Freestyle Frisbee returns to Austin

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Back in the 1980s, the sport of freestyle Frisbee was booming. Wham-o , then the manufacturer of Frisbees , sponsored tournaments with huge prize purses.

Here in Austin, famous freestyle players like Jimbo Baumann and Chris Baker attracted thousands of fans to events in Zilker Park. Alas, it was not to last.

“The sport almost extinguished itself,” said Baker. “It achieved overnight radical success in the 80s, thanks to me and several other guys around the country that were getting big sponsorships.

“Guys were getting paid thousands of dollars to compete in tournaments, winning prize money.

“And because of that radical overnight success, some of these guys to where, 'Well, you know what, I don't want to play with new people anymore; I want to just foster, shore up my own game.'

“So in the 90s, the sport suffered a real setback. We're all here now trying to rebuild that magic back and get newcomers into it.”

The “all” in the previous sentence includes the two veterans along with James Wiseman, 21, the reigning World Co-op Freestyle Champion and Dan Yarnell, 49, three-time former World Champion.

There is also some new blood flowing through the freestyle veins in Austin. Ray Young, 26, came to the sport in an online dating sort of way.

“I actually found it on the Internet,” Young said, “just looking on YouTube for Frisbee videos one day. I saw some freestyle videos and I was like, 'That looks cool.'

So I contacted somebody on the Internet and he sent me a phone number. And so I called it up and I met at the park and the rest is history.”

Young’s freestyle history is similar to everyone else who excels in the sport. It is marked by practice and lots of it.

“Freestyle definitely has a steeper learning curve than most things I've ever tried,” said Wiseman, the Co-op Champion. “The very basic moves that distinguish freestyle from ultimate (Frisbee) or other (Frisbee) sports is the 'nail delay,' which is very difficult.”

Ah yes, the “ nail delay .” That’s the technique that keeps a spinning disc in motion on the tip of a finger or some other body part.

“It's called a delay because you're delaying the catch,” said Baker. “This is what really added the magic to just basic throw and catch in Frisbee, was you're extending the spin of the disk, not just on your nail as it was in the early days, but you see all the gyrations and gymnastic-like moves you can put in there with it.”

“So it's kind of like basketball,” added Wiseman, “where you're spinning the basketball on your finger, but in freestyle, you spin the disk on your finger by reducing the friction with silicone and some people use fake nails.

“But the key is to let the disk slide over your finger and you're making little circles to keep the stability.”

Remarkably, some players can flip a spinning Frisbee off the tip of a finger, turning it upside down in the process, and bringing it down, still spinning, on all five fingers of the hand.

Even the veterans are impressed.

“It's gone to a whole other level,” said Baker, watching the younger players work out.

“These guys have developed some great techniques that we weren't doing,” Baumann added. “It's just an evolution.”

That evolution has led to a real crowd-pleaser.

“There's a certain dance that happens when you que up with some other people that have the same skills and you get in sync with them,” testified Baumann. “There's a dance, a ballet.”

Make no mistake, though, this is also hard work.

“I sort of train for it,” said Yarnell. “I work out and do a lot of stretching. It's important to be able to play this. It's important for me to play it well. It just kind of goes in sync to taking care of my body and playing the sport.”

But Wiseman points out that no one has to go overboard to enjoy playing.

“Freestyle is something you can play your whole life,” he said, “and it's something you can dictate the level of physical activity you put into it.

“So it can be a big workout, something you push yourself really hard to get in better shape or it can be something that's light and easy, something just for fun.

“So I think it's good for a lot of different people for maintaining the kind of physical fitness that they want.”

For now, though, all eyes are on the Austin Freestyle Disc Club ’s Winter Series Freestyle Tournament scheduled for this weekend. The main tournament runs from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Saturday on Zilker Park’s rugby fields. The actual competition kicks off at 11:00 AM.

The finals of the popular open pairs division, the most competitive part of the sport, will be held at 7:30 Saturday night at the Austin Rec Center , 1209 Shoal Creek, next to House Park.

But all day Friday and Sunday, Austin club members will also be available near the intersection of Stratford Drive and Barton Springs Road in Zilker, answering questions and offering help to budding freestylers.

If the weather turns ornery, the whole thing will move to the Rec Center.