Flying Clipper is happy to be a part of footbag history.

We pioneered so many styles of footbag along the years here at Flying Clipper. We think this new project by John Stalberger on Kickstarter is fantastic because the history of footbag is so rich with so many stories of good friends.

We’re happy to be a part of that history and happy to support this Kickstarter campaign to see the release of the book about the history of Footbag aka Hacky Sack. The book is called “Hack the Sack.” It will be once it gets funded that is! Go check it out now and help out!

And as a part of telling that story, John is talking on Sunday’s about the history of the sport of footbag on Blog Talk Radio. This is a great service and we’re so stoked to see John telling his stories in a way that you can listen in anytime you like for years to come.

The History of the Footbag Sport

Play this show in your own music player.

All this leads up to the Kickstarter campaign! There is a limited time left to get this book funded! Get a custom footbag limited only to project backers at the $30 level, as well as the book of course! You can also get a signed footbag and book for $70! Many other reward levels available, even for $5, go check it out!

Flying Clipper is proud to announce that we are sponsoring the 2013 Green Cup in the SF Bay Area this year!!

We sent them a dozen Freestyle footbags, and a dozen Net footbags! This event happens every year and it’s really really cool! You can’t beat the Lake Merritt environment for a footbag competition. It’s so peaceful and serene and it’s great to be next to the water. The event will also take place in San Francisco, so those travelling for it will experience truly some of the best the Bay Area has to offer. It is sure to be an event to remember.

Here is more event info from the organizers, Chaos Footbag Club in Oakland, CA:

The Chaos Footbag Club is pleased to announce that online registration is
now open for the 2013 Green Cup Presented by Chaos.

Please register now at:

http://www.footbag.org/registration/register?tid=1358271250

(registration will be open through May 23rd).

This event will be held on Memorial Day Weekend, May 25-27, in the San
Francisco Bay Area. This event is one of the largest footbag net tournaments
in terms of quality of play in the world! Once again we are pleased to
offer both net and freestyle disciplines with top freestylers in
attendance! This event is not to be missed!

This year the event will again be held on Sat and Sun in *Oakland and *Sunday
in *San Francisco, California*. Qualification rounds will be at Lake
Merritt on Saturday and Sunday; Freestyle will be held at Bushrod
Recreation Center; while Championship Monday will be held outdoors at
Peacock Meadow in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco! The event website is

http://www.footbag.org/events/show/1358271250

*Net Events* offered include: open singles, open doubles, open women’s
singles, open women’s doubles, open mixed doubles, intermediate singles,
intermediate doubles.

*Freestyle Events* will be held entirely at Bushrod Recreation Center in
Oakland with the following events offered: open/women’s/intermediate
singles routines, circle contest, sick 3-trick

Please mark the date and book your travel arrangements!

We look forward to hosting you!

John Leys, #4
President
Chaos Footbag Club

This review came up on our Rave Reviews section of the site and we thought we’d share it:

Dirtbag footbags
I have restarted my interest in kicking footbags after a decades long absence and have purchased lots of footbags in the past few months. I love these Dirtbag bags for how well they stall and kick in general. The Mighty Mite is great for just kicking for consecutives as it is easy to control and stall while the larger Phat Tyre bag will stall on the end of a finger. All I need to do is get my foot in the general vicinity of the bag and it will stall for me. These bags are great for control and a long and invigorating aerobic workout.

–John Read

 

Rave Reviews

Flying Clipper invites our customers to submit a review. Please use the below link to submit a review.

Click Here to Send Us Your Feedback!

 

A Footbag Golf Story For The Ages

I played professional footbag for 20 years, retiring in 1998 from footbag golf. I had already given up competition in freestyle and net and footbag golf was the last footbag event that I played competitively. I have won more than a few tournaments. As anyone who has played footbag golf knows and for those of you who do not, the golf holes are above ground and have the dimensions of 18” round and 18” high. The holes are cone shaped with a tray at the bottom for roll up puts from outside of a 30 foot putting circle. In my years of playing footbag golf I learned the wisdom of the roll up and would most often position my approach shots to land at about 30 feet so that I could have a “two for one” option of making it into the basket or rolling up into the bottom tray. I worked hard on my 30 foot puts in practice and in my best days I could hit 7 of 10 shots from 30 feet. Most went into the basket but about 25% of them would land in the roll up tray. I learned how to roll the entire 30 feet with some puts when conditions dictated.

I also manufacture footbags and on one of my visits overseas  for production, my hosts would go golfing everyday at about 4:00 p.m.. They would play on a private course owned and operated by the local military. It was a 9 hole course. Being left handed and never once playing regular ball golf, I tagged along with my hosts from hole to hole on their round. When they would finish putting and go to the next tee, I would pull out my three putters that always carried around in my pocket and take a few quick puts before catching up with my friends at the next green. I did this all the way around the course. When we all reached the final hole and as my friends finished their putting, they were greeting by an Army Major who ran the golf course. I saw them pointing at me and lifting their legs as they described to the Major that I played a different kind of golf. They wanted me to demonstrate…

“They wanted me to demonstrate…”

Now I knew that I had not made one putt on any of the eight previous holes I putted but I took out my three beauties and focused on the lie. Remember this is not an 18” round, 18” high footbag golf hole. This is a standard ball golf hole. I determined about a one foot break to the left and downhill from my spot at about 30 feet above and to the right of the hole. I lined up my first attempt and it rolled with a perfect break down the hill and into the cup. They all clapped. I line up my second putt and rolled it to a near perfect putt missing off to the right by 6”. Big sigh from the crowd. I lined up my third putt and rolled another perfect break right into the cup to a rousing ovation. I do not tell this story often because when I do, it sounds to whacky to be believable. This story is true and is the one thing in footbag golf I remember best of all, even in the face of my last tournament where I made two “holes in one” in 18 holes at the Western Regionals at Stanford University.

–Jim Toes Fitzgerald

www.flyingclipper.com

Today is the last day of our Spring Cleaning Special!

Get 15% off EVERYTHING on the Flying Clipper website!

www.FLYINGCLIPPER.com

Kenny Shults is a World Footbag Champion. In fact, he has won over 50 championships, more than any other competitor in this sport! Of course, Kenny only uses the best footbags while he is competing.

Here is Kenny Shult’s official endorsement of the Flying Clipper:

“The Flying Clipper line of Professional Footbags are the ONLY footbags I have used in competition for more than 10 years. They have demonstrated to me a genuine commitment to producing the highest quality footbag possible. In my opinion, they have succeeded.”

Here’s a link to a video of Kenny talking about what he does best- footbag!

We got a question from a fan on Twitter recently about the co-founder and president of Flying Clipper. The fan wanted to know who is Toes? You may have heard Derrick Fogle talking about him as this fan did, and wondered the same thing yourself.

We decided to clear up the mystery in a definitive way by posting a blog on the topic

Here is the story of Toes, from the man himself: Jim Fitzgerald, President of Flying Clipper.

As a founding member of Flying Clipper (4/2/83) I used to live in a small farming town by the name of Tangent. I would come every Saturday to the Eugene Saturday Market to kick with a circle that was there every Saturday. I used my toes a lot when I kicked. Gary Baker saw me coming to the circle one Saturday and said “Oh look, here comes those toes from Tangent”. I told him, “Don’t call me that, it might stick.”

Of course the name stuck and that is how I became Toes back in 1979. All of the folks in that Eugene Saturday Market circle became my good friends.  Along with Reed Gray, my future business partner at Flying Clipper, there was of course Gary Baker who became my best friend, Will Winget aka Star Cloud, Jack Schoolcraft aka Mirkan and Steve Amundson aka Birdman. The energy was always high and they always welcomed those “Toes from Tangent.”

Incidentally I co-invented a 14 panel footbag with my partner Reed Gray in 1983 and we named it the Tangent. Those early days were about trying to invent a better footbag than the Hacky Sack which tended not to be round. Out of that early circle of friends came the first multi panel footbag (a footbag with more than two piece construction) the 12 panel Soc Sac (Rick Steinmetz/Reed Gray) and that footbag design opened the door to all new footbag designs that followed. 

Just a Quickie

We got another short and sweet review from one of our returning customers. We love our customers and we really love their reviews! Check it out:

Ummmmm……you make the most amazing footbags in the world and cant wait to try your new design because my black and white hybrid that i got when it first came out finally lost all its sand after years of torture, but its still good as a pellet hack. So just wanted to let you know that I recommend your footbags to everyone i know and to keep up the amazing work!

 

Daniel Clark

St Maries, ID

P.S…..bring back the black and white hybrid…..ill buy it.

Attention kickers!

Flying Clipper offers instructional videos for all level kickers!

In the Tricks of the Trade DvD, you can watch Kenny Shults, as he teaches the most basic to advanced stall techniques.

Every kicker will learn something useful and advance in their skills!

He even uses our Juice Facile Dirtbag Footbag in this video, which has helped Kenny win over 50 World Footbag titles.

Get Tricks of the Trade, as well as your very own Juice Facile Footbag today!

Still want to learn more?

Then get your hands on the Tricks of the Trade 2 DvD.

Kenny Shults is back for all your kickbagging needs! Watch him as he demonstrates new teaching techniques as well as archival footbag “foot”age from many of the past footbag greats including Dennis Ross, Jon Lind, and Rippin’ Rick Reese among others.

Get these instructional videos and more at Flying Clipper!