Circle contest diagram

Circle contest

Concept

Advantages

1. The format is based on the way freestyle has been played ever since "shred" took over the circles in the late 80s. In other words, most players already practice this way, so they don't have to change their regimens to prepare for the Circle contest.
   
2. Players have many chances to execute their best maneuvers instead of just one. Playing in a circle with a fixed time limit means players have numerous turns with the bag, and there is no advantage to any body type or style of execution (i.e. slow vs. fast). Furthermore, players get an equal number of turns.
   
3. Head-to-head competition brings many benefits for both competitors and spectators. It's more interesting to watch 3 players go at it than one all by himself on stage. Players will be able to adapt on the spot to what the others are doing, which leads to enhanced creativity and an intensified emotional response.
4. There is no longer the need to watch the sidelines to see the best players in the best circles. The best circles will actually be in competition. This is extremely important because most if not all other competitions have alienated us from what we love about footbag.
5. The Judging system is highly efficient, reducing stress on the judges, and likely rendering more consistently accurate results in a more timely manner.
6. The contest has nothing to do with the ADD system!
   
7. Players are not confined to any style of play. It's not a race; "artsy" moves are not required, but certainly welcome!; it's not just about one big move or combo, or long strings, or this or that. IT IS EVERYTHING IN ONE. Players are scored on overall ability, that is well-rounded skill.

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Comments

Jedi_Mind says on Sunday, 07 May 2006 Title: Props Ingenious.

Shredfish says on Monday, 08 May 2006 Title: Yes I've always wondered about an alternate for the 2 mintue routine...I think the 2 minute routines are just stupid. This sounds like a great thing. I'm excited about this.

blitz says on Monday, 08 May 2006 Title: routines are still cool Personally I like singles freestyle, both watching and performing. The Circle is not meant to detract from the historical importance of routines or the reverence of all the great champions. The idea is to create something entirely new, one that best reflects the real energy of freestyle. I think even the most adament routine performers will welcome the Circle contest on its merits.

Shredfish says on Monday, 08 May 2006 Title: that's what i meant But yea that's what I meant I guess. That it "best reflects the real energy (and everything else) of freestyle"   I just think that the routines don't usually show what the athlete can really do...

blitz says on Tuesday, 09 May 2006 Title: more discussion There is a little more discussion over at the modified forum.    http://modified.in/footbag/viewtopic.php?t=13157

commodore says on Friday, 16 June 2006 Title: Copyright? It's footbag and it's a game. Why should you copyright the document? See http://creativecommons.org/about/ and http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html . I think those licenses would be a lot better than just pure copyright.

ptaku says on Monday, 26 June 2006 Title: Good thing Great. I think it's cool way to compete. I don't know how does it work in the reality, but it seems like it can be my favourite form of competition. Rippin` run and this are awesome. It should work awesome for footbag jams.

max says on Thursday, 10 August 2006 Title: Roadmap in Excel Format Hello Ellis,     would you have the Circle Contest roadmap in Excel format by any chance?

blitz says on Thursday, 10 August 2006 Title: yes to Excel yes, I have it in Excel format (I don't know how to use Excel properly, so it doesn't do anything fancy). I have to verify its accuracy, but I will make that available when we release 1.0 of the Guidebook, including simplified and complete versions (of the Guidebook).

Jeremy says on Sunday, 15 October 2006 Title: Circle Comp feedback Hey Ellis and circle comp crew     At the last event I attended - the Sydney Jam in Sydney, Australia (like a week ago) we had a circle comp, although not a serious comp - just an attempt to get a feel for it - and I thought I'd give you my feedback     I found circle comp to definitely be the most fun event to compete in. There was no doubt about that. It feels like there is less pressure, more freedom and more fun than the other events. That's not that I don't like the other events - I love them. I spend hours choreographing routines and planning shred 30s and sick 3s - but that puts a lot of pressure on, which I didn't feel was there so much for circle comp.     I guess at this very early stage there are a great deal of issues that need to be worked out. In particular the obvious issue is which footbag to use. In the finals I played a lot better than in the semis and I think one of the reasons was that in the finals we were using a bag I was far more comfortable with (although I made both bags :P). It seems very hard in my opinion to find an fair way of deciding which bag to use. While at this early stage and with friendly footbaggers this isn't too much of an issue - I can see it easily becoming one if the sport gets more money involved and people get more serious about winning.    Secondly the order of competitors has a huge advantage. Obviously more rounds with changing the order can help this but the more rounds the longer the event - in many cases this is probably impractical. In the final at the Sydney Jam I found it very easy to win because I was placed just after my closest competitor (Alex Urano) and that meant that when he did bad runs I could afford to take risks and when he did good runs I could take things a little easier and still finish with a comparable run - either way being in that position made it very easy to do better or equal to him with every single run. No doubt I was the favourite to win anyway, but I think the majority of time when there are two equal players next to each other the person going second (if they are strategic about it) will win. Maybe the option is to have two rounds for each run through - with a reverse order for the second round but I guess some kind of structure regarding seeding would be an even better solution.    The other issue is obviously judging - with the event in its infancy, it is clear a lot of details need to be worked out and I think the best way of doing that is holding as many events as possible at any level and trying to get as much feedback as possible. No doubt over time the judging issues can be worked out.    Props on the concept

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