I think that was right before the Chicago Convention a few years ago.

I HAVE NEVER TAKEN A DIME FROM ANYONE WHEN ASKED TO TWEAK OR SHOW THEM HOW TO! And I never will. I have also NEVER been shown a base I couldn't beat with my own. But THAT'S not the reason to tweak - to beat the next guy one-on-one, all 50 guys on the roster. The key is getting your team to gel and work together to then allow your COACHING SKILLS to be the reason you win or lose. Guys that "keep secrets" essentially/typically aren't the best coaches because they rely on their tweaking prowess. Don't get me wrong. A LOT OF GUYS work hard at their craft, but they also only play locally and never test their stuff outside of their circle where they are Resident King. A few do and I have the UPMOST respect for them - Mr. Rutledge, Norbert and Big Keith to name a few. I excluded OldSchool due to lack of gametime because EVERYONE'S scared to play him!!!!

Now, take last year's Seawall BRAWL, for example. Everyone knows "JIMBO" but until I made it to the Conference Finals, and knocked a few BIG NAMES out - NOBODY knew I could paint, tweak AND kick *** with my own stuff. Why? Because I don't solicit my knowledge - I give it away freely - and that prolly makes me seem less skillful. In fact, NOT A SINGLE WORD was said after the SWB about who I beat with MY stuff because, to some, it musta been a Buster Douglas moment. I beg to differ. BEWARE! Bring some to get some at the 2007 Seawall BRAWL. I dare you! (Not you, Lock! Everyone else.)

Peace.

Lock, holla at me after 7pm tonight.

[Kansas Bill]

I am not a "master" tweaker by any stretch, BUT.. I do know the tweaking pliers that Biglock had in his intitial pic are the type that I have had the best luck with.. If you notice the handles, they are thicker, and it doesn't require as much force to get the prongs manipulated/smashed.. The only place I have found these exact pliers were at Sears.. They were $9.99 .. but.. They were also warrantied against breakage.. And they will replace them if you break them.. Which.. If you tweak enough.. you will do.

[Coach K-LO]

biglock,

I would have to agree with the panel so far. I feel that I am one of the oldest tweakers on the scene. I still have my original tweak tool that started it all. This is not be brash, just stating the facts as I know them.

I began tweaking for $$ in the early EFL resurgence in the 1997-2000. After the convention that year, I met a lot more guys in the area that play and thus we began comparing and sharing tweaking tips. In these early days, there were only a few who had the skill and put in the time to build teams that played up to a Championship level. And it showed on the field... 2 or 3 guys were always in the final 4 or winning the whole thing out right.

After the Canton convention, this would be my last "tweak for pay" session because no one know how to tweak SIW bases at this time and a few of us had the knowledge. Guys were not interested in learning at this time, but would rather pay for services. I was offered big bucks (and sometimes get these today) for 1 base off my team. Sometimes I would (they felt that I could always tweak another) give it up, sometimes I would just make them one with their base.

After that, tweaking 101 was out, and the next thing you know Everybody has a licence to tweak. Some were great at getting different types of results, but everyone had skills. But still only a few were tweaking for psoitions on the field. This is where I have never stopped doing. I tweak bases for players. If you need a OLB with speed, you have to tweak the base a certain way. If you want a 30-carry runner, you have to tweak for that. It is not that hard, but you will need to put in the work.

In the teaking process, you will some bases to the process. In an attempt to get the max from a base, as OLD School mentioned, you will lose some to over-tweaking....

I see the new style of tweaking is going great, I need to go back to school on the new styles to gain some experience with that. Not because it is better, but because it is different.

I have won my share of league titles, and some tournaments titles so I speak from experience. BIGLOCK all you or anyone else have to do is keep working at it and it will come to you, just like cutting figures, painting and detailing etc. You just have to find the time to work on it.


I do thinks in the training of the player that helps me make my team perform differently than just tweaking alone. Think of the end results while you work one player at a time.

Tweaking for the moment vs tweaking for a long haul is different. I have bases on those past championship teams that still perform today as they did during my run with that team. That why I change almost every year, to see if I can create another winner starting from scratch.

Thanks for reading,
Caoch K-Lo

Lock,

Thanks for the compliment! I put that 101 together to try and help coaches refine/add to their game. It was a listing of what I had learned from speaking to other coaches as well as what I was doing at the time. It was never intended to be a tool to be used for others to make a profit on. Actually I was hoping that it would help stop those that were selling bases to others for a substantial profit. Making a couple of dollars is cool, but charging someone 50 to 100 a base is robbery in my book.

90% of what you need I believe is in that 101 document. The other 10% will come from your testing

I would like to see some input from other coaches. My belief has always been to share in this knowledge. As mentioned above in the Jesus' parable of "teaching a man to fish."

If you ever want to talk just PM me.

Wally

[Pirate Rick]

Biglock my friend,
Yes it is true i was honered with a day long "tweekout" session with mr peotros, however even that does not (or did not) make me a tweek "master".
He showed me the hows and whys of tweeking, the IMPORTANCE of knowing when enough is enough.. and another important thing he bestowed me with was the desire to do the best i could and to relize that i am not going to "GET IT" right away, it will take awhile.
I spent the whole day picking his brain, tweeking bases and just learning as much as i could, but when it was all over the MOST important thing i learned was to keep practicing because to quote vince "no matter how good you think you are, someone out there will be better"
i have learned that balance is important, to much power and no speed might work for a play or two, but if your team has true balance it makes it alot harder to figure them out. and each kind of base requires a different approach to tweeking depending on what it is for and what kind of base it is.
All in all lock, PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE...and when your done with that PRACTICE some more.....and did i mention to practice ?

Going along with jimbo and what don said. it really takes time to tweak and adjust theses bases how you want them. Its going to be blood, sweat, and tears.and maybe some long nights to try and master this tweaking stuff. Just try to be humble as you can at your craft,and when you get the chance to meet other coaches at these special events they can show you extra pointers on what you are doing right and wrong. Thats how i learned from pratt, don, dearell,and lavell shelton. When ive had the chance, i played and played hard most of these cats up here know me and know that my craft is armed and dangerous. There was times where my bases i thought were so strong that i had shut everyone out in the first rounds, but by the second rounds the game was even. You cant be afraid to put your craft on the board because you will never how good you are in tweaking until you go head to head with some of these guys. You just have to have that killer instinct even when your bases are garbage.

[Kansas Bill]

Originally Posted by Coach K-LO

In the teaking process, you will some bases to the process. In an attempt to get the max from a base, as OLD School mentioned, you will lose some to over-tweaking....

Thanks for reading,
Caoch K-Lo

OK... I am going to admit this in advance.. YES... My response post here is yet more promotion of the Tornado Alley EFS F5 base..

But.. I have lost many a TTC shell and dial, and many a Proline dial to overtweaking.. Always trying to get just another little bit of ummph out of it, (and/or trying to get it to compete with a Norbert or Geno base) and I end up ruining it.. and it goes to the solitaire league pile..

There's no such thing as a base that can't be overtweaked.. BUT..
Our base's prongs are such that you can do much more tweaking before the prongs become so thin extra tweaking makes you weaker.. I haven't overtweaked a single F5 shell/dial before I got the desired results. And if I can do it, anybody can.

Thanks Guys