Jeff Felberbaum was recently inducted into the freestyle hall of fame as part of the initial inductee class. He was also the winner of the 1979 and 1981 Rose Bowl and one of the original Washington Square Wizards.
Jeff shares how a simple overhand wrist flip caught his eye from a school window and eventually lead him to Washington Square Park where his game matured.
Jeff shares his fascination with the disc, and gets introspective about his motives for playing.
He also talks about being part of Krae Van Sickle Disc Dance Project.
For those of you who compete at FPA events, the event is run and judged based on the competition manual. It defines the divisions, the pools, number of judges, judging categories, seeding, and all other aspects of how the competition works. Most events that are not FPA events still use many of the themes and concepts laid out in this manual.
When I first started competing I had no idea that such a manual existed. I was already overwhelmed by the welcoming people and amazing talent. I learned by following their example. As I got more serious competition I took the time to read the manual cover to cover. There were several “aha” moments for me. Like how the seeding worked and why being ranked high is an advantage. Also, if your music messes up you can restart your routine, something Matt and I ended up using later on. It also improved my understanding of what judges look for so I could tune my choreography.
Since that time, the competition manual has been revised. I’m embarrassed to say that I have only read bits and pieces. That plus my previous experience seems to be enough to get by. Then again, I was able to get by for several of my early years without reading it at all.
This weeks question, how much of the competition manual have you read?
Special thanks to Chris Belaj for streaming this event for us. Chris was also on the winning team. Quite a feat to run the stream and win the event. Way to go, Chris. Note: this is ALL the footage so you may want to skip around. Part 5 has the final battle between Team Cega and Team Meola.
See the team lists here. The semifinals had 2 pools, A and B, each with 3 teams. In a pool, teams played head to head. This made for 3 matches. The winners of each pool advanced to the finals for one last head to head match.
Each match consists of a 3 minute co-op team, 2 person battle format, and a single throw super pro challenge. Read this post for more details.
Pool A: Team Meola, Team Clay, and Team Cega
Match 1: Meola vs Cega, Co-Op: Meola, 2v2: Meola, 1v1: Cega, Result: 2-1 (Meola wins)
Match 2: Clay vs Meola, Co-Op: Meola, 2v2: Clay, 1v1: Clay, Result 1-2 (Clay wins)
Match 3: Cega vs Clay, Co-Op: Cega, 2v2: Cega, 1v1: Cega: Result 3-0 (Cega wins)
Pool A Result: Team Cega advances.
Pool B: Team Gaddoz, Team Nizzo, Team Piccio
Match 1: Gaddoz vs Piccio, Co-Op: Piccio, 2v2: Gaddoz, 1v1: Piccio, Result: 1-2 (Piccio wins)
Match 2: Gaddoz vs Nizzo, Co-Op Nizzo, 2v2: Nizzo, 1v1: Nizzo, Result: 0-3 (Nizzo wins)
Match 3: Piccio vs Nizzo, Co-Op: 6 Piccio, 2v2: Nizzo, 1v1: Piccio, Result: 2-1 (Piccio wins)
Pool B Result: Team Picio advances.
Final Match: Cega vs Piccio, Co-Op: Piccio, 2v2: Cega, 1v1: Cega
Result: Team Cega wins Paganello 2017!! Congratulations to the team:
Marco Prati (Cega), Chris Bellaj, Andrea Rimatori, Filippo Bortot, Francesco Santolin
To celebrate episode ten we begin a new segment of the show, Doug E Fresh’s Top Ten. We all like to hang out and talk about our favorite jam, favorite players, favorite events, and so on. This week Doug E Fresh picks ten players to be on his “dream team”.
Doug E Fresh’s Top 10 (But of course, it is in no particular order…)
Both Jake and Randy make the list (almost.) Hmm, is it rigged to ensure Doug is a reoccurring guest on the Podcast?
Hear about Doug’s “Freshian Guidance” on Minimizing and Maximizing and who takes his guidance and who doesn’t. Do Jake & Randy agree with this philosophy?
Hear who Doug gives extra style points, has deep pockets, a home court advantage, and who falls into the “whipped butter zone.”
Teams of 5 were drawn from a hat. For more details, check our interview with Manual:
Team 1: Cega
Marco Prati, Chris Bellaj, Andrea Rimatori, Filippo Bortot, Francesco Santolin
Team 2: Gaddoz
Matteo Gaddoni, Lorenzo Telò, Andrea Piemontese, Maurizio Ranieri, Gloria Alessandrini
Team 3: Clay
Clay Collerà, Mattia Colombari, Edoardo Gargano, Anna Merlo, Andrea Poli
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.
There’s a last minute addition to Heinsville’s live streaming calendar. Thanks to Chris Belaj and Manuel Cesari, Paganello 2017 will be streamed live. The event is part of a Beach Ultimate tournament that takes place in Rimini, Italy on April 15 – 16, 2017. It will use an interesting new competition format called “Team Battle”. Manuel Cesari is the tournament director. I caught up with him over email to find out more:
Jake: First, let’s discuss the competition format. I understand that Paganello will use an experimental format this year. It’s based on team tennis. Players will form teams of 5 by random hat draw. Each team will send “sub teams” to each event. Events include a 3 minute co-op round, a battle format pairs bracket, and a battle format singles bracket.
Manuel: Yes, in Paganello we will try this format. Last December we tried a similar version in Lazzaroni, where we had two events; 3 minute Coop and 2 minute Pairs. We don’t have a final name for 1vs1 format. When I thought about “Battle” with Clay and other Twister Hills jammers, we tried to imagine which kind of round to put on for 1vs1. I remember especially one night last summer, we were in our park in San Lazzaro where we hosted FPAW in 2008, perhaps you remember? We had a good jam all together and after we discussed 1vs1. After one hour of discussion, I was coming back to the car with Mirco Zanchetta when we started to think about Penalties in Soccer. Everybody Loves and Hates this part in a Soccer Game. At that moment, we found the format.
I didn’t play many “Super Pro” events in the past cause I don’t like so much the 1vs1, but I know how much people love that, and I confess to you, sometimes I loved it too. So, maybe my favorite name of 1vs1 is “Super Penalty Pro”, but if somebody wanna suggest something better, they’re welcome.
Jake: I love the team concept because it lends itself well to the Olympic games where each country could send a team. I have so many questions. First off, did I outline the format correctly?
Manuel: Yes, it’s correct. One of reasons I created this format is: How we can engage an audience for 30/45 minute? Another reason is: How we could grow more? Andrea Poli aka Ali and I are very fortunate to have a crew. We founded Twister Hills Bologna one year after getting our first Nails: first nail was at FPAW in Rimini 2004 and THB born in 2005. Now we are really proud to have many good jammers in our city and we hope every single jammer of every city will share with everybody his art, because this is the only way to grow. The third reason was: How to get to the Olympic Games? This format is for the team spirit inside us.
Since this in only the second time this format has been used and no one has teams prepared, the teams of 5 will be formed by random hat draw. At Paga we will have the 3 events, but I can imagine a version with 5 events. It is important to have feedback from every jammer. When we all agree on a final version, obviously we’ll have Crew Battle, City Battle, Open Battle and Nation Battle.
Jake: Will you elaborate on how the judging works for each event?
Manuel: The most important part of this format is to have results immediately. The second thing is to have few judges. I thought about the judging system of Pairs and Coop many times and one night I’ve made a PDF with one sheet. One sheet for each judge, 3 judges with the same sheet. I’ve sent this sheet (linked here) to Edoardo Gargano and Gianluca Giglio (other Bologna’s Jammers and software developers) and they started to work on an Web Application where judges use tablets, judging Difficulty and Execution at the same time. There’s also a place to make notes for AI. At the end of Routine the judges can add an AI score. At first it seemed like too much, but we tried and it was not so hard. In Lazzaroni we had some problem with the App, but those who tried it told me it was not as difficult as they had thought. I think with your help and with some changing, we could find a good balance from this judging system. If this system will work well we could play one battle in every big event or festival around the world. Or we could play a battle in our gym and you with your team in Portland and have three judges around the World watching us on streaming. I’m really curious to look Ryan’s X-Box System cause maybe it could be integrate with ours. For 1vs1 and alternate pairs, judges will use only this standard: General Impression, of course with difficulty. When you have only one shot, you must do your best!
Jake: At the end, will one team be crowned the winner?
Manuel: Yes of course, only one team win, but everybody can reach it with good teammates and good strategy. Jake: What inspired you to create this format?
Manuel: Maybe I’ve already answered your question, but I wanna be a bit provocative. It’s difficult for our sport to attract an audience. We don’t have sponsors to live our passion, and it is difficult for younger players (and sometimes for an older person like me too) to go around the world playing frisbee freestyle. I don’t wanna see hundreds tournament with 20 player, but maybe thousand battle with 10 player could be better. Try to imagine a USA or Europe championship, every week we could fix one battle, this week Bologna vs Milan, next week Portland vs Seattle, then Koln vs Berlin. Or imagine to organize only one Battle into another event. I’m speaking about music festival or other sport tournament, only 10 players, 45 minute, no qualification round, but only high level of sport, show and suspense. I’m sure we could find many events where we could do one battle, but I’m almost sure in 90% of these events it would be impossible put a “Classic Freestyle Tournament”. Jake: Is there a place where readers can find more details about the format?
Manuel: Not yet, cause I prefer test it before and find a good standard. I thought: if I write rules it’s more difficult change it. So, we will try it, we will speak about it and will collectively find the right rules. I’m happy Tom Leitner come to Paganello cause I’m really curious about his thoughts. I’m happy Chris come to Paga and will manage streaming with your channel, cause I want the opinion from those who made this sport great. What can be better than to bring freestyle to the world?
Jake: Paganello combines Beach Ultimate and Freestyle Frisbee. Historically, Freestyle at Paganello has drawn large crowds as the Ultimate players become spectators for Freestyle. What do you expect the crowds to be like this time?
Manuel: Now Paganello are not like 5 or 10 years ago. There are not so many Ultimate teams. There is not the Circus tent or space where we play in front to hundreds people, but there are some young guys and girls with the same passion of frisbee of us. Now is the new point 0, but Paganello cannot die and I’m certain of a future come back the big Paganello of the past.
Jake: Being a Beach event, will you talk about the venue and playing field? Will players be on sand? If not, what is the surface like?
Manuel: Unfortunately there is no sponsor, no indoor space and no red carpet. We’ll play on the beach, on sand, but I’m sure crowds will come to the seashore and will be great share this surface with my jamily.
Jake: Paganello will forever have a place in Freestyle Frisbee history. It was the first event to regularly draw players from the USA to Europe, which inspired a new generation of European players. How many people are you expecting to attend this year? Are there any notable players coming? For example, anyone in the top ten?
Manuel: We’ll have more than 30 jammers. You spoke about story of Paganello and I answer with two names: Clay Collerà and Tom Leitner. But not only them, Marco “Cega” Prati, Matteo Gaddoni, Antonio Cusmà Piccione, Andrea Meola (all Worlds Champions) and some new jammers really on fire.
Jake: Anything else you’d like to add or anyone you want to thank?
Manuel: Maybe I’ve already said thanks to everybody. If I forgot someone, I’m sorry, but you know I love you and thanks for helping me in this dream.
This is a little editing by Mirco Zanchetta of our first Team Battle in Bologna, Enjoy it!
Jeff Felberbaum was recently inducted into the freestyle hall of fame as part of the initial inductee class. He was also the winner of the 1979 and 1981 Rose Bowl and one of the original Washington Square Wizards.
