Footbag contains a wide range of unique and enjoyable events for any player to enjoy, whether it is the novice or the professional. Each type of competition has its own features and benefits, some attuned to a more social side of learning while others are for those wanting the skills they have attained to be shown off. Here is a beginners guide to all the major competitions hosted at most competitions:

Main Events:

Circle Competition

Circle is a very fun and enjoyable competition that everyone can use to relax and just have some fun. The circle competition requires 3-4 players minimum, arranged in the kicking order of beginner to the most highly ranked player. Circle competition has a few variations around the world, however the most used model revolves around a 2 round game.

The first round of circle is called the ‘density’ round. In this round, the main aim is to just hit as many different and unique tricks as you possibly can without dropping. Once you drop, you appropriately pass the bag over to the next player who will commence their run. In each round, you get 3 attempts to impress the judges with your skills. The only rule associated with this event is:

-       If you drop the bag before reaching 3 contacts, the player is given a second attempt or ‘passback’ (you must pass the bag to the player, usually it is good etiquette not to pick it up yourself for a passback). However, on the second attempt, any drops lead to the end of your turn and you must pass it onto the next player.

The second round of circle is called the ‘difficulty’ round. In this section, players must hit their hardest tricks and links. Each player is given a score for each of the 2 rounds. Usually, the highest placed person (sometimes 2^nd place as well) advance to the next stage of the competition.

Circle competition is a good way to relax and just play to your strengths. It is fun for all levels of players and doesn’t require any real preparation to compete in.

Below is an example of the circle competition:

Routines

Every sport, that has many variations in competition, always seem to have the decider, most important event that would crown the best of the world. In Footbag, the official event to achieve the ‘Champion’ title is from winning routines at the event. Routines are a very basic and easy competition to comprehend. It is very similar to a gymnastics rhythmic routine, where it revolves around roughly a 2-3 minute performance. Each performance is graded on difficulty, creativity and length. Difficulty is self-explanatory, creativity covers how ‘on beat’ you are to the music that you have chosen and the uniqueness of your routine, and length is just to ensure you don’t go over or under the time limit (you get penalized if you do). You get penalized for drops, which are usually the deciding factor between players of the same skill. Routines don’t require an extremely difficult performance to progress further at an event. Generally, the creative routines are seen to be the most impressive (even if it isn’t the winning routine). If you can’t hit too many difficult tricks, you can be creative and still achieve a good result for a routine. Showing off tricks that no one performs during a routine is a sure way to get a good score in creativity. In this way, even the most basic of players can come up with a routine and progress with it.

Below is one of the most creative routines I have seen (even if the difficulty isn’t world class) and is a routine you must watch before you die, enjoy a masterpiece:

(Note: This is a little over the top, but its very creative)

Shred 30

Shred 30 is a very unique and enjoyable event. In shred 30, you have 30 seconds to perform as many different tricks as you can. In Footbag, there is something called the ‘ADD system’; each trick has been assigned a number of ADD’s (this doesn’t mean a trick is more difficult if it has more ADD’s). Tricks that are given an ADD score of 3 or higher are considered ‘uniques’. Also, performing the same 3 or higher ADD trick on the opposite side is also considered ‘unique’. ‘Uniques’ are used as a multiplier to calculate your personal score for the event. However, once you perform a ‘unique’, it cannot be considered a ‘unique’ again. This means if you hit the same trick 30 times, for example pixie legover (open switch in the new naming system), you will only receive 2 ‘uniques’ (one unique on each side) that will be a multiplier. The only other rules is that a drop is considered a 0 add trick and is added to the score calculator as a contact, and in a female shred 30, 2 ADD tricks may be considered unique depending on the competition organizer. Once you ‘drop’, you simply pick the bag back up as quick as you can and start kicking again (you only have 30 seconds remember). Below is the formula for calculating a shred 30 score.

Shred30 score = ADDs*(1+(uniques/contacts))

This competition therefore revolves around precision and being both sided. In this competition, a drop isn’t as harmful as a routine, however it can damage the rhythm of the player. Shred 30 is a fun way to express how good you are at linking hard tricks, also it can be used as a tool to drilling in those links you want to.

Below is a example video of a shred 30 run:

Sick 3

A pretty self-explanatory competition, it revolves around linking you three most difficult tricks you can think of together. A player receives multiple attempts at hitting a safety and a main combination. The amount of attempts allowed for players varies between lots of competitions, but generally you get 3 attempts at your safety and 3 attempts at your main.

Other Events

Request Competition:

Request competition is very unique and relies on your skill at hitting a wide range of tricks and links. Usually, it is a competition of 15 or more rounds, each round consisting of two different links. To progress to the next round, you must hit one of the two combinations cleanly. You get three attempts at a combo each round and, if you fail all three attempts, you will be eliminated. The rounds will continue until one person is left standing. The last person standing is obviously the winner of the event. You may change which one of the links you want to hit during a round, meaning you don’t have to decide on one or the other.

Shred Battles

My personal favorite, shred battle competition is simply whoever is the last man standing wins. The only rule is you must play to your level. This ensures that a beginner could in fact beat an expert in this competition (This is probably why shred battles are not a part of the World Footbag Championship competition). However, shred battles are a fun way to settle an argument and a just generally fun.

Note: There are many other variations of Footbag competitions, some do not require any ‘tricks’ at all. For example two square/ 4 square and Footbag golf. Both of these events are exactly the same as normal two square and golf, but with a footbag.

In order to provide good basis for comparing the available footbag shoes, it is important to understand what we should compare. Below you will read a somewhat technical interpretation of what it is to have a good footbag shoe, so that when you read about each model you will be given a fair metric to judge the shoes upon. Not all shoes are created equal, and not all players play in shoes equally. It is important to note that your body and style can try to adapt to shortcomings or downfalls of any model.

Simply from a mechanical standpoint, the best footbag shoe must support the movements we see in footbag. They can be the landing from a symposium whirl, the completely vertical force which is transferred through the rest of your body simply through the bones and muscle of that leg. It must support the horizontal forces from a drifter->spinning set, where your ankle is locked and twisted but the remaining sections of your body are twisting. The shoe must be light enough that while doing a quantum set you do not overextend your knee and have the effect of a ball and chain on your foot. These aspects of the shoe are very tightly correlated to the sole of the shoe, since it provides the damping of forces, the friction for giving you a good response, and often a large portion of the weight on your foot.

After you diagnose what makes the movement necessary for successfully playing footbag, you can realize that the interaction between the foot and the footbag is vitally important. The shoe needs to grab the bag, and give you the surfaces necessary to allow your body to direct it in seemingly unnatural directions. Between toe and clipper, the most used surfaces in today’s freestyle footbag, you must provide the perfect regions in which you can both catch and release the footbag. You must also provide the perfect amount of friction in order to properly release the bag without gripping too much.

1) Adidas Rod Laver

–The Rod Lavers are the standard for a footbag shoe. They are easily found, moderately priced, and with a few key modifications can be made into a very playable shoe.

–Players who wear Lavers (2010 World Champion Milan Benda, 2011 Female Circle World Champion Hania Mickiewicz, Serge Kaldany)

–Milan Benda says “I play in lavers, I like them because they are stable even if they are not broken in.”

–Serge Kaldany says “They are light and once broken in feel like a second skin.”

2) Quantum 1/2/3

–Extremely light, but lacking any real foot support.

–Players who wear Quantums (2011 World Routine Champion Honza Weber,2011 Female World Champion Jana Sassakova)

–Honza Weber says “Quantums are light, flexible, and allow for optimum leg quickness”

3) Reebok G-Unit

–Heavier then all of their counterparts, but offers shock absorption that the others could only dream of.

4) Nucleus

–Made for use in Freestyle Footbag, including a pre-made toe box that allows for excellent toe-stalling right out of the box. The clipper catching area is not optimum, but it will force you to gain excellent clipper form.

5) Adidas Clima Cool

Name: Freedom Footbags
Location: Nampa, Idaho
Website: http://www.freedomfootbags.com

Learning to juggle two footbags is actually fairly easy with just a few minutes of practice a day.

The basic steps are as follows:

1. Master the toe stall.
2. Lean the “juggling set”.
3. Repeat.

I realize that may sound a bit simplistic, but that’s really all there is to it. If you haven’t mastered the toe stall yet, you may want to print this out for a rainy day sometime in the future… Don’t even bother trying to juggle (unless you enjoy frustration ).

Juggling Path

Now, the “juggling set”, quite simply, is an arching set that returns back to the foot. It’s a bit tricky to put in words, but the sketch to the right (I’m no artist) should illustrate the proper flow of the bag. In this illustration the player would be on the left, facing the right side of your screen.

The key to realize here is that the release/set and the catch/delay are offset by roughly 10 inches. This is absolutely critical with two bags to eliminate mid-air collisions.

Thus, the set is towards the body, and it follows a parabolic arc that ends up roughly 10 inches closer than where it was set from. To begin with, practice this set with one footbag until it comes naturally.

Next, you’re ready to move on to two footbags, but with only one catch. Start with a bag on your foot and for now forget it’s even there. Focus on the bag in your hand only… Release it from your hand with a slight upward (maybe a foot) toss that matches the path of the picture on the right (the bag on the upper right is in the approximate release location you’re looking for). Just after you release the bag in your hand, set the bag on your foot using the same motion shown back up to your hand. Remember, at first the one on your foot really isn’t important – all you need to focus on is doing that hand toss to your foot (which you’ve already got mastered). Getting the set with the bag that’s on your foot will come with practice. This is the basic fundamental key: Being able to do one catch (switching the bags between your hand and foot) with the proper path. It may take a few sessions to get comfortable with this (it didn’t come to me quickly).

Now comes the magic part… Forget the hand catch mentioned in the previous pargarph, and go back to the foot, repeat, and now you’re juggling. Note: Don’t forget to practice both feet. Also, the path of your foot is essentially a mirror of the path of the bag, but with a much shorter amplitude (height).

PS: Below is a video I have of myself juggling two Nighthacks. It’s not the greatest tutorial video, but it was handy .

(Note: if your browser does not support the video below, check it out on YouTube or better yet, since the YouTube version is pretty fuzzy, I highly recommend you watch the )

Syndicated with permission from Fourkast Footbag Company

Throughout footbag’s short history, we have had a wide range of peaks and plateaus. There have been grand leaps forward as well as small steps back. The ups and downs of footbag began in the early 1970′s with creators John Stalberger and Mike Marshall. From one decade to the next, there have been major trend shifts within the sport, with public perception all the while remaining mostly complex. The 2000′s alone have been a roller coaster ride regarding participation, exposure and organization. The fluctuating trend of freestyle footbag is the focus of this article, as it is the area with which I have come to be most familiar through the years. This article is based on my observations in the sport, as well historical information provided by John Stalberger and Kenny Shults. Although we have had quite a ride in the past decade, freestyle footbag’s intricate pattern of gain and recession began modestly in 1972. To understand where we are today, one has to look back to see how the sport arrived here.

The Beginning (1970′s)

In 1972, John Stalberger and Mike Marshall patented a new invention they hoped would energize the masses and catch on as a new form of sport and fitness. Their invention was given the trademark name ‘Hacky Sack’ which was essentially a flat leather bag (similar to a pancake) filled with beads.

A rare picture of one of the original Hacky Sack footbags

Knowing they had something completely new on their hands (at least to western audiences), the two innovators realized they had to construct a sport around their initial product. Thus, the game of footbag was born. Hacky Sack was the company and specific product title, footbag was the larger sport surrounding it. From here the two men began to promote their sport feverishly. They worked diligently to advertise it commercially, and created the first tournaments and regulations further to support it. When Mike Marshall died in the mid 1970′s, Stalberger carried on their work with the help of other promoters such as Ted Huff and Garwin Bruce. It was in this time frame that footbag experienced its initial growth, at a grassroots level. Images of players from this era are as one might expect with tie dye shirts, headbands, long hair and tube socks. This was the initial image of the footbag player in the seventies. Though it was a fully accepted image for the time, it also created a stereotype that has lasted far beyond those formative years.

Though freestyle footbag would not be created until the late seventies, the roots of it were formed during those early years with the tournament scene and advancements in footbag design. It was a gradual rise, but toward the end of the decade, Stalberger’s sport gained larger exposure. Thus began footbag’s fad stage. From here, the name Hacky Sack (but not the word ‘footbag’) would become a household name. This was the first boom in the sport, leading into the early eighties.

Two early pictures of John Stalberger promoting footbag

The Fad (1980′s)

In the seventies, the sport had been on the rise, and so had its iconic players. Stalberger himself gain notoriety as the inventor/promoter of the sport, and towards the late seventies such foundation laying players as Jack Schoolcraft (considered the grandfather of freestyle) were also gaining notice within the sport. But it wasn’t until a young player named Kenny Shults hit the scene that the sport had its first bona fide footbag super star, known to both the public and the internal community. Shults dominated much of the footbag realm. He broke many records both in net and consecutives, but it was in freestyle that many believe was his strongest contribution. Shults propelled the game of freestyle footbag years ahead, and created many of the foundation tricks that are utilized today. The basic concept of the ‘combo’ was introduced by Shults, who was inspired by Freestyle Frisbee at the time. Kenny Shults was to footbag what Michael Jordan was to basketball. Now the sport had an icon to showcase; a young driven player who would dominate across the board and set records. This added legitimacy to the sport, and significantly helped with its promotion during this stage. Hacky Sack was a household name, and the tournament scene and interest in playing boomed during the early eighties. Although the appearance of Shults was bringing more of a spotlight to footbag, another trend that haunts the competitive footbag scene was formed; a divergence between ‘casual kickers’ or ‘hacky sackers’, and ‘hard core’ players.

Kenny Shults performing a spike in footbag net, just one of the many footbag disciplines he dominated

While Hacky Sack was well known publicly, footbag was not. We have seen this with other sports as well, such as the use of the name ‘Ping Pong’ to describe the sport of Table Tennis. Hundreds of thousands of people owned a Hacky Sack, playing casually while in school, or on lunch at work. Unfortunately, this did not necessarily translate to the tournament scene; many people were simply happy playing here and there, some unaware at all of a deeper competitive arena.

The Famous Wham-O Hacky Sack blow up, commonly seen in the eighties at various footbag tournaments

By the mid 1980′s, John Stalberger had sold his trademark to Wham-O, a company that had interest in increasing the sales of the Hacky Sack. As the tournament scene grew, the fad of hacky sack settled down in the late 1980’s, and footbag would head into its first plateau, or time of slower growth.

The popular Hacky Sack footbag model from the 1980′s

Slow Growth of the Freestyle Underground Scene (1990′s)

By the early 1990′s, Kenny Shults was still dominating across the board, but was now joined in freestyle by other new sensations such as Rick Reese, Dave Yevin and Peter Irish. Freestyle footbag had become a sub-culture sport, with small tournaments (and a few larger ones) popping up around North America. Outside of this area however, very few other countries played. The competitive freestyle scene was a tight-knit community; all the top players were well known to each other, and in many cases, good friends. This has always been possibly footbag’s greatest attribute; it simply is a very social and interconnected sport. We have seen the numbers in freestyle footbag go up and down, but this one point has never changed. Today when I promote footbag, it is not just the physicality of the sport that is a selling point, but also the rich community of the good people who play. You’re not just playing footbag; you are tapping into a positive social network. The foundations of this can certainly be traced to the grassroots movement of the seventies, and the tightly connected community of the nineties. It was once humorously remarked by Peter Irish that he could count the handful of people who could execute the Around the World move. This statement wasn’t far off in the least; during the late eighties until the later nineties, there were really only a handful of top players dominating freestyle, all of which lived in the United States.

Peter Irish, considered by many to be the icon of freestyle footbag in the 1990′s

In the days before the mass use of the internet, the only way freestylers could learn and get better was to attend/host events and build local groups. This is exactly what happened during this time frame; many footbag groups rose up around the nation, dedicated to either freestyle or net. Some of the strongest areas of footbag included Denver, Colorado, and San Francisco, California. Ironically, though we have more people playing today, we have less footbags clubs currently than we did a decade ago. I will elaborate on this point shortly.
I have always thought that footbag’s greatest fight was with its perceived image to the masses. This issue seemed to reach its height during the nineties. Freestyle footbag grew very slowly between 1990 and 1999 as it was constantly battling the ‘hippy slacker’ image. Footbag was no longer a fad, and many people assumed that its time had come and gone. There was very little exposure in the first part of the nineties to counteract the majority’s belief that footbag was simply a ‘stoners’ game. Because of this, gains in attendance were modest, although the technicality of the sport continued to rise. Though the popularity of hacky sack had declined from the previous decade, the microcosm of freestyle footbag was in fact building gradually. Upon joining the sport in the mid nineties, my first exposure to competitive freestyle play was from a common underground source; Kenny Shults’ classic instructional VHS tape entitled ‘Trick of the Trade’. This was being distributed by one of the few true footbag companies at the time, the World Footbag Association. In addition, the Flying Clipper also commercially represented footbag in those earlier days. Unfortunately Wham-O (the largest company) was not focused on the competitive footbag scene but rather spread its interests across many different product lines. Luckily for the mid nineties footbag generation, a new website had entered the picture, one that would quickly represent the base and library for the sport.

I can’t deny that I was more or less a child of footbag.org. Not long after I received Tricks of the Trade, I went online (for the first time really) and found the quintessential website to our sport. It had a few pictures and videos up from recent events, as well as a generous amount of information about the tournament scene. This would end up being the great connector that would not only bring the sport together, but also drive up our exposure and interest. From the mid to the late nineties, freestyle footbag continued to slowly grow and gain new people. I believe this coincided with more and more people logging on to the internet and footbag.org. In the late nineties, a small but prominent footbag scene had arisen in Europe as well. Inspired by such greats as Peter Irish and Ryan Mulroney, the seeds of freestyle footbag’s greatest boom were being quietly planted.

The Boom (Early to mid 2000′s)

Between 2000 and 2002 a great deal happened in freestyle footbag. Ryan Mulroney finally became the World Footbag Champion, only to hold it for a mere two years before the great European onslaught. Initially, not much attention had been focused on the European scene; if footbag was small in North America, it was huge in comparison to our counterparts across the Atlantic. That changed rather quickly in 2001, with what can be described as no less than a European invasion into the sport. In retrospect, it could have been the previous generation of European players grooming their next gen shredders, or the enormous influence of Ryan Mulroney via internet videos and VHS tapes that evolved their freestyle scene, or quite simply footbag.org. Whatever the case, there was a large influx of players joining the tournament scene in 2001, led by a young freestyler from the Czech Republic named Vasek Klouda. I have already written about Klouda’s rise to fame;

http://www.fourkast.com/magazine/article/vasek/the-day-vasek-took-over

Klouda’s ascent happened meteorically to say the least. Freestyle footbag exploded along with him, and suddenly forums were buzzing, videos and DVD’s were out and about and freestyle footbag even managed to make its way into commercials on occasion. Other countries/regions such as New Zealand, Australia, Japan and South America would also develop new scenes. Exposure was the highest it had been since the eighties, thanks in no small part to the online push and an inspired new footbag star to play icon. Exciting sites like flipsider.com and freedomfootbags.com had grown in popularity, and local clubs were still enjoying strong solidarity from the decade before. The capital of freestyle shifted from North America to Prague, and in 2003, the first non-North American World Footbag Championships were held in the Czech capital. Due to the internet, players no longer required a local footbag group to learn and improve. This would also prove to be a double-edged sword later on. In the meantime however, the sport saw its attendance double if not triple, and there were even some occasional breakthroughs into mainstream culture. For the first time in a while, everything was new and exciting again in footbag. This continued until late 2007.

A young Vasek Klouda shreds, circa 2003

Plateau (Later 2000′s)

No boom lasts forever, we have learned this from previous generations in the sport. What I have noticed in my years with footbag is that we go through cycles in popularity and membership. For footbag, the later 2000′s showed a noticeable slowing of momentum for the game. This can be attributed to a few things.

The Club Scene

First, the local group scene had taken a hit in the mid and later 2000′s. As I mentioned before, it is ironic to me that there are far more players now than there were in the 90′s, but less organized clubs. The reason for this is that with the rise of online exposure people did not need clubs to get better, or to learn about the sport. Jorden Moir’s classic basement shred videos are a testament to this. A player could learn and increase skill without another freestyler around for hundreds of miles. This is precisely what happened; more and more players were “sprinkled” everywhere, and less condensed in groups (especially in North America). As attendance rose, clubs declined, leaving a handful of strong groups again in North America. Unfortunately, as the excitement of the early 2000′s died down, membership dropped a bit, and the lower club status still did not improve.

The Chicago Inner Circle (CIC) Footbag Group, one of the U.S.’s largest footbag groups, circa 2002

The Sole Purpose Footbag Group from Portland Oregon, from 2008

Tournaments

With the drop in clubs came a smaller showing of tournaments and events. It started during the mid 2000′s with the showing of more ‘jams’ than heavily organized tournaments. After a little while, the number of jams decreased as well. Without a solid group to host an event, the event will usually suffer. It is a sizeable task to run a decent footbag competition, which many times can be a thankless job. With less organized clubs came fewer events on the whole. This is what we are seeing in North America right now, with the exception of a few major events such as the US Open and the New Years Jam/Tournament. In Europe, long running events such as Todexon and the European Championships still remain solid, as well as some key country tournaments (the Polish/Finnish Footbag Championships).

Phillip Morrison is mobbed by cameras at the 2008 World Footbag Championships

The Youth

A great and interesting thing happened in the early 2000′s. The average age of the freestyle footbag player dropped as many teenage players entered the sport. This was good on many levels; it raised the energy level and innovation of the game, and most importantly rejuvenated footbag for the next generation. Few drawbacks came with this shift, I can only think of two. The first point is that with the younger generation, they simply have a harder time getting to events. Whether it be a lack of funds, transportation or parental permission, it is more difficult for them to go great distances than their 1990′s mid to late twenties counterparts. For this reason, tournament attendance in the later 2000′s had taken a small hit.

The other point is that the younger players entering the sport did not have the experience to run events, and not enough older players had chosen to stick around to coordinate. The result again became fewer organized tournaments. I will always have a great amount of respect for the people who are willing to take up the cause of organization in footbag, especially in the younger generation. I remember attending an event it 2006, in which a young player had chosen to take the reigns of the event as tournament director. He was a bit stressed by the event (but non-the-less confident) when I ran into him just outside the venue. Apparently, someone had come up and criticized aspects of the tournament to him, and he was a bit put off. I broke it down to him that he was in fact doing a good job (the absolute truth), and that we had nothing but great respect for what he was doing. Running tournaments can be a task; as the older generation retires and moves on, that very task is by default left to the remaining players in the sport.

A final point regarding the young generation from the early 2000′s is that they simply got older. Responsibilities set in, whether it is school, family or work. It’s no secret that during the teenage years an individual might have more time to devote to their hobbies than once they hit the workforce. I personally watched this scenario play out a few times, with friends simply getting too busy or sidetracked to stay vested in the scene. Life happens. From time to time I find myself reminding a player that footbag does not need to be an all or nothing activity. It is easy to feel this way at times; a freestyler can get burnt out or sidetracked with other things. Footbag in its most basic form is still a phyical activity, and can be viewed simply as cardio excerise when needed. A player does not need to be “in it to win it” all the time, but can simply play to get some exercise in, or for the simple joy of it. This is another point to remember, and can help side step a complete burn out.

Ricky Moran of Seattle WA, a great up and coming player from the early 2000′s

Europe

In Europe, footbag was exciting and fresh in the early 2000′s. As time went on, the newness wore off, and again footbag settled in for the long haul. When its sensation did slow down, it was inevitable that attendance would lower to some degree. Europe is not quite what it was in 2003 for footbag, but is still doing very well. It is certainly not a light that is going to go out any time soon.

A classic picture from the 2003 World Footbag Championships, held for the first time in Europe (in Prague to be exact)

Economic Effect

The effects of the 2008 economic crash can be felt in many areas, and of course freestyle footbag was not immune from this. If it was difficult for the younger players to get to events due to finances, the global recession certainly hasn’t helped the cause. As capital has dried up with consumers and companies alike, less has been possible across the board. On the players’ end, a cutback in discretionary funds was imminent. On the potential sponsorship side, funds simply dried up. Sponsorship for almost every sport, big or small, was cut back in late 2008 and 2009; even the microcosm of freestyle footbag was affected. Quite simply, money wasn’t flowing, people weren’t traveling as much and tournament numbers were marginally down. The domino effect from up high seemed to have trickled all the way down into our developing sport.

2010 (Now)

As of the writing of this article, freestyle footbag is again in a generational transition (one that occurs every seven to ten years as I have seen it). Veteran players are retiring (some too young in my opinion), while the next players in line are stepping up to take those coveted top spots. Fresh faces are popping up, as is fresh interest in the sport. Vasek continues to reign in competition, and his shadow still stands tall over freestyle. Though the sport is not quite at the place it was in 2003-2004, this can simply be seen as part of the cycle footbag has been going through for thirty-plus years. Three steps forward, one step back, it would seem. Whether we see another boom or gradual growth is unclear; it almost seems too soon for another explosion, but you never know. Footbag has many attributes, and a few hurdles. Issues to be addressed include footbag’s image problem (to be examined in another article), and its need for proper exposure and funding. This being said, there are many exciting things afoot. As we have started to witness a transition of players, so too has there been a flux in promotional interest. Below are just a few things, both currently happening and on the horizon, in freestyle footbag.

Websites:

For many years there was a lack of good footbag websites outside of footbag.org. Flipsider managed to bring some much needed style and hype, but for some time a decent site such as this was few and far between. Here is a list of just a few current and recommended sites.

www.footbag.org
This site is the essential library and information source for footbag. footbag.org has been around for quite some time, and plays lynch pin for the footbag community. From learning about clubs and tournaments to watching videos and studying the rules of the game, this site has it all. It is also home to the non-profit IFPA (International Footbag Players Association), another great offering by Steve Goldberg, Chris Ott, and crew.

www.worldfootbag.com
The World Footbag Association has been in business for many years, and has supported the internal community generously. In their early years, they organized many footbag events (including the World Footbag Championships more than once), and today continue to promote the scene by getting decent product and apparel to the masses. They also practice fair trade business, and universally cater to the casual kicker and freestyler alike.

www.freedomfootbags.com
Freedom Footbags was started by my very good friend Daryl Genz, a multi-time Doubles World Champion. Freedom began modestly, catering to the internal freestyle community. This has been their perceived base for many years; they have essentially worked grassroots style to promote the scene. More recently, Daryl’s wife Sunny Freeman Genz took over the company, and together they continue to honorably promote the sport and its tournament scene. You’ll rarely find people more genuine and likable than Daryl and Sunny; they have put their heart into their business and it shows.

www.planetfootbag.com
Planet Footbag has represented the sport in Europe for some time now. They have been present at or sponsored many footbag tournaments in that region, and have acted as promoters of footbag continuously. In the mid 2000′s they produced a popular footbag shoe called the Quantum, no small feat for sure. Today they continue to supply Europe with quality footbag products and information.

www.modified.in
This is freestyle footbag’s main internal forum. If you want to know what is going on in the “hard core” freestyle community, this is the place to check. People on modified.in constantly interact about what is happening in the scene; it is a good place to check up on the day to day happenings in freestyle footbag. The members there are very friendly and welcoming; this again is a common attribute in footbag. There is a great video links section as well that is regularly updated. And for the title of the forum itself; the reference is to modified shoes of course!

www.shredglobal.com
This newer website is dedicated to covering freestyle footbag news by tapping into blog and news syndication around the net. The operators of the site are part of the internal scene, and have been good at staying updated on current freestyle affairs. Great promotional work Shred Global!

www.fourkast.com
Of course we are proud to throw our hat into the circle of footbag promotion. The Fourkast Footbag Company was created to tackle a few different things in footbag, including the perception and image of the sport (no small challenge). We believe a sharper and more defined image needs to be promoted for footbag to grow; this is one of the Fourkast site’s main objectives. Keeping people excited and interested with footbag is Fourkast’s number one goal; we work to do this with both the internal community and the general masses. As an association of individuals working to promote footbag professionally, we are honored to keep up the good fight!

Outside the websites, there are some great projects currently on the table to excite the people. A Worlds Championships in San Francisco was recently announced; this follows a very successful 2009 Worlds in Berlin that left the players energized. A few high-quality video projects are also slated for this year, originating from both sides of the Atlantic. We even have a new footbag shoe (the Nucleus), with the possibility of more apparel on the horizon (shoes are of course a key element in our sport). Then there is the question of the top players themselves; who will step up for the new competitive generation? Such newer players as Milan Benda (from the Czech Republic), Anssi Sundberg (from Finland), Norek Dudzinski (from Poland), Nick Landes (from the US) and Johnny Suderman (from Canada) have brought great things to the table in recent years. From our status quo top players I still expect greatness too; their time on top passes only at their choosing. For new thinkers and organizers, Ianek Regimbald, Jay Boychuk and Anssi Sundberg (to name just a few) can be applauded for their dedication to improving the internal scene and system. We need good people both in the spotlight and behind the scenes to push the sport along.

Milan Benda is considered to be the ‘next gen’ of the Czech freestyle crew, and is one of the top new school players in the sport

Summary

Freestyle continues to represent the tip of the iceberg that is footbag. Hundreds of thousands of people casually play, with possibly a few thousand players active in the technical side of the game. This ratio can be found on a larger scale in other sports as well; Table Tennis, for example, has millions of casual players, but far fewer high level competitive players. This is something to remember. The ratio always leans towards casual play in any game/sport. The difference from other sports and ours is one of awareness; though many people play footbag and “hack it up” on a regular basis, not all are aware of a deeper competitive aspect and scene. Entities outside the sport are not conscious of freestyle or worse yet have a preconceived notion of it based off an old stereotype. This may be the most important point in footbag promotion -spreading awareness. Not everyone who plays footbag has to learn freestyle, but it would be advantageous for the casual player to be at least aware of the freestyle scene.

Aside from educating the masses about freestyle footbag, much work still needs to be done demographically. The ratio of male to female freestyle players is still very far from decent, but this is not an isolated issue to just footbag. Many other/larger sports including skateboarding suffer from this dilemma; there simply are far fewer females vested in these sports than males. Soccer however is one sport that has a strong ratio between male and female players. This point may prove helpful to footbag in the future, as the foot-related sports do in fact complement each other.

A picture of many of the female players from the 2003 Worlds

The sport’s ethnic demographic could stand improvement as well. Footbag is still largely played by white middle class teenage to late twenties males. There is indeed room to grow. With soccer in fact being the number one sport in the world, its popularity could be utilized to promote footbag in other cultures. The fact that freestyle footbag is a very urban sport could also be better promoted (all you really need is a footbag, shoes and possibly some concrete). It is an inexpensive and very accessible sport. This is something everyone can appreciate, and so should be a strong selling point. Finally, in other parts of the world there are already foot contact games similar to our sport; Takraw is one example, Shuttlecock and Chinlone are two others. Branching out to meet these related disciplines certainly won’t hurt the cause, and it could potentially build new bridges that help expand our sport outside its current demographic.

Soccer players in Honduras take a moment to kick footbag

Internally, though it would seem freestyle footbag is in a plateau compared to the early 2000′s, from experience I believe it will continue to move forward. The real question is how quickly or gradually this will occur. The cycle seems to be one first fair gain, then plateau. As fluctuations occur, a player should feel confident that the sport is always in motion. Compared to the mid 1990′s, we have made many advances and we are quite a bit larger. The game of footbag will always continue to exist, as long as there are those hundreds of thousands of people who own some type of footbag and play. This base alone ensures footbag will continue; it is still essential that freestyle draws from this point. Anywhere someone picks up a footbag to either “hack it up” or “shred”, the sport is still alive and kicking. On the freestyle end of things, I can optimistically say that we are progressing into new territory. Sometimes this happens by leaps, sometimes by only subtle gains. An understanding of this goes along with understanding the sport and the scene in general. Such as life, footbag has its ups and downs; times of progression followed by moments of recession. The best advice I can give is this; be excited by the ups and not discouraged by the downs. It’s all part of the process of a growing sport. Whether freestyle footbag jumps to new heights, or gradually moves forward, at the very least I am happy I can still go out and play solo or with my friends. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

Name: Freedom Footbags
Location: Nampa, Idaho
Website: http://www.freedomfootbags.com

So you want to lose your weakside and even out your game, becoming more ambidextrous. The short, simple answer is obvious: practice both sides evenly. However, the practicality of this is another matter entirely. Hence, I offer the following suggestions:

1. Start with your vocabulary. Nix the weakside, bring in the flipside. It was, again, Eli (Ellis, Elliot, Intergalactic, Zohar – he is a man of many names) Piltz that coined the term “flipside”. As I understand it, his basic reasoning was that when you consider the subtleties of language and you always call your “less skilled side” your “weakside” you are unconsciously reinforcing the thought patterns of that side being weaker. Thought is energy, and it has the power to manifest reality (depending, of course, on the level at which you have said thoughts).
2. Always start with your flipside! Weather it’s a pass taken with a kick, or starting out a trick string, start it out on the flipside first. I particularly like the idea of doing both-sided drills that start and end on the flipside. A very simple example would be leg-over (or switch) three times (flip, strong, flip). This skools the flipside twice, and enforces linking in and out of the trick.
3. Dedicate sessions to working only your flipside. These can be frustrating, but will pay high dividends.
4. Use your flipside exclusively in a new circle. Approaching a new circle is wisely approached as a delicate endeavor, and you don’t want to be immediately branded as a “hack hog”.
5. Another great time for honing the flipside is coming back after an extended break from the sport. I consider myself in this category, having kicked barely once a week for most of the end of 2009. In slowly getting myself back into shape, I find that since both sides are struggling, I may as well focus on working them both evenly. Lately I’ve even pushing my flipside even more. The end result will be that by the time I get back into shape I’ll be significantly more even-sided).
6. Of course, if you’re just a beginning hacker, or just now getting into serious freestyle, there is no better time than now to make a commitment to ambidextrousness… The further you get down the one sided path, the harder it is to even out. I highly recommend working both sides as evenly as possible. Though rare, serious one-sidedness could potentially lead to a form of spinal curvature called scoliosis.

Name: Jorden Moir
Location: Canada
Site: http://www.jugglingequipment.com/blog/jorden-moir/

Hey all,

After watching countless hours of shred on YouTube and in person and seeing the same mistakes over and over and over, and hearing about the same people get injured over and over and over, I’ve decided to make this list.

From studying acrobatics, as well as dance and body mechanics for the past couple years, I feel I have a solid knowledge of how the body works. It’s never a good idea to undertake a sport without knowing how to execute the techniques properly. Footbag is certainly no exception. With no official manual outlining proper form, and with the average level getting higher and higher each year, it’s important to stop and think about what your body is doing. This is something that could effect you negatively in later years, yet few players take the time to really analyze their form.

For the first time, from a scientific/anatomical perspective, I present to you:

10 Most Common Style Mistakes

1. Hunching
WHAT: Sticking your butt out/slouching your shoulders/curving your spine forward/relaxing your stomach
WHY IT’S BAD: It’s probably the most common mistake, and ironically one of the most potentially devastating. Slack posture while playing can lead to major back problems, among other things.
HOW TO FIX: Keep your back as straight as possible while playing. Abs are flexed. Keep your chest high. Neck on top of your shoulders, not in front. Neck, shoulders and hips should form a straight line. Leaning slightly forward by bending at the waist to help see the bag is ok, but keep those abs flexed.

2. Flat Feet
WHAT: Sitting back on the heels/landing on the entire foot at once/pushing off with all parts of the sole
WHY IT’S BAD: Shin splints/calf pain/back pain/overworked thighs/the list goes on. Staying back on the heels puts loads of stress on the thighs and quads as they try to balance and stabilize you.
It’s a fight to keep from falling backwards constantly. Your leg muscles won’t develop in a helpful way for footbag either. Landing on the heels creates an impact shockwave that ripples throughout your entire body.
HOW TO FIX: Keep your weight FORWARD. Stay on the balls of your feet. Sure, touch your heels down but AVOID putting pressure on them. Push off the ground and land both with the balls of your feet. Your body will thank you.

3. Legs do All the Work
WHAT: Legs are flailing around dexing wildly, exerting tons of energy while the hips stay motionless and uninvolved.
WHY IT’S BAD: Legs aren’t designed to shred by themselves. Besides, it’s terribly inefficient. This can pull muscles in your hips, legs or back. A clear symptom is when someone brings their knee to their chest just to do a legover or butterfly. Very common. Don’t do it.
HOW TO FIX: By keeping the weight forward (#2) and the stomach muscles tight (#1) you can keep the footbag close to your body and underneath your torso, thus eliminating the need to do a huge backwards-leaning leg lift or knee-to-hunching-shoulder scenario.
Use your hips to pivot side to side while isolating the shoulders to complete dexes like mirages. Open and close the hips for butterflies and illusions.

4. Not Stretching
WHAT: Overly tight muscles/poor range of movement/not warming up properly/allowing lactic acid buildup
WHY IT’S BAD: Yes, tight muscles can be fast and responsive. However, the low flexibility can be very limiting to your potential trick selection. Tight muscles can also tear or strain easily.
HOW TO FIX: Stretch to either start or end your sessions. Get your heart rate up from several minutes of cardio. Start with core first (shoudlers, hips, back) then extremities, especially ankles (#9).

5. Looking Down with the Neck
WHAT: Sticking your neck out like a turtle to see the bag below you/sticking your chest out by pulling your shoulders back
WHY IT’S BAD: Ever watched a movie from the front row? Yeah, exactly — neck strain. But down instead of up.
HOW TO FIX: Keeping your head above your shoulders and shoulders above hips, simply bring your chin slightly down towards your collarbone. Problem solved.

6. Palms Facing Chest/Outwards
WHAT: Elbows down and hands up in front of your shoulders/Arms at your sides with elbows bent and wrists turned out
WHY IT’S BAD: Both ways of holding your arms do nothing to help you balance! They also look terrible. The first one is more or a left/right brain discrepancy I think. Outwards hands raises your shoulders creating unnecessary tension in that area.
HOW TO FIX: Keep your arms relaxed at your sides for easier moves like kicks. Palms face either down, back, or inwards. For moves requiring extra balance or jumping, one or both elbows raise at your sides with palms facing down most of the time.

7. Pointing your Knees Inward/Spotting Toe Stalls on the Outside of Your Knee
WHAT: Separating the knees then rotating either one or both knees inward/Standing or playing pigeon-toed/Bringing your knee across the body while catching or setting toe stalls
WHY IT’S BAD: Knees are designed to flex and extend vertically. Or the very same motions with the hips rotated. Knees are NOT designed to bend horizontally when the hips are straight. Flexing the knee without the heel in line with the upper leg is recipe for a nagging injury. Not to mention it throws your back out of line!
HOW TO FIX: Spot the bag properly by opening the hips and seeing it on the INSIDE of your knee. Swing the leg forward and up (think pushing a bike pedal backward) Keep your heel in line with your upper leg whenever bending the knee. Knees should stay together and tall yet slightly bent whenever not in direct use. Never bring your knee inwards to do tricks like whirl. Separate the knees by opening the hips and do the dex away and slightly behind you.

8. Cushioning with Stalling Foot Only
WHAT: No magic hop/ Body lowering and the stall happening at different times/ Support leg not helping to cushion at all
WHY IT’S BAD: You probably won’t ever get injured because of it, but your consistency for stalling moves will be forever hindered. Expect a lifetime of frustration due to missed stalls, rolloff and dud sets.
HOW TO FIX: Land the magic hop and at the EXACT SAME TIME you catch the bag. Always magic hop for clippers — it doesn’t have to be big jump. Land the magic hop on the ball of your foot and then bend the knee. For toes, keep the stalling leg in the same position and lower your SUPPORT LEG when it lands Also, it’s a good general rule to keep your shoulders square to whatever stall you’re doing. Launch your shoulders and elbows up quickly to give yourself a nice little pop for the set.

9. Bad Ankle Crank
WHAT: Not locking the ankles strong enough upwards for toe stalls/Ankle not flexed or inside surface not flat when in clipper position
WHY IT’S BAD: Same as #8. Bad crank won’t hurt you, but you’ll be plagued with inconsistency and 6-trick strings forever.
HOW TO FIX: Stretch your ankles! Stretch them before, during and after sessions. Stretch them while waiting at the bus stop. Stretch them while sitting at your desk. Stretch them whenever you can. This is your gateway to amazing clipper tricks. Check around the forum for various stretching methods (and yes, stretching does work).

10. Rushing Stalls
WHAT: Not securing the footbag in the ‘sweet spot’ before setting the next move/ Always playing like you’re racing against a clock/ Having inconsistent timing and rhythm in your runs
WHY IT’S BAD: This also falls in the ‘doomed for inconsistency’ category. Offbeat or syncopated runs cause a lot of unexpected drops. Rushing causes imperfect stalls which can lead to unpredictable sets.
HOW TO FIX: Take the same amount of time every time to cushion the bag, catching it in the exact same location of the foot. Try to perform each trick with the same timing every time. This is the only way to achieve a very high level of consistency. If the bag is rolling around on your foot, take extra time to cushion, get it into the sweet spot and FREEZE it before setting. Study Lon Smith’s videos.

**Don’t let yourself be guilty of any of these! As always, keep refining and improving your technique!!**

Shred hard…and safe!

Happy holidays,
Destroyer

Name: Freedom Footbags
Location: Nampa, Idaho
Website: http://www.freedomfootbags.com

Are you Bigfoot, Sideways or Ambidextrous?

Ellis Piltz and (apparently in conjunction with or at the same time as?) Damon Mathews came up with these concepts to describe people’s (generally one-sided) footbag trick tendencies:

* Bigfoot: Favoring the all surfaces (toe, inside, outside, heel, sole) of only one foot (right or left).
* Sideways: Favoring one side of the foot (and body) over the other (e.g. left inside, right outside, and right toe OR right inside, left outside, and left toe).
* Ambidextrous: Favoring neither foot over the other. Of course this term has been around long before Piltz and Mathews – I’ve also seen it called ambipedal or pedidextrous (both of which are rare).

Myself: I’m Sideways (favoring my left inside, and my right outside, toe, sole, and heel), but (of course) striving to be Ambidextrous (stay tuned for my next post on tips for this).

In thinking about this I was wondering if there are Sideways kickers that favor, for example, the same toe as inside or if the toe and outside are always linked. I’m guessing this could tell something about the way the brain is wired… Anyone?

Reproduced with permission from Jorden Moir
http://www.jugglingequipment.com/blog/jorden-moir

I want all of you to improve and enjoy footbag as much as possible. Hence, this list:

(In no particular order)

1. Invest in a proper pair of shoes & follow online tutorials regarding how to modify these shoes to make them suitable for freestyle.

2. When kicking, always try to alternate feet whenever possible. Work towards having no preference of kicking leg, and try to make the left and right foot kicking techniques identical.

3. Don’t learn the basic tricks from someone who is slightly more advanced than you. Learn from watching pros, whether it be in person or from a video. They have all spent countless hours refining their style and correcting mistakes.

4. Watch a lot of videos. Make a lot of mental notes. If someone has a mastery over a certain trick, try to figure out what they do that is different from what you do.

5. When learning a new trick, find out as much information about it as possible. See if anyone has posted tips on the internet. Watch several videos of the trick with different players and different angles. Translate the technique into a motion that is natural for your body.

6. It may seem obvious, but practice in a place with sufficient room to move around. Account for wayward footbags and the possibility of falling.
(Don’t mess up your body by landing on furniture!) Razz
10 feet X 10 feet of even, level ground with 8 foot high ceiling is a good start. The more room the better.

7. Try to eat healthy. Focus more on whole grains than white bread. Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Include sufficient protein. Junk food is ok once in a while, but not all the time. Milk, water, and 100% juice are good choices, whereas soda and alcohol will dehydrate you. Choose wisely. It does make a big difference in your stamina and overall performance.

8. Find some sort of cross-training you enjoy. Anything that helps improve strength, coordination, endurance or any combination of these is a good choice.

9. Practice your form in front of a mirror as much as you can. And by that I mean air shredding. No, seriously! Pretend you are actually going for the tricks in real time. It’s like watching live footage of yourself. If your motion looks unnatural or not smooth, you can pick up on it and experiment with new technique to make the move more efficient. I’ve discovered many unrealized errors when practicing this way.

10. Get used to picking the footbag off the ground and serving to another person. Let everyone in the circle get an equal opporunity with the bag. Yes, they do want to see your trick, but wait until they pass it back to you.
If you haven’t been to a tournament before, this could be the difference between more advanced players being friendly with you or being angry with you. In other words: Don’t self-serve.

11. If you aren’t sure whether you hit a trick properly, ask your playing partner. If they aren’t experienced enough to tell you, make a video of it and post it online or send it to someone that would know.
Doing clean tricks is valued very highly in footbag and is crucial for having an aesthetically pleasing style.

12. When you’re ready, throw out your crocheted footbag and invest in one or more 4-panel sand footbags (ie. the Mr. Sandbag) or better yet, a 32-panel bag. Read the bags/equipment subforum for a list of stitchers and bag reviews. The choice is up to you.

13. Get in the habit of warming up. Develop a warm-up routine that works best for you. Good things to include are stretching (especially ankles), alternating kicks/stalls, pushups/situps, etc.

14. Have training sessions on a regular basis. A good start is 3-4 times per week. Depending on your schedule/intensity level, that can be increased. Don’t have unnecessarily large gaps in between sessions — it’ll slow your learning progress.

15. Always finish your session on a positive note. Hit that trick you’ve been trying, no matter how many tries. You’ll come out of it with good vibes that will likely carry on to the next session. Smile

16. Don’t play through pain. It won’t help anything. Rest days are just as important as shred days. Wait till you feel refreshed again and then bust huge. If the pain reappears, try fixing your form. Wink

17. Make goals for yourself. It can be a single trick, consecutive tricks, competition related, or whatever. For competing, a good goal is to perform better than your last competition in some way(s). A good overall goal is to be able to hit any tricks you want, when you want.

18. If you have any questions about this very difficult sport, ask a pro!
They will likely be more than willing to help.

19. Keep an open mind to new moves/new ways to hit a move. It may give you the edge you’ve been looking for. Always try new ways of hitting the same move — then, simply choose the best way.

20. When on the forum, keep your posts concise and contributing to the whole. You’ll make friends/connections faster — trust me. Wink

21. Practice!!!

Shred hard,

Jorden M

This demo done by Sergey Kozlov of Russia for the Reebok your move demo!

Syndicated with permission from Fourkast Footbag Company

By Anssi Sundberg and Jay Boychuk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here is a video that has been making its way around the internet world lately, showing why Jim Penske’s endless style and innovation can be compared to Aerosmith or the Rolling Stones!

Filmed from two sessions January 2010. Thanks to Freedom Footbags and Fourkast Footbag Company!!

Rock on Jim

Jim Penske Footbag hacky sack from Jim Penske on Vimeo.

This is an amazing shoe commercial featuring footbag world champion Vasek Klouda and Eliot Piltz, shot in Cape Town, South Africa.

Better known for his beatboxing skills, Felix Zenger stars in one of the most viewed freestyle videos on Youtube, closing in on 1 million views.

Honza Weber from the Czech Republic, Filmed at World Championships Berlin 2009. This video shows exactly what great style looks like, and what it takes to win championships.

Filmed/edited by Jacob Dahlstrup.

Born 11/2/1980
San Diego, Ca
Email – Editor@shredglobal.com
Aim – Shredglobal
Yahoo IM – Shredglobal

Shred Global was started as a means to keep the flow of Freestyle Footbag on the Front page of the Internet. This Concept was created by Dale Waldren, David Waldren, and Jantz Monroe. Their vision was to attempt to pick up where Flipsider.com left off and offer plenty of variety to all level ranges of Freestyler (Shredder). With every passing day, Dale and the crew are attempting to redesign and innovate the concept of Shredglobal.com in order to keep the old players competitive, the middle players progressing, and the new players learning!

ADD – Stands for “Additional Degree of Difficulty” used to describe additional variations in a kick (Generally the more adds assigned to a trick, the harder the trick).

Alpine – A trick that includes ducking between the set and the rest of the trick. (Adding a “Ducking” to a “Legbeater (Atomic Butterfly) would equal a “Alpine Legbeater”)

Ambidextrous – Used to describe the stance where a player favors neither foot over the other. Also called ambipedal or pedidextrous (both of which are rare).

Atomic – A Atomic Set it done by dexing the opposite (non-setting) leg from out to in while the bag is still heading upward.

Backside – A term used to describe a multi-dex trick where the last dex is symposium. Backside (bs) is also sometimes known as Beta.

Bail – a trick that a player uses as their go-to trick(s), for a sense of stabilization, to quickly get centered, and to set other tricks from. (also happens when you go to do a big trick and you “Bail” to another usually easier trick. Players sometimes ‘revert’ to these Bail tricks to get control of the footbag.

BAP – BAP stands for Big Add Posse, which is an invite-only group of the best freestylers on the planet.

Beastly – Used to describe a string containing only 6 ADD+ tricks.

Bigfoot – Used to describe the stance where a player favors the surfaces (toe, inside, outside, heel, sole) of only one foot (right or left).

Blades – A comical term used for a footbagger’s legs.

Blurry – a set that consists of Stepping to a paradox trick (Blurry Whirl, Blurry Torque).

Body [BOD] – An ADD which is awarded to any move involving a spin or jump.

Both Sided – When a player is completely ambidextrous

Brocka Mod – A modification to the inside ankle area of your shoe, where you cut the material away that normally would press on your ankle, thus limiting your crank. Creator Peter Brocka.

BSOS – Stands for “Both Sides One String” meaning pulling the same trick on both sides in the same string or run.

Crank – Referring to a player’s ability to make their foot parallel to the ground when in clipper position. The better the player’s crank, the closer their foot is to parallel.

Crispy – Describing a compound trick which is typically done downtime, done with an up, and downtime component. Example: Torque, versus “crispy torque”[stepping far osis].

Cross Body [XBD] – This is the additional difficulty required to execute a kick or delay on the opposite side of your body (essentially with crossed legs).

Delay [DEL] – Used to describe momentarily stopping the bag on a body part before bringing it back into play (Also called “Stall”).

Dex – Used to describe a leg passing around the footbag in either direction in a full revolution.

Dialed – Having completely mastered a move or concept.

Diving – A Diving Set is done by ducking the head under the bag so that it passes over and down the same side of the head in relation to the set, and then doing a trick on the same side of the set.
[EX. Left side set, bag passes over and down Left side of head, trick is done on Left side]

Downtime – Used to express the action of components (dexterities) done as the bag is falling.

Drop – Used to describe the bag hitting the ground, (hitting the arms or hands is also considered a drop)

Ducking – A Ducking Set is done by ducking the head under the bag so that it passes over and down the opposite side of the head in relation to the set, and then doing a trick on the opposite side of the set.
[EX. Left side set, bag passes over and down Right side of head, trick is done on Right side]

Far – a type of dexterity that is performed on the opposite side of the body of a set from cross body position or a spin. Paradox moves always include a far dexterity.

Fairy – A Fairy Set it done by dexing the Same (setting) leg from Out to In while the bag is still heading upward.

Fearless – Used to describe a string containing only 5 ADD+ tricks.

Flapper – A cross-body sole kick/stall.

Flip – Used to describe your non dominant foot or side for a particular trick. (Also called “Flipside”)

Flying – A trick done with an added jump (ie, flying clipper).

Footed – When the trick a player executes was complete except for the final delay, where instead the player just touches the bag with their foot and does not catch the bag.

Froggy – A term to describe a clipper set spin or gyro, where the player pulls the set foot behind and across them in such a manner that they can see the release of the footbag, after all the spinning has taken place.

Frontside – A term used to describe a multi-dex trick where the first dex is symposium. Frontside (fs) sometimes also known as Alpha.

Godly – Used to describe a string containing only 7 ADD+ tricks.

Guiltless – Used to describe a string containing only 3 ADD+ tricks.

Gyro – a spinning component where the bag does not cross the front of the body. The bag is set on one side of the body, travels behind the back, and is either caught or dexed on the opposite side of the body the trick started from.

Hippy – A dex done between the knees and hips. (Commonly Mirage)

IFPA – International Footbag Player’s Association

Ingryo/Inspinning – Used to describe either spinning, or gyro sets done where the bag crosses the front of your body first, instead of the back.

Lavers – Short for “Adidas Rod Laver”, the most popular model of shoes used for footbag. Not all models of Lavers are used for footbag – go with Rod Laver Mesh (non-hi-top) for a safe bet!

Leggy – A dex done between the knees and ankles. (Commonly Illusion)

Modified – Short for “www.modified.in”, a popular Freestyle Footbag bulletin board.

Muted – Doing a dexterity, where there is usually a plant without a plant.

Near – a type of dexterity that is performed on the same side of the body as a set from cross body position or a spin.

Nucleus – The latest shoe created for Freestyle Footbag usage, a company created by legend Richard Abshire!

One Sided – Where a player uses one side over the other.

Paradox [PDX] – is used to describe a move that is more difficult than, but otherwise identical to another move — wherein the difference is entirely attributed to the set. Furthermore, the set for a paradox move is always from the cross-body position. Paradox moves always require the player to “snake” their leg from behind their support leg to make the dex.

Phasing – A phasing set is a set where Fairy Swirling is done Uptime!

Pinch – Catching the bag behind the knee.

Pixie – A Pixie Set it done by dexing the Same (setting) leg from In to Out while the bag is still heading upward.

Quantum – A Quantum Set it done by dexing the opposite (non-setting) leg from In to Out while the bag is still heading upward.

Quantum Shoe – The first footbag shoe, produced by Planetfootbag, which had three versions dubbed “Q1, Q2 and Q3″.

Rebate – the action of returning the footbag to the player who last dropped, so that they may have another try at a run/trick. A rebate is performed when in a circle of multiple players. Rebate is sometimes also called a passback.

Rewind – A rewind is a trick performed in reverse. Some tricks/combos can be rewinds of themselves (Pixie Legover).

Run – Used to describe a set of tricks consecutively done, one after another, without a drop (Also called “String”).

Set – A set is one of more move components that occur uptime, before the bag reaches its peak.

Shoey – Where the dex you performed was done only with the shoe, implying it should have been done higher into your ankle or calf.

Shred – Used to describe a set of technical footbag tricks performed one after the other in a string

Shuffle – Used to describe a series of tricks consisting of moves with one dexterity while the bag is rising and one while the bag is falling.

Sideways – Used to describe the stance where a player Favors one side of the foot (and body) over the other (e.g. left inside, right outside, and right toe OR right inside, left outside, and left toe).

Slurry – Used to described uptime dexterities that are not clean because the dexterity leg moves over / clears the bag before it leaves the set foot. Slurry dexes are not considered clean and do not count for ADDs.

Stall [DEL] – Used to describe momentarily stopping the bag on a body part before bringing it back into play (Also called “Delay”).

Stallberger – When the final delay of your trick ends with the footbag on top of one toe, and under the sole of your other shoe, pressed together.

String – Used to describe a set of tricks consecutively done, one after another, without a drop (Also called “Run“).

Surfing – A surfing set is a set where Fairy Symposium Swirling is done Uptime!

Stomping – “Stomping” is a concept that involves planting both feet at once after setting the footbag, then executing the desired move.

Symple – “Symple” is a concept for moves where the leg performing a dexterity (ie., circling the footbag) is planted immediately before the dex and then used to catch the bag, while the other (setting) leg supports the landing the trick. ie, jumping, dexing, catching all in one foot, while landing on the other. Some people consider symple to be a trick which is essentially a symposium, however a full dex is not performed.

Symposium – “Symposium” is a concept for moves where the leg performing a dexterity (ie., circling the footbag) is planted immediately before and after the dexterity, while the other (setting) leg does not touch the ground. This form of a move requires more strength and balance since the dexterity is performed in the air.

The – An adjective used to denote the instance of a footbag dex that is performed, but does not actually circle the footbag.

Thin – When the dexterity a player attempted to do only just barely circled the footbag, for example with only the toe of your shoe.

Thirty-Two - A 32 panelled footbag

Tiltless – Used to describe a string containing only 2 ADD+ tricks.

Toe Scrape – A technique to pick up with bag without your hands, where you use one sole of your shoe to drag the bag up and onto the toe of your other shoe. Generally considered bad etiquette within freestyle circles.

Toe Walls – A result of when you cut the stitches holding down the first eyelets of your shoes, and then use your shoe laces to pull back the eyelets in the form of two walls, preventing the footbag from rolling off your foot.

Tripless – Used to describe a string containing only 4 ADD+ tricks.

Unique – A move that is not repeated within a string.

Unusual Surface [UNS] – Any surface of the body used aside from the toe or the inside/outside surface of the foot.

Uptime – Used to express the action of components (dexterities) done as the bag is rising.

Weaving – A Weaving Set is done by ducking the head under the bag so that it passes over and down the opposite side of the head in relation to the set, and then doing a trick on the same side as the set.
[EX. Left side set, bag passes over and down Right side of head, trick is done on Left side]
[EX2. A duck done to the same side]

X-DEX – “X-dex” is a concept created by Eric Wulff in an attempt to make the add system more accurate. An X-dex is an additional add recieved for a “full dex” (i.e. the dex performs an entire circle around the bag). Paradoxes are always x-dexes but x-dexes are not always paradox. The x-dex concept is not generally accepted in the ADD system.

Zoom – The transition between an osis to spin. This qualifies for any osis based move, to spin. Blender->gyro mirage, for example.

Zulu – A Zulu Set it done by ducking the head under the bag so that it passes over and down the same side of the head in relation to the set, and then doing a trick on the opposite side of the set.
[EX. Left side set, bag passes over and down Left side of head, trick is done on Right side]
[EX2. A dive done to opposite side trick]