Heard of Freestyle Frisbee?

I’m sure almost everybody has gained some experience with a Frisbee, whether you’ve played Ultimate-Frisbee as a competition sport,  Disc-Golf in a park, or just threw one for fun at the beach. The variety of this sport is constantly increasing. There is one thing  you’ve probably not heard of yet –“Freestyle Frisbee”.

This specific form of “throwing the disc” is everything but dull. It is a sport that combines elements of many other sports, like for example gymnastics, which makes it look very graceful. And that’s what it is about – grace. When I first watched people jamming, which is the official expression for playing Freestyle Frisbee, at the beach of Warnemünde, I was amazed at how easy it looked. But, believe me, it is not.

Freestyle Frisbee is suited to almost everybody because you don’t need much in order to have a lot of fun. All you need is a Frisbee, space, a couple of players (jammers) and, if possible – a breeze of wind, a fake nail, and lubricant.

But what has jamming got to do with a fake nail and lubricant? 

The importance of this game lies in throwing, catching, and keeping the disc in the air- all this combined with numerous tricks. In order to do so, you have to learn a basic move, called the “Delay”.

This trick enables you to let the disc spin on your fingernail. This not only looks good, it also opens up possibilities for a wide variety of moves. The diversity of catches, throws and moves is huge. The facet reaches from very artistic throws like backhand-throws, behind the back throws, skip shots (Frisbee touches the ground) and kicks with the feet to breathtaking catches under the leg, between legs, over the head and many more.

As a beginner all you need is a good disc, but the more advanced you become, the more equipment is needed. A fake nail and some kind of lubricant are very helpful in order to let the frisbee rotate for as long as possible on your fingernail. Silicon spray, sprayed on the bottom part of the disc, is very suitable to reduce friction. Among advanced players the use of fake-fingernails is very common because without this little help, fingernails tend to grind down very fast.

Rostock and especially the beaches are predestined for jamming, because they provide wind- which is another important factor, especially for air brushing. But what’s an air brush?

Air Brushing means that you hit the side of the disc to keep it spinning. With the right angle and facing a moderate breeze of wind you can maintain the disc in play by brushing across the outside rim of the disc. Freestyle Frisbee though, can also be played in an urban setting –walls, curves and the ground can be used perfectly to let the disc bounce off .

No boarders are set for your creativity!

Freestyle Frisbee is on the rise, so equip yourself with a disc and spread the flow.