In the 2nd episode with Bill Wright, the discussion turns to routine lengths. It’s an interesting topic. The Freestyle Player’s Association (FPA) competition manual defines routine length as 4 minutes for any pairs and 5 minutes for co-op (teams of 3). This was defined in 1986 (I deduced this by watching old footage, so someone please jump in with more info). Although the competition manual was revised as recently as 2015, routine lengths have not changed in 3 decades.
One might conclude that routine lengths are perfect. However, routine lengths have been a topic of debate and experimentation for many years. Earlier Freestyle Frisbee routines, like the Rose Bowl and pre-1986 FPA events, were longer: 5 minutes for pairs. As a young player in the late ’90s, I attended Skippy’s Manresa and Tampico events where routines varied from 8 to 12 minutes. Fast forward to recent times and events like Frizbeer and Potlatch are experimenting with shorter routine lengths. In fact, AFO 2017 will be using routine lengths of 3 & 4 minutes. It’s clear that 4 & 5 minutes are not absolute.
So, the question for today: What routine lengths would you prefer in the FPA competition manual?
[poll id=”10″]
For extra credit, explain your answer in the comments.
Flexibility should be put into the comp manual and for FPAW, AFO, EFO, WFDF and any other “important” event. The decision should be “negotiated” between the FPA Board and TD…My sense is it should be variable by no more than 1 minute in the short term (3 and 4 minutes) so the change is not too radical. With the internet and social media, the attention span of our audience is much less than the past I am afraid.
Why not give longer routines a try.? Pre ’86 routines were 5 minutes which meant players got 3 -4 indies each. This was a big factor in motivating players to work on their games, their variety.
In other sports like tennis the major events are longer to determine a clear winner – there are five sets instead of three and they get rid of the tiebreaker so you must win by 2 games in the final set.
Most new players have never tried to compete in five minute pairs routines, it would be interesting to see how they would do. From experience I can tell you it gives you time to get into a flow without being rushed. At Frisbeer this year I got one short indy 🙁
You could also have less teams in the final like six instead of eight so that the event would not run long