shrednow

The winners of the 2007 Jammy Awards have been announced. The Jammys are a set of informal year-end awards. The freestyle community makes nominations, and a super secret cabal of decisionmakers (led by the super secret Paul Kenny) determines the winners.

Congratulations to this year’s Jammy Award winners:

The FPA Writing Award and the A*T Jam Party Award: Tall Paul

Erwin and Jens Velasquez Routine of the Year: Antonio Piccio Cusm·/Andrea Meola/Fabio Sanna, FPAW Co-op Finals

Tommy Leitner Move of the Year: Angelo Mancarella

Most Missed: Joey Hudoklin

Paganello Tournament of the Year: FPAW Amsterdam

FPA Lifetime Achievement Award: Pipo Lopez

Most Underrated: Sarah Bergman

Female International Player of the Year: Silvia Caruso

Jan Ekman/Clay Collera Male International Player of the Year: Fabio Sanna

Dave Schiller Most Turbo: Flo Hess

Comeback of the Year: Skippy Jammer

Up and Comer (formerly Rookie) of the Year: Claudio Cigna

The Joey Hudoklin Mens Player of the Year: Matt Gauthier

Demo/Show: tie – Hero Disc Dodgebee championships and Freestyle Jam Camp

The Stacy Women’s Player of the Year: Silvia Caruso

The Skippy Jammer/Bill Wright Crusty Guru Jam Master: Joey Hudoklin, Larry Imperiale and Steve Hays

Bethany Sanchez/Mary Lowry Spirit of the Jam: Tita Ugalde

The Jammy’s are not so much about the win with a big, capital W. The story behind the award is as important as the award itself. For a complete write up of each award, including well-deserved kudos for the others nominated in the various categories, visit the Jammy Awards page.

I’m laying down the challenge: make 2008 the year of consecutivity.

What’s consecutivity, you ask? It’s a theory of freestyle that improves flow and radically increases difficulty by linking moves together rather than breaking up combinations with basic moves like a simple “THE” nail delay. You set under your leg, and instead of going to a delay, you go right into a restricted pull. Some of have described it as the difference between one person giving an elequent speech and another interrupting every other word with “um,” “uh,” and “you know.”

Why is consecutivity important? It’s one of the only ways to reach your freestyle potential. You can have a lifetime of fun without ever learning consecutivity, but to learn what you can really do, you need to play consecutive. It’s a risk because when you try consecutivity, you might feel like you’re learning freestyle all over again. You won’t be doing long combos anymore. You’ll be out of your comfort zone because the two-move combos you’re trying are much harder.

You might feel like a beginner, but once you figure out how to make the transition from move to move without interruption, your game will transform. To begin with, your difficulty level will go up dramatically. The difference between a double spin to a THE delay and a double spin to an under the leg pull is huge. It’s massive. You’ll see new possibilities to link moves together as only you can do. The flow of your game will improve. Flowing from a pass directly into a pull, brush or roll is a universe of difference from pausing to get control of the disc, and then doing your move.

The biggest plus of consecutivity is the upside. With consecutivity, you can push your game every day, every month, every year as far as your body and mind can take it.

So the challenge begins today. Next time you do a move, take the risk. Go directly into your next move without a THE delay, without a THE tip. Imagine the biggest move you can do and go for it. So what if you miss? No problem. You’ll hit it eventually or think of a better idea.

When you watch freestyle, notice consecutivity. Which players are linking moves? Which players are pausing with setups and gaining control before moving on? Realize that in 99% of the cases, there is a huge difference in difficulty between the two.

Think about your own moves. Which two can you link together? Which three? Maybe even four. Then try it. Make 2008 the year of consecutivity.

Forty students converged on the Eagle Rock Recreation Center in Los Angeles for Tita Ugalde’s freestyle jam camp. We’ll get together for three days of workshops, jamming and parties. If today is any indication, the weekend will be wonderful. The instructors are: Danny Cameranesi, Lori Daniels, Jake Gauthier, Dave Lewis, Z Weyand, Carolyn Yabe and Arthur Coddington.