Footbag Routines

[Jorden]

Here's a manual I wrote for someone else that I thought some people might like:
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Jorden’s No BS Guide To Footbag Routines

So you want to do a footbag routine, eh? Here’s what you need to know…

What is a footbag routine? It is essentially a performance choreographed to music with footbag tricks as the backbone. A non-competitive routine can be any length and is often intended to show an audience of non-footbaggers. You don’t need to do your very best stuff -- easy crowd pleasing moves with some good stuff at the end will suffice.
A competitive routine in singles freestyle is either 2 minutes for Open (pro level), and 1 min 30 s for Intermediate. A panel of judges (usually 4) gives an artistic and technical score each out of 6.0. You will want to display some of your best stuff here. The main criteria (in no particular order) are variety, execution, difficulty and presentation.

Variety is how widespread your trick selection is. More variety means more mastery over a vast number of concepts which is highly desirable.

Execution is how well you perform the moves you do. Body position, proper form, cleanliness of ducks/dexterities and trick precision are all taken into account.

Difficulty is how technical and physically demanding your moves are. Incorporating multiple elements and/or challenging elements in moves showcases the high level of mastery and skill.

Presentation is the quality of your performance. This is very important and often the most lacking in footbag routines. Rhythm, dynamic, structure, audience interaction, costume, movement, theme, trick selection and drop count are considered.


But how do you put it all together? Here are the logical steps in developing a routine (in order):

1. Recognize your strengths and weaknesses
2. Choose a song (edit to length if necessary) and a theme
3. Choose a character to play
4. Find all the cues & breaks in your song
5. Brainstorm character-specific tricks/actions and costume ideas
6. Plan a rough structure using the cues & breaks as pauses, climaxes or transitions
7. Choose the tricks that will fill each sequence
8. Get your costume/props/footbags/etc. you will use
9. Practice and film your routine
10. Make notes and ask others for input
11. Make changes and repeat steps 9 and 10 until satisfied
12. Perform your routine!


Strengths and Weaknesses

Ask yourself the following questions:

1) What are the best features of my game?
2) What tricks can I do that others find most impressive?
3) What can I do that separates me from the rest?
4) What style of music do I like to listen/dance to, and could see myself doing a routine to?
5) How many pauses or breaks would I need in [length of time here]?
6) What are my most consistent difficult tricks and links?
7) How would others describe my personality? What types of characters portray these traits well?

To be the most successful with routines, you want to accentuate your best points, highlight your unique traits and mask/exclude your weak points.


Music and Theme

Music can make or break your routine. Here are some points to consider when choosing a song:

1. Realize you are performing for an audience and not just yourself. Choose music with somewhat of a mass appeal. It doesn’t need to be Top 40 by any means. Just something that is pleasant to the general ear and requires little to no background explanation.
2. Decide whether you want a vocal or instrumental piece. It is recommended for most players to use instrumental. Vocals can sway an audience’s perspective on your routine because language evokes thoughts and ideas. However, vocals can be used to your advantage when used effectively. Instrumental music is a safer bet, as it is more open for interpretation and allows you to express yourself without preconditions of language.
3. Choose a song that matches your style of play. If you are a slower cautious player, a ballad is a better choice than say, swing jazz. For a confident energetic player, hip hop or rock may be a good choice.
Classical is a common medium and good for all skill ranges. On the contrary, a good metal routine is much more challenging.
4. Choose a song with lots of dynamic. This will give you more to work with when constructing your sequences. There should be a mix of high and low parts, as well as breaks and cues. The intensity of the song should build steadily throughout.
5. Develop a theme for your routine. Themes often include actions that are specific to the character you are playing. It could also be as simple as incorporating some dance moves to match the style of your music. Examples include break dancing moves for hip hop or graceful spins and leaps for classical music.
6. Try not to choose a song that is so overpowering it covers up all the great things you are doing. You don’t want people remembering your song but forgetting your routine!


Choosing Tricks and Practicing

1. Break your routine up into logical sections, each with its own theme of moves. The intensity of the moves should build throughout. This will help you pace yourself and not give away too much too quickly. Sections will help you stay on track if you get lost or forget parts of your performance.
2. Include some of your best consistent moves in your routine. Risky moves should be kept to an absolute minimum. Each move should be at least 80% consistent, whereas 90-99% is ideal. Weigh the risk versus the reward when deciding to include any risky moves. If landing a couple risky moves means advancing to the next round then by all means do it!
3. Many times the most enjoyable parts of a routine are not difficult – or even footbag-related! Be sure to include some actions that flesh out your character and/or add to the crowd’s overall experience. Let’s face it -- even hardcore footbag to footbaggers can be very boring! Spice it up a little bit by adding some dance, humor, poses and crowd interaction.
4. Practice your routine away from the distractions of everyday life. Practice with the music you will be using. Practice without the bag in front of a mirror. Film your practices regularly. Ask yourself – if I was a judge (or audience member) would I enjoy this routine? In what ways can I enhance my performance so people enjoy it more?
5. Ask your friends/family what they think! They are more representative of the general public than you might think. Deeply consider all of their critiques and suggestions.
6. Practice your routine so it becomes flawless and engrained in your memory. Memorization will help calm your nerves on stage. If there is a section that constantly gives you trouble, change it! Easier moves are always better than drops.

Best of luck on your next footbag routine!
Jorden

[zeroman13]

Thank you Jorden!

This will help me out alot in figuring out a routine!

[g00d33]

That's really helpful. I never really thought of being a character. Next time i have to do a routine, i'm definitely going to come refer back to this and use it as a checklist

[C-Fan]

I think Jan Zimmerman wrote a similar guide once. Does anybody have it?

[Matt K]

http://modified.in/footbag/viewtopic.ph ... highlight=

[dyalander]

I also wrote a competition guide - from more of a judging perspective - for ausfootbag. It has all of the competition regulations we impose at our national champs and some information on how we judge.

Comp. directors should provide players with this sort of information in the lead up to the comp, and every player should start here. There may be slight differences in regulations between comps run by different people, and its important that players make themselves aware of exactly how they are to be judged.

So I would insert - "read competition rules carefully" as point one.

http://ausfootbag.org/index.php?option= ... mitstart=0

[LEGOMAN]

i think its more fun to figure out routines yourself. it was awesome figuring out how to do it, and now im alright at making them

[RawSko]

I think I know what you mean by being a character. I'm of the opinion that this should remain subtle. I have a little sister, and therefore see a lot of little-kid movies. There's a lot to be said for keeping an audience's attention (especially one composed of children) without going over the top and over acting everything. I'm talking about stupid facial expressions (ex- super exaggerated shocked expressions with eyes the size of saucers and a mouth that's literaly shaped like: =o) and ridiculous costumes (ex- a beanie, complete with propeller -- sry Jorden). I'm also thinking about costumes though, and I can't help thinking about what people wear in figure skating, since I relate footbag routines to that so much (Whenever I used to go to my grandparents when I was little, my mom and them would sit and watch tons of figure skating, so I saw a lot of it). I think silver sequins would be distracting in footbag and perhaps make it more difficult to see the bag. Some costumes might suit the sport, while others might not. I liked Vasek's 2006 finals routine (it's actually my all time fav routine). He had a costume, but he kept it very subtle (he ditched it right at the beginning). I dunno... I just know that I will go about this character business cautiously.

Just voicing my thoughts/opinions. Thanks a lot for making this, Jorden.

I have a question about routines though -- (other than Andrew Grant) does anybody practice the sections of their routine separately and connect them bit by bit as they learn each part?

[Jorden]

This is not about me, Ben.

[SlashC]

I usually break my routine into 4 or 5 parts and then splice them together. The crappy thing is I tend to actually drop in competition in transition to the next section usually because there's a sudden change in tempo.

[TheLast]

Thanks Jorden this will help me for Suramerican Footbag Championships 2008

[crazylegs32]

Wow good advice. I think I did all of those things for the only successful routine I ever did. With all of that preparation its fun also. Routines really suck if you arent prepared though.