Heinsville

Super Hein 2010 results posted

jake@net10.net — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:19:16 GMT

Randy Silvey is Super Hein. For the full write up, check out the results page which includes a photo album and the scores.

New Diff Made Easy polls

ryan@smilesair.com — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:22:31 GMT

Now that FPA worlds 2010 is over, here are some new polls featuring tournament footage: http://www.heinsville.com/judging/dme.aspx

Jam Report - Seattle Hemp Fest 2010

galloupem@comcast.net — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:27:13 GMT

Team Northwest had a huge success at Hempfest 2010 in Seattle on the waterfront! The weather was beautiful both days. We had a 40 ft by 40ft roped piece of grass near the main stage surrounded by spectators. We started with some mob-oping to get warmed up then as the crowds grew we changed to a 2 jammer teams. Each team played until they had 3 drops then the next team would come on and play till they had 3 drops. Then players rotated to different teams! Team Northwest really did our sport proud! Thank you to footbag Johnny, our newest jammer and ambassedor to the sport, J.B., the real Neil Toland, Ryan (got gitis)Young, Steve the Beast Hayes aka the crusty guru jammer that held us together, and Mike Galloupe, the event coordinator.

Jam Report

lisahunrichs@yahoo.com — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 20:07:05 GMT

Great jam today - perfect wind from the nw. Jake, Lori, Lisa, Matt in attendance. Kenny Shults had a son turning 9 years old and had a date for laser tag! Highlight of this beautiful day was a set to a crow by Jake, set to a spinning crow by Matt, followed by a set to a pull and crow by Lisa to a quick hard set to Jake... who bumped it through a hoop by Matt by a solid crow by Lori - four crows in a row. Fabulous sunshine, 75 degrees, what a beautiful August day!

Super Hein in the Seaside Signal

jake@net10.net — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:08:18 GMT

Nice article in the local Seaside Paper. The youngsters get top billing. Read More

FPAW 2010 Live Web Cast

jake@net10.net — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:30:07 GMT

Free TV : Ustream

More FPAW Coverage on Seattle local TV

jake@heinsville.com — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 06:20:00 GMT

Lori, Sara, Ryan, and Claudio are shredding!: #fpaw

FPAW Coverage on Seattle local TV

jake@heinsville.com — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 06:05:10 GMT

Nice clips of the mixed round on Friday: #fpaw

FPAW Coverage in the Portland Tribune

jake@heinsville.com — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 06:02:13 GMT

With the local Portland angle: http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=128095562094301300 #fpaw

Super Hein Player's Handbook and Schedule are live

jake@net10.net — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:04:35 GMT

Super Hein's competition format differs from the Freestyle Player's Association standard format. Super Hein includes three divisions, each testing a different facet of Freestyle Frisbee play. The player who accumulates the most point across all divisions is crowned "Super Hein". The three divisions are; Open Pairs, Turbo Shred, and Mob-op. If you are a competitor, please read the Player's Handbook for details on each event and tips on strategy. Also, check the schedule for the event.

Registration will be done in person either at the Friday night gathering or Saturday morning starting at 9:00a on the beach.

Seaside Web Cam

jake@heinsville.com — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:54:48 GMT

See the Seaside Superhein 2010 event site and watch the event from the Seaside Chamber of Commerce web cams.

The cameras are on the righ of the page. Click "Control Camera" and then use the preset to see "The Round". The event site is in front of thr round, closer to the water.

US Open Disc overalls in the news

jake@heinsville.com — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 05:21:23 GMT

Headline news: old hippies find the fountain of youth.

Read and watch more.

Article on "The Jammer's"

jake@heinsville.com — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 05:40:58 GMT

Here's a nice article in The Florida Times-Union paper about "The Jammer's" 2010 freestyle frisbee tournament. http://jacksonville.com/community/shorelines/2010-06-03/story/freestyle-players-compete-jammers-2010-frisbee-tournament

Word of the Day - "Grovel"

jake@heinsville.com — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 19:03:37 GMT

Grovel: Verb. To perform extraordinary measures in order to save a disc that is seemingly out of reach. Groveling includes diving, crawling, rolling, or other actions that are not part of expected frisbee play. Groveling usually results in the jammer ending up on the ground. Ex. “Way to grovel for it.” See also: Bid.

RSVP to Seaside Super Hein 2010

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 14 May 2010 05:53:36 GMT

The event is listed on Heinsville's facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=107305455981599&ref=mf. Now go RSVP.

Super Hein 2010 Event Web Site is live

jake@heinsville.com — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 06:37:11 GMT

Now you can start planning for the event. Check it out: http://www.heinsville.com/superhein2010/index.aspx. There is still work to be done so check back often. But most importantly, make your plans to attend Super Hein now. You won't regret it!

Super Hein 2010 Poster

jake@heinsville.com — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 06:06:03 GMT

Grab the PDF and print your own. Don't miss the Seaside Super Hein Freestyle Frisbee tournament on Saturday, July 31st and Sunday, Aug 1st in Seaside, Oregon.

Seaside Super Hein - Public Service Announcement

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 05:57:44 GMT

“It’s a bird, it’s a plane…. It’s a flying saucer… no, it’s Super Hein!”
On Saturday,_July 31st and Sunday, Aug 1st, Seaside, Oregon will be host to the Seaside Super Hein freestyle Frisbee® tournament. Freestyle Frisbee® is creative movement with a Frisbee®. Think skateboarding but with a Frisbee - on the beach!
Freestyle Frisbee combines acrobatics and a flying disc to ignite the imagination and awe the spectator. The “Super Hein” is a coveted title in the Freestyle Frisbee world.
Come see the world’s best freestyle disc players from Germany, Italy, the USA and many others competing with their biggest, baddest, most intricate and most heinous tricks! All while controlling a spinning Frisbee®.
The Seaside Super Hein Frisbee® tournament will also include Ultimate and disc golf demonstrations. Show up and get pointers from the pros!
This is geared up to be one of the most spectacular flying disc tournaments of the year. ..Watch the pros vie for the title “SUPER HEIN” at Seaside – on the beach towards the ocean directly from the turnaround!

For more information: web-site www.heinsville.com or check the calendar at www.freestyledisc.org

Diff Judging Made Easy

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 20:01:29 GMT

Announcing Diff Judging Made Easy. In a nutshell, Diff Made Easy creates data for difficulty judging scores of Frisbee moves and makes it easily accessible for the freestyle Frisbee community. Vote and review the data. | Learn More. | Learn more about competitve freestyle frisbee and judging

Brought to you by www.heinsville.com, Ryan, Randy, Jake, and The Beast.

Word of the Day - "Skillet"

jake@heinsville.com — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:28:10 GMT

Skillet: Noun. An attempted air brush where the disc skips or bounces off the hand, out of control, similar to how the disc would react if it where slapped with a skillet or frying pan. Used as a taunt or heckle after a failed air brush attempt.

Ex. “Put the Skillet away!”

What Freestyle Frisbee players do after the jam.

jake@net10.net — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:42:14 GMT

This took place after one of the jam days at Frisbeer Cup 2010. It was a magical night. Ideas were flowing, new moves were being created and everone bonded over the love for and magic of the disc. This is the freestyle I live for.

Check out Ryan's freestyle frisbee youtube channel.http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFreestyleFrisbee.

Jam Report

matt@net10.net — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:47:55 GMT

On a warmish late February night the Portland jam crew put on long sleeves and jam pants and headed out for a lighted basketball court jam directly after work. We broke out a nice rasta disc and sacrificed it to the court. The wind was terrible. The catches were few but the jam was fun. I hit maybe no good combos the whole night. I was struggling with the conditions while everyone else got hein in spite of the weird light and choppy wind. Everybody was bumping and running and making impeccable decisions on the fly. Jake hit a twisto set to a gitus pull and then everybody else had to try. We all missed the try but admitted it was pretty bad ass. It’s time to think about coming to Portland if you haven’t made the trip yet. Have you considered the Super Hein?

DiscCast Extra: Lori Daniels

jake@heinsville.com — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:08:27 GMT

Frisboyz present a full length interview with Lori Daniels. She talks about her favorite moments, her history in the sport, and what it was like to win her first FPA world title. Nice interview, Lori. Listen to the interview.

Subscribe to disccast

30 seconds with a Super Pro

jake@net10.net — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:17:32 GMT

Just a quick video of the Jam in Prague with the Super Pro as it tours Europe. Want more? Check out the Super Pro's tour.

Jam Report

jake@net10.net — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:00:12 GMT

It was sunny and 59 F so Lori and I opted for an out door jam. We parked down town and walked over to Water Front Park. The wind was wild, shifting and puffing, but it didn’t slow us down. We hit multiple spins, sweet passes, and a hot catches. I pulled off a behind the back guide. Lori pulled off an indigenous catch from her own restricted set for move of the day. We turned a few heads and even got a couple guys to play catch with us to finish up our jam. Gotta love the Portland vibe!

Jam Report - The Second Frizbeer Jam 2010

jake@net10.net — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:13:50 GMT

Despite the cold, we had an itch. So, we piled into Dexter’s van and went to a square in old town. It was The Beast, Paul Kenny, Ryan Young, Matteo Gadoni, Spike (Matteo’s dog), and I. When we arrived Pavel was already shredding. The scene was intense. Large, square tiles with patches of ice, surround by buildings and tunnels. To our left, a railing shielded the road down below. We were freezing so we immediately started to jam…Ryan in shorts! The jam was hot. At one point Beast was on a brushing run with Pavel. He made a big catch and was so fired up that he threw the disc over the railing and into the road. Which Frisbee law is that? As the sun went down Jakub & Jakub showed up and added their vibe, with big gitis and bad attitudes. Lights came on and the building began to freeze. As we ran, we would inevitably approach an ice pile and someone would yell “ICE!” Then came, move of the day. Jakub hit a chest roll that sent him to the ice. There was a yell, and then a gitis. He nailed it with grace and hardly slipped at all. These guys must play in the ice all the time. Luckily for the foreigners we have a gym for the rest of the week. Jam on!

Jam Report - The First Frizbeer Jam 2010 - No Claudio though!!!

jake@net10.net — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:16:53 GMT

It's 19F/7C out so we decided to have a little in door jam. Thanks to Mahoney for letting us use his dinning area. This clip shows some of the fun. Move of the day? I set counter UTL to Pavel on a steep angle. He stepped up and rolled it clock. It just grabbed his and and changed spin. YEEEEOwza.

Jam Report

jake@net10.net — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:18:53 GMT

It was a Friday night, work blues were in full effect, but the weekend was upon us. How better to melt away the work blues than to jam? So Matt, Lisa, and I headed over to the Multnomah Community Center (MAC) for a 2 hour shred fest. Usually we start with some quick catch, but this time we went from zero to hein in under 5 minutes each hitting indies and co-ops right out of the gate. Some memorable moments include Lisa’s multi skid/spin combo and Matt’s rolling on the ground catches. Also, we all tried this UTL set where the disc goes around the head and then back to onto the nail. It’s blind. And we all hit it at least once. However, I am giving myself move of the day for a leg over kick brush to a btb kick brush to a gitis.

Later in the jam, Lisa sat down and Matt and I went at it one on one. We kept trying to one up each other. I’d say Matt won handedly but I kept close. Then Lisa came back in and Matt sat down. She and I went for co-op flow, sending beautiful short, long, flat, and angled passes. Eventually she sat down and it was just me. I TOOK THEM BOTH DOWN. Now that’s how to win a jam.

New Poll - What spin do you take?

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:22:18 GMT

When entering a jam with unfamiliar jammers, the question “what spin do you take?” is often posed. The answer is not simple. Let’s say you’re counter skills, although not on par with clock, are still quite formidable. If you answer “clock” you may be branded a clock player and never get a counter throw. Worse, you may be banished from future counter jams. But if you say “both” you may end up getting more counter than clock, and feeling a bit frustrated. Yet, in the time it takes to say “I’d like 87% clock, and 12% counter, and 1% third world with a plus or minus %2 margin.” the disc has been thrown and you’re stuck with what you got. Yes, it’s usually best to blurt out “clock” or “counter” or “yes” or just let a little drool spill from your lip. Gotta keep that flow going after all.

Heinsville wants to know; when you’re asked “what spin do you take?” how do you respond? Vote now.

Portland Freestlye Frisbee team does a Half Time Frisbee Show

jake@heinsville.com — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:13:25 GMT

The Portland, OR Freestyle Frisbee team does a half time show for the Portland State University Vikings basket ball team.

Matt's got a new Freestyle Frisbee move

jake@net10.net — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 06:29:17 GMT

I don't know what this move is called, but it sure is fun. Ever seen it before?

Freestyle Frisbee Throws & Tricks : Freestyle Frisbee Throws & Flips

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:33:05 GMT

The helicopter throw and backhand are just a few types of Frisbee throws that are incorporated in freestyle Frisbee. Learn more throws and flips used in freestyle Frisbee from a freestyle Frisbee champion in this free Frisbee video. #beginner

Freestyle Frisbee - Word of the Day

jake@heinsville.com — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:05:31 GMT

Seal: verb A satisfying catch at the end of a series of freestyle frisbee moves.

Ex. "Seal that meal!"

Ex. "That hand plant gitis was the perfect way to end your combo."

Seaside Super Hein 2010

jake@heinsville.com — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 05:07:07 GMT

Announcing the Seaside Super Hein 2010 Freestyle Frisbee tournament. Yes, it’s official. The event will take place on July 31 - Aug 1 in the city of Seaside, Oregon, USA. This is the weekend before 2010 FPA worlds so take the week off and make it to both. Sure, a world title is nice to have but how many people have an official certificate that declares, "You are Hein"? This is one event not to miss!

Tournament web site is under construction. For now, here's a Google Earth Place Mark to get you started. Please contact Lori, Matt, or I for more info.

Seaside Super Hein 2004

jake@heinsville.com — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:02:28 GMT

Another awesome video by Matt that highlights the magic moments at Super Hein in 2004. Don't miss Super Hein 2010 (July 31 - Aug 1)

Seaside Super Hein 2003

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 06:52:49 GMT

A sweet video by Matt that highlights the magic moments at Super Hein in 2003. Don't miss Super Hein 2010 (July 31 - Aug 1)

Jam Report

jake@net10.net — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:02:25 GMT

This jam featured the return of Lisa Hunrichs from Brazil. Also this is the first time in few months that all four PDX jammers appeared to jam. Not surprisingly, it was like we never took a break. This jam was pin ball city, with quick one touch flicks, tips, brushes, and rolls that were only catchable by sheer instinctive reaction. The momentum would be going in one direction and then, BAM, the disc switches directions coming hard towards your ankle. Plant, twist, grab, gitis…or SCORE! I was scored upon at least twice.

Every so often we would indie out just to prove we could. Lori hit a right hand inside leg skid to an invert hold. Then she set it indigenous and then pulled and set to a spinning catch. Matt threw Lisa a spanker. She proceeded to hit two nice skids with a couple btb swoops and ended in a picture perfect phauld. From a long throw I pulled a gitis, then went to a walk-over skid set. I pulled it back under the leg and then rolled it to a bad attitude catch. However, move of the day goes to Matt. It’s difficult to pick one as he was on fire the entire time. He hit hein moves but kept a playful composure that had us ooooing, awing, and giggling all at once. Here’s an example. Disc comes in and he takes it in on a figure four hold. He then steps over and immediately skids the disc out onto a right hand invert hold. From there he hunched over and let the disc fall to the rim and rocked it in and out between his legs, all the while pivoting on one foot. Next thing you knew he’s set it up high. The then dropped down and rolled his body across the floor, stopping just in time to nab the disc under his leg and behind his head in one fluid motion. All I could do was shake my head in disbelief.

Jam Camp Report from Hoss

jake@heinsville.com — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:48:23 GMT

Greg Hossfeld has a nice write up and pictures of Jam Camp on his blog. Read it here.

And his Face Book Photo Album

What is a Frisbeetarian?

lorizdisc@gmail.com — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:30:21 GMT

Frisbeetarian: n. A person who adheres to the belief that when you die your spirit floats up and gets stuck on the roof.

Because Joel was a frisbeetarian, he had no wonders about what had happened to his friend when he died, he knew for a fact that his soul was stuck on a roof.

Jam Report - Jam camp day 2

jake@heinsville.com — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:04:49 GMT

Just over a week has past now but Jam Camp spirit lives on. This jam report covers the jamming, and the competition on day 2. First, the competition. Students and teachers alike were ranked and then split into teams of four, each containing a pro, advanced, intermediate, and beginner. Teams had 1.5 hours to eat lunch and plan their routines. It was great fun for me to find out what my team mates had learned and how to work that into our choreography. A few memorable moments from the competition; Raj hitting a nice brush two nice brush passes ending in my gitis, Hos, Lori, Brian, and Cade's awesome juggling opening ending in nice catches by all, Tita filling in on the last team at the last minute and then shredding, and Ryan's smooth counter under the leg passes.

As the competition wound down there was a buzz among the instructors. "That guy behind the tree. Is it? Could it be? It is! Krae van Sikle!!!" All of us became a little gaga and suddenly jam camp had to be over fast so we could jam with Krae. Z and I even got a little speed flow in with him before the closing ceremony.

The first jam was very official. We had a signed disc and at least 6 world champions playing with it. It was a bit of a publicity stunt. However the pressure was too much and the disc was too dry...not much happened. The group split up and Z grabbed a new disc. Then it was Z, Stork, Hos, Doug, and I. Things started heating up. Every time the disc went by Stork he would touch it ever so gently to change the attitude or to pass it back. This got us all fired up and we began hitting hoops, roll outs, and big catches.

Eventually we tired out and took a break. As I walked to my water I saw huge mob-op. Everyone was converging on Krae. I needed a piece of that so I took a swig and ran in. This jam was awesome. Krae was so graceful and he spun into an indigenous. Cindy Kruger hit a crow brush. Dave Lewis was again all over the field and hit combo after combo. Jason hit some nice tip back passes and catches. Lori also hit nice catches and was on most of the brushing runs, feeding everyone for huge catches. I am probably only remembering half the people in the jam...it was epic! At one point Krae had to step out to...get this...put on some nails!

That jam stayed together for a while but eventually people began peeling off to cool down and Krae was no exception. However, some of us kept on jamming. At some point I looked over from the jam and spotted someone playing catch with Krae. He was spinning into under the leg catches like a dancer, leg over his head and toes pointed. Whoa, who was that!? I looked closer and it was Raj! How'd he learn to do that!?

What an epic end to a wonderful day. Oh, I almost forgot, move of the day. That goes to Luke. See, earlier in the day Dave Lewis gave us all a talk on connectivity. Luke took that to heart. During the competition he kept getting counter throws…he’s a clock jammer. So as soon as he got a clock throw he took advantage. He took the disc directly off the throw on an under the leg reception, set it directly out and then did an arvand pull. He then immediately set it up into a behind the head catch. It had flow, style, grace, and was fully connected...no reception the's. OOoooos and Aaaaaas where heard through out the crowd.

So, there you have it. Jam Camp is a huge success as measured by the quality of the competition and the jams. Here's a few pictures taken by Lori.

DiscCast Extra: Stork

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:54:53 GMT

Frisboyz present pieces of an interview with Stork as a teaser for their decades project. In the interview Stork shares his views on judging and a tournament format idea he has created to help draw players of all skill levels. At jam camp we used the same basic concept to form teams and ended the event with a no pressure competition. It was actually pretty fun to see the new jammers having their skills showcased along side the pros. Many of the campers would not have shown off in this way had we not used this concept. Anyhow, the interview is very thought provoking. Listen to the interview.

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Jam Report

lorizdisc@gmail.com — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 06:34:47 GMT

Well, the New Year Jam in Portland included the return of Brazil travelling, Matt Gauthier tonight. He joined Jake and Lori at our Multnomah Gym to shred it out for 2 hours. Great to see Matt since he’s been easing back into his turbo spinning jam style for the last few months post-ankle surgery and back injury. Even the staff at the Multnomah Arts Center (where the dance studio and gym are located) were elated to see us when we checked in. Jake, Lori, and Matt warmed up with a Jam Camp spinning catch speed flow with hoops and weaving around the floor. Afterwards, things got even more active with the usual tips, brushes, rolls, and spinning catches from each of the G-Bros. We also brought the soon-to-be touring Lemon Drop (colored) HDX Super Pro to the jam to help us wind down near the end and to add even more variety of challenges dealing with the small but sturdy disc. Thanks to Stork and Tita for arranging for the Super Pro to be available prior to it’s year-long journey around the world. Heinsville will be featuring an announcement about the Super Pro’s tour sometime in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, after exhausting ourselves and working up a healthy amount of sweat – we closed out with our broken-in Discraft Skystyler. Both discs were really fun to play with tonight. MOVES OF THE NIGHT: Jake succeeded in self-setting to a toe-delay (one of his first!) to a set behind his back to a clean scarecrow! Matt also boggled the mind by doing some ground-work – took a pass while seated on the floor and then under the leg passed to Lori, who then set it to Jake’s tip-pass back to Matt (still on the ground) who rolled around to a behind the head catch. Amazing! Too fun, that’s all I can say. - LD

New Poll - Ideal wind speed for jamming

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:44:23 GMT

Heinsville asks, what is the ideal wind speed for jamming? Are you an indoor jammer? Do you love a good stiff beach wind? Or, do you throw caution, and the disc to the wind with the phrase "we don't need no stinkin' conditions." Remember, we're talking about jamming, not competition. So stand up and be counted, in this Heinsville poll.

Jam Report - Jam camp day 1

jake@heinsville.com — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 06:46:03 GMT

Yes, jam camp was awesome. Yes, Stork gave a memorable talk on Freestyle. Yes, the campers learned quickly and impressed. However, I want to focus on the jam. As the sessions where coming to an end I found Dave Schiller giving a lesson to Jason. I quietly stepped up and looked longingly at the disc, and then at Dave. Suddenly the three of us were jamming. As we began to peel out, we started feeling a little like we were getting away with something. Jason hit timley catches, Dave hit killer combos, and the three of us went running into the sun, doing brush pass after brush pass.

Unfortunately, I still needed water so I had to step out. When I came back all official training was over and we had entered the school of hard jamming. Now there were multiple groups that included Cindy, Carolyn, Amy, Lori, Kathe, Luke, Raj, Danny, Dave Lewis, Dave Schiller, Danny, Brian, Ryan, and more I'm sure. One of the cool parts was, the jam camp spirit was alive, with everyone giving "Atta boys" and pointers as the jams went on.

At one point Dave L, Lori, Cindy, Amy, Carolyn, and I were in a jam. Dave had missed most of the first day so he was full of energy. I could not believe how much he was running. He'd hit two or three hard moves, pass it, and then he was somewhere else in the group and the disc came back to him. Although the rest of us were tired from a long day, Dave more than made up for it.

However, move of the day goes to John Thorne for bringing three Z machines. This "mob-ob" was a swarm of people (kids and adults) trying to learn the delay or trying to learn a new spin or trying to learn a new move. Jason picked up some counter work, Ryan learned multiple rim and center pulls. And many others were getting their hein on. I even took a turn of two to try to get more than four consecutive counter cranks. The scene was quite impressive.

As the shadows got long the jam wound down and we all headed out dinner. The first day of Jam Camp, and an awesome jam, were a success.

Poll Results - Name this move

jake@heinsville.com — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:02:30 GMT

And now...introducing...the 360 Whip Over! I asked for help naming the move in the video and you have spoken. This move does not need a mysterious name to be cool. Direct and to the point. "Look at me! I'm a 360 whip over. I dare you to try!" Poll results below.

Answer Text	Votes	%
Hardest Move in the World	0	0.00
Circle of Life	5	17.24
360 Whip Over	11	37.93
Topsy Turvy	2	6.90
Sunny Side Up	2	6.90
Other	9	31.03
29

Other Answers:

The Jake
girotondo
Ring of Venus
Full Circle
Jake's turnover thing a ma jiggy.
(I am not!)
need to see the whole move
spinning gitosis
Sunny side-over

Jam Report from Fraser park

jake@heinsville.com — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:40:10 GMT

As Lori and I strolled onto the scene, there were already 2 mob-ops underway. As I nailed up, Lori jumped right in. As I entered the jam, everything changed and both mob-ops merged into a single, nine person jam. Energy was high, as everyone moved and passed, but it proved to be too many people and the jam broke up again within 5 minutes. This was great for me because I got to jam one on one on one with Brian and Jason, two soon to be "campers". Brian and Jason are both solid clock players. Jason was at jam camp last year, and it showed with his solid passes and timely catches in the mob-op. Brian's athleticism was equally impressive. Flips and hand stands were seen early and often in this threesome.

It didn't take long for these guys to to tire me out. After a little water I was called into another group with Cindy, Lori, Dave Schiller. These four were already on fire and I knew I would have to step up my game to keep from jam busting. There was clock and counter, right side and upside side down, flat sets and roll outs. It almost seemed as if there was nothing we couldn't do....and if you lost control for any reason, just bump it over to Dave. No matter what or how much spin, Dave had an answer. At one point Lori did a shoot to Cindy, who tipped to Dave. He pulled behind his back and rolled to me. I did an inverted roll back and turned it over with a wrist flip and sent it back to Dave. He CRUSHED a gitis on the UD disc, crashing and burning in the process. I wish I could recall some of the combos Dave was hitting but most of them were to complex for my brain to record without the benefit of instant replay.

As the day went on there was ebb and flow. Groups changed and everyone got hot. A few memorable moments included Lori's spinning gitis, Jason's spinning gitis, Cindy's crushing catches from Dave's sets, Danny saving EVERYTHING including one of my errant crow brushes - ending in a gitis, Amy and Dave flowing together so naturally, and the sunset. Yes, the sunset on the beach was incredible. I think mother nature gets move of the day for that one.

As the sun set Lori, Dave, Cindy, Jason, and I did some speed flow - "no delays allowed." This simple rule challenged us to use throws, tips, bumps, hoops, and catches and to run our butts off. It made for some extremely fun play. We ended by gitising into the sun set, as this small photo album will attest to. Yes, four and a half hours later, we were satisfied...or maybe it was too dark to keep going. Either way, WOW! What a way to start the new year.

Returning From Jam Camp 2010

jake@heinsville.com — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:21:13 GMT

Lori and I have just returned from Jam Camp 2010 and let me tell you, it was amazing. As always, I spent most of my time with frisbees and friends and not behind the camera or at the computer. However, between Lori and I (mostly Lori) we have some photos, videos, and stories to share. We'll sort them out and post them over the next couple days. For now, a few memorable moments; huge "pre" jam at Fraser park, Krae in the "post" jam, students step up BIG TIME in the competition, and Stork's mind blowing introductory talk. Thank you to all the students, instructors, volunteers and ESPECIALLY to Tita for making it all happen. This is one of my favorite yearly events.

Freestyle Frisbee - Word of the Day

jake@heinsville.com — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 07:18:06 GMT

Turbo: adj. A Frisbee Freestyler with endless amounts of energy for the jam. Usually the first one to the jam and the last one off the field. Also describes freestyle movements or style of play were a powerful, forceful, or explosive effort is exerted.

Ex. "As I watched them jam into the sunset I realized that they were most turbo."

Ex. "The way you leaped into that gitis was so turbo."

Freestyle Frisbee Stretches, Backhand & Forehand Throws : Gitis Position in Freestyle Frisbee

jake@heinsville.com — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:39:15 GMT

Go all the way around the body and throw around the far leg when using the gitis position. Learn how to throw from the gitis position in freestyle Frisbee from a world champion in this free sports video series. #intermediate

PDX Freestyler's performing for the PSU Vikings

jake@heinsville.com — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:20:29 GMT

The PDX Freestyle Frisbee team will be performing for the Portland State University Vikings basket ball teams at their half time show. The performances will take place on Jan. 30 @ the 2:00p women's game and Feb 26 at the 7:05p men's game. The PDX Freestyle team consists of Lori Daniels, Jake Gauthier, Matt Gauthier, and Lisa Hunrichs. Buy some tickets and see the show...the basket ball game will be a great bonus! HAH!

Hat Trick

jake@heinsvile.com — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:15:52 GMT

Z Weyand observes that Lori Daniels has had an awesome year. What with winning womens pairs at FPAW '09 with Sara Bergman, becoming the FPA director and winning the disc design contest...sounds like a hat trick to me! Way to go Lori!!!!

Jam Report

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:15:32 GMT

Todays jam included Lisa, Lori, Jake (me), and the long awaited return of Matt. Matt and Lisa arrived first to the dance studio and warmed up the floor. Lori jumped straight in while Jake got prepared. Soon, the four were on fire. Restricted passes, brushes, kicks, skids and whole-lotta movement where the scene. It was evident after 10 minutes that we were all excited to play with the full cohort after so many months. Within 20 minutes we were winded...its funny how with so much movement, even with four players it's an aerobic jam. Memorable moments included Lisa's nice twisto-flex. She also hit many scare crows from every angle off everyone's set. Lori hit a double spin behind the head and a sweet, unexpected bad attitude from my set. My big move was a twisto set to a spinning phlaud. Matt wins move of the day with his UDs takes. He hit one take behind the back right off the throw and then took it down between his legs, in perfect control. We also had a few practice moments where we each tried various moves including kneeling delay hold to set to hold, switching hands and knees. The jam lasted two hours. As the community center staff began locking up we all hit one last catch (the infamous "catch out") and then headed back out into the rain. If we're lucky, we'll do it all over again tomorrow.

Freestyle Frisbee Stretches, Backhand & Forehand Throws : Upside Down Sidearm Freestyle Frisbee Throw

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:11:42 GMT

The upside down sidearm throw is also known as the hammer. Learn how to do freestyle Frisbee upside down sidearm throws from a world champion in this free sports video series. #intermediate

Heinsville on Facebook and Twitter

jake@heinsville.com — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:01:36 GMT

As Heinsville strives for improvement, we have added a Face Book Page and a Twitter Account. All heinsville blog entries will be posted to twitter. So, follow us to keep up on the latest. On Facebook, we'll post some unique content, host discussions, and link to our favorite heinville happenings. We've also added an about us page to heinsville to help non frisbee freestylers to better understand what we're all about. Now, let's all go jam!

Freestyle Frisbee Stretches, Backhand & Forehand Throws : Under the Leg Forehand Freestyle Frisbee Throw

jake@heinsville.com — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:18:08 GMT

The under the leg forehand throw is one of the easier sidearm throws to master. Learn how to do freestyle Frisbee under the leg forehand throws from a world champion in this free sports video series. #beginner

DiscCast Extra: Gina Sample

jake@heinsville.com — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:11:07 GMT

Frisboyz do a nice Podcast interview with Gina Sample. It's really fun to hear how different players got into freestyle frisbee and their perspectives on the sport. To date, Gina is the only woman player to win an open pairs title. She is truly a legand of the sport. Don't miss this great interview. Listen to the interview.

Subscribe to disccast

Freestyle Frisbee - Word of the Day

jake@heinsville.com — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:44:31 GMT

Hein: adj. (pronounced HAYN): A freestyler, routine, or move that excels beyond expectations. Outstanding, excellent, awesome, or admirable freestyle frisbee play. Although hein is derived from the word heinous (meaning horrific), it is used to describe very positive attributes.

Hein is more than just a descriptor, it is a state of being. As with many disciplines, freestylers constantly strive to reach the next eschalon or level. One may be hein in their own state of progress or one can be hein when their unique freestyle creations inspire and awe others. In effect, as freestylers practice, jam, and compete they are striving to be hein.

Ex. "That was a Hein routine!"

Ex. "What was that hein combo?"

Ex. "Have you seen her jam? She is so hein."

Just backin' you up.

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:58:27 GMT

Ever feel like a dog hoping for table scraps as you hover around your friends while they pull off hein moves? Well, sometimes it pays off.

Jam Report

jake@heinsville.com — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 08:27:15 GMT

It was another cold night in Portland, but the gitis twitch could not be ignored. So Lori and I headed over to the community center for a nice in door jam. Somehow two weeks had passed since the last jam so we had to dust out a few cob webs. Ever noticed how a short break can sometimes lead to a break through? That was certainly the case for Lori as she pulled off move of the day over and over. She hit some nice skids, including a perfect right handed one that didn't touch the rim once. She also hit a nice leg over set to a spinning leg over take, to a few more nice pulls that ended with a spinning behind the head...move of the day! I attempted a couple new ideas tonight. One was pointing my left leg straight while grabbing my toe with my right hand. Then, with my left hand, pass the disc on the outside on my right arm, through the hoop. As the disc falls through the hoop, reach under the left leg and crank it back through...I got close but every time got brain twisted and lost control just before the crank. As the jam wound down, Lori began practicing connect the nerouns and hit 6 in a row. Look out! Lori is on fire!

Freestyle Frisbee Stretches, Backhand & Forehand Throws : Freestyle Frisbee Forehand Throws

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:15:58 GMT

Forehand, or sidearm, throws allow for several different ways to grip the Frisbee. Learn how to do freestyle Frisbee forehand throws from a world champion in this free sports video series. #beginner

Seattle Halloween Jam 2009

lorizdisc@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:14:12 GMT

How much fun is this? Great wind and awesome vibe by the Seattle-lites! And to think that Freestyle Worlds will be returning to the Emerald City (here) in August 2010! (Sorry to Mike Galloupe for forgetting his name in the closing credits). - LD

Poll Results - Which Catch is most difficult?

jake@heinsville.com — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:21:49 GMT

The votes are in. Find out which catch is most difficult?

Answer Text	Votes	%
Gitis	17	24.64
Phlaud	24	34.78
Scarecrow	16	23.19
Pancake	7	10.14
Huh?	5	7.25

Freestyle Frisbee Stretches, Backhand & Forehand Throws : Freestyle Frisbee Upside Down Backhand Throws

jake@heinsville.com — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:48:16 GMT

When the Frisbee is upside down it must be thrown with the opposite angle. Learn how to do freestyle Frisbee upside down backhand throws from a world champion in this free sports video series. #beginner

New Page for Random Pics

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 07:11:25 GMT

To improve Heinsville use on smaller screens, the Radnom Pics have a new home. Or you can click the small pic random to the right of the town at the top of the page.

Want to add your pics to the rotation? Send us an email.

Freestyle Frisbee Stretches, Backhand & Forehand Throws : Freestyle Frisbee Under the Leg Backhand Throw

jake@heinsville.com — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 08:14:24 GMT

The correct grip is essential for executing the under the leg backhand throw. Learn how to do under the leg backhand freestyle Frisbee throws from a world champion in this free sports video series. #beginner

Word of the Day - "Crusty"

lorizdisc@gmail.com — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:26:34 GMT

Crusty: Adjective. Descripter indicating the age of a particular freestyle disc move or particular freestyle disc player (jammer). Typically suggesting that the move or person is of a particular vintage or age. Ex. "Wow! Check out the crusty move from the 1970s!" or "Those guys over there are the original jamming kings, and they look great even if they're crusty.

Freestyle Frisbee Stretches, Backhand & Forehand Throws : Freestyle Frisbee Chair Throw

jake@heinsville.com — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:16:16 GMT

The chair throw is a backhand trick throw that is very popular. Learn how to do freestyle Frisbee chair throws from a world champion in this free sports video series. #beginner

Heinsville Polls - Name this move

jake@heinsville.com — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:16:31 GMT

Please help me name this move by voting in the poll.

Freestyle Frisbee Stretches, Backhand & Forehand Throws : Freestyle Frisbee Behind the Back Backhand Throw

jake@heinsville.com — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:10:11 GMT

To do the behind the back backhand throw the arm comes all the way around and the body turns to allow room to make the throw. Learn how to do freestyle Frisbee behind the back backhand throws from a world champion in this free sports video series. #beginner

Jam Report - Turkey Jam

lorizdisc@gmail.com — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:00:50 GMT

Well, we had in attendance 17 jammers - the youngest at 7 years-old (Erin Armstrong) and the oldest at an undisclosed age-bracket. The wind was challenging, with gusts coming from different directions, but the sun was out in full! Plus, the addition of Boston's Rick Williams (visiting his sister in the area) made for a great time. See the photo posted to identify all those present. Locals Mike and Tam Wolfe, Scott "the Weav" Weaver, Keith Armstrong and his daughter Erin (the youngest new jammer), Tom Ford, Doug Korns, Carl Dobson, (new jammer) Raj Mistry , Kathe and Luke Smalanskas all represented the CA contingent. Oregonians, Jake and Matt Gauthier, Lisa Hunrichs and Lori Daniels were part of the Pacific NW visiting group. Four hours of jamming flew by, ending with the "death jam" by Jake, Luke, Raj, and Rick. Move of the day is up for debate, however notable moments included Matt's brush pass to Jake's double-spin to a kick-brush back to Matt, who then double-spun to a flying barrel-roll (Jeepers!). Also, Scott Weaver's finesse rolls and spin changes amidst his many hours working hard preparing Weaver Winter Wonderland were also impressive.

Freestyle Frisbee - Word of the Day

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:07:31 GMT

Twisted Turkey: noun. A restricted move, often a catch in Freestyle Frisbee where the arm wraps around the inside leg on the same side. Can be either right arm wrapping around right leg or left arm wrappiing around left leg. Ex. "Check out that Twisted Turkey delay!" See also: Figure Four, Perch, or Grape Vine.

Jammin' in Jacksonville

jake@heinsville.com — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:27:22 GMT

We made it to Jacksonville but couldn't find Paul Kenny anywhere. So, we jammed without him. Move of the day? Lori hit a sweet combo including spins, a skid, and ending with a scarecrow. Unfortunatly, the camera wasn't on for that one.

Check out the small photo album

Spinflower Freestyle Frisbee Turnover

jake@net10.net — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:51:22 GMT

Paul Siefert shows different versions of the turnover, one-handed or two-handed. #advanced

Beach Urban Freesyle

jake@heinsville.com — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:00:19 GMT

Picture it; The Beach Styler's 2009 freestyle frisbee competition is over. Hours remain before flying home. Only one challenge remains to be conquered...the pier. Jeff, Ryan, Neil, and Jake try a little beach urban freestyle frisbee in San Diego, California

Turkey Jam

jake@heinsville.com — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:56:32 GMT

Calling all NorCal jammers.There will be a jam on November 28th, 12:00p at Sonoma State University. Jake, Lori, Matt, and Lisa will be in attendance. This is the fifth? annual Turkey Jam. It will be a veritable shred fest. Plus, there will be an after adventure to Weaver's Winter Wonder Land. Be there, or be square. A disc is round, round is better.

Still not sure? Here's the video from 2007.

Jam Report

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:35:40 GMT

Every Sunday the Multnomah Community Center opens it's doors to a local church service. For us spin worshipers, that means we can jam in the Dance studio during the service. Today it was Lori and I at jam church, praying for insight into the spin and the wisdom to follow the discs plan for us. Worship warmed up with some speed flow including a few spinning catches by Lori. We then reviewed the book of Larbs, practicing our scare crow brushes. Then it was onto the book of Skippy for some skid pass combos. Finally we broke into the jam, letting our spirits and the disc soar as we peeled out the indies and co-ops. Move of the day nod, according to Lori, goes to me. I had counter UD. I attempted a Saturn rings behind the back pass to myself. However, I hooked the rim too much and the disc nearly turned over. In a diving save attempt to slapped down on top of the disc, completing the turn over and adding spin. Sadly, I not could regain my footing to continue the chase. Despite not making the catch, the shock and awe of a turn-over slap-brush got me the nod.

Freestyle Frisbee Stretches, Backhand & Forehand Throws : Backhand Mac Freestyle Frisbee Throw

jake@heinsville.com — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:13:00 GMT

The backhand mac throw is useful for increasing the spin on the Frisbee. Learn how to do freestyle Frisbee backhand mac throws from a world champion in this free sports video series. #intermediate

Word of the Day - "Boosh"

lorizdisc@gmail.com — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:05:16 GMT

Boosh: verb. 1. Individuals: To be replaced unceremoniously by another freestyler as a partner. To expect to play with a partner or partners, only to learn (indirectly) that another freestyler other than you will be The Partner. (synonyms: jilted, dropped, dumped) Ex. "I just found out that I was booshed by ___ and ___ just before the tournament."

2. Teams: To assume that your team did not receive adequate points or to have played better than what was judged or what the results indicate. To feel as though the team has lost unfairly. Ex. "Your team was booshed and you should have won it!"

Connectivity

jake@heinsville.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:32:13 GMT

Dave and Z bring to your attention the concept of "connectivity". #intermediate

Returning From Beach Styler's

jake@heinsville.com — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:58:42 GMT

What can I say? Dave and Amy know how to throw a tournament. They ordered up the perfect wind, sun, and tides for the weekend. Couple that with some of the heinest jammers and you have a recipe for a fabulous time. A few memorable moments in the jam: Larry's 4 consecutive crow brushes, Chip's leg over chest roll, so many hoops, jammin' on the sand bar where Amy caught everything, OB regulars who just keep going, and a one on one death jam with Dave Murphy that almost took me down! Thanks Dave and Amy for a wonderful time. For the full report, read Dave's post on Jammers on the net.

By the way, there was a mischievous day after jam...but I'll save that for another post.

Rockin' the Baby

lorizdisc@gmail.com — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:54:08 GMT

Sometimes, a tired worker from Intel needs to find some entertainment from sitting in front of a computer all day. Perhaps jamming in the living room is an option! The latest Freestyle Disc move to be posted: Rock the Baby that Jake revitalized from someone he saw in OR during the last century. Enjoy! - LD

Lisa Hunrichs in the Portland Tribune

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:46:22 GMT

"The Tribune talked flying discs with Hunrichs, who’s also executive director of the Freestyle Players Association."

Tribune: How much a part of your life is Frisbee?

Hunrichs: I would say it’s a major part of my life. I don’t think about Frisbee moves every day, but in the summer life is geared toward when are we going to “jam.”

Read the full article.

Freestyle Frisbee Stretches, Backhand & Forehand Throws : Freestyle Frisbee Throwing With Spin

jake@heinsville.com — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:44:51 GMT

It's very important to put as much spin as possible when doing Frisbee freestyle. Learn how to throw with spin in freestyle Frisbee from a world champion in this free sports video series. #beginner

Freestyle Frisbee - Word of the Day

jake@heinsville.com — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:25:34 GMT

Slick: noun. A substance applied, usually by spray, to one's Frisbee to reduce the friction between the Frisbee and one's finger nail. Usually a silicon based spray. Ex. I have a disc, do you have any slick?
Slick rag: noun. The nastiest old rag from the back of the closet, usually a sock, used to rub slick into the disc. Ex. Shoot, I forgot my slick rag again.

Falling into Freestyle by Kerry Kollmar

jake@heinsville.com — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:01:48 GMT

Kerry Kollmar recounts how he began playing Frisbee in the '70s and how he discovered the nail delay and the air brush. WOW! This was posted a few months back, but I just saw it. It filled me with nostalgia for our roots and pride to be a part of such a wonderful sport and community. It's a very fun read. Thanks, Kerry. Full Article

Freestyle Frisbee Stretches, Backhand & Forehand Throws : Flat vs Angled Backhand Freestyle Frisbee Throw

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:18:39 GMT

Beginners should concentrate on perfecting a flat throw. Advanced players should work on angled throws to increase the amount of tricks they can perform. Learn the difference between flat and angled freestyle Frisbee backhand throws from a world champion in this free sports video series. #beginner

Jam Report: We had only ONE hour...

lorizdisc@gmail.com — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:51:15 GMT

...to jam in the gym. So, as Lori nailed-up, Jake was already working on brushing, kicking, and spinning catches. No warm-up, just shred out there. Lori finally feeling ready, was given z's and both just continued the momentum of passing, rolling, brushing, tipping, and catching as fast as two people who are jammin' against the clock could go. Noteworthy moments were when Jake and Lori tried to do some ground moves to each other, Jake's phlaud pulls, and Lori's upsidedown moves. We were trying to dream up some co-ops for eventual demos that we are trying to schedule for the not-too-distant future. By the time our 55 minutes were up, both were exhausted, sweaty, hot, and happy. A strong contrast to the driving rain and cool temps outside of the gym. Move of the jam: Lori's utl set to spin one way, to a utl pull under other leg...you'll just have join us to see what we're talking about. ;-)

Heinsville Polls

jake@heinsville.com — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:29:55 GMT

Announcing Heinsville Polls. At least once a month Heinsville will post a new poll seeking to root out popular opinion on important topics like: What's the hardest catch? Which spin is better? Do you point your toes? And preferred wind speed. These questions are meant to educate, entertain, and inspire. Don't miss your chance to weigh in!

This month's Poll. Which catch is most difficult: Gitis, Phauld, Scarecrow, or Pancake?

Milwaukee Labor Day Jam 2009

lorizdisc@gmail.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:47:01 GMT

Sunny Daze! Jammin' Craze! I was out there too much to video the dropless shredding that was going on... but, you can get a taste of it by watching some of the great moves by these folks. - LD

Freestyle Frisbee Stretches, Backhand & Forehand Throws : Freestyle Frisbee Backhand Throws

jake@heinsville.com — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:45:17 GMT

The backhand throw is one of the most popular throws in Frisbee freestyle. Learn how to do freestyle Frisbee backhand throws from a world champion in this free sports video series. Expert: Todd Brodeur. #beginner

Co-Op team in 2010

jake@heinsville.com — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:25:16 GMT

Jake Gauthier, Paul Kenny, and Matteo Gadoni team up for the co-op division in 2010. This team combines athleticism and technical moves all with a shred-or-die attitude. The team has already scheduled appearances at the FRISBEER CUP event in Prague, Czech Republic and the FPA World Championships in Seattle, Wa, USA.
Matteo's web site
Paul's web site
Jake's web site

Freestyle Frisbee Stretches, Backhand & Forehand Throws : Stretching Hands & Back for Freestyle Frisbee

jake@heinsville.com — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:26:05 GMT

Stretching the hands and the back is important when participating in freestyle Frisbee. Learn how to stretch the hands and the back for freestyle Frisbee from a world champion in this free sports video. #beginner

Freestyle Frisbee Stretches, Backhand & Forehand Throws : Stretching Shoulders & Hips for Freestyle Frisbee

jake@heinsville.com — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:21:58 GMT

The shoulders and hips are very active in freestyle Frisbee. Learn how to stretch the shoulders and hips for freestyle Frisbee from a world champion in this free sports video series. #beginner

Freestyle Frisbee Stretches, Backhand & Forehand Throws : Stretching Legs & Arms for Freestyle Frisbee

jake@net10.net — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:41:03 GMT

Stretching the arms and legs is important when participating in freestyle Frisbee. Learn how to stretch the arms and legs for freestyle Frisbee from a world champion in this free sports video series. #beginner

Jam Report

jake@heinsville.com — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:20:07 GMT

The scene at Magnuson park was a peaceful one. The sun was out, the grass was dry, and there was not a soul in sight. Cindy, Ryan, and I turned on the tunes, sauntered out to the jam field, and broke the peace. We almost instantly peeled. Ryan hit a skid, I hit a skid, Cindy hit a skid to a crow brush to my brush pass to Ryan’s crushing gitis.

Somehow the energy in the park had changed. There was a certain inaudible buzz in the air. Just about that time Lori and Randy walked up. With brief hugs, they were in and hein ensued. Randy brings a certain energy into a mob-op that is indescribable. It grabs your full attention…the environment melted away.

At some point I looked up from a phlaud and a second jam had emerged. “Where’d they come from?” It was Mike G, Beast, Ryan, and Ryan’s friend Greg who was having his second jam. But how could that be? He takes both spins! I went to say "hi" and jammed with this crew. Before I knew it, Mary, Rick Sader, and Bob B had also arrived.

Now there were three jams. It was like a buffet, all you can eat and whatever you want. I took full advantage, switching jams often to get maximum face-time with all. At one point Randy, Lori, Cindy, Rick, and I were in a jam. Randy had the disc and did some funky monkey, spinny, tipping combo. He was inches from Lori, who instinctively knew when it was her turn. She snatched the disc on her nail, did a restricted pass back to Randy, who sent it immediately to Cindy and we were off. After multiple rolls, Rick ended with a picture perfect phlaud. Later in the jam I had the disc. I did some pass to Randy who set the disc on it’s side on the ground. It’s spin sent it straight to me. My heart jumped and skin tingled…kick brush! But I was a split-second behind and my foot stuck to the ground like glue. ARG!

And then…behold…more jammers! Jeff, Jacob, and John Titcomb arrived to the scene to add their special spark, and fresh legs. 13 jammers in all, the jam just would not stop. After about 4 hours I stopped on a double barrel roll off Beast’s roll out. But Beast would not be out done. He, Bob, Ryan, and Jeff kept going. That is until the move of the day took place. Every one touched it, multiple restricted passes. Then, off to the brushing races they went. A few rolls across the jam, then Beast hits a kick brush, and POW gitis that took him down so hard he rolled end-over-end three times on the ground. It was so hot that everyone just stopped…”jam over, we can’t top that.”

Matt Gauthier: Late Night Twirly Madness

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:25:25 GMT

If you want something, keep trying until you get it.

Freestyle Frisbee - Word of the Day

lorizdisc@gmail.com — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:44:36 GMT

Spaunch: 1: verb. To play freestyle frisbee below one's usual ability. Ex. I was spaunching all day.
2: adj. Any sub par freestyle move. Ex. His spaunch throw hit me in the face. See also: Frisbee Hell, Jam Bust. Antonyms: Hein, Shred

The Invisible String, Trailer 2

jake@net10.net — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:22:03 GMT

Collecting Discs

Jam Camp 2010

jake@net10.net — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:41:00 GMT

Jam Camp 2010 officially opens for registration today. This is the third annual event where the pros have the time to turn you into an awesome jammer! The instructor list reads like a who's who of freestyle Frisbee. Included on that list is Lori Daniels, this year's Women's Pairs World Champion with Sara Bergman. This will be Lori's third year as an instructor. What keeps her going back is, "...the opportunity to give back to the sport that has given me so much," says Daniels. Freestyle Jam Camp will be held January 2nd through the 3rd, 2010 in beautiful Los Angeles, California - USA. Come and learn how to catch and throw a disc in a variety of ways. Learn more

Good old days?

jake@net10.net — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:14:36 GMT

Look what I found. Have I really been working on Frisbee web sites this long? The pictures are great, especially the crusty, Jimmy Zuur ones! United Freestyler's (ehem, I mean) Flyer's of Sonoma - circa 1997

Ryan Rocks

jake@heinsville.com — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:32:51 GMT

What happens when jammers from Portland and Seattle converge on an unsuspecting beach community? See for yourself.

Juice

jake@net10.net — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:05:05 GMT

Juice: With Clock spin, set the disc on the left side of your body. Now, reach behind your legs/under your left leg with your left hand and pull the disc against the spin so it traverses between your legs. #advanced

Beach Stylers

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:38:02 GMT

Jake Gauthier and Randy Silvey pair up for Beach Stylers on November 14-15, 2009. Beach Stylers is likely to be one the biggest US based freestyle Frisbee tournaments, and is happening in San Diego, Ca. Although the pair are working as a team, Beach Stylers has a unique and exciting tournament format which pits all players against each other across a series of events: Open Pairs (for which Jake & Randy are partnered), Individuals (hardest move from throw to catch), Mo-Op (random teams of 3 or more), and the Air Brushing races. Freestyle Frisbee Tournament Schedule

Freestyle Frisbee Montage

jake@heinsville.com — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:35:59 GMT

Arthur posted this back in 2005 and I just saw it. Auto-generate a Montage of Freestyle Frisbee (or any) images with this google app. Way cool! Freestyle Frisbee Montage

And then there were two

lorizdisc@gmail.com — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:01:40 GMT

Jake and Lori jammed at our usual indoor location (Multnomah Arts Ctr) in the gym tonight. The stereo didn't work, so we had to play to the music in our heads. That apparently didn't slow us down in peeling out some complicated individual combos. Jake pulled out a kick series with a right, left, and heel kick to a bad attitude catch in addition to his multiple spins to catches and his signature 4 against skid moves. Being impressionable and all, Lori figured out a few against skid maneuvers herself, including a left hand set under right leg to a right-hand behind the back skid rim pull to a catch. We also spent the last few minutes of our 1.5 hour jam to video more moves to post on Heinsville web-site so stayed tuned and y'all come back now! - LD

Freestyle Frisbee - Word of the Day

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:34:42 GMT

Condo'd: adj. Any nail where the dried Krazy glue is taller than the nail. Ex. How can you jam with those condo'd nails? See also: Stacker.

Cove Pull

jake@heinsville.com — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:05:47 GMT

Cove Pull: With Clock spin, set the disc on the right side of your body. Now, reach behind your back with you left hand and pull the disc so it traverses behind your back from right to left, and then in between your body and your left arm. This is one of the prettiest against the spin pulls, in my opinion. Of course, unlike mine, an ideal cove would not touch the rim. #advanced

Jam Report

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:55:29 GMT

Today's PDX jam featured guest jammer Mary Lowry, along with Lisa, Lori, and me (Jake). We had a sweet, indoor, mob-op session with the disc bouncing between us like a pinball on nearly every move. Thanks to Mary's presence, we also had lots counter spin practice. Some highlights included Mary's gracefull cove pulls with BOTH spins and Lori's self set Gitis. Of course move of the day has to go to Lisa, Mary, and I for a sick counter co-op which involved everyone's nails, a couple skids, and then a 4 roll series featuring both forward and inverted chest rolls. As the jam wound down, the scene was Lori practicing her kick brushes. While she didn't hit the same right foot, left foot, right foot behind the left leg combo from the last jam, it was still a joy to watch.

Portland Freestyle Demo

matt@heinsville.com — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:01:00 GMT

UFOs Reunion - Sonoma State Campus 2007; Video by Z Weyand

lorizdisc@gmail.com — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:30:44 GMT

Can you name the jammers in this video? The more you can name, the crustier you are.

Portland Jams 2

jake@heinsville.com — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:30:34 GMT

Matt's 2nd video.

Portland Jams

jake@heinsville.com — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:08:10 GMT

Matt put together this wicked video of the hein in Portland.

To Jam again

jake@heinsville.com — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:35:37 GMT

Heinsville will be going through a revamp. Stay tuned.

How To Put Together A Routine

jake@heinsville.com — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 06:33:22 GMT

Putting together a freestyle routine is rarely the same as jamming. There are few players who can translate the excitement and unexpected thrills of jams into competitive formats. What that means is you'll need to put in some time to create your routine.

Every time you create a routine is different. Every routine is a different journey. You'll have more fun by not focusing on the 5 minutes you will have to perform the routine at a competition but on enjoying the hours of creativity and comraderie that will get you to that competition.

If you decide to enter a competition and want to put together a routine, it's useful to think about a few questions:

GOALS

What are your goals? Your goal may be to have fun. It may be to pull off a certain move in competition or to demonstrate a style of play you love. It may be to place at a certain level, to make the finals, to win. Your goals, and the goals of your teammates will shape the way you create your routine. Without articulating your goals for yourself, you may encounter more frustration than you need to when building your routine.

For instance, if you are playing a theatrical routine at a beach shred competition, you should know whether your goal is to place well or play your style. If your goal is to place well, you should be aware that your style may be a handicap to your goal. If your goal is to demonstrate your style of play, your final placing won't be a big factor for you.

Take a moment to identify your goals. You may have a few. What's most important? What's less important?

STYLE

What style do you want to play? The sport is freestyle. The moves are the same, but each player combines them in their own individual way, creating an infinite variety of play. Knowing your style of play and your style of competing can make your routine planning more successful and enjoyable.

Are you interested in more spontaneous play in competition? I am not an expert on spontaneous routines, but if you play this style you probably won't want to bother mapping out elaborate co-ops to distinct music cues. Your time is better spent jamming with your team, learning each others' games and getting hot.

Are you interested in a highly choreographed routine? If so, you're probably going to have to limit your jamtime with your team because you'll need to spend more time working out co-ops and practicing the routine.

TIME COMMITMENT

How much time can you commit to putting the routine together? Whatever style of routine you choose, it's important to work out with your teammate. If your routine is choreographed, you'll want enough time to put the routine together and practice it. If your routine is unplanned, you should play with your teammate as much as possible. The more you know each other's games, the better your interactions and improvised co-ops will be.

I've had the luxury of living in the same city as my teammate and the further luxury that the city had awesome weather. Dave Lewis and I could play year-round. We did not work on routines year-round, but we worked on our games and improved our team play in jams. Our situation is extremely rare. It's more likely that you will have only a few practice sessions with your team.

Whatever your situation, budgeting your time is important. If you get together at a tournament and have an hour to prepare for the first round, use that hour wisely. It's probably more important to work out some co-ops than pick out uniforms. It's probably more important to pick music that every team member can jam to than to work out intricate choreography. Do what you can for the first round. If you make the cut, you have more time to flesh out your routine and pick those perfect matching outfits.

Even if you practice year-round, it's essential to use your time effectively. There have been many years that Dave and I spent more time worrying about our song choice than putting good co-ops together. If you have 10 weekends a year to prepare for a tournament, and the weather is so good on 9 of them that you just jam, that leaves you 1 weekend to prepare. You've just lost all the advantage of living near each other.

YOUR TEAM AND THEIR GOALS

Who are you playing with, and what are their goals? If your teammate has different goals, it can lead to tension. If you want a shred routine and the rest of your team wants something more theatrical, you may have a problem.

Because freestyle allows so many styles, you can probably work things out in a way that each member of the team gets what they want. For instance, the theatrically-minded player could get a choreographed section and the shred player could get unstructured time for individual combos and improvised co-ops.

Find out about one another's goals early. If the conflict isn't resolved, it may be a bumpy ride.

ENOUGH WITH THE PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTIONS

Once you answer those philosophical questions, it's time to put together your routine. The following suggestions use the assumption that you are interested in putting together a routine that places you as high as possible, a routine that is a great showcase for your freestyle wizardry, a routine that has the greatest chance to wow the audience.

TUNES

What song will you use? In most competitions, you can choose your own routine music. Sometimes in early rounds, music will be randomly selected, but at the world championships you are allowed to play to whatever you want in all rounds.

Choose a song that everyone on your team likes. It may not be either player's first choice, but it's important that the song inspires you to play your best.

Choose a song that reflects your style of play. If your routine has lots of choreography, think about whether the music has enough changes or breaks to highlight what you do. It's more effective to catch choreographed co-ops on music breaks than at random points in a song. If your style is flowing, an aggressive song might not convey your game. Same if you are an aggressive, on-the-edge player. A Celine Dion ballad may water down the presentation of what you're doing.

Don't feel censored, but take the judges and audience into consideration when choosing your tunes. Choose a song that the judges and audience can handle. It's great to find a song that both people on your team like. If you want to make your team more competitive, also consider about what the judges and audience will think.

Judges aren't allowed to judge your music, just how your choreography meshes with your music, but music choice can factor in at the judging table. If the judging panel cannot get into your music, it may prevent them from getting into your routine. That may affect your General Impression score. If they cannot get past your music, they may not see all the great moves you are doing to the music. That can affect several scores, including Music Choreography.

If the audience isn't moved by your music, they may not be as excited by your performance. You can never predict what a judging panel or audience will like, but if your tastes run to extremes, take a moment to think about whether the music you love is a good complement to your routine.

COMMUNICATION

Even a dropless routine is filled with errors. They may not be the kind of errors an execution judge will notice, but the routine will stray from its plan. The wind will play with the disc. A set will be off. Someone will forget the next co-op. One teammate's confidence won't be there for an important move. What do you do when things go wrong?

In a word: communicate. Talk. Bark orders. Claim responsibility. Give each other the evil eye. Every team communicates differently, but success depends on having a language to communicate what comes next. Teams who have been together for a while may not even say a word. They can communicate with motions or facial expressions. At some point in a routine, teams have to talk. The best time to figure out how to talk to each other is in practice.

MAKEABILITY

Shred. Choreographed. Aggressive. Fluff. Theatrical. Technical. We label teams and routines all the time based on what we perceive they are doing. Forget those labels. Whatever you plan for a routine should be makeable. If you plan moves that are beyond your comfort level, you risk distracting yourself. You may be so worried about that big move in the next co-op that you drop the previous co-op. Always push your limits and show the biggest disc skills you can, but be honest with yourself about what you can pull off when it counts. If you are building in a big theatrical section, make sure you can keep your concentration and get back to doing the moves. If you are creating a diff routine, be sure you can pull everything off.

CO-OPS

Co-ops are sequences that involve more than one player. They can be planned or unplanned, sketched out or planned to the second. You'll want some co-ops in your routine.

What makes a good co-op? Risk. Visual style. Pacing. Inventiveness. Flair. Most importantly for you, a good co-op is one that fits your game and you can learn well enough to pull off almost every time.

How do you put a co-op together? Start with your money moves. Money moves are tricks you are known for. They are the moves that are hard for others but easy for you. They are the moves that get you a big response from the crowd or the judges. They are your favorite moves. Make sure your money moves are in your routine. If possible, try to combine your money moves with your teammates' money moves for big, massive co-ops. Take advantage of what you're good at.

Once you've figured out some of the money moves you want to perform, think about how to link them up. How can you go from your money move to set your partner up for his big move? Think of consistent yet interesting ways to pass to your teammate. Think of consistent yet exciting ways to receive passes. Figure out how many interesting passes you can do before the spin runs out. Now think of a way to end the co-op with a big catch. Remember, it's generally more exciting for one teammate to set up the other teammate's catch rather than one guy to set to his own catch.

Do that, then repeat 10-15 times. You will need between 10-15 co-ops for a competitive routine.

CREATING THE ROUTINE

Once you've got 10-15 co-ops, you've got the raw materials for a routine. It's time to put them into order. If you're doing a choreographed routine, you should have an opening sequence of around 3 co-ops, an ending sequence of around 3 co-ops, and some sequences in the middle. For some teams, the order of co-ops is the order the team thought them up. You can get good flow from co-op to co-op that way, but if you are open to rearranging them you may find some more interesting co-op sequences.

Think about these things:

Throws and catches: The player who catches a co-op will probably throw the next throw (this may not be true in a multiple-disc routine), so if Player A catches a co-op, the next co-op needs to have Player A throwing. Sometimes you'll have to tweak co-ops to make the throws and catches mesh. It's nice if each player catches about the same number of times. If each person is carrying an equal catching load, the pressure is not on any one player and you can work better as a team.

Music: Some co-ops will work better with certain sections of the music. You may have created some of the co-ops to the music already. If not, try to visualize which co-ops will work well with which parts of your routine music.

Balance: Routines can get unbalanced if you do too many co-ops of the same style. Are you always working close together (or far apart)? Is everything flat (or angle/windgame/turnover)? Is everything high spin? Is everything one spin? Your routine's impact is reduced without variety. Things will blend together into a brain-deadening mush. Mix it up a little and your most important sequences will stand out.

Flow: It's not enough to have killer co-ops or a cool theme. Your routine needs flow. Even if each player flows well in their individual combos, even if the co-ops themselves are crisp, even then the routine can be rough if the transitions between co-ops are sloppy. For good transitions, try to minimize repositioning or awkward pauses between co-ops. The catcher should end up in a place where he can throw the disc. His teammate should have already repositioned to the ideal catch-receiving spot. Some believe that the catcher should not even re-grip the disc. If he catches it with a wrist flip grip, he should throw with that grip. That's a very high standard of transitioning, so don't get too hung up on it before you dot all your other i's and cross all your other t's.

THEME

No matter what your routine, you have a theme. It might be Swan Lake or Spare Change. It might be "we're going to go out there and shred like no one's ever shred before." It might be "we're a new team and we're not really serious about this." It might be "this routine is falling apart and we don't know how to save it." You send a message with every performance. The key is to send the message you intend. If you want a theatrical routine, it's going to take some extra thought to make it a special routine. If you want a choreographed diff routine, you better practice hard so you can pull everything off in sequence. If you want an improvised shred routine, it's going to take some extra hot play to stand out against the commercial appeal of the theatrical routine and the precision of a choreographed diff routine. Whatever you do, do it well.

PRACTICE

Freestyle is a geographically diverse sport. It's not always possible to work year-round on routines. Teams sometimes have only one or two sessions to create something special. Whatever time you have left over should be spent practicing. You can practice the co-ops to figure out how to pull them off. You can practice the sequence of co-ops to memorize the routine. You can practice the whole routine to build your physical and mental endurance. You can practice jamming with your team to learn their game, improve communication and build a team bond. To succeed in competition will require practice. The good news is that you can find a kind of practice that fits your style and goals as long as you bring intensity and commitment to each session.

Arthur #intermediate

What is "Consecutivity"?

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 06:47:06 GMT

In every sport there is a target level for the highest form of play. With art there are average pieces and then there is the work of the masters. With Freestyle Frisbee the most elevated level of play is called consecutivity. It is a way of playing that takes the skill of continuation to its most difficult form. In addition to difficulty this skill adds the elements of flow and creativity into the mix, creating the most expressive and incredible forms of freestyle. It could be described as the art of combining a wide variety of difficult constrictive moves into a long sequence, effectively, with flow and precision. The goal of every freestyler should be to improve their level of consecutivity. For those wishing to compete at the tournament level of play, this would be a very important skill to concentrate on.

It has been said sometimes in freestyle that a series of moves can be compared to a written expression of words, like a sentence. Each move could be equated with an expression or word with the most basic of these termed a ‘the’. A ‘the’ is the basic in front of you, unconstricted, one handed catch, the easiest catch or form of continuation there is. In the interest of consecutivity a ‘the’ move would be the greatest detraction from achieving this high level of play. Along with bobbles, mis-hits, long pauses and drops, they are the bain of consecutivity, but in reality ‘the’s’ are hard to avoid, and they are always better than a drop (a ground ‘the’).

Consecutivity always focuses on achieving a more descriptive and complex level of phrasing. Such as, a spinning under the leg take, flat set, spinning 1 1/2 BTB pull to an under leg angle set, front roll, set, back roll, set, spinning phlaud catch. Notice that there wasn’t a ‘the’ , pause or bobble mentioned in the entire sequence. Actually the first set in this sequence was technically a ‘the set’ as it came after the under leg move. It can be really hard to weed out those ‘the’s’.

Expression is the goal of consecutivity. To express our game and share it to others at it’s highest level requires that we perform our most difficult moves in a continuously flowing format. Freestyle is an expression driven activity. We want people to watch our play and be amazed at what were doing. ‘The’s’ allow the viewer too many chances to catch their breath. We want our play to be so consecutive that their minds will not be able to keep up with the expression of difficult moves shredded out before them

Imagine someone, as they contemplate that double spinning flamingitis against pull take off of a throw we just nailed. As their mind attempts to comprehend that, it will soon tingle as we go off into a series of consticted spinning against take moves, and when we finish with a spinning crow brush set to a triple spinning crash and burn roots, their overcharged neurons will most likely erupt into a bout of spontaneous giggling. My mind got a jazz just contemplating the possibility. Everyone wants to express their game to the highest level, because it’s more fun and it looks really cool.

So then, how do we begin the process of introducing more consecutivity into our games. Fortunately, no matter what your level of play is you can work on this skill by taking the moves you already know and begin to combine them into sequences. At the beginning level this might simply be a series of basic continuation moves. Work on avoiding ‘the’s’ and other simple moves or corrections that break up flow and detract from consecutivity.

Let’s say you know how to flat delay set under your legs, do simple pulls like a behind the back, chest roll and some basic freestyle catches like a flamingo. You could put these together in various combinations without ‘the’s’, with flow and you would be increasing your consecutivity. Your combination might go something like this... Off the throw, make one turn and take the disc under your leg. In one smooth motion set the disc up flat in front of you and turn halfway, pulling out the disc with a BTB rim pullout. Fight the urge here to use a ‘the’ to gain control, but instead cleanly set the disc out head high in front of you, with a little angle for your next move, the chest roll. At the end of a nice sticky roll, push the disc off your hand straight in front of you at mid height so that it soon stalls and slopes back towards your feet, then turn and set up for a nice gracefull flamingo catch.

Note how this combination used each continuation move in a consequetive sequence. Breaks were avoided by the use of accurate sets off of each move. Each set ended exactly where the next move was to begin. Some have described this as putting the disc into the ‘move window’. This refers to the course where the disc travels on it’s route to your next planned move. Often, because of it’s flight characteristics, the disc is set out in front, usually into the wind, where it will take a predictable course back to you, giving you enough time to set up for your next move. Or allowing you to move in an easy direction, forward, to take the disc into the next continuation move. With each move requiring a set, there is a corresponding ‘move window’. Try to figure these out and form a mental picture of these ‘windows’ in the places where you're having the most difficulty completing the move. Some moves have large windows while other more difficult constrictive moves have extremely small windows with added disc angle requirements.

Work with what you know and find ways to combine these into flowing sequences of moves. Once you have mastered a series, try to combine it in a slightly more difficult way or add other moves into the sequence. Working on consecutivity will force your game to improve on many levels. Moves will have to be performed more correctly, sets will take on greater importance, you will soon be able to instinctively improvise in moves depending on were each set ends up. Your game will grow on many fronts instead of one move at a time.

If you're jamming with other players and doing cooperative moves, try adding some consecutivity into the playing mix. Don’t just take the pass or throw in a simple ‘the’ position, but spin into it and/or take it from a more constricted position. The same goes for passes and throws, try doing something extra with each and add some flow. If you make a difficult catch with a certain hand position, try sending off a throw using that same grip. Adding consecutivity will elevate your game and those around you to higher levels.

Difficult cooperative takes require a certain level of anticipation and the ability to rapidly commit to a particular move early as the pass is being made. Try to anticipate what is coming, but be ready for anything. On the other hand, your passes and throws to other players should be set accurately, preferably into their ‘move windows’, so that they will be able to keep the flow unbroken and consequetive. As your playing, keep yourself moving, positioning yourself in areas where you can better receive passes or do something with the disc like hoops or angle changing deflections. Moving around the disc as other players are doing moves will open up more possibilities for interaction and help cool moves to develop.

Consecutivity is a difficult challenge, but it is at the heart of expressing our game to others at the highest level. Work on it each time you play. Build move combinations that are both consequetive and difficult for you. Stretch yourself a little bit at a time, while attempting to remove the clutter of ‘the’s’, pauses and easy sets. Try combining difficult moves that you never thought of placing together. Along the way you will find other consequetive moves that can be woven into sequences that will enhance both your game and your enjoyment of the sport of Freestyle Frisbee.

Carl Dobson #intermediate

What is "Flow"

jake@heinsville.com — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:51:51 GMT

Flow is a term that came into usage during the 1970’s, as the sport of Freestyle began to grow more advanced. For the first time, players achieved the ability to string a great number of moves together. Through the process of combining individual moves, efficient transitional movement had to be performed and the term coined for this was flow. Players began to recognize the value of flow, not just functionally, but also it made their game look so much more polished. Soon it was something to be practiced and worked upon as much as the moves themselves. Speed flow was invented which combined trick throws and catches in a flowing unbroken style of movement. As modern Freestyle evolved later in the seventies with its delay moves, continuation etc., flow was rapidly incorporated into the jargon and recognized as an integral part of the game.

Flow can be achieved in many ways and through many divergent styles, but it always seeks to create the appearance of smooth unbroken movement while executing moves. A drop or throw away is usually the greatest detractor from achieving flow, while unintentional bobbles, misses miss-hits, poor footwork and other mistakes also subtract from a freestyler’s flow. Flow is enhanced by the way in which a player moves. The use of good form and positioning as a player carries out a succession of moves contributes much to the appearance of flow. Flow is more than just executing move after move without breaks. It is executing those moves with extension, grace, form and timing in succession without break or error.

Obviously, flow is a good attribute to add to your game. So how do you increase your level of flow? Like any of the other components of freestyle, flow is increased and perfected through practice and becoming familiar with a wide variety of moves. Some players have a certain grace of movement that will help them develop a flowing form more rapidly than other. But in actuality, it boils down to becoming adept at doing each particular move correctly, free from error and with proper body positioning. Then, and most importantly, a player must add to their moves precise timing, free from misguided breaks in either form or motion, so that they smoothly transition from one move to another and so on, until a clean catch is made.

Think of a series of freestyle moves like a sentence consisting of descriptive words. Flow would be, in part, the way in which the writer chose and placed the words, but even more importantly, it would be the skill in which they read those words to the listener.

Flow is what makes consecutivity successful. Even novice players can put together a group of moves in succession, but to make it look good flow must be present. The real experts have perfected their play to a point where they can flow from one difficult move to the next, making adjustments along the way as needed, plugging in a move here and improvising a series there, making it all blend into a smooth expression of their game.

A high level of flow is always difficult to achieve. There are so many variables to contend with, both in the environment and with the ongoing decision making processes going on between the player’s ears. Winds are often variable, footing can be uneven, the sun can suddenly be right in your eyes, obstacles can confront you, and distractions may appear and take you off of your game. It takes focus, confidence and the ability to make those timely adjustments in play to keep those awkward breaks and uneven movement to a minimum.

Decisions… quick decisions, these can affect flow, also. A progression of moves must be strung together seamlessly to exude flow. To do this a player must have confidence and familiarity with a number of different types of moves and be able to rapidly decide upon the next move as the series or co-op develops. A split second of indecision will usually end up as a break in flow. Many players practice a series of moves over and over until the whole series becomes as one continuous flowing move. This method does not allow for much latitude when the wind become extreme, but often sections of the entire series can be joined to sections of other series as conditions warrant.

Flow is an important part of every style of freestyle play. From fast peel out shredding, to the slower control types of freestyle, flow is the glue that holds the presentation of moves together. It is easy to see when a player executes a series of graceful spinning rim pull outs. But, it is also just as important with percussive moves, or in the blending of widely different speeds and movement, though you might not consider these as flowing styles while watching them. Even a move with the lack of movement, like a benign or catch can be an important part of flow, if it is joined with proper timing to the moves before and after it.

In many sports when a player is said to be in ‘a zone’ they have achieved a playing state that is of total concentration and performance. When a freestyler reaches ‘the zone’ then flow is also maximized. During many longer jams a high level of flow can be reached at for a short time. Occasionally, during a long session, this level can be maintained for a long period, perhaps an hour or more, both individually and cooperatively with the people you are playing with. To experience this level of flow is one of the greatest things about our sport. At the end of the day after one of those jams you might remember a few highlight series of moves or co-ops and it just seems like you’ve pulled off something quite incredible. To reach a high state of flow during a jam may be the single most addicting and enjoyable aspect of the sport.

Flow is an open-ended deal. It is impossible to continually be performing it at a maximum level and yet it is something all of us should be striving for. So keep on practicing, learn as many moves as possible and start stringing them together in different combinations. Pay attention to how those combinations affect flow. Soon your body will instinctively and rapidly be able to react to more and more variations of moves with proper footwork and body positioning. When you practice, try to spend some time focusing more on flow instead of just moves, and see what happens. Often the moves will begin to just happen and the flow will take over with surprising results. Don’t ever downplay the importance of flow.

Carl Dobson #intermediate

What's a reverse pull?

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:56:06 GMT

The reverse pulls originated from the osis concepts. To understand the reverse pulls you must also understand the osis. There is a true osis and a false osis. The true osis must have a leg or body part clear the disc completely to execute the move properly. Lets take a simple one. Reverse gitis pull! I set the disc from my right hand spinning clock under my left leg flat set placing the disc to my left shoulder. The left leg continues to rotate 180 degrees then planting firmly then the right leg continues the rotation in the air while your right hand slides cross body to the gitis position while the right leg MUST go over the disc and then the pull is achieved.

Hint> keep your chin on your right collar bone while you look down your right elbow and your right knee for the disc and set the disc where you want it! Stick your finger in and pull. If you can keep your right leg up and swoop into a grapevine set to a left handed scarecrow!!! That should wooo em!

Chip Bell #advanced

Why fake nails - or - Is it So Wrong to Wanna Jam Better?

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:59:23 GMT

If you are a new jammer you may have wondered why so many advanced players all tend to wear some sort of extension or fake fingernail while playing. This article will explore the reasons for wearing fake nails in the first place, the materials that can be used, and how to make/apply them properly. Hopefully, by the end of all this babbling, you will be able to make a reasonably informed decision as to whether using fake nails is right for you as a jammer.

“A fake nail will be much more durable than your natural nail.”

Why Fake Nails?
If you’ve seen jammers wearing fake nails, you may have asked yourself why anyone would glue such hideous chunks of plastic to the ends of their nails. Well, this is for a few reasons. The first is durability. As the “nail delay” is on the fingernail, your own natural nails will take a beating from the abuse that jamming can cause. A fake nail will typically be much more durable and have less friction than your natural nails. Wearing fake nails will reduce the risk of chipped, bent, or torn nails. The latter can be most painful if it occurs below the fingertip and will take weeks to properly heal.

Another reason to wear fake nails is to reduce gouging. A natural nail is thinner than most fake nails and tends to self-sharpen during play. It becomes a small gouge that will rip chunks out of a disc while tipping, pulling, or even just delaying. This self-sharpening of natural nails requires more maintenance: not only day-to-day, but throughout the course of a normal jam day. Fake nails, especially acrylic, need little to no edge attention and won’t sharpen during play.

“They will give you more extension and better penetration.”

Fake nails will give you extension beyond what a natural nail can. Depending on genetics and the amount of calcium in your diet, a natural nail gets pretty flimsy once it’s about 3/16” past your fingertip. A fake nail gives you extension beyond what a natural nail can before it starts to bend or tear (ouch!). The extension of the nail gives the wearer a couple advantages: it keeps the disc a little higher off your forearm/body while delaying and allows better penetration into the rim for rimming, sets, and pulls.

Fake nails, as mentioned above, have less friction than naturals—especially acrylic. This gives you the obvious advantage of a disc that spins faster and longer.

“You don’t wear a claw-hammer on your belt when you go dancing, do you?”

Another reason for wearing fake nails (which is a matter of personal preference) is that you can take them off at the end of the day. Although there are plenty of jammers who keep nails on 24/7, it’s not for everyone. Fake nails are necessary tools for jamming, just as a claw hammer is for effective carpentry. But you don’t want to wear your hammer on your belt when you’re out for a night of dinner and dancing with your sweetie, do you?

What are fake nails made of, and how do I get them?

Materials
There have been many types of materials and apparatus used over the years from thimbles to guitar finger picks, and from Lee Press-On nails to dental acrylic—even small seashells. Finding a product or material that you prefer can be a matter of availability and personal preference. Acrylic is perhaps the most effective material being used today, but they aren’t always easy to come by. The same goes for Swedish plastic. Still today, one of the most convenient and effective materials is the protective outer tube from Krazy Glue. Not only is this a relatively fast plastic, but it is also included in the purchase of a tube of Krazy Glue. Don’t be shy about trying new stuff to stick on the end of your nails—you could discover the next best thing to happen to freestyle since judging!

“Don’t be shy about sticking stuff to the end of your nails.”

As mentioned above, you can cut nails from the outer tube of Krazy Glue. It is soft and easy to shape, but this is also a disadvantage as it wears down over time. It also has a natural curve to it already that helps fit the curve of your finger.

Acrylic nails are not only hard and fast, but for the fashion-conscious they can come in virtually any color you desire. But getting them is a little tricky. Some are made of dental acrylic such as Yar-nails and others come from nail salons. If you know someone who is a dental technician, they can make you an exact fit. Otherwise, you will have to rely on fine- tuning the fit after they have been made. The advantage of getting acrylic nails from a salon is that they will fit perfectly to your existing nails. Some players have them made in a natural color and leave them on until they break off or grow out. Salons nails will cost more, but are quite effective.

“Hobby plastic is pretty cheap, but you’ll have to go to Europe for the Swedish Stuff”

Hobby plastic is plastic that can be purchased at most hobby/craft stores. It is basically the same material (a dense polystyrene) that plastic models are made of and can be bought in sheets of various thicknesses from .005” up to .080”. The most common thickness for fake nails is .050” (50 gauge). Hobby plastic is also quite affordable and, if a couple jammers go in on buying a package, the cost goes down even more. It does require some special handling to get a curve to fit your own nails: This technique will be covered later in this article.

As for Swedish plastic, go to more tournaments in Europe and make lots of friends—especially with the Swedish players. See if they can hook you up.

Now I’ve picked a material, how do I get them to stick?

Adhesives
The two most common methods of adhesion of fake nails are Krazy Glue (or other cyanoacrylates) and contact cement. They each have their advantages and disadvantages. Krazy Glue adheres fast, is strong, and applies in a very thin layer. For some, nails applied with Krazy Glue have a more “intimate” connection with their natural nail and feel more like a part of their body. It also comes in a very compact container so it’s easy to tote around and can be used in emergencies like when you knock over that family heirloom vase while jamming at Grandma’s house. But these adhesives have drawbacks such as: instantly gluing your fingers or other body parts to each other, the fumes will burn your eyes and nose, nails can be exceptionally difficult to remove—sometimes taking a layer of natural nail with it, and nails can just POP OFF without warning.

“Crazy Glue has a more ‘intimate’ connection”

Contact cement is much less aggressive than Krazy Glue. It is easier to remove the fake nails and won’t take a layer of nail or skin with it. The fumes are nowhere near as nasty either. And if a nail is starting to lose adhesion, you can typically tell in advance and fix the problem. But re-application will take you out of the jam for as long as 20 minutes while the glue dries. You also need to count on that 15-20 minute dry time when the nails are first applied before jamming. Contact cement is a much messier process. Even in tubes, contact cement takes up a lot of space in your nail kit and has less of a MacGiver factor than Krazy Glue. And for some, there is a sort of “mushy” feel to the nail that feels like the nail could pop off any minute, thus losing that “intimacy” gained with Krazy Glue.

The next installment of this article will be on the making, applying and maintenance of your own fake nails.

Magman #beginner

Tips on Tipping

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:02:15 GMT

Question: What is tipping? Answer: Striking the bottom of the spinning disc with your fingers causing the disc to bounce upward. You can also do an elbow tip, a head tip, a toe tap, heel tip or a knee tip. Today I'll only be covering tipping using fingers.

Tipping above the head

When you first start to learn to tip, start tipping above your head. Begin with the two handed self set. Rev the disc up with as much spin as you can generate so the disc lifts up above your head. Look up at the disc and find the center of the disc and as it comes down, give the disc a good pop with the end of your middle finger and ring finger. Hit the disc with the pad of the finger tips. Keep the two fingers nestled together and slightly bent for stability. First try one tip then catch the disc. Then try two tips. Now three. Now go pick the disc up off the ground....OK, now try tipping off of someone's throw. If the disc comes in high and if lofting on a nice throw try one or two tips then catch the disc. Now go pick the disc up off the ground. If you want to learn a new trick you better get used to doing that.

The basic underhand tip

If you can do a nail delay and you have mastered "the above your head" tip you're ready to learn the underhand tip at belly level with the palm up. This is more difficult. To find the right spot to tip, clap your hands together at belly level like you were applauding an amazing combo that Tom Leitner did. The spot where your hands meet is the spot where the majority of your tipping should take place regardless of which hand you use. Get the disc on a nail delay with your palm up at the same spot I just suggested that you should tip the disc. Loft the disc up to chest level and as the disc comes back down, with your middle finger and ring finger nestled together and with your palm up, strike the disc with the pad of your finger tips.(not the nail side). Bend or curl your fingers a little bit to create more stability when tipping around belly level. Don't tip with your fingers straight. I would suggest tipping with alternating hands. One tip with the right, one with the left, one with the right, etc., see if you can keep it going until spin runs out. The more spin on the disc, the easier and more stable the tips will be. Fake nails don't work well for tips. That's why I only use a fake nail on my index finger and reserve the middle finger and ring fingers for tipping.

Restricted Tips: Before you try these. Did you stretch??? Always stretch lightly before and after you play... Restricted tips are done under or around the leg or behind the back, and even be behind the brain. The most advanced tipping and the coolest tipping combos use only restricted tips. It takes practice.

List of Restricted tips:

Right hand under left leg.
Right hand under right leg from the inside (called the Figure Four or Grapevine Tip)
Right hand under right leg from the outside.
Now reverse everything above using the left hand.
Right hand behind back,
Left hand behind the back.
Bad attitude tip (tip done in bad attitude position) both left & right hand.
Right hand in inverted position, tipping under right leg.
Left hand in inverted position, tipping under left leg.

Always strike the center of the disc. Try to tip at belly level, and try to stay under the disc (I mean have your hand under the disc). There will be a sweet spot that you will find for each of the different restricted tips. Learn the sweet spot. It should be about where you clap your hands at belly level. Try some nail delay combos and throw a tip in here or there to get better at it. Then maybe throw in two or three consecutive restricted tips in a combo, .

Advanced Tipping: The most important tip is the first tip of a combo. If the tip ends up with the disc coming back down at an angle then it's difficult to follow it up with more consecutive restricted tips without having to get the disc back on a nail delay or to do a "the" tip. A "the" tip is the basic non-restricted tip done at stomach level without the tip being done from under a leg or behind the back. So...make sure you set the disc up flat and high to start the first tip in your tipping combo. And of course, always aim at tipping the center of the disc. Having some high tips mixed with lower or medium height tips make the combo have more variety and actually can make it easier to execute. I don't know why, but I've noticed that it seems to help. Having a high tip every third tip or so helps buy you time to get under the disc for the next tip. Move with the disc. If you tipped the disc too far to the left or right, or too far in front of you, move with the disc. Make your feet, not your arms, do the work to get you to the right position for the next tip. You can't be flat footed during a tipping combo.

Tipping injuries: If you do too many high tips you can hurt your fingers. The disc can compress the joints a bit. So to avoid this problem I try to limit myself to only a few tipping combos every time I play. You could also use a smaller and lighter disc to practice tipping to limit this problem. Over doing any one type of move or motion in one practice session can lead to injury.

Dave "Spike" Lewis #intermediate

Learn to Delay

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:04:47 GMT

Practice, practice, practice. :-)

Well, beyond that, here's what helped me in the beginning. You can do this by yourself.

1) Develop a two handed throw to your self that is flat (parallel to the ground) and floats down gently. Start by placing each hand on the outside of the rim, one hand close to you, the other on the far side of the rim. Throw your hands and arms out to the sides, popping the disc gently up in air, about a foot or two in height above you head. Practice this skill alone, without attempting the delay, until you get the disc to float very horizontal and with as much spin as possible. Like a spinning top, the more RPMs the disc starts with, the more stable and easy to control it will be. The flatter it is, the easier it will be to balance and delay. Once your self throws are stable, you are ready to proceed. Side note: If your right hand is the one close to you, your spin will be counter-clockwise. If you left hand is the one close to you, the spin will be clockwise. One spin may be easier for you to throw and one spin will be easier to delay at first. Make observations about your tendencies and what works best for you.

2) Make sure the contact with the disc is with your fingernail, however small it is (artificial nails are not necessary in the beginning). Hold you finger, slightly bent, so that the nail itself is close to parallel to the surface of the disc. This way the spinning disc will slide on your nail. Apply a silicon spray lubricant to the disc to further reduce friction between the disc and your nail. As soon as the disc contacts flesh, there's major friction involved, usually leading to loss of spin and control.

3) Next, connect the above two skills. After you release the disc into the air, reach up to the disc with your delaying hand and try to make contact with the disc as close to the time when it is transitioning from popping up to floating down. The disc is traveling slow at this time. Spot the center of the disc as it's above eye level. Keep your finger kind of springy to absorb the contact of the disc with your finger at this time and follow the disc's descent with your arm to slow its further descent. If you can keep the disc above eye level at this time, you can continue to spot your finger on the bottom of the disc and track your centering attempt. Eventually your eye-hand coordination will develop, allowing you to stabilize the disc below eye level, without seeing your finger on the bottom of the disc. A clear or translucent disc can also be helpful at this stage.

4) Finally, make small circular motions with your arm and finger, in the same direction that the disc is spinning. This motion will help correct any non-horizontalness of the disc and helps you track to the center of the disc to maintain the delay. Over time, these motions become so refined that you will not even realize that you are making them.

Eventually you will replace step 1, with that of a throw from a partner. Make sure your throwing partner is throwing you the same spin that you practice with or everything will seem awry. If your partner can make a hovering throw, again try to make contact with the disc at a point in its flight where it is transitioning from flight to fall. Let your finger and arm give with the disc as you receive it, acting as a shock absorber to slow its momentum to a standstill.

The whole process is learning this eye-hand coordination. Players have reported different lengths of time to learn the skill from less than a week to maybe six weeks. A youthful age and athletic tendencies will tend towards the shorter time. Practice every day for at least fifteen minutes and you will see results of increasing delay times.

Once you're comfortable in maintaining a delay, ask questions about the next level you want to attain.

And most of all, have fun.

Doug Korns #beginner

Jake's take on how to start - or - Learning to Rim delay and Brush

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:07:44 GMT

Most jammers will tell you that you need to learn to delay before you can jam. Unfortunatly the learning curve for the delay is very steep and often turns people off before they start to feel the rewards of jamming. Fortunaly there are two tricks that anyone can do with a small amount of practice but a huge amount of fun.

Rim delay:

This is how I learned to jam. Mike Esterbrook would thrown me zzzs and I would let it drift onto my nail. If I felt brave I'd try to keep it in the center but mostly I'd let it fall to the rim. While it spun there it I would pass it under my leg, behind my back or anywhere else I could think of. Eventually it ran out of spin or I hit myself with it and it would plop to the ground. When I got a little better I'd use my left hand to hold it at my left side and grab it behind my back with my right resulting in my first completed series!

To learn the rim delay is simple. Find someone who can throw the disc with a good amount of spin. When they throw it to you let it float onto your index finger's nail. The trick here is to make sure only the nail contacts the disc. This is where fake nails help the most. Now that the disc is on your nail hold your hand up with your finger pointing to the sky. Let the disc circle slowly around being sure that only your nail contacts the disc. Holding your finger bent to a 45 degree angle will help but however you do it be sure to keep your nail in contact. The disc will spin round and round and eventually run out of juice and flop over. You have just completed a rim delay.

It won't take but 5 or 10 of these and you'll get the feel for how the disc moves and how to keep your nail instead of your finger in contact. Be sure to try both hands. Once you are ready try passing it from hand to hand. Once that is easy do it under your leg. You are now freestyling...it's as simple as that. Add a catch in there and you've completed a series. Pass it on the rim to your friend and you can co-op. Really there's nothing to it.

Air Brush:

This is my favorite of all moves. It is one of the easiest moves to execute yet honing this skill can take a lifetime. To practice brushing toss the disc in front of you almost perpendicular to the ground. If there's alot of wind make the set a little flatter. It should go up a little ways, 2 or 3 feet and then come back down to you. When it's in range hit (brush) it with the palm of your hand so as to add spin and send it back up 2 or 3 feet. Repeat until you lose control, pass it to a partner or catch it. That's all there is to it. The real tricks here are 1: try to add spin when you hit it. Hitting it with the wrong spin or no spin will kill its flight (at least if you don't know what your doing). 2: run after it. Even the best players can't keep the disc in front of them the whole time. And who would want to, the fun is in the challenge. Chase it around and bash at it for as long as you can. You'll find that shortly you can keep it in the air for quite a while.

Once you get the hang of brushing to yourself try and brush it to a friend. There are two ways to accomplish this. One is to toss the disc up with much less of an angle so that the nose is pointing towards the target. Then when you brush it the disc will float over as if you threw it there. This move really impresses non-freestylers. The second way is to brush it so that it arches over you your friend. This is akin to throwing a major angle up into the air and over to you friend. If your friend is cool she'll try and brush it back and suddenly you are co-oping again. Funny how it always come back to co-oping.

Putting them together:

Now that you can brush and rim delay try putting the two together. Take a throw on a rim delay. If it's clockwise spin take it on your left hand. Let it spin around until the nose is pointing to your partner. Then drop your left hand out and brush it with your right. (Reverse g the hands for counter spin). It should float over nicely to your partner who will catch a triple spinning gitosis...sorry I'm day dreaming again. As long as it gets to her you did your job.

Now try the same trick but to yourself. Take it on the rim delay and do a few moves. Once it slows down wait until it is pointing away from you on a steep angle. Then drop out your delay hand and brush with your other hand. Keep on brushing until you're expression is complete, then go for a catch.

Last trick, go from a brush to a rim delay. This one is a bit tougher so I saved it for last. Remember how I said to always add spin? Well if you can do this well enough you should be able to take it on the rim again and do some more rim tricks. There aren’t many tips I can give on this one but I will say that once you get it you will feel unstoppable. It means that no matter what throw you get you can do something with it because you'll be able to add spin when every you need it. They call this maneuver a rerev. #beginner

Going from a Rim Delay to a Center Delay

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:10:05 GMT

For most learning to go from a high Z rim delay to a center delay marks a whole new level of understanding in disc control. It means being able to bring most any angle throw back to the center, increased center control, and leads to understanding angle changes and off center tips. For me this skill took some practice.

To accomplish this task it helps to be able to throw a high Z steep angle to your self. To learn clock right hand throw a right handed backhand throw with tons of spin. It should come off on a steep angle, nearly perpendicular to the ground such that the bottom is pointing more downward than the top and the nose is pointing to the right. It should also be perpendicular to your chest plane. Now that the disc is in the air use your right hand and take it on a rim delay. Your palm will be facing to your left and your finger(s) should be curled under the rim. Let the disc hang in this position long enough to get it under control but not so long that it tilts around so the nose is pointing to your body. From here there are two common methods of getting to the center.

1: Give the disc an upward tug. As it lifts up hold your hand still so that the bottom of the disc rides along your finger nail(s). Once your nail is near center push hard to the left. The ideal location is it about 6 o’clock halfway between the rim and the center. As you push to the left the disc will flatten out. Once it is flat get the center delay under control.

2: Gently swing the disc forward. As the disc swings forward the rim will pull against your nail forcing the disc to level off. Once it is halfway flat move your nail to the center and gain delay control.

To learn counter left reverse the right/left directions as if looking in the mirror.

Once you become proficient at this maneuver try it on a different angle or the opposite hand. Example, once the disc is on a rim delay let it drift around on your nail until the nose is pointing upwards to the left perpendicular to your chest plane. The motions are the same. Give it a tug so it rides up your nail. Now push right at 12 o’clock between the rim and the center. It will flatten out as before. Note: you may have to duck your forearm below it to keep from knocking it off your finger.

The biggest thing to learn is that the location to press in with changes based on the direction of the nose. It’s always 90 degrees ahead of the spin from the nose. So, with clock spin, if the nose is pointing away from you (12 o’clock) push it out so the disc rides up your nail, then push towards you at 3 o’clock. With counter spin you’d push at 9 o’clock.

Once this becomes second nature try flattening the disc directly from the throw with a tip. The physics are the same. Just tip it up 90 degrees ahead of the spin from the nose. You can also try to flatten it out from a rim delay to a flat set. This set it the beginning to many moves and catches such as a scarecrow and a one and a half btb.

Jake Gauthier #beginner

The With the Spin Crank

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:12:09 GMT

There are really only 2 basic cranks. Due to the magic of both spins and going against the spin (see Skippy's Article) there end up being 8 different combinations. Doing the basic with the spin cranks are easy to learn.

Here's one: delay counter on your left hand palm up. Now lift your hand up and twist at the wrist so you are delaying palm down. Continue the twisting motion until your elbow it pointing up and you are delaying palm up again (only now your hand is inverted). Now bring the disc back under your arm armpit, twisting your wrist so that it returns to the original delay position (palm up). Basically you pull the disc under your arm.

The other one is to reverse the order. This one is easiest counter right. Just rock the disc towards you and swing it under your arm. Once your hand is inverted lift up and untangle your wrist.

So taking the examples above and doing them clock makes 4. But it gets tricky when you do them against the spin. IE Doing the counter motions/hands with a disc spinning clock. Thus there are 8, 4 with and 4 against.

Here's a tip to make it easier to get the motion. Delay a counter left. Set it up about eye level. Quickly invert your hand and let the disc land on your nail. Let it fall to the rim. It will naturally circle under your arm (hence with the spin). This will teach you how the motion works. Just remember a true crank is center all the way.

Jake Gauthier #intermediate

Jamie explains how to "Bash and Roll"

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:38:23 GMT

For the newcomer to freestyle "bashing" and rolling the disc are essential skills to have. Of course the simple nail delay which allows you to control the disc and think, or set your next move is more essential at first.... The bash and roll will allow your game to rise to the next level.

"Bashing" or air brushing to increase the spin will allow you to regenerate spin to yourself, which is good to practice alone, or to just pass to your partner without catching and throwing. In fact if your partner throws to you as you bash to him/her you can start doing double disc routines where a disc is always in motion! For a right handed person, bashing counter spin is done at the ear level, while clock spin is done lower-more waist high. Left handed clock bashing is done high, while counter is done lower conversely. Keep in mind that a foot brush can also be done very close to the ground, with the right foot kicking towards the left foot for clock and straight ahead or to your right for counter spin. The most important things to keep in mind are 1) Keep the nose of the disc higher than the back, and the more wind in your face the flatter it can be. 2) The angle of the disc should be similar to the angle of a throw we would throw to a partner with a slight curve. A right handed backhand is usually released with the side being held higher than the opposite edge. This is due to the fact that the spin actually will "process" the disc and make it move towards flat. If you start with the disc flat in a throw or airbrush scenario, the increase in spin usually make it "turn over" and roll. That is why we keep the bashing angle in what can be known as the skip angle-that is the angle at which a throw would skip towards your partner. 3) So with the nose up and in the skip angle, hit the disc at like 5-6 oclock in a circular motion with the fleshy part of the palm where it meets the fingers. This means counter is angled away from you to right and high, while clock is angled away to left and low-for your right hand....and the opposite for your left side. 4) Practice by letting your delay go to the rim, until the disc is in the desired angle...and hit gently at first and more firmly in a circle to increase spin-do not hit through the disc but get into contact and accelerate with the force.

So now that we can delay the disc, and tip it in the middle, and then as it slows down we can bash it and speed it back up...we have another option open for more ways of controlling and playing with the flying disc. This is called the body roll, arm roll, or just the roll. If you get good enough people will yell, “Sweet rolls”. But it is not until you can roll all types front and back, plus the inverted rolls, that you may hear, “That was more rolls than in a continental breakfast!”

The body roll is a way of gluing the disc to your body and as it travels across, you are actually in control of it when it is spinning rather slowly. Therefore this move comes towards the end of a combo, after center work, and rim pulls which reduce the spin, and instead of the airbrush which would re-rev the disc. High spin or "turbo" rolls can be spectacular for passing to a partner, or through a hoop or under a leg in a 3-way jam, but at first stick with rolling the slowest of spins or your head may spin, or it may strike you on the chin.

Body rolls can be practiced by tossing the disc up in a 45-60 degree angle above your head and to the right or left-Remember to toss the left handed counter light set to your right side as it will roll to your left, and the ever popular right spin to your left as it will start on the left side but the right hand will be the last contact before it is set up for another roll or for a pass or to your own catch. Leaning back and having your chest extended up with your knees bent will help immensely. As the disc rolls you should extend the chest into it for good contact so leave some leeway in your chest to "push up", but this same gluing to your body feeling can be created by pressing up with the legs slightly, so keep them bent. Also for a clock roll, have the disc rolling up your right hand towards the sky (away from the ground). Very often new players will roll flat in front of them, which can be frustrating because of gravity pulling at the disc. This fact coupled with the disc is not angled up causes the disc to fall to the ground. So try to roll from angled in front of you high onto your chest and back up the other arm towards the sky, and move your shoulder into it as if you were slapping someone. So for a clock roll the disc will start on the left above you falling/rolling down on your slightly back bent body, from your left arm towards the chest, and as the chest is touched by the disc begin to press up with the legs and "slap" with the right hand at the end causing the disc to glue to the chest past the shoulder up the right arm. For multiple rolls use the right hand as a flipper to send the disc back over to the left side to start it all over, or just have your partner next to you to receive the roll and continue it. As you get better, you can "weave" behind your partner and get back your own roll or even send it back to the far side to have it return to you again! For back rolls, as the disc comes past your neck and is about to go out of sight try lifting the opposite elbow and you will feel it go up in the air!

Jamie #intermediate

Wipers

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:40:45 GMT

You know people say if you get lemons…make lemonade. Such is the way I started doing wipers (vertical upside-down rings). On a very windy day I was trying to bash flat counter, and was getting frustrated because when the nose got up at all it would blow up above my head and travel behind me really far. This technique is great to practice when waiting for a fellow jammer who is late or chronically on "Frisbee time";-).

To get good at vertical upside down "drags" you face the wind. Keep in mind that the topside of the disc is directly perpendicular to the wind. The beauty of this technique in heavy wind is that the topside has no rim and therefore no "sail" for the wind to grab and move drastically. Also picture a person whom you have seen pass rings to another: the disc can only move forward once you contact and "hook" it. What this means is that if the throws or self-sets are set in front of you, you must have great wheels and sprint past the disc and pull it forward with you since it is both vertical and upside-down and therefore falling rapidly.

Simply put once you hook the disc you cannot move it backwards to go forwards, so it is best to start with the disc behind or to your side. If the disc is behind you, when you hook it, and it is spinning rapidly 2 miraculous things happen. First of all the wind pushing against the top "glues" it to your nail allowing a slight pulling movement and a feeling of power unlike any other in the disc world. For now you are defying gravity and doing a unique ring technique which looks mind-blowing, and leads into upside down rolls and kicks that will absorb the energy you transfer well, without moving too far away or blowing above your head! The second thing that happens is that you DISCover against the spin and with the spin moves do not hit your body parts because the disc is hanging off behind you like a ribbon!

To get started all you need to do is hold an overhand grip in front of you so you can see your thumb at 12 o'clock. You are looking at a the bottom of the disc and the nose is pointed at the wind 5-15 degrees depending on wind speed and rate of spin. Really cock the wrist and BAMM: snap it up above head slightly and look for the wind to move it back slightly- your only task is to find the top of the rim and HOOK it- but the disc must be slightly behind you at either side or behind you within arms length. The further behind you start- the more dramatic it looks when you hook it and let the ZZZs glue the disc to your nail- and play, experiment with it. It will hang as you move into the wind or as you spin around dragging it and I can turn 3 times sometimes if the spin and my technique is flawless….with the disc just hanging there the whole time!!! AWESOME!!!! Try it you'll like it….

When you pass the disc back and forth behind your back and/or through your legs…it looks like your hands are windshield wipers…hence the name-coined by Diego Gamboa who informed me I had not invented this technique…and had been doing what he called drags for years. Left hand overhand grip is actually clock right side up-so you will doing counter UD drags-but after a while the direction of spin will become meaningless to you unless you do combos with rolls and kicks and under the leg brushes. When the disc is dragging against it will stick at really slow rates of spin allowing you to pull it in front of you to a beautiful UD roll… With high spinning discs it is easy to pull in front to a UD flat delay…and do whatever from there. For the opposite spin-grip the disc as if you were going to throw an overhand upside down throw to your partner and hold the disc at your side with your hand extended straight away from you… keep the disc perpendicular to the wind and snap… As you get good at this you will find yourself longing for your partners to throw you something you can hook right out of the air. It is especially gratifying to have it vertical, behind you close to the ground, falling away from you so can pull off the most heinest move: "Back from the Grave". This occurs when there is no possible way you can reach the disc to even pancake save it much less do anything with it. Then PRESTO all of a sudden you are in control Back from the Grave…and you have made super duper lemonade out of a testy lemon of a throw…and the judges pencils snap off in disbelief…

Jamie #advanced

How'd you get so good at Rolling?

jake@heinsville.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:43:08 GMT

Background

Crushed...My first big prelims in Vancouver 78 (is this the right year?), and I lost a half-point on the variety check-off sheet because I didn't do a brush and another half-point for not doing a roll. I figured I better work on this, and by Fall 1990 I had basic brushes and rolls down, thanks to Corey Basso and Skippy. But it wasn't until I became a bench-warmer for Stanford Ultimate that I jumped to the next level with these skills by brushing and rolling on the sidelines.

Roll/Brush Fundamentals

1. Play by yourself often, practicing rolls and brushes where you have room to run and hopefully some, but not necessarily nice, wind. Visit San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and other good wind-spots on nice wind-days as often as possible.
2. Face the wind. Know where you are in relation to the wind at all times. Learn to feel it like a sailor.
3. As Skippy says. remember that the object of a roll is not to get it from one hand to the other (bounce, bounce), but to roll it along the body as if it's on Velcro, pulling it along your arms by moving your body in the opposite direction of the roll with "touch-Zs," turbo rolls excepted.
4. Step into and follow-through on all brushes and kicks, as you would in tennis, volleyball or baseball.
5. Decrease the margin of error by wearing size twelve shoes for better surface-area for kicking.
6. Seriously, try brushing the disc steeper at times, a skill I learned watching Dave Marini and JJ in 1978.
7. Step into the disc when brushing so if it goes too far you can get to it, always being ready for the missed hit....be on your toes and ready to sprint.
8. Don't plan too much.. The best part of this game is to take advantage of the hand dealt to you. If you plan to do a roll off of a set but it's there for a kick or a scarecrow catch instead, go for what's there. Don't force it...go with the flow.
9. When you're indoors, compensate for no wind by running faster to make your own wind, and by setting rolls and brushes steeper. Watch videos of JAX.
10. The force of the brush should be inversely proportional to the Zs on the disc. For example, you're middle-jammer in a 3-person MAC-line (Midair Attitude Correction). The disc comes to you with a slight angle and high Z's - just meet it with your hand or body part...it's riskier to swing at it or brush it hard when it's not needed. On the other hand, hit it harder if it has low Zs. Learn how to adjust the disk with a cuff as needed for better options in MAC-lines..
11. Cuff often when you're sweaty and you have a steep, high Z disk Watch videos of JAX.
12. The meek will not inherit the kick. Be aggressive. Pretend you're the batter in 6th-grade kickball.
13. Play the spontaneous wind game with your friends, but also learn when to give space to your partner for individual moves. Go on "brush runs" with your partners. . Be like Magic Johnson and make the players around you better...Set up your partners with good, easy brush/roll/kick sets and watch great, difficult things happen that you won't remember after you do them... this is a good sign. Communicate frequently before and after you jam to enhance these opportunities. Also talk during spontaneous times (e.g. all-mine, all-yours, coming, etc...).

Larry W. Imperiale #intermediate

The Flamingitosis

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:55:45 GMT

When I first looked at the flamingitosis I didn’t belive it was possible. But when I learned the flamingitis I knew that that trick is my next goal. I bet I know what you're thinking; flexibility is required to do that trick. NOT!!!!! I'm not flexible at all and I am doing it. The key is the set.

Ok enough small talk… Before you do the flamingitosis I recommend that you learn a few catches. The flamingo, then to a flamingosis. And the flamingitis. Once you learn the flamingosis and the flamingitis you need to mix them together. The set is very important. When you do the flamingitis you should look how far your hand can go to catch. If your hand doesn’t go so far you should make the set a little to the right so when you do the osis spin it will be easier to catch it. Okay now make yourself the set. The set should start from the waist level and end at the ankle area.

Now. Once you did the set spin around fast to the opposite way of the catch (spin clockwise if you're catching it with your right hand). Raise your right leg (again, if you're catching it with your right hand) over the disc, lean on your non-catching hand and catch. Tip: some people are more comfortable of doing it with a nail delay set. You should be expert in both sets so in mob-ops and small jams you will be able to end the co op with a great catch. Another Tip: some people like me can only do the movement if they set a disc. If you can't do it without a disc don’t think you lost it. Last Tip: work both indoors and outdoors. The wind can change your movement completely. Be patient.

What, are you still here? Go jam!!!!!!

Lusti

See Lusti in action on Shrednow.com #advanced

Decision making skills for the Mob-Op player

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:58:28 GMT

If you want to know how to play with other people, even with a limited skill set, the answer lies in your ability to take into account a few variables; where are the people around you, what spin is the disc, how much spin is on the disc, and how long has it been in play. If you can perceive these few things you can have an incredible jam with almost anyone.

First things first. Know where the people are around you. Before every throw you should take a quick gander at the lot of people. Where are they? Who can you pass to? Are you even in a good position to receive the disc? Be sure you are not in someone's lane. If you are in someon's lane, find an open hole and move yourself to it. Sometimes the only open hole is on the end of the line of jammers. It is Okay to stand in front of the jam sometimes. Be sure not to be a wind shadow, and be ready to move out of the way if someone comes running at you. Next is the disc coming to you? If it is be ready. Even if you think it might not be coming, be ready. A bad throw or miscommunication can result in your turn for play. If the disc is coming to you, you will need to decide if the throw has enough spin to take it on a delay. If it does feel free to do so. If your skills are limited think about passing after one or two pulls. This will get the disc out of your hands and give you an opportunity to keep it in play for extended periods of time, thus increasing the fun factor. Passing is essential. It keeps everyone involved, and helps fire up the jam. If the disc should come to you with only a little spin you are left with different options. You could brush the disc to one of your friends, or to yourself. You can also terminate the throw. Don't be afraid to throw a similar throw to another jammer after your termination. A little speed flow never hurt a jam. The most common error I have witnessed is not knowing how much spin is on the disc. If you think there might not be enough spin, don't hesitate to terminate. Early termination, sometimes feels a little weird, but it never busts a jam. A seal is a seal. Far too often we jam without termination. This is a game of throw and catch. If someone serves you up a set, with little spin, that is a good angle to brush back, go for it.

Sometimes there may be plenty of opportunity to keep going after the throw has been in play for a while.Feel free to catch. Even if it is just an under the leg. A few solid catches can really fire up a jam, and build mob-op chemistry.

Knowing the spin will help you determine what you can do with it and for how long. If you don't know the spin coming to you pass it off. The next person probably does. Passing the disc off is huge. When you are losing control, pass it off. If you can't think of anything to do pass it off.

Passing leads to what I think is the best part of mob-opping. As soon as you pass run to the other side of the person you passed to. Or if someone has that lane move to the end of the jam. You should be thinking about where you can be most helpful at any given time. Even running in a circle around the jam can be fun. It leaves a lot of space for you to get involved.

It is also important to note that when you do not have the disc in the jam there are plenty of things you can do besides spectate. You can hoop, leg-over, or get in front of a jammer so you can tip it back. If you have the energy, run with anyone who goes on a brushing run. When they get in trouble, there you are waiting to pick up the pieces and create more fun. It also encourages other jammers to pass to you.

In short, the idea is to create the most interaction between the most people that you can. All while using the skills you have.

Matt Gauthier #intermediate

Kick Brushing 210

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:00:56 GMT

Kick brushing, much like all of freestyle, is an art form. After getting the basics you are ready move on to harder and more exciting kicks. It is my recommendation that even if you have not mastered the basics you should try trick kicks. In my experience I have found that trying things beyond your ability often solidifies the ability you have and accelerates your growth as a freestyler.

Outside Heel kick:

The outside heel kick is rather simple IF you hit the disc correctly. To perform this kick set the disc on an angle to your right or left side. (clock) Most commonly, this kick is done with the right foot. You will want to set the disc about shoulder height. Rotate your knee so that it points down toward the ground. This will bring your foot up towards your head. The outside of your foot is now facing forward. With the outside of your right foot touch the disc on the outside rim at four o’clock. With your left do the same thing only hit the disc at seven o’clock. Now, if you are brave you can change the angle. Hit the disc on the bottom of the rim at four and it will change. Experiment with it and you will be able to change the angle a little or a lot. Some people change the angle off the throw. It is best to attempt this with high angle.

Leg Over Kick:

The leg over kick is all about timing. It, in essence is just a regular kick. If you set a disc on a high angle in front of you, let it come down toward your foot like a regular kick brush. Moments before you are about to kick the disc jump up and kick your opposite leg over the disc then kick the disc with the intended foot. That’s it, nothing special here excepting the timing. That itself is rather hard.

Sole brush:

The sole brush is done with the sole of your foot. Hence, Sole brush. This one can be hard. It requires a bit of flexibility. Set the disc into the wind about head height directly in front of you. With your toe pointed, swing your foot up in the air, in the direction of the spin. Hit the disc just below the ball of your foot on the rim at about five o’clock ( for clock). The disc should end up in front of you.

Behind The Leg Kick:

The behind the leg kick can be done two different ways that I know of. One is with the sole of your foot, and the other is the top of your foot. With clock spin it is easiest to do this kick with your right foot. Set the disc to your left on an angle. Let it drift down towards the ground and kick with the top of your foot, behind your left leg at six o’ clock or so. The disc will either go up and to the right or straight forward. It depends on where you hit it. I find that depending upon the wind it is sometimes easier to jump then kick. Be careful not to kick your leg out from under you. If you want to kick it with the sole of your foot, set the disc the same as aforementioned. Instead of just kicking behind your leg you can twist to the right swinging you right foot down with your toe pointed toward the ground. Hit it at five or six and there you have it. You don’t have to spin, yet I find it easier.

Inside kick brush:

The inside kick brush is dependant mostly on angle. First you will want your back to the wind. Next set the disc, from a rim delay, on a steep angle with the nose pointed towards the wind. . (Maybe sixty degrees, it depends on the wind) The set should be near the side of your body that you wish to kick with. Then give it a kick at six or so in the direction of the spin. Watch your face, a bad hit can result in a fat lip. You don’t usually have to hit it very hard a light tap will do the trick. I find that pointing your toe will help in gaining control. If you would like to practice on your own without a rim set you can try a two handed throw set. It works well.

There are many more trick kick brushes that can be learned. Practice and experiment. Much like all freestyle there are more ways to do it than have been invented. Also, watch film there is tons to be learned in the playback. #advanced

Kick Brushing 101

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:03:19 GMT

Kick brushing is an integral part of freestyle Frisbee. So invaluable is this tool, that it can push your game into a whole new difficulty level as well as add some fun and inventive saves.

Kick brushing is rather simple to learn in its most basic form. Kick brushing is similar to the air brush. One can learn by tossing a disc on an angle into the wind and kicking it in the same direction as the spin. Ideally if the spin is clockwise you would kick the disc at five o’clock with the outside of your right foot, or the inside of your left. If the disc is spinning counterclockwise then kicking the disc at seven o’clock would be more prudent. Of course there are always exceptions to every rule. Depending on spin and angle you may have to kick it in a different place. Practice some and you will see it’s not that hard to get it to come back up to your hands. Adding spin, changing the angle, the direction, or bumping the disc with control…well that’s another story.

Adding spin:

It is sometimes necessary to add spin to the disc when kick brushing to gain stability of flight, or return to a delay. Adding spin can be tricky. It depends on many factors, such as; angle, wind, current spin, where the disc is relative to you, and much more. First you want to determine what your dominant leg is. (most right handers are right legged). In the beginning your dominant leg will be easiest to add spin with. For clock, however, the right leg will have better ability to add spin, and vice-versa for counter. Next, you want to toss the disc on and angle and kick it with the spin. It is like basic kick brushing, except that you will want medium to light contact with the disc. (If you hit it heavy you will send the disc into the upper stratosphere) When you kick the disc you will want to transfer almost all of the energy into the spin of the disc rather than flight path. Hitting the disc at four or five o’clock and continuing through with power clockwise will give the desired effect when the proper contact is made. Or eight to seven o’clock counter.

Note: When I learned I would throw the disc on a steep angle and try to add only a little spin. Beginning with too much power will not only be frustrating but can injure you and your friends.

Changing the angle:

Changing the angle with a kick brush is in some ways difficult and others not so much. It depends on what it is that you are trying to do. For instance, you can change the angle of a disc that is clock trailing off to your left with relative ease. The easiest way to do this is to use your skills adding spin. The biggest difference is where you kick the disc. Using your right foot, you will want to kick the disc in between five and six o’clock just a little low on the rim. ( Of course in the direction of the spin) Adding a ton of spin at the same time. This will tip the nose up in front of you instead of to the right where it was before. If you were using your left foot it requires a little more finesse. You need to use the inside of your foot with less power. Kicking in the direction if the spin, hit the disc at five o’clock (again just low on the rim) so as to bring the disc up to your hands to regain control. For counter transpose the feet and placement on the disc.

There are other ways to change the angle on the disc to save or for fun. Try throwing the disc with a severe angle, clock, and gently ease the top of your right foot onto the bottom of the rim at roughly four o’clock. You will need a lot of spin for this. The disc should flatten out. Practice some and you will figure out how to get it back up so you can deal with it. You can change the angle like this with any part of either foot. The more places on your foot you can change the angle with, the more adept you will be at saving a bad throw or pass.

Changing the direction:

Changing the direction of a discs flight path takes practice but is maybe more simple than changing the angle or adding spin. There are only a couple of things to consider. Mostly all you have to do is recognize the amount of spin and the direction in which the disc is traveling. The amount of spin will determine how hard you have to kick it, and how much of the angle you can change. The only thing I can say about this is practice some while jamming. It is solely experience that will help in determining how hard to kick or how much angle play you have. The direction is simple….where is it going? If you can determine where it is going you can decide where to hit the disc to make it go where you want it to. The best way I can think to practice this is: Get a friend to stand a bit away from you on your left. Have him/her throw the disc with the nose pointed up over to you. (your friend should be parallel to you and in the same line) Make sure that the throw is going to go a little past you, to your right, and that it is near your feet. When the disc gets near your foot stick it out and hit the edge around four o’clock. The disc should abruptly change direction and now be flying in front of you. As to the rest of it, practice. Try it and see what happens…having the aforementioned skills will greatly help you in your endeavor to change direction.

Bumping:

Bumping the disc is mostly reserved for a disc with high spin. It is easy really. Take a disc with high spin that is angling down toward your foot and lightly bump the disc at six o’clock with a not so gripping part of your shoe and it should come right up with almost the same amount of spin it had. You can change the direction with this method as well by hitting the disc at four or seven. Four will send it left and seven right. (this is clock of course…..can you tell which spin I use most?)

Matt Gauthier #intermediate

Learn to Chest Roll - or - The Power Roll

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:05:46 GMT

The way I learned to roll was by first learning a power roll. I'll explain for clock spin. First face the wind. This roll can be done in all kinds of wind, but I found it easiest to learn it in no wind. So indoors is good. Just make sure you have a high ceiling and no breakables around. It can get a little out of control. Next you need to toss the disc on a very steep angle to your left side. Then curl your left hand towards your forearm and wait with your hand down low, by your hip. As the disc comes down hit it at seven o'clock or so (this is important) with the palm of your hand. Stick your right arm straight up in the air and it will almost track itself. You might have to move your right arm forward a little bit to get it to track, but you will get the idea quick. You will need to hit it a little hard so that the direction of the disc will change from falling to travelling up your chest. As you get good at the power roll you will find that an open chest roll with no uphill travel will become easier. And if you give the open chest roll a little push with a curled wrist it will help greatly in making the disc track across your chest, because you're giving it a direction instead of letting it roll as it will. #intermediate

The secret to Air Brushing - or - Sloppy Hands

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:16:26 GMT

Air-brushing is more than slapping your hands at a disc and hoping that it comes back up into play. It is an art form that only a few have mastered in the short time that Freestlye has been around.

I have been watching over time and have noticed something about the best wind players. They have sloppy hands when they are air-brushing. If you ever have a chance to watch players like Tom Leitner, Doug E Fresh, or Jake Gauthier, you will see what I mean. It would seem by watching that they should have no control over the disc and it's flight with the way that they position their hands. It almost looks as though they have Cerebral Palsy. The hands seem to become limp and contorted. Somehow this allows for softer touch and greater precision while brushing. Adding Z's, changing angles, or putting the disc out in front of you in just the right position. Sloppy hands are no doubt the way to go. It is the ability to adapt a soft touch with striking precision that will help you change your wind game from hopeful wind player, to Wind Jammer.

Matt Gauthier #advanced

Airbrushing - or - Whiz Rings Kick Butt

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:18:56 GMT

When the wind is low and you want to work on your wind game, what should you do? Grab a disc and play the wind to your dismay? No….the answer is the whiz ring.

These things are great. They play in next to no wind, are very stable for wind play, and they are hugely forgiving.

What’s more is that Whiz Rings are ideal for learning new moves and teaching new players.

To play with a Whiz Ring there are a few essentials to know. The first of which is what spin you will be playing with. Got that? Now decide what direction you will need to hit the ring in order to propagate spin. (For clock spin, right to left, for counter, left to right)

Once all that is in order locate the wind and face it. Give the ring a little toss into the wind with the nose tilted upward so that the ring may return to you. The throw does not need to be very high or too far in front of you. To brush the ring you will need to hit it in the direction of the spin. For clock hit the ring in-between 4 and 6 o’clock. For counter hit the ring in-between 8 and 6 o’clock. The ring should pop back up in front of you after brushing it. It may be necessary to pursue the ring after brushing. After brushing a whiz ring a few times try a catch under the leg. May I suggest a gitus.

For low wind these things are the ultimate. They float like a disc in an 8 to 10 mile an hour breeze at the beach. The time you have to decide what to do seems like an eternity during play. It opens doors that were otherwise locked in everyday situations.

Another nice thing is how forgiving the rings are. A miss hit does not usually end in tragedy (the ring on the ground). It allows for a shorter learning curve because you spend less time picking the thing up and more time absorbing what went wrong with the hit as you try it again.

How many times have you broken blood vessels in your hands during a brushing extravaganza? The very notion turns off the average newcomer. Rings offer a safe and fun environment for new players to try brushing.

For whatever reason, people are always willing to try air-brushing. They are not always willing to try the delay. Rings offer brand new players a chance to have fun without feeling like they are busting your jam. Toss the ring up and stand next to them so that you can correct any errors, and there it is a fun way to jam for the first time. Everyone I have asked to give the ring a shot, has tried. Most have been successful.

Obviously one cannot delay a ring. However the ring forces you to learn how to depend on your wind game. I can’t say enough about limiting your scope of focus. It is for me the best way to improve my skills.

Whiz rings taught me how to chest roll. They taught me how to jelly-roll, leg-over brush, leg-over kick-brush, btb brush, scarecrow brush, and generally enhanced my game. They are hard to catch. So you know if you can catch the ring you can catch a disc. Sometimes I will jam by myself for a couple of hours with nothing more than a ring. These things are great, and I recommend them to everyone who wants to play the wind.

Matt #beginner

Paul Kenny expounds on the delay

jake@heinville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:21:50 GMT

Beyond throwing and catching, which are the most fundamental tools required, initial tooling in my mind has a couple paths. The outer rim and the center. With the center, you will want to learn to spin the disc keeping your finger, specifically the nail, under the center of the disc and in contact with it as best as you can. This is called a delay. With the outer rim you want to learn to keep the disc in the air as best you can. This might include brushing, rolling or kicking and can involve alot of running around. I will leave the outer rim skills to one more proficient than I.

When I first learned to delay a disc, I had trouble. I already knew how to spin a basketball, but had trouble figuring out how to spin a disc. A spinning basketball, because it has so much weight away from the center, has a stable center. When you spin it correctly, the finger "locks" in the center. In fact, I could spin a basketball on a pencil and hand it to just about anyone and they could hold it spinning. With a spinning disc, the center is not stable and the finger wants to drift off center on it's own. It takes very small, very quick corrections to maintain center. It can take some time and repetition to get there. Further complicating the development of this feel is the gyroscopic effect intrinsic to spinning objects. When you touch a spinning disc off center, the disc will "precess", or turn 90 degrees from where you touched it. Thus the small corrections discussed above need to be in the direction of the spin. It will seem you are always trying to catch up to the correction which wants to stay 90 degrees ahead of your finger! This results in the finger seeming to be doing really small circles near the center of the disc. As you get more proficient, these "circles" and the corrections get so small that it appears the finger is staying still in the center of the disc!

Higher level functions such as skids and turnovers will use this precessive property of discs in a complicated way to achieve the moves. Skids, or "against the spin" moves work against the prevailing precession while turnovers are done with the spin in one direction until the turnover and then with the spin in the other direction. What complicates it is the need to work at non-flat angles and switching your brain from one spin's thinking to the other.

Paul Kenny #beginner

Paul says, "turn it over"

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:24:41 GMT

The turnover is probably as technical a move as possible in disc manipulation. It entails both spins, a myriad of angles and potentially the whole surface of the disc. To do a turnover requires the ability to delay both spins, to push the disc flat from an angled orientation and an understanding of the wind's (which can be self created) influence on the disc. A basic clock turnover (a "the" turnover if there is such a thing) to upside down counter would start with a clock delay in the left hand. One must precess the disc. The nail will go from the center of the disc towards the rim until the dome side is angled to a point where the disc can be pushed with such force so the dome side is pushed into the wind and turned over to a degree (and somewhat flattened). The finger would be inside by the rim close to the body with the bulk of the disc away from the body (hand on inside portion). This requires you to find the position which gets the dome to be in a position to be pushed into the wind. This push is essentially a skid as you push against the prevailing spin while pushing into the wind while elevating it somewhat. To complete the turnover the right hand needs to pick up the (now upside down) disc (somewhat, not completely as it is at an angle) and flatten it. This is where right hand needs to push into the dome upwards, making contact near the lowest point on the disc, on the other side from the body. This push up will force air into the "cup" of the disc, equalizing the pressure in it and flattening it. As this is happening, the finger should precess back towards the center of the upside down disc. It is kind of like digging out the disc.

The underlying key to a turnover will be the push. This is a muscle-memory/feel thing and is different for everyone. The stronger the push, the flatter the disc can become but the higher the risk of a "blowout". The push has a few components. The less the push the more the upside down take will be angled becomes more difficult as the incoming angle is increased towards near vertical. When pushing the disc over you will push forward towards the wind (or somewhat across the wind) as well as manipulating it in an upwards direction.

The ability to find the right body positioning cannot be understated. However done, it results in the dome of the disc pushing into the wind like an Apollo spacecraft re-entering the atmosphere and a "pull" which is also a push to flatten the incoming turned-over disc. All funky turnovers will have the same pressure point relationships. They will manifest themselves in many ways, but if you could just focus on the disc contact point, they will be remarkably similar.

Paul Kenny #advanced

Go against the spin

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:26:54 GMT

I am not certain who was the first person to get against but I feel pretty confident in stating that if there was a record for such things I would be the career leader. The basic principle of spin is "Natural Procession". What that means is when a disc is spinning it wants to go a certain way. As a person nail delays a disc, they do so by making small circles in the direction of the disc. If you let your hand go limp the disc will rotate around your finger the way it is spinning. There is also an anatomical effect in play. If you are left handed, it is easier to learn to nail delay clock spin. To test this theory, make small circles in the same direction with both hands. Which one is easier for the respective spins? Now, to get against, you must learn to go the opposite way of the spin. The best way to start to learn this is to practice the "Crank". There are 8 cranks, 4 with the spin and 4 against. Clock inside, clock outside, counter inside and counter outside. All delay moves are a part of a crank, some more than others. Here's a drill. With clock on the left hand (opposite hand for counter) take a nail delay and hold it above your head with a straight arm. Now let the disc down and rotate your elbow to the outside until the disc goes all the way down under the arm and let it pass under your armpit until it comes out in front of you. That is a clock outside crank. Now take a nail delay (clock again) in the right hand. Pass it under the armpit and lift it up until it is above your head. That is the second basic crank. It is important to try to keep the disc in the middle and to try to do it slowly. By doing that, you are gaining a "feel" for the spin of the disc and it will open up many more moves for you over time.

Now for some keys on how to do it. Try to get the disc to do all of the work. If you are doing the left hand crank, let the disc tilt slightly towards you. Then let the disc begin to drop down. It will be much easier that way. Also, don't keep your feet still. Rotate around the disc.

Here's some moves to try:

Cove: This is a left hand (clock) pull done behind the back. Again, try to tilt the disc so that it is falling in the direction you want to take it. For extra credit try getting it in the ditch (or rim) and once you get it through, continue the move into a one-hand turnover.

Juice: This is under the left leg with the left hand. Tilt the disc towards you, drop it and pull it through. Viola! Magnifique!

BTB Crank: Do the drill I mentioned above and at the end of it, instead of pulling it through, take it behind your back. Remember to rotate into the behind that back position as the disc comes around your back.

SKIDS:
Skids are against the spin moves done in the ditch (or inside rim). The easiest way to do them is with a tilted disc.

Here's basic Skid:
Throw up some spin with your right hand and extend your left into an inverted wrist delay. Instead of keeping the disc on the finger, as soon as you gain control, pull the disc around your back. Again, it helps to rotate. Keep practicing this. You'll start to gain a remarkable amount of control and can use it as a set to other moves.

Skidout:
This is with the right hand (clock). Toss up some spin with and angle onto your right hand. Freeze it, toss it up slightly then get it behind your back. As soon as it touches your right hand finger nails drop your shoulder and rotate around. Booyah!!

Amphibian: This is an inside crank done under the right leg (clock, right hand). Drop your shoulders into position to get a better angle. Once you get it down low pop it out.

WINDPLAY: If you are in a benign environment, you should be able to quickly master some of these moves. Now to take it a step further, take it outside and engage in some wind play. Think about where the disc is once it comes out of one of these moves. Take the basic skid (left hand clock btb). If you are facing the wind and do this move, it will now be behind you and you are chasing it down wind. Now turn 1/3 towards your left. Now when you do the move, it comes out into the wind lending itself to a nice floaty pull. Do another skid like juice and now done skid row! Call your mom and tell her "I'm on Skid Row Momma"!!! Actually it's really Brain Hotel but she won't know the difference.

Skippy Jammer #advanced

Throws, Catches and the basics

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:32:12 GMT

(PDF)

BASIC THROWS

It is very important to learn the fundamentals of throwing before trying more advanced moves. Remember to step towards your target, or at the very least to shift your weight from your back foot to your front foot while throwing. Concentrate on rotating your shoulders, hips and legs through to the point of release, and end with a natural follow through. Keep your arm straight for distance, or bend your elbow and exaggerate the snap of your wrist at the end of the throw for greater spin on the disc. Adjust the angle of your release for accurate throwing.

The Backhand The most common throw is the Backhand release. Stand sideways toward your target, and grip the disc by placing four fingers under the rim of the disc and your thumb on top. Reach across the front of your body, then swing your arm back, releasing the disc towards your target. Tilt the outside edge of the disc down slightly (approx. 30 degrees) upon release and follow through!

The Finger-Flip Stand sideways toward your target, and grip the disc by placing your thumb on top of the disc and the first two fingers in the rim. Much like snapping a towel, swing your arm along the side of your body, snapping the disc towards the target. More snap equals more spin. Tilt the outside rim down slightly upon release. Use your wrist snap to propell the disc, not your arm.

The Thumber The Thumber is much like the Finger-Flip except for the grip. Stand sideways toward your target, and this time place the thumb in the rim with four fingers on top of the disc. Again, swing your arm along the side of your body, waist-high, snapping the disc toward the target. Slightly tilt the outside rim down upon release.

The overhand wrist flip For this throw, stand facing your target. Begin with the same grip as the Thumber, then turn your arm and wrist over. With your wrist cocked backward, swing your arm above your shoulder and snap your wrist forward towards the target. Remember to keep the outside edge of the disc tilted slightly downward at the point of release.

TRICK THROWS

Trick throws can be created by modifying the throws previously described. Use momentum from spinning or pivoting to create the snap needed to throw around your back, neck or legs. Be creative and invent new throws with your friends.

UPSIDEDOWN To throw the disc upside down, use the previously shown grips. Release the disc tilted slightly upward (Approx. 30o), instead of downward.

CURVE To throw a Curve shot, simply angle the disc upon release of your throw in the direction of your desired curve. Special precautions should be made in windy conditions.

SKIP SHOTS Skip shots can be made by striking the far edge of the disc on the ground between you and the receiver of the throw. Skip shots are easiest on hard surfaces.

BASIC AND TRICK CATCHES

Catches can be made off of throws from your partner or from your own set-ups, and can be made with either hand. The disc is always spinning, so be sure to make a strong squeeze when catching. Standard catches are made with the thumb up on low catches and the thumb down on high catches. Catches can be made more difficult by spinning around before the catch is made. Below are some examples of beginning and advanced catches, but make up some of your own, that’s half the fun. Catches can be made while standing, running, sitting, lying down or jumping in the air.

Pancake	One hand catch; High and Low	UTL (Under the Leg)
BTB (Behind the Back)	Bad Attitude (Around the Extended Ankle)	Flamingo (Around One Leg)
Figure Four (Reverse Under the Leg)	Behind the Head	Chair (Around both Legs)
Triple Fake (Around the Body)	Phlaud (Around the far side of both Legs)	Gitis (Around the far leg)

TERMINOLOGY

Nail Delay - Spinning the disc on your fingernail allows you to do many things. By balancing the spinning disc in the center, you can maneuver it under your legs, around your body and set it up for catches. Move your fingernail in a small circle underneath the spinning disc. Your finger should move in the same direction of the spin. When outside always face the wind. Note: Silicon lubricant is used to create less friction.

Rim Delay - Similar to the nail delay, this technique involves letting the inside rim of the disc ride on your fingernail. Simply hook your finger so that your nail is the only thing making contact with the disc. This allows you to swoop the disc and create a flowing motion.

Spin - The disc spins two ways, clockwise and counter-clockwise. When the disc is thrown with a lot of spin, the flight will be more stable, and the nail delay will last longer. Also, the disc will hold an angle longer, and be more manueverable.

Percussion - Tips and kicks in the center of the disc offer many moves for the novice and professional alike. It is important to make contact as close as possible to the exact center of the disc. The action should be quick and precise for maximum control. Use your fingers, elbow, knee, head, toe or heel to pop the disc into play or to set for a catch. Experiment with trick tips under your leg, behind your back and with your feet.

Air Brushing - By hitting the disc on the outside rim with either the hand or foot, you can maintain spin and keep the disc in play. It is easiest when there is a slight breeze. Angle the disc upward into the wind and brush across the outside rim. The disc will rebound. Repeat the action or make a catch. Indoors, the brushing action can be used to pass the disc to your partner. Experiment with different hits and kicks into the wind or indoors.

Body rolls - Rolling the disc across your body is fun and easy. The most common roll is the chest roll. First of all, make sure to face the wind, then, while leaning your torso back and with the disc tilted towards you, start the roll at your finger tips. Step into the disc to maintain contact between your body and the disc throughout the roll, and watch the disc progress from one hand to the other.

Co-op - Passing the disc between players by center delay, rim delay, air brush, kicks or tips is called co-oping. For routines on the competitive level, these tricks are choreo-graphed to music.

Freestyle Competition

In competitive freestyle disc play, players organize three, four and five minute routines to music, and are judged on execution, artistic impression, variety and difficulty. Tournaments are held worldwide, and exhibitions can often be seen in schools and at special events.

For a complete listing of freestyle events, please contact the Freestyle Players Association at:

http://www.freestyledisc.org

Needed Equipment

For a simple game of throw and catch, a disc is all you need. If you desire to expand your play to the nail delay and other advanced moves you might want to spray the bottom of your disc with a dry silicone lubricant. Spraying the disc will make it slick and nearly friction-less, which allows for easier nail and rim delays. Another part of the equipment needs of professional disc athletes are fake fingernails. Since real nails tend to grind down with extensive play, fake nails are used to protect the real nail and give a secure surface for the spinning disc. Other than that, the only requirements for freestyle disc play are open space and you!

Text by Rodey and Bethany Sanchez
Graphics by Gina Sample #beginner

Don't toss that old disc, sand it!

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:40:34 GMT

1) Wash the disc off to clean off any sand, dirt or salt. Then dry it off with a towel.

2) Choose a grit of sandpaper depending on how roughed up the disc is. (If it's really rough start with 600 or 800)

3) Rub the sand paper in a circular motion until the surface is smooth. (this takes some elbow grease!)

4) Go to the next sandpaper grade (If you started with 800 grit then go to 1200 next) and repeat step 3.

5) Repeat steps 3 & 4 until you've sanded the disc with 2000 grit sandpaper. The disc should feel smooth as silk with no rough spots.

That's it!

Here are a couple tips...

a. The sandpaper will last longer if it's wet when you use it.

b. Before moving to a higher grit be sure to check the disc surface for any rough spots that need extra work.

c. Don't forget to sand the inside rim.

Tom

P.S. Here's a places where you can buy high grit sandpaper from...
http://www.autobodystore.com/material1.shtml #other

Flow vs Consecutivity

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:42:57 GMT

Flow and consecutivity are similar yet very different in my mind. When judging presentation I look for flow, when judging difficulty I look for consecutivity.

Flow has to do with keeping the crowds' interest by maintaining a certain level of play - maybe not hitting everything or staying consecutive the entire time, but whatever bobbles, the's or even minor drops don't distract from the overall flow the team had built over a period of time...while one quick drop might not break the flow one long drop or two quick drops may. Other factors can effect a judge's interpretation when judging the degree of flow. For example, keeping the disc moving between team members often makes the routine flow more than having each player just do long center delay combinations. When you watch some vintage footage of the Coloradicals you notice not only how well they flowed but how the excitement would build as they kept the disc moving and as they kept hitting moves. But don't forget, they weren't just doing easy moves the whole time...they had to be doing risky enough moves for their to be excitement in the first place.

Consecutivity. Consecutivity is very straight forward. Is a player going from move to move without hesitation or does he have to reset the disc or do a the before going into the next move. Now you may wonder, "What's the big deal? It's not that hard to go from one move to the next." This is true for some moves but far from the truth for others.

For example when doing an under the leg center delay it's easy enough to regain control of the disc on your finger after you've passed the disc under a leg. Now try the same move but add a spin after you pass the disc under your leg and before you regain control on your finger. The mastery of the move can be shown in competition by how much control you have of that move.

If you do an under the leg pass and then pull the disc under another leg directly off the first set - you've shown three things. One, that you've mastered the first move to the point where you can set it into a relatively small pull out window. Two, you've mastered the second move to the point where you can pull the disc from a relatively good set with little room for error. Third you've shown you've mastered the transition from the first move - which involves balance and footwork.

So, difficulty as it relates to consecutivity is maximized when players do moves into other moves when the margin of error for the moves themsleves and for the transistion between those moves is minimized. Diff is also maximized by the technical substance of the moves which correlates to how technically difficult the move is. How hard is it to do that move under the current conditions, what's the degree of restriction, the amount of time to master the move, how risky is it, etc.

As you can see just judging difficulty is difficult.

Now, try to take into consideration all that I've mentioned and try to judge multiple players doing different moves with muliptle discs all at the same time....then in the middle of their combos the 15 second tape guy says "mark". Doh!

Tom #intermediate

Checklist for hosting a tournament

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:45:50 GMT

Checklist for running a tournament:

Here is a rough checklist of what needs to be done to run a full scale tournament.

Summary

___ Find a field
___ Decide on a date
___ Find a hotel
___ Organize staff
___ Create a sponsorship proposal

Detail

___ Decide on a site and a date
___ Solicit Sponsors

___ Create a sponsorship proposal
___ Decide what to say to sponsors
___ Talk to prospective sponsors
2 types of sponsorship:
Main sponsor
Possibly name the tournament for them (i.e. The Jeep Eagle Frisbee Freestyle World Championships) Their name more prominently displayed on the field, the disc, the web site, the t-shirts, in the radio ads, in press releases, during the TV interview, in the tournament program (if you do one), announced over the PA continuously
Regular (non-main) sponsors
get exposure from the sources listed above, but not as prominently

___ Secure fields

___ Speak with the grounds keepers to make sure the sprinklers don't come on during the event - or that they don't over water the field before the event

___ Hotel that will offer group discounts for the players
___ Get a web page up

___ Needs partner list

___ Announce and communicate to Players, Staff, Sponsors, and Media (each week, then every time you know something before the tourney)
___ Schedule of events

Consider options (all 4 event finals on Sunday or 1 or 2 of the finals on Saturday)
When to post the registration form? ________
Will there be any deadlines or late fees for late entrants? ___
When to post the event schedule? __________

___ Directions/Maps to the field to the hotel, to the parties, etc.
___ Put press releases together
___ Organize staff
___ Get the local media to cover the event

___ Call them
___ Fax press releases
___ Contact radio stations
___ PSA (public service announcement)
___ To become a sponsor of the event
___ Provide a sound system

___ Create a disc design and t-shirt designs (sponsors' logos on the designs)
___ Decide on what kind of trophies to have made up
___ Decide on budget
___ Form a Business
___ Start Bank Account
___ Find out how much money the FPA will contribute
___ Make sure you have all the logistics organized

___ Power
___ Sound system
___ Tents
___ Chairs
___ Tables
___ Judging sheets
___ Calculators
___ Pencils
___ 4 and 5 minute difficulty tapes
___ Boom box for diff tape (batteries or plug)
___ Check and Cue boom box and tapes
___ Talley sheets
___ Stop watches
___ Someone to announce
___ Someone to do the sound
___ Someone to do stats
___ Time keeper
___ Where is all the equipment going to be stored?
___ How will it be transported?
___ People to help with setup and break down

___ Graphic artist

___ Tournament logo
___ Poster
___ Flyers
___ Tournament program (Ads from sponsors and other businesses)
___ Web page
___ T-shirt design
___ Sponsor logos
___ Trophy designs

___ Airports info

___ Shuttle service to and from the airport

___ Rental Car info
___ Registration party (where, when, and food)
___ Tournament parties for Friday and Saturday night
___ The awards ceremony (where and when, and directions)

___ Make reservations

___ Organize demos/entertainment between rounds (K-9, hacky sack, martial arts)
___ Get players package together
___ Organize staff for the registration party
___ Where's the jam happening on Thursday afternoon
___ Is there a post tournament jam?

Tom Leitner (converted to checklist by Lee Harper) #other

Playing with both sides

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:48:02 GMT

Jamming, everybody’s jamming. What a beautiful day. “Gimme an upside-downer.” Snap. “Now a rightside-upper.” . . .? A rightside upper? . . . That’s it! Oh, it finally makes sense! That’s why my mind is so captivated disc shaped pieces of plastic. Unlike the rest of the things I have been playing with all my life, a flying disc has two (count ‘em 2) distinct and very different sides. Is that why it is so different from the “objects” of other sports? Sideless baseballs, footballs, javelins, shot-puts, and hockey pucks all operate different principles. Even our fat cousin the discus just missed the point.

But surely not all sporting objects are so underprivileged that they are deproved of sides. No, pole vaulters and swimmers both have a top and bottom. So what’s the difference? The pits and pools don’t spin!

Let’s forget about that and get on to the joyfully limitless innovations of disc players. Once these guys start a disc spinning no part goes untouched. Just like the tired old story of the Indian and their buffalo, great freestylers find a use for every single bit of the disc. They nail delay the top and bottom, rim delay the inside and outside, use the ridge on Wham-O’s C mold, and somehow find flight ring delays on the old models. They can MAC the top, airbrush the side, padiddle a disc, and even breath delay a mini. Now with all this use, what I want to know is why no one hot stamps the bottoms!

These freestyle techniques sure get confusing and, in fact, quite overwhelming. By the time any one of these skills is copied, the state of the art has changed so drastically that there seems to be a constant need for something newer. But like any kind of technique it always goes back to the basics. For me, this is the nail delay, one side at a time.

The first time I saw a nail delay, I was totally mystified. “Hey, did you see that; man, what is going on around here?” I wanted answers and it drove me bananas, because unlike other sports, there was no way I could experience the big star performances vicariously. To relate to Dr. J all I have to do is to set up a six-foot hoop, but a nail delay…? About two months and a thousand questions later, I had attained my first goal; I was confident enough to practice an above-eye-level-clockwise-spinning-right-handed delay in the house. What a thrill; I laughed and laughed and laughed. Really wonderful, I thought. Now I only with my first teacher had told me to slick the disc. . .

Soon afterward I learned to delay a disc that was spinning upside-down. Quite quickly I found that it is in one way very different from delaying rightside-up. There is a longer walk to pick up drops. And slightly after that I learned about rim delays. If you can find one fingernail long enough to reach the corner of the disc, given enough practice, you’ll soon comprehend that slippery creature that changes curves and alters attitudes. Watch out though, for all their revelations, rim delays introduce extra friction. They are always, always capable of burgling the Z’s right out of your hands.

As I got more into this freestyle stuff my partner challenged me to put together a combination. “It’s the next step,” he said. Well the one I wanted to do the most involved delaying both sides of the disc at the same time. In this case I decided that the axiom about the whole being greater fun than the sum of its component parts is more true than ever.

The first time I saw anybody with hands simultaneously on a disc it was in my first copy of Frisbee Disc World (vol. 3 3). I had been delaying a short couple of months (I think I was up to using WD-40), but the trick was so hot, so state of the elusive art, that it captured my mind. Its attainment was a distant, much sought after milestone. Sought after not to say that I was physically capable of doing it, but to understand the disc well enough to comprehend just exactly how the trick would work. I had been playing with balls all my life, so I can sort of understand Dr. J levitating over the rim, but gyroscopic forces on a disc are another matter all together. Chris Taylor, who had written the Frisbee World Disc article, seemed to speak of the trick as though he was still a little mystified by it. The masters told him it was impossible, but still he knew that with the right tools and enough preparation its accomplishment was well within the physical laws of the universe. Such exploration is one of the very essential elements of our sport. People are just beginning to pioneer what a flying disc can do. So to our minds we can only say, “lead us not into limitation, but deliver us…” It’s so easy to get carried away. There I go again.

Back to the story. Before I had even seen a live and in person turnover, I knew that the crux of the matter was that the direction of the spin changed from one side of the plastic to the other. Chris Taylor told us that. So I, just like he, spent my time learning both spins on both hands. It was frustrating watching my friends accomplish more and more complicated single spin moves while I was in the elementary stages of both spins. I told myself that it would pay off and I’d one day put each spin together in a single package. It happened.

Chris said that in a turnover a clockwise spinning disc goes over to the opposite, counterclockwise spin. From playing with this idea and a disc, another self-evident realization came to mind. The disc also goes from one hand to its opposite, and again from one side of the plastic to its opposite. Everything, I thought, goes opposite: upside-down to rightside-up, left to right, and counter to clock. So 2x2x2=8. Therefore, there must be eight turnovers, if you could take either spin on either hand on either side of the disc, and turn them all over to their opposites. (I really am not sure if it is possible to turn them all the way over to anything else, but who knows?)

The fact that there had to be eight possible turnovers was obvious given a little thought. Accomplishing them is another story. Comprehending each one was my real goal, because I knew that would teach me about how a flying disc works. The physical part would come later. It was quite by accident that I learned a little about how our universe works. I told a scientist friend of mine that I didn’t know why the under-side was always spinning opposite its top. “It’s simple,” he said “why can’t you understand it? The same thing would happen if you turned over the earth. It would be spinning the other way.” Food for thought.

After studying the situation a bit, I was able to ask more than, “show me how to turn it over.” I asked everybody to show me their different turnovers. I learned first that it takes a lot of spin to do the trick. A rim delay causes a lot more friction that a nail delay, and a turnover is often both at once. Mega-Z’s are a must, especially at the beginning. A few extra can help us salvage our mistakes.

The next step was learning the pressure points both top and bottom. This essentially means knowing where to push and where to pull. My first turnover was upside-down to rightside-up. I started with my top hand pressing next to the rim and my bottom hand trying to turn the disc over. A rim delay (the top work on an upside-down disc) supported by a nail delay caused almost a total loss of spin. I finally got it though, and learned the risks: even with hot Z’s a turnover takes its toll.

The people who patiently taught me could show three turnovers that started clock: two upside-down and one rightside-up. The pressure points for each one were different. I found a lot more to it than just trying to keep a fingernail in the center. There is a balancing act with a hand on either side pushing the disc out of parallel with the ground. All this before righting it on the other side. Taking what we had learned from the Frisbee Disc World article, my friends and I extrapolated a bit more. Since one turnover started upside-down clock on the right hand, we figured we could learn the same thing starting upside-down counter on the left hand. With practice and experimentation we took the three tricks we had learned and turned them into six we understood.

The disc does go over and come up so we knew that the pressure points we had learned about did work. But I couldn’t help wondering if these points where optimum. What could be realized from trying some new ones? Well, a great thing happened when, for once, I moved off the rims. A lot of spin was left when the disc came over. Instantly I realized how and why the friction factor had been reduced, but more importantly, for the first time I felt the gyroscopic forces of a spinning disc. They were powerful; it was hard to turn the disc off its plane. There was real energy there. It reminded me of holding the axel of a spinning bicycle wheel and trying to change its plane. Now more than ever, I was left questions about the forces that act on a spinning disc. And questions about what else could be done with them.

Soon afterwards I began the familiar ritual of setting myself up, trying to figure out the seventh and eighth turnovers. Mostly I was pushing down on the disc and picking it up off the floor. It’s not such a bad was to spend a lonely afternoon. But all the time I was thinking, “what will happen if I push down here or there.” Finally one went over, and two tries later it was spinning the other spin on the other side on my other hand.

I managed to find out there actually are eight possible turnovers. For a few minutes I thought I knew them all. I was so excited. I was about to really start showing off. Later at home I started thinking about why I should have been able to figure out the last two from what I had known of the first six. “If that pressure point works that way, then this one would have to work this way,” kind of thinking. Clear enough. But, oh no, that means that still another point might work another way. That would mean, if you changed hands or started upside-down or…oh, at least ten or twelve variations, or who knows how many. And they are all related somehow.

Vickers Chambless #advanced

More Technical Tips for All Levels

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:49:51 GMT

PDF #intermediate

Equipment -or- Tools of the Trade

jake@heinsville.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:54:40 GMT

So you've seen some jammers and you are fired up. They tossed you some spin and a whole new world opened up to you. Now you want to practice but those damn letters on the bottom of the disc keep it from staying on your nail. Don't fret, the following section will guide you to finding exactly what you need to shred, from the bare necessities to great training devices.

The Bare Essentials

To play freestyle Frisbee it is absolutely, positively necessary to have some sort of flying disc. Being as it's freestyle there are no rules. I've been caught air brushing a cd-rom and padiddling my mom's good china. Jamming can occur at any time, any place with any object. One of my favorite jams was in a bar in Yakima, Washington with a mini. All of the best players got that way because they can't stop playing. Why let a little thing like not having a Sky Styler or the darkness stop you? You can even chest roll a golf disc if you are careful.

Tried and True, Tools of the Trade

Ok, that was pretty bare. Here are the tools that 90% of professional freestylers use:

The Disc: Disc Craft's Sky Styler is the number one choice of flying disc for freestylers. It's smooth surface, deep rim and just above average weight make it the perfect choice for delays, rim pulls and air brushing in almost any condition. Whamo also makes a formidable freestyle disc. The last choice was thought to be discontinued until I found a small store on the Oregon coast still selling them. It's called the floater. It has an extra slick center and floats very well in light wind conditions.

Fake Nails: Fake nails reduce the friction between your finger and the disc when it is spinning, especially while on a rim delay. They also provide a larger surface on which to delay the disc resulting in greater control. Most people make fake nails out of the tube the crazy glue comes in. Just cut out a piece to fit your finger. Others make the nails out of dental acrylic. These nails last longer and often come in fancy colors. To attach them ignore the warning not to use crazy glue to attach fake nails and use the crazy glue to attach the nails. When you are done just jam your thumb nail under one edge and pry them off. The first time hurts, after that its a cinch. Not sure about wearing fake nails? Maybe Dan Magallanes can change your mind.

Slick: Slick is used to lubricate the disc to allow for longer spin times. Many different types are used ranging from Silicon spray to Armor All. Most jammers prefer SprayOn brand silicon spray although some believe that a food grade silicon spray works better as its dryer and collects less dust. I highly recommend slicking a disc at least once before playing with it. An unslicked disc will tend to be hard to control and will damage easily. However, once that first coat is on you'll find the life of the disc increases greatly. If you find yourself without slick use water. It won't last long but while the disc is wet it spins seemingly forever.

Training Tools

Let's face it. Learning to be a top notch jammer takes dedication. Anyone can go out, mess around and have a great time but to be really good one has to work at it. Fortunately there are some tools that make this process a bit easier.

Whiz Ring: Learning to Air Brush is one of the most important skills to be a good jammer. However, smacking a skystyler over and over with an inexperienced hand can cause one to hurt more just than one’s pride. Enter the Whiz Ring. It is designed to be a promotional tool. Print an advertisement on it and hand it out to every one you see. Luckily for the freestyle community this ring floats beautifully in a light breeze with almost no spin. Add to that its light weight design (it’s meant to be cheap) and you’ve found the perfect tool to learn the subtle side of the art of air brushing. With the lightest touch the ring can be sent up into the air and back into play. Wrong angle? Just smack down on it to bring the nose up and it’s ready to fly. After 15 minutes with one of these I guarantee anyone, beginner to seasoned pro will noticed a marked improvement in their brushing skills.

Z- Machine: When learning to delay a spinning disc the first thing one learns is that the more spin the disc has the easier it is to delay. As one gets better they will realize that the more spin the disc has the more tricks they can do. It was with this in mind that the Z-Machine was invented. It is a small apparatus designed to do nothing except put more spin than humanly possible on the disc. Most anyone who has never delayed a disc before can pick it up in a mere 15 minutes with one of these. Many jammers find that they run out of moves before the disc runs out of spin. The pros use these to perfect new moves before trying them in the public eye. Nothing can compare to the Z-Machine for learning delay moves. Sadly finding one of these is becomming harder and harder.

Hard Core tools

Many jammers are happy with a disc, nails and slick. What else would you need, right? Well, some of us are so obsessed that we eat, sleep and breath freestyle. Not a moment goes by that we (yes, I'm hardcore to) aren't asking ourselves, "how does this pertain to the sport?" This is how it pertains to the sport.

Shoes: Yes, most jammers wear shoes when they play. I'm talking about those jammers who go from store to store looking for just the right shoe. Choosing the right shoe can elevate your game to new heights. Probably most important, is to find a shoe that is form fitting. In hockey, many players will actually wear skates a size or two too small. The same is true of soccer players. Form fitting shoes offer more control, and a greater pressence of your foot. It is important to consider a few different things when purchasing a pair of shoes. You will sometimes need to add spin, bump the disc up, or change the angle. Too much leather can hinder the bump and angle change, while not enough leather ruin your ability to add spin. The type of leather makes a difference too. Glossy leather can act as both the angle changer and spin adder. Suede often works best for adding spin. While talking with freesylers, I have learned this, ultimately it dependes on your play and what your looking for. A trend that I have observed is the slip-on type shoe. These are form fitting but commonly all material. There is also some question as to their duability. Indoor soccer shoes work well. As you can imagine they are designed with kicking in mind. Pretty handy, but they are often lacking the cushioning that so many of us need. My personal favorites are cross-trainers with a leather outer and material top. It sometimes takes some looking, but there cross-trainers out there that meet all the criteria.

Sand Paper: This is one of the best hard core tools. Ever look at the bottom of your disc and frown because it's full of groves? Worried about using that new disc in the sand? Fear not, sand paper will rejuvenate the disc to better than new. Tom Leitner expounds on the finer points of Disc Sanding.

Where to find the tools

The Wright Life has discs.

Discovering the World has discs and slick.

Whiz Rings and Hein Nails are on sale at Heinsville

Sand paper -
http://www.autobodystore.com/material1.shtml

Unfortunately finding supplies from a local store can be somewhat difficult. The best way to go about it is to find other local jammers and ask if they know where to go. Short of that you'll have to go store to store until you find what you're looking for. Another great place to buy supplies is at a tournament. That way you not only meet other players but you support the sport as most proceeds usually go back into the club that held the tournament. #beginner