Fractured Axel

Yes, it is time to get ready for the first Freestyle Trick Thang competitions in the UK. STACK will be organising Trick Thang competitions at Southampton, Washington, Brighton, Coventry and Bristol. I need to read the rules again, but here is a quick summary;
1. Each flyer flies 2 or 3 rounds each of approx 90 seconds in length
2. The Freestyle is set to music, but flyer can only choose the style of music flown
3. Round 2 is flown in reverse order to round 1. Round 3 is flown in reverse order of the standings at the end of Round 2. Ie, the currently leading flyer goes last.
4. Judges assign to scores (can't quite remember what for). These will be announced to the spectators immediately.
5. The finishing order will be decided by using the highest score achieved by the flyer, regardless of which round it was achieved it.

As I said, I need to read the rules again. I think that this page describes it most clearly;
http://www.wardley.org/kites/freestyle/ ... ormat.html

A couple of things for everyone to think about;
1. We will need some judges. Any takers?
2. What style of music do you want to fly to? Please post and I will ensure that we have at least one CD that is suitable.

The competition will be run at various stages on Sunday. There will be at least two rounds (depending upon available time in the festival schedule).
Any takers?

I'm planning on being at Southampton, and probably Brighton but will confirm that one nearer the time.

aphelps wrote:

Round 2 is flown in reverse order to round 1. Round 3 is flown in reverse order of the standings at the end of Round 2. Ie, the currently leading flyer goes last.

I think the ones we did over the winter just went through the list in the same order 3 times or maybe we did round 2 in reverse, can't remember. Putting the 3rd round in ascending order could be good as long as it doesn't cause a big pause between rounds 2 and 3, and doesn't demoralise the 1st flyer in the 3rd round.

aphelps wrote:

We will need some judges. Any takers?

Jason wrote:

I think the ones we did over the winter just went through the list in the same order 3 times or maybe we did round 2 in reverse, can't remember.

We did it as Andy described: round 2 in reverse order of round 1, round 3 in ascending order of scores.

aphelps wrote:

We will need some judges. Any takers?

Aye, me too.

Scoring is half'n'half split between: technical (what you do in terms of difficultly and diversity) and artistic (how well you do it in terms of choreography, style, flow, feeling, expression, etc).

Marks out of 10 for each, from three judges, gives a total from 60 for each round. Three rounds gives a total from... <i>One Hundred and Eiiiigggghhhttttyyyy!</i>

I think competitors should be allowed to hand in their own music CD if they prefer. It's probably the simplest solution.

A

I think competitors should be allowed to hand in their own music CD if they prefer.

Okay with me. But the competitor will not be able to select the track that we play.
Any objections to this?

That might encourage people to burn the track they want from an album onto a cd - if it's the only track on the cd, they get the music they want.

aphelps wrote:

Okay with me. But the competitor will not be able to select the track that we play.

Why not? Surely it's the same thing as a regular STACK competition where you hand in a CD and mark it with the track number, or write it down on your submission form, etc? OK, there will be the inevitable mishaps where the wrong track gets played, etc., but that's to be expected.

I don't see it as a required feature of this competition that the pilots don't know what music they're going to get. Rather the opposite - if we're going to have music on for them to fly to, then it might as well be something that they know/want/like rather than something random.

A

I might habd in my Ipod, I will get trick thang shufle, that would be something, fly tricks to Roald Dahl reading Charly and the chocolate factory!!
Sorry, of topic.

A cd with music you know you like should not be to hard to make and hand in.

What is the deal with accomodation at Southampton. I might be able to make it. Is it a camping thing? Wibbley?

abw wrote:

Marks out of 10 for each, from three judges, gives a total from 60 for each round. Three rounds gives a total from... <i>One Hundred and Eiiiigggghhhttttyyyy!</i>

I thought it was the best individual round score that counted, not a culmination.

Bryan

I'm still negotiating on Southampton, it's looking doubtful just now, but there's a couple of weeks to talk them round.

abw wrote:

if we're going to have music on for them to fly to, then it might as well be something that they know/want/like rather than something random.

Certainly fairer that way. If it's something random, the chances are that some people will fly to things they know whilst others fly to things they've never heard before, which strikes me as being an odd way to go about things, to say the least.

Brian, you're right, it's the best score of any round, there's no adding or averaging of rounds. It started as marks out of 50 for each technical and artistic giving a total out of 100, multiplied by three judges gives a possible maximum of 300. We started doing it that way, then decided that it was too difficult to work out for those not blessed with my visual/numeracy skills so started to give a mark out of 100 for technical and artistic, therefore making the maximum score possible 600 (100+100)x3.

Or 60 as Andy rightly says, if you're giving scores out of 10. I think we each did our own thing and moved the decimals at the end last time. Personally I find it easier to work in 100's. 67 out of 100 seems higher than 6.7/10 but then again I'm a bit of a weirdo.

abw wrote:

aphelps wrote:

Okay with me. But the competitor will not be able to select the track that we play.

Why not? Surely it's the same thing as a regular STACK competition where you hand in a CD and mark it with the track number, or write it down on your submission form, etc? OK, there will be the inevitable mishaps where the wrong track gets played, etc., but that's to be expected.

I don't see it as a required feature of this competition that the pilots don't know what music they're going to get. Rather the opposite - if we're going to have music on for them to fly to, then it might as well be something that they know/want/like rather than something random.

A

I doubt I get a vote, but I agree completely,
After all, there are certain rhythms to which a kite will do tricks. Especially repetitive tricks.
A cascade is a good example. Yes, you can very the speed somewhat, but that should be in hands of the flyer. Since they’re the ones that have to deal with variances in the wind.

Isn’t the idea to bring out the best in both the flyers individually & the competition as a whole?
Kiting's not really a Gong Show kind of format.

Scott

Jason wrote:

Brian, you're right, it's the best score of any round,

Mea Culpa. I didn't bother to read the rules page I went to all the trouble of writing. Best of three, not average.

A

But the competitor will not be able to select the track that we play.

Ah ha, we have been around this loop before, but I am not going to go and find the thread. I just need to check this though.

If there are two competitors and one competitor has a pre-learned routine and one does not. Does the flyer with the routine have an advantage over the other?

I thought that the answer to this question (last September) was yes, and therefore to level the playing field the competitor should not be able to choose the music, just the style.

I do not mind myself (I won't be competing), but I need a clear consensus before I run the first comp.