Sandbagging in Tournaments

[habitat]

Agreed Wheels.

Either that (which actually sounds good/real) or there needs to be a category where super pros go against super pros and the "purgatory" players like myself go against other "purgatory" players. But that just adds more confusion and grey area. But that would never happen. Neither will ever happen.

[Splint]

The reality of Worlds is that only about 15-20 people should compete Open and the rest should compete intermediate. The last 5+ people are generally so far off the top 5 that it makes competition just for the sake of competition. There is really an elite group that exists above and beyond the average open competitor.

[Jeremy]

The same could be said for the tour de france, yet they persist with only one division. Why is that?

[Zac Miley]

Does this sound like a good idea?

I like it, or more people who are in open could back off and go into intermediate.

This wouldn't have the same effect. The idea of having an invitational division means that at least at the beggining of the tournament, the lowest ranked invite is still better than the highest rank open.

Yeah, but then the lowest ranked open player would be better than the highest ranked intermediate player that way. I think it would have the same effect, just with less divisions.

This year I think that the best intermediate player was better than a few of the open players. I think tournaments should be based more on skill level rather than experience at tournaments.

But I agree with you, the invitational (Expert or whatever you want to call it) would be a better solution.

[HG]

the only solution to this is to have less whiny babies and more people working on their game so everyone is in open

[Colin]

Is it ok to not work on your game if you're also not a whiny baby?

[Muffinman]

Yeah, I think I agree with Henry and Jeremy.
That's a good idea. I think I am probably above intermediate level, so I can't really say what someone of that level feels about this... like I would hate to see less people compete, but at the same time it's really what seems to make the most sense. It's so brilliantly simple.

[Eric Chang]

Actually yes Jeremy there is something like the "Intermediate" category in our country. If its Baseball there are the Minor, and Major leagues (even pee-wee <-- is that what they call it?) Even in racing there are various entry levels of competitions. Such as FIA's Formula 1 racing there the GP2 category considered entry level. Not everyone suddenly starts off as a pro .

Once again I like the ideas/debates that are coming, and I think even the Open category is getting a bit too full. I agree that maybe there should be an invitational category aka expert, invitational opens (whatever you want to call it). Maybe something like Intermediate moving to Novice, some open players moving to Intermediate, and then have a Pro like league? (Props to Xain for bringing up the categories)

[HG]

Is it ok to not work on your game if you're also not a whiny baby?

of course


EDIT: I think my original point was that if you care enough about competing to whine about sandbagging, you should care enough to get good enough to compete in open

[Jeremy]

Sure, but the Formula racing divisions are based on the quality of the car, not the driver. Also I would guess that at the baseball "world series," there isn't a number of different divisions competing. I would guess that minor and major leagues are actually separate leagues, not different divisions of the same league (please correct me if I'm wrong, since I'm only guessing, based on how other sports work).

First footbag competition I competed in, my sick 3 was smear>dimwalk>clipper - which compared well with Lynton Stephens hitting alpine legbeater>blurriest>mobius. First game of cricket I played (and also first time our primary school had a team) we scored a total of 1 run (plus 13 extras) - which is not many compared with our average score the following year of 120. First year I played football, we lost every game of the season, the next year we finished 3rd, and I was selected in the representative team.

Adversity breeds success.

[Paulsator]

I think a good solution to the whole "is intermediate a legitimate competition"-question could be to hold a regular intermediate competition for whoever wants to compete (maybe just because someone wants to present a routine, but might be afraid of competing in open) and then not have actual champions but move lets say the first 4 places into the open competition as they have proven to be good enough to also compete in open and present their routine again...we`ve actually done this at german champs and it worked quite well leaving noone out of the game or in some humiliating situation.

[akalazou]

why footbag doesnt have 2408573420762340390786 categories ....

tera [ ... ] mega giga pro
ultra mega giga pro
ultra mega pro
ultra pro
pro

same for open, intermediates and novice ...

+ lets split players with shoes ...

lavers against lavers, clima against clima, etc etc ... so we all gonna be in our own division.

seriously, intermediate and open are fine IMO

the level of game of intermediate is getting higher every year. the "world intermediate champion" 1998 lives in my town and makes shows in the street. he can't even make a ducking clipper, and i saw Zeb or Kyle (can't remember who) make a ps whirl while he was waiting to start his routine ... so if you want to win in intermediate, PRACTICE MORE !! the level is high now.

and this topic was, at the beginning, about "sandbagging". If i didnt know where to put me in, intermediate or open, id go open. Why ?

1- world ranking
2- dude, i can compete open now !!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!

2 levels is cool, just go in the one you think you be in and then, PRACTICE !

[LEGOMAN]

It was me who hit the PS Whirl lol