Comments on: Bobbling and Box Problems http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/ i-Flyball Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:35:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: mcjayne http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/comment-page-1/#comment-460 mcjayne Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:45:14 +0000 http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/#comment-460 Our squishy balls are made of foam, (aka Magic Sheltie Balls) actually they are stress balls. I got tennis ball look-a-like stress balls on ebay, had to search very hard for them though. Got our original test batch at a party supply store, they had smiley faces on them :) Our squishy balls are made of foam, (aka Magic Sheltie Balls) actually they are stress balls. I got tennis ball look-a-like stress balls on ebay, had to search very hard for them though. Got our original test batch at a party supply store, they had smiley faces on them :)

]]> By: OldSheba http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/comment-page-1/#comment-393 OldSheba Tue, 04 Sep 2007 23:57:56 +0000 http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/#comment-393 Thanks for the squishy ball info - it's a question I had to ask about but it sure is something to laugh at (snicker, snicker) when you see it written.... (I'm easily amused). Seriously though, I was not sure if they were actual "fuzzy" tennis balls or more like a racket ball which I thought would pop out even faster because they seem even more firm than a tennis ball. Thanks for the heads up on this one, Larry and BCollie -now I know. Thanks for the squishy ball info -
it’s a question I had to ask about but it sure is something to laugh at (snicker, snicker) when you see it written…. (I’m easily amused).
Seriously though, I was not sure if they were actual “fuzzy” tennis balls or more like a racket ball which I thought would pop out even faster because they seem even more firm than a tennis ball. Thanks for the heads up on this one, Larry and BCollie -now I know.

]]> By: bcollie http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/comment-page-1/#comment-387 bcollie Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:25:33 +0000 http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/#comment-387 I found some of the soft tennis balls at big 5 they were called penta I found some of the soft tennis balls at big 5 they were called penta

]]> By: Larry http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/comment-page-1/#comment-353 Larry Fri, 31 Aug 2007 15:48:49 +0000 http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/#comment-353 I bought a bag of them in Sports Authority and they were Wilson balls. You can also look for Gamma First Set Balls. They are actually soft training tennis balls designed for beginners. I bought a bag of them in Sports Authority and they were Wilson balls. You can also look for Gamma First Set Balls. They are actually soft training tennis balls designed for beginners.

]]> By: OldSheba http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/comment-page-1/#comment-351 OldSheba Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:05:35 +0000 http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/#comment-351 where do you get squishy balls? what's the brand? where do you get squishy balls? what’s the brand?

]]> By: Larry http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/comment-page-1/#comment-350 Larry Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:28:35 +0000 http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/#comment-350 You are so right about the different balls, which was something I failed to mention in my post. The dogs on our team with bobbling problems were moved to squishy balls with very good success. I think it has a lot to do with the speed of the ball coming out of the box and the harder the ball the faster it comes out. I am no expert in this area but it sound logical to me. You are so right about the different balls, which was something I failed to mention in my post. The dogs on our team with bobbling problems were moved to squishy balls with very good success. I think it has a lot to do with the speed of the ball coming out of the box and the harder the ball the faster it comes out. I am no expert in this area but it sound logical to me.

]]> By: mcjayne http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/comment-page-1/#comment-346 mcjayne Fri, 31 Aug 2007 03:31:44 +0000 http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/#comment-346 We had a big problem with bobbling, and I was really annoyed b/c it was messing with my youngest dog's confidence a whole lot & I was trying SOOOO many things to figure out what was wrong or how to fix it. We were really struggling and she was trying so hard but we were both getting frustrated. When confident & flying she was doing a very nice turn, but the more she bobbled the worse the turn got. Specifically she was starting to have a bad approach to the box, slowing, etc. By the end of the day she'd be running around 6 seconds if she was clean, box turn was almost head on. So I finally looked at a lot of video & decided maybe the ball was the problem. I think it had something to do with how the ball is shot out, especially small balls, but some of the dogs using big ball had similiar problems. So I got some squishy balls (magic sheltie balls) to experiment with. What the heck...I've tried EVERYTHING else, tried to get lots of advice from other trainers. Well, almost instantly she was "fixed", well after I got her to understand that the squishy ball was indeed a ball! Then another teammate with a bobble prone dog tried it. We went from running tourneys where those 2 dogs bobbled probably 1 heat out of 5, and passing was hard, to the first tournament after switching in practice with those 2 dogs running 99% clean. My dog's times dropped considerably, now running at around 4.9-5.3 vs 6 seconds. Her box turn is now awesome, just like we trained it to be in the first place! I'm sorry we have 3 sizes of balls, but nobody is complaining when it means clean runs, easy to pass dogs & lots more WINS! So now almost all the bobble dogs, including several with lots of experience switched. It's been amazing to watch, we even had 1 dog who didn't so much bobble but her turn was less than stellar try them, and her box turn has greatly improved & so has her speed, almost a 0.5 second improvement! Blah Blah Blah...long story short, it's important to know if the problem is the dog, the ball, the box, the prop placement. We went sort of backwards, finding a fix really helped identify the problem. We had a big problem with bobbling, and I was really annoyed b/c it was messing with my youngest dog’s confidence a whole lot & I was trying SOOOO many things to figure out what was wrong or how to fix it. We were really struggling and she was trying so hard but we were both getting frustrated. When confident & flying she was doing a very nice turn, but the more she bobbled the worse the turn got. Specifically she was starting to have a bad approach to the box, slowing, etc. By the end of the day she’d be running around 6 seconds if she was clean, box turn was almost head on.
So I finally looked at a lot of video & decided maybe the ball was the problem. I think it had something to do with how the ball is shot out, especially small balls, but some of the dogs using big ball had similiar problems. So I got some squishy balls (magic sheltie balls) to experiment with. What the heck…I’ve tried EVERYTHING else, tried to get lots of advice from other trainers. Well, almost instantly she was “fixed”, well after I got her to understand that the squishy ball was indeed a ball! Then another teammate with a bobble prone dog tried it. We went from running tourneys where those 2 dogs bobbled probably 1 heat out of 5, and passing was hard, to the first tournament after switching in practice with those 2 dogs running 99% clean. My dog’s times dropped considerably, now running at around 4.9-5.3 vs 6 seconds. Her box turn is now awesome, just like we trained it to be in the first place! I’m sorry we have 3 sizes of balls, but nobody is complaining when it means clean runs, easy to pass dogs & lots more WINS!

So now almost all the bobble dogs, including several with lots of experience switched. It’s been amazing to watch, we even had 1 dog who didn’t so much bobble but her turn was less than stellar try them, and her box turn has greatly improved & so has her speed, almost a 0.5 second improvement!
Blah Blah Blah…long story short, it’s important to know if the problem is the dog, the ball, the box, the prop placement. We went sort of backwards, finding a fix really helped identify the problem.

]]> By: yorkies http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/comment-page-1/#comment-305 yorkies Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:50:46 +0000 http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/#comment-305 BTW, I tend to agree with Robbie about Clark BTW, I tend to agree with Robbie about Clark

]]> By: yorkies http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/comment-page-1/#comment-303 yorkies Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:39:27 +0000 http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/#comment-303 What I'm doing with one of my dog is to put barriers(plexi-glass are the best types) on either side of the box and adjusting the distance of the barriers. This keeps the dog from going too far on either side while teaching him to tighten his turns. What I’m doing with one of my dog is to put barriers(plexi-glass are the best types) on either side of the box and adjusting the distance of the barriers. This keeps the dog from going too far on either side while teaching him to tighten his turns.

]]> By: Kristie http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/comment-page-1/#comment-285 Kristie Sun, 26 Aug 2007 05:44:10 +0000 http://www.flyballblog.com/bobbling-and-box-problems/#comment-285 excellent advice here - I hope these suggestions help out this dog. you might need to pull him from racing for several months until you're satisfied that his turn is truly corrected. if you let him continue to race in tournaments without the correct props, his turn will very quickly deteriorate back to the original smash turn. problems like this can take a long time to fix, but be patient. excellent advice here – I hope these suggestions help out this dog. you might need to pull him from racing for several months until you’re satisfied that his turn is truly corrected. if you let him continue to race in tournaments without the correct props, his turn will very quickly deteriorate back to the original smash turn. problems like this can take a long time to fix, but be patient.

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