Freestyle footbag

Freestyle Footbag is a footbag sport where players demonstrate their abilities by performing sequences of acrobatic tricks. The ending position of the bag on one trick becomes the starting position of the bag on the next trick. Tricks are created by combining different components between contacts (stalls or hits, usually stalls). Components can be spins, dexterities (wrapping a leg around the bag in mid-air), or ducks (letting the bag pass a few inches above the neck). Contacts are usually on the inside of the foot behind the opposite support leg (Clipper Stall) or on the toe, however many inventive possibilities remain and are used to create an endless list of tricks.

Competition Events

In competition, there are 3 main freestyle events.

2 minute Routines

The main event is where a player choreographs and executes a 2 minute routine to music. Much like figure skating, players are given scores for technical and artistic merit. These scores take into account choreography, difficulty, variety, and execution.

30 Second Shred

The second major event offered at footbag tournaments is Shred30. This event is purely technical. Competitors have to execute as many unique, difficult tricks in a 30 second period as possible. Their score is calculated with a mathematical formula, which takes into account the average difficulty of the run, and penalizes the players for repeated moves. Dropping the bag lowers the player's score in 2 ways: it lowers their difficulty ratio, and decreases the number of tricks they can fit in 30 seconds. The formula is adds + adds*uniques/contacts.

ick 3

A third event is Sick Three. While not always an official offering, this event is usually held and judged informally at several events, including World Championships. The objective of this event, is for players to link three hard tricks together in the most impressive way possible. Players are usually given between 5-7 attempts to land a combo, within a maximum time frame of 2 minutes. This event is often judged by a panel of judges, who sometimes use videocameras to verify that moves were hit cleanly within the combo. Judging is purely subjective.

ick Trick

In this competition, the most difficult assortment of components is put into one move and judged subjectively by difficulty, form, and cleanliness. Usually the competitor is given 3-7 tries which is at the competition director's discretion

Rippin' Run

In this competition, a minimum of two players start a guiltless string (a series of moves with a minimum requirement of 3 components (adds) in between contacts) and try to outlast each other. Players are eliminated and the winners progress to the next round, just like in the single-elimination tournament.

Components (ADD Categories)

Tricks performed while playing freestyle are made up different add categories. ADD is an acronym for "Additional Degree of Difficulty". A toe stall would be a 1-ADD trick. TOE [DEL] . A "clipper" is a cross body inside delay CLIP [XBD] [DEL] and is worth 2-ADDs. A cross-body sole delay XBD_SOLE [XBD] [UNS] [DEL] is worth 3-adds. The more adds, the more possible permutations there are for tricks. Moves have been performed up to 9-ADDs (Chilly-Philly Sauce). There are 5 ADD types
*Delay [del] This Add is awarded to any move in which you catch (stall/delay) the footbag on either your foot or part of your leg.
*DEXTERITY [dex] This Add is awarded when you circle around the footbag with your leg.
*UNUSUAL SURFACE [uns] You get this Add when you use any surface of the body besides the toes, insteps, outsteps and knees.
*BODY [bod] This ADD is awarded to any move which involves a spin, jump, or twist of your body.
*CROSS BODY [xbd] This ADD is awarded to any move which involves a kick or delay done on the opposite side of your body.

ADD classification

If you are a player who can successfully combine multiple ADD level tricks in one "String" or "session" than your playing difficulty can be classed as follows.
*2 ADDs = Tiltless
*3 ADDs = Guiltless
*4 ADDs = Tripless
*5 ADDs = Fearless
*6 ADDs = Beastly
*7 ADDs = Godly

Freestyle trick fundamentals

Kicks

There are 3 fundamental kicks that are used in freestyle. These kicks are:
*Inside kick: Using the inside of your shoe.
*Outside kick: Using the outside of your shoe. The Outside kick is also known as the gimp kick, fairy kick and al-weez kick.
*Toe kick: Using the toe area of your shoe.

talls

Once a player has mastered these tricks, they generally move on to stalling/delaying the footbag. This is where the footbag stops on part of the body. It is done to gain more control of the footbag, or to set up prior to a trick. Some of the simpler stalls found in freestyle are:
*Toe stall: This is usually the first stall learned in footbag. The footbag is kicked or dropped in front of the body, and caught on the toe.
*Inside stall: The footbag is caught on the inside of the foot.
*Outside stall: The footbag is caught on the outside of the foot.
*Clipper or Jester (Chester) stall: The kicking foot is positioned behind the standing foot, and caught on the inside of the foot as in an inside stall. the name jester is often used by circle kickers.

Basic Dexterities

*Around the World - Wrapping the leg around the bag in between toe stalls on same foot.
*Leg Over - From toe stall to opposite toe stall, the leg goes out to in over the bag and catches the bag on the toe of the leg that circles the bag.
*Pickup - From toe stall to opposite toe stall, the leg goes in to out under the bag and catches the bag on the toe of the leg that circles the bag.
*Mirage - From toe stall back to the same toe, on the way down the opposite leg goes from in to out under the bag and catches the bag on the toe of the leg that does not circle the bag.
*Butterfly - On the way down, let the bag fall in between the legs while moving a leg from outside to in, letting it be caught on the opposite legs clipper stall (inside stall behind opposite support leg). This may be the most important move in footbag. It lays the foundation for more difficult moves.

Other Components

*Spins
*Ducks
*Symposium
*Kneeing

[http://www.footbag.org/freestyle/elements.html Move Elements]

Combining Concepts

Spins can be added to dexterities to create moves like spinning butterfly.

Acronyms and Jargon

Here is a list of various terms and concepts, these do not include actual trick names.
*Alpine - A term used to describe a move that adds a duck, dive or weave between two dexterities
*Backside - Used to describe a move in which the downtime component is symposium
*BS - Both Sides. Usually refers to hitting a move on both sides. Also sometimes used to denote Backside (see term)
*BSOR - Both Sides One Run. Alternative way of saying BSOS (below)
*BSOS - Both Sides One String. Refers to hitting a trick on both sides in one string.
*Frontside - Used to describe a move in which the uptime component is symposium
*FS - Frontside (see term)
*PDX - Short for Paradox
*PS - Paradox-Symposium. Used to describe a move that is both paradox AND symposium
*The - Used to describe leg dexterities that do not fully circle the bags. 'The' dexterities do not count for adds
*Thin - Used to describe a move that was not hit cleanly but still technically hit.

IFPA 2007 World Footbag Freestyle Rankings

Open Routines:

*1. Vašek Klouda
*2. Jim Penske
*3. Scott Bevier
*4. David Clavens
*5. Phil Morrison
*6. Honza Weber
*7. Dan Ednie
*8. Milan Benda
Open Shred :30

*1. Vasek Klouda — 259.35
*2. Jorden Moir — 253.81
*3. Jim Penske — 249.3
*4. Honza Weber — 245.8
*5. Lon Smith — 211.45
*6. Evan Gatesman — 204.61
*7. Andrew Grant 202.81
*8. Ken Somolinos 193.19
*9. Sam Potter — 180.56
*10. Dan Ednie — 175.86
*11. Phil Morrison — 165.75
*12. Byrin Wylie — 118.37
Women’s Routines:

*1. Tina Aeberli
*2. Oxana Prihotko
*3. Emily Kulczyk
*4. Gosia Nycz
*5. Sunny Freeman-Genz
*6. Taylor Chaintreuil
Women’s Shred :30

*1. Tina Aeberli — 199.
*2. Oxana Prihotko — 112.7
*3. Sunny Freeman-Genz — 69.44
*4. Ashley Danowski– 68

Trick Lists

*An extensive move nickname list can be found in this [http://modified.in/footbag/viewtopic.php?t=2871 modified.in forum thread.]

* [http://www.footbagclub.com/FootbagMoves/ MUFC's extensive database of footbag trick tips]

References

External links

* [http://www.footbag.org International Footbag Players Association (The Official Page)]
* [http://www.freedomfootbags.com Freedom Footbags]
* [http://www.modified.in Modified Footbag Forum]
* [http://www.missoulafootbag.com Missoula Footbag Alliance]
* [http://www.planetfootbag.com Planet Footbag]
* [http://www.footbagdenmark.dk Footbag Denmark]
* [http://www.footbag.fr French Footbag Association]
* [http://footbag.ucan2.com/ Footbag Videos]