I’m traveling to Fort Collins from July 18-23 to compete in the 2011 WFDF World Flying Disc Championships. Jack Cooksey, who won world’s in 2007, invited me personally so I’m very honoured that such an accomplished athlete asked me to compete.

My goal is to not only compete for the finals, but I would love to set a world record. It’s a tall order as some of the event records are some pretty impressive numbers that have been around for many years. But, I’ve been throwing a disc for almost 11 years and I know that I can compete with the top guys.

The events include:

ACCURACY - Players get a total of  28 throws from 7 different stations, 4 from each of the 7 different stations. Stations are from side angles and from straight away. Discs must go through the upper square.  Discs are required to be the of the vintage variety. Most popular discs are Discraft Ultra-Stars and Innova Zephyrs (162 grams or less) are used. World record is 25/28. This event is a World Title event for the WFDF 2011 Overall Championships.

DISCATHON – This event is basically a 1 Kilometer running race while you throw a disc through an obstacle course. Your disc must pass the correct way through the course, but if you throw well, you can run a shorter distance. There are tests throughout the course, which, if you succeed, allow you to bypass an obstacle. Exciting to watch too because of its head to head format. This event is a World Title event for the WFDF 2011 Overall Championships.

FREESTYLE - The “show” event but also as rigorous and demanding as gymnastics. An enormous variety of throws, spinning moves, and amazing catches that will make you wonder how they did it.  This is the art event of the flying disc. Routines are constructed to music as you would see in a dance routine. The Freestyle Players Association web page will get you started at www.freestyledisc.org. There are many youtube videos to see how it’s done. It’s a steep learning curve but the most fun you can have with a flying disc.  For this Championships we will be hosting a Open Pairs and Women’s Pairs competition. This is not a world title event for this tournament.

DISC GOLF - One of the fastest growing sports in the world and always one of the most popular disc events for participants. Over 3,000 disc golf courses in over 20 countries.  Colorado Disc Golf can be a special experience. That’s why we’re taking you to Sundance Trail Dude Rand for a real Colorado disc golf adventure. Played on natural Colorado tundra at 8,000 feet. The surroundings are gorgeous and the course is all ours. Lunch will be served on the Ranch in between rounds and then out for round two to finish the day. Disc Golf will not be a world title event for the WFDF Championships but surely will play a key role in who wins the overall.

Disc Golf is Easy to start, hard to master. Just like the kind with a stick and a ball. Same basic rules: put the object in the target. The Professional Disc Golf Association is available at this link.

SELF-CAUGHT FLIGHT - Sounds easy. Throw the disc in the air, catch it in one hand. Two parts to the event: Maximum Time Aloft (MTA) – your throw is timed; then Throw, Run, Catch (TRC) – distance from throw to the catch is measured. World records? 16.72 seconds for MTA, 94.00 meters for TRC. Start running!!

DOUBLE DISC COURT - It’s a court game with two players on each team. And two discs in play. The object is to land your throws in the opponents court and / or make them be in contact with both discs at the same time. Information on Double Disc Court can be found at these sites.

DISTANCE - Pretty simple really. Throw it as far as you can. See the World Records link for all age divisions. Anyone can do it.  Competition in Fort Collins will be interesting to say the least. The last major distance competition here saw lots of broken records because of the altitude. New disc technology and a huge number of young disc golf athletes will test some of those records.

I’m most excited for distance, MTA + TRC. I will be training almost everyday to make sure I’m ready for the competition. I’d love to challenge the world record in a few of these events.

If you’d like to send me questions, comments or well wishes, you can to rob@ultimaterob.com.

I’ve created a demo video which explains the events in a bit more detail:

Distance Training Video:

MTA Training Video:

Segment on Global Calgary News:

Thanks!
Robert McLeod

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