Category: Polls

Frisbee shows are a big part of the Freestyle Frisbee culture. It makes perfect sense. Freestyle Frisbee is an art form that consists of creative body movements with a flying disc. Doing a Frisbee demo or show can be a vehicle to share one’s art to bring joy and inspiration to others. Shows and demos can also be a way to turn the passion of Freestyle Frisbee into a living wage. In many of our podcast episodes and in The Harlem Globetrotter Tour Story we’ve discovered that demos and shows are a part of the history of the game.

Have You Ever Done A Frisbee Demo or Show?

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Photo by Kristýna Landová

To bring in the new year right, this past weekend was filled with many hours of jamming. Saturday was the most heinous day of them all. James Wiseman was in town and at one point he and I were playing one on one. It seemed like the we could do no wrong. We were flowing with both spins, turns overs, rolls, and setting each other for huge spinning catches. The pace was high and it only took a couple songs before we started to waver, but boy was it satisfying.

The following jam days just never measured up for me. Many perfect sets hit my hand but didn’t stay in, resulting in the dredded drop. As I watched my own catch percentage drop I saw others in the jam maintain their levels. Libby, a new jammer on the Portland scene, even seemed to increase her catching as the weekend progressed.

Before I pose this question, let’s define catch percentage. It’s the number of catches divided by the number combos in which either a catch was attempted or a drop was caused. Example:

• If I go for a gitis from Lori’s set, and catch it, I’m 1 for 1 (100%).
• Later Matt sets me and I drop a flamingosis; now I’m 1 for 2 (50%).
• A little later I try a spinning pull and drop it; now I’m 1 for 3 (33%).

Just to be clear, I don’t actually count every catch / drop / combo in a jam. For me, this is really just more of a gut feel. If you do count, let me know in the comments. So with that, this week’s poll:

What is Your Catch Percentage in a Jam?

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Happy new year! Let’s all go shred in 2018.

In our recent interview with Paul Kenny we learned about all the benefits that come with being a member of the Freestyle Player’s Association (FPA); access to compete in FPA events, deep discounts on discs, a member number, and more. We also learned about how the FPA uses the money, and many of the great things the FPA has done in 2017. Indeed, the FPA is at the center of the sport of Freestyle Frisbee.

Of course being an FPA member is only one of many ways to engage in the world of freestyle Frisbee. From the casual game of catch to jamming for hours on end; all who play are part of the tribe. And let’s not forget our fans, friends, and family who join in and give their support in so many ways. Yes, all who watch, listen, learn, and play freestyle Frisbee here are members of the Jamily.
In this poll let’s find out how many of our great readers are also memebers of the FPA. This weeks poll:

Are You A Member of the Freestyle Player’s Association?
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Frisbee is a game of throw and catch. It’s not a sport that would seem to involve feet at first glance. Of course, finding new and inventive ways to interact with the disc is what makes Freestyle Frisbee so fun. As a new player, I saw my first kick tip and thought, “yeah, I could learn that.” Then I saw a kick brush…mind blown. I had no idea that those two moves are just the tip of the iceberg of what done with feet. In this poll, let’s find out what tricks you can do with your feet.

What Freestyle Frisbee Tricks Do You Do With Your Feet?

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The Freestyle Player’s Association (FPA) recently announced their second annual auction. This includes mini-discs of the inaugural hall of fame inductees and commemorative Sky-Stylers of the event. Bidding on these items helps support the FPA and in turn helps grow Freestyle Frisbee. 

Looking through the collection, the Sky-Stylers are especially interesting to me. Of course, I have my own collection of Sky-Stylers. I have a disc from every event I’ve been too, and for every year that I’ve been a member of the FPA. I also have several older Sky-Sylers, including one of the original prototypes. 

Am I the only one who collects Sky-Stylers? Let me know by answering this poll:

Do You Collect Sky-Stylers?
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As we learned in the poll “How Many Hours of Practice Does it Take to Be Proficient at Freestyle Frisbee?, this sport can take a life-time to master. That’s where training tools come into play. Discs like XDISC that make spinning the disc on one’s finger easier, allowing for exploration of nail delay tricks. The Whiz Ring which makes air brushing easier, allowing for practice in light breeze and no broken blood vessles in the your hand. The Newbie Nail and other fake nail alternatives don’t require glue. And, of course, the Z-Machine removes the need to throw to yourself and can spin the disc faster than anything else. Personally, I am a believer in these tools and have used each one for both my own training and to teach others. In this poll, let’s find out:

Which Freestyle Frisbee Training Tools Have You Used?

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By the way, if you’re interested in buying any of these tools, here are some affiliate links. If you use them, FrisbeeGuru gets a small percentage of the sale.

Z-Machine – Tell ’em FrisbeeGuru sent you

Here in Portland, winter is starting to set in. It’s cold, rainy, and the sun goes down by 4:00p. This weather pattern really puts a cramp in our usual jam routine. It seems each year we make a different adjustment, but we never stop the jam. Many years ago, we’d jam in covered basketball courts and wear extra warm clothes. Then we became members of a local gym and played inside. Now we are back outdoors, but on artificial grass. In this poll, tell us your strategy for jamming in the winter.

What Do You Do When the Weather Turns Bad?
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In our recent podcast episode with Joey Hudoklin, he talks about the amazing jam communities in both Washington Square Park and Central Park, New York. We also interviewed Mehrdad Hussanian, who is from Berlin where there is another great jam community. Our jam communities are a big part of what makes Freestyle so great. After work, or the weekend, we know what we’ll be doing…getting together to jam. We push each other to new heights.

On the other end of the spectrum is the lone jammer. When I moved to Portland in 1998, that was the situation. During this time I really grew as a Freestyler. I got to focus on skills like against the spin, upside down counter, and consecutive airbrushing. In 2001, Matt moved to town and the Portland community grew to 2. We jammed constantly and honed our co-op skills.

Yes, jam communities can range in size from one, to many, many jammers. But, no matter the size, they are all near and dear to our hearts. So, sound off and answer the poll for this week:

How many people are in your jam community?

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One of the things I love about Freestyle Frisbee is that there is no end to learning. There are literally an infinite number of tricks, skills, and combinations to be mastered. This type of continuous growth it what keeps me engaged. But I recall being a new player and feeling frustration. It seemed like the most basic skills were far out of reach. Getting that disc to stay balanced, making good throws to my friends, knowing when to try the next trick vs going for a catch, and not hitting myself in the face with the disc all seemed impossible.

I stumbled across this Ted Talk video. The speaker, Josh Kaufman, says any skill can be learned with 20 hours of practice. Certainly it takes more than 20 hours to be an expert, but Josh claims you can be proficient enough to be past the frustration phase. To prove it, he learns to play the ukulele for his talk.

Now, I didn’t log my practice time when I was becoming proficient at Freestyle but it sure seemed like more than 20 hours. Then again, I didn’t exactly follow a plan. I just grabbed a disc when the mood struck and tried whatever skill I was interested in at the time. 

This is an interesting question as we try to initiate new players into the sport. How long should they expect to work at it? The poll for this week:

How many hours of practice does it take to be proficient at freestyle Frisbee?

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