Entries from September 2007 ↓

I know from experience that it is very hard starting new teams in areas where no other teams exist. Being from a flyball growth area like Alabama, I have seen my share of all green teams. As I have mentioned before on other posts, when I started in flyball there was only one team within 250 miles of my home. It is quite a bit better now, but back in 1999, we had to travel for help and training. Having an all green team has many drawbacks, for one, just trying to put together four dogs that can complete the course can be a problem.

Of the six dogs on our all green team, we only had four dogs that could complete the course. Additionally, we had a severe shortage of height dogs, so if the height dog decided not to run or some other problem occurred with the height dog our team was not able to run. Back then, with 16-inch jump heights our large dogs would just go around the jumps if they were too high, so without a height dog, we did not run.

Ready to run

As with many all green teams, you are going to have your share of problems. Things that were not a problem in practice will be a problem in a tournament situation. It is very important that you do everything possible to test your dogs before entering them in a tournament. Finding a team that you can practice with is probably the most helpful. Even if you need to travel a distance to the closest team, testing your green team in a tournament like environment will tell you if you are ready for a real tournament.

Crossovers are the main concern and other teams running in your division will not look too kindly on your team if they are crossed over on. If you know that crossovers are going to be a problem with a dog(s) on your team, you should tell the team you are running that you will be warming-up a green dog(s) that may have a crossover problem. That way they will be prepared and may let you have the lane. If they have green dogs too, it would be common courtesy to share your warm-up time with them.

Other things to consider

It may actually be a little easier now for the all green teams to get started with the advent of the Open Class and Pickup team. Another option is Singles and Pairs in U-FLI. If you do not have a complete team that can run together, Singles and Pairs are a great way to give your green dogs some lane time. Additionally, if you know that you cannot field a complete team entering your team as an Open Class or Pickup team may be the answer. Query teams in your area or put something out on the Flyball Email List and ask if there are dogs that would like to run on your Open Class or Pickup team. Conversely, you may be able to add a couple of your green dogs to an Open Class or Pickup team. Either way, the experience you gain by doing so will be invaluable.

If anyone has other suggestions for the all green teams out there just starting in the sport, please post your comments. I am sure that any information you provide will be helpful in expanding our sport.

Larry

How do you run an all green team? I received this question from someone and I want to thank everyone that has written to me; your questions and suggestions for future post are greatly appreciated. Without your continued support, it would be hard for me to continue writing on these diverse subjects. If you would like to make suggestions or if you have a question please use the Contact form.

Pickup Team^TM is a registered trademarks of United Flyball League International, Inc.

You Make the Call

I am sure that most people that play flyball have heard the phase “Training in the Ring.” If you have not heard of it, you should know that “Training in the ring” is prohibited by NAFA and you should read the follow paragraphs taken from the NAFA Rulebook:

CHAPTER 7 - WARM-UPS
(b) There shall be no practice or training in the ring for the duration of the tournament, except for the warm-up as permitted prior to each race. Training in the ring during the competition will mean a forfeit of the heat.

GLOSSARY
Training in the ring - where, once racing has started, the handler uses techniques and/or devices that would be used to train. See Chapter 7 warm-ups, Chapter 8, Section 8.3 – The Run.

The U-FLI rulebook does not specifically say anything about “Training in the ring.” However, it says that training devices can be used during warm-ups but must be removed before the start of racing. [1]

Based on this information, what do we know about “Training in the ring?” In my view, we know very little.

1. What are the devices that are prohibited in the ring - tugs, Frisbees, toys, or a prop attached to a box?
2. What techniques cannot be used - the use of a clicker and/or treats?
3. Why does this rule exist - so a judge can use it where nothing else applies?

Again, I would say that no one knows. Therefore, we have a rule that prohibits something that is not defined in the rulebook.

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You Make the Call - Would you like to have your questions or problems answered in the poll? Just send me the all the details using the contact form and I will do the rest.

Larry

Footnote:

[1] This paragraph paraphrases from Section 2.6 Warm-Ups in the U-FLI Rulebook

Photo by Willie Moore, wmConsulting.

Passing is so very critical to winning heats and having good times. Consistently good passing and clean runs win races and tournaments. I have seen faster teams lose to a slower team because of good consistent passing and clean runs. So how do you achieve consistent passing?

Consistent Line-ups

If possible, you should keep your line-ups the same during the tournament. If you are always shifting and changing line-ups during the tournament, you will not achieve consistent passing. If you are always trying to remember where you were positioned on the floor based on the dog you are now passing, you will lose out in the end. With a stable line up your passing will get better over the course of the tournament.

Cadence

I cannot stress cadence enough when trying to achieve good passing. Without a cadence your timing will always be off so get in the habit of saying to yourself, Ready - Set - Go.

Learning How to Pass

Like with any learned skill, practice makes perfect. You must pick a mark to focus on which is why passing the same dog during the tournament is so important. The mark that you select is entirely up to you but some of the best marks are when the dog you are passing hits the box or lands after coming off the box or coming over a jump and lands on the floor. A bad mark is something you cannot see clearly like the dog coming over the jump. This may appear to be a good mark but consider this:

• Dogs that single stride the jumps are jumping 10 feet from where they start their jump to when they land back down on the floor.

• If you are using the first jump from the box as your release point, you could be 36 feet from the start/finish line, which is 72 feet from the dog you are passing. You cannot see clearly from a distance that great where the dog that you are passing is in relation to the jump.

• The dog you are passing could be at the beginning of his jump or the end. Since he will be in the air, you will not know precisely where he is in his jump.

• If the dog you are passing is at the beginning of his jump he might not have cleared the jump when you release your dog or a more likely scenario, he has already clearer the jump by the time you release your dog.

• You could be 5 feet early or more that 5 feet late with your pass.

Combining Your Cadence and Your Mark

If you decide that your mark will be after the dog lands on the floor after coming over the first jump from the box, your Ready mark may be when the dog you are passing hits the box. For example, you will say to yourself R - E - A - D - Y as the dog is coming off the box, S - E - T as the dog lands after coming off the box just before he jumps, and GO as he touches the floor on the other side of the first jump. Whatever you use to set your cadence should be done consistently and you will get in a rhythm the more you do it.

If you notice the dog you are passing bobbles the ball or has some other fault, you will need to hold up the release of your dog. Any little thing the dog you are passing does out of the ordinary will throw off his rhythm which will more than likely create and early pass for you.

Know Where You Are

You should always be aware of where you are on the floor. If you have trouble remembering your mark on the floor write the measurement on your hand and use your leash or other small object to mark your position on the floor.

Zeroing In

You should not try to adjust yourself on the floor until you are getting consistent passes. Obviously, if you are early passing you will need to move back. If you are consistently 3 or 4 feet out on your pass, you can then start to move up on the floor. However, you should only make small adjustments on the floor not large ones, i.e. 3 to 6 inch increments are good as you zero in on the perfect pass.

Good Passing and Good Racing!

Larry

I received a question from someone asking about the best way to handle spits and breakups. My first thought on this was if you find out let me know, for it seems that no matter how amicable a split or breakup is it is still a very hard thing to get over.

I have written other post about team philosophy, When Philosophies Collide, and Picking the Right Team, but how do you handle it when it is time to call it quits. I am sorry to say that I have been through a few breakups and it has always been hard. This is why some people say, “The best and worse thing about flyball is that it’s a team sport.” A team becomes a family of sorts and it is always hard when there are problems but as they say, “you can’t pick your family,” but however you look at it, fortunately or unfortunately, you can pick your teammates.

Philosophy Splits – You leaving them or they leave you

A philosophy split is probably one of the easier breakups. These types of splits are usually due to differing training philosophies or differing team strategies. I split from my first team for one of these reasons and I think it is the most common type of breakup. I just happened to be a little, well a lot, more completive than most of the people on the team. As I said, this is one of the easier breakups. I am still friends with everyone on the team and it was understood why I was leaving, but even knowing all of this it was still hard to leave.

The other kind of philosophy split is where people leave your team. I have just gone through one of these types of splits but on top of philosophical differences, there was a geographical aspect. The people that left the team were more than 100 miles away so practice sessions were difficult at best. The people that left always wanted their own team so for them it was the right thing to do. Even though I understand the reasons, I am still finding it hard to get over. I know that I will still see all of these people at tournaments but it will still be hard not having everyone on the same team.

Personal Issue Splits – They tell you to leave or you just leave

By far the hardest to get over and recover from are the Personal issue splits. Many times the reason for the breakup is something trivial that blows up into something major. When you look back on it, You think, “how could this happen? ” Here are best friends turning on each other and no one will give an inch. It does not make much sense but that is how life is some times. I do not think you ever get over this type of breakup and some time you wish that you could go back and do things over.

So how do you handle it?

You do the best you can. Your dogs did not stop loving flyball just because you have philosophical problems or a personal issue with someone. Much of the time, I think that dogs would do a better job running a team than any human could. There would be no philosophical differences and any personal issues in a Pack Mentality would be dealt with swiftly with no mercy. However, on a reality level as with all things in life you just have to deal with it and get over it. Life goes on, flyball goes on, and you have to take the good with the bad for the sake of your canine friends.

I welcome your comments.

Larry

In my last couple of posts and comments, I have been somewhat critical of the NAFA board and the rules committee and I would like to step back for a minute and reevaluate my stance on the box issue. In the heat of discussion sometimes, we can lose some of our perspective by letting one vision cloud our judgment.

In all fairness to the people on the board and rules committee, I think they deserve the benefit of a second look into their position. I think that many people, myself included, looking at the box in my post, Technically Legal, for the first time thought “My god, how can this be legal?” I know that I did.

Looking back at the minutes and reading them a second and third time, I find that everyone on the board wanted to do something but could not agree on the wording for a new rule. I think the last paragraph of this discussion tells it all:

There was further discussion about whether possible alternative language could be created. Several Board members had concerns about the inability to draft language that would prohibit this type of box, but would not inhibit future innovative box design.

At this point in my post, I had to leave to attend church and now that I am back, I see that Chris VanWert wrote a small book in the comment section of the post, Technically Legal. I knew that she had attended the meeting because I read it in the minutes. I wonder why we are only just now finding out details of the meeting through Chris. I broke this story a couple days before the minutes were posted. Regardless of that, I would like to take Chris up on her suggestion. She says that, “Larry presumes that certain Board members voted against fixing the problem. Maybe, what they actually voted against was a BAD fix. How do we know what the reasons were for their vote until we ASK them? “

Well, how do we do this? I have been reading transcripts of chat sessions and meeting minutes since I started in flyball and I can probably count on one hand the number of times that any board member has explained his or her vote on any issue. Every so often, you will find one of them commenting on the Flyball List, but it is not very common. So I invite any one of the board members to come forward and tell why they voted the way they did.

As for me, I am finding that it is hard to be in the middle of something and remain neutral and objective. I will try to do a better job of that in the future.

Larry