Performing creative, artistic and athletic moves with flying discs is the essence of freestyle. One of the most dramatic events in disc sports, competitive freestyle combines aspects of gymnastics and dance with the basic game of throw and catch. Teams of two or three players perform choreographed routines consisting of throws, catches and moves with one or more discs.

Starting with simple moves like a behind-the-back catch, freestyle has evolved into a crowd-pleasing event with moves such as air brushes, nail delays, and triple-spinning catches. Routines are three to five minutes in length and are evaluated by judges who base their scores on the difficulty (10), artistic impression (10) and execution (10) of the routine. The team with the highest score wins (30 is a perfect score).

Freestyle is also about what happens in a city park between novices. Catching a disc under the leg, or tipping a high throw and then catching it. This is freestyle too.

Often you’ll find competitive players freestyling just for fun. Improvising with each other, often in large groups – and no judges. This is called jamming, and to most players, it’s the most important part of the sport.

Pulling off co-operative moves (“Co-oping”) is jamming at its best, whether it’s planned during a routine or it just happens spontaneously between players at a park. For example, a jammer may kick the disc to a second player who then chest rolls the disc to a third player who finishes the move off with a leaping flamingitis catch.