footbag

You have just landed here and you do not know what this is all about? You don't even know what "Footbag" is? Maybe the term "Hacky Sack" rings a bell -- and that's what it is; juggling with your feet!

It was invented in 1972 in Oregon City, Oregon, when John Stalberger met Mike Marshall, who had been kicking around a hand-made bean bag. John had recently had knee surgery and was looking for a way to work on his flexibility, and he instantly took to the game and become good friends with Marshall. They called the game, "Hack the Sack."

The most popular competitive footbag sports are Footbag Net and Freestyle.

footbag freestyle

Footbag Freestyle is the artistic form of the sport. It can be a flurry of difficult moves the eye can hardly follow, or it can be smooth and flowing, as if in slow motion. This variety makes freestyle competitions very difficult to judge. To simplify the task, competitors are judged along four dimensions: choreography, difficulty, variety, and execution.

Players choreograph routines to music, and are judged on how well their style of play matches their choice of music. They are also judged on their originality and creativity.

Each move or trick has a determinable difficulty rating. The average difficulty of each move and the total difficulty of all the moves in the routine are added to determine a player's difficulty rating. Difficulty is measured in "adds", which represent additional levels of difficulty beyond the basic moves. (A toe delay is one "add.")

Execution is judged by smoothness, confidence, and, most of all, the ability of the player to keep the footbag off the ground.

footbag net

Footbag Net is a singles or doubles court game, like tennis or volleyball, where players use only their feet to kick the footbag over a five-foot-high net. The rules for doubles net are a lot like volleyball: players are allowed three kicks per side, and must alternate kicks. In singles, however, players are only allowed two kicks per side.

The footbag (which is usually a 32-panel vinyl and/or leather ball) may not contact a player's body except below the knee.

Footbag Net combines the court strategy of tennis with the set-and-spike strategy of volleyball. Players frequently spike the footbag over the net, using either the sole of the foot, a sweeping inside kick, or an outside push. Even more remarkable than the spikes are the "digs" players use to defend against the spikes. Players also block spikes in the air with amazing foot-to-foot battles over the net.