{"id":17807,"date":"2017-10-02T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-02T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=17807"},"modified":"2017-10-02T23:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-10-02T23:00:00","slug":"2017-10-03-20130821-creating-an-artistic-free-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/2017-10-03-20130821-creating-an-artistic-free-round\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating an Artistic Free Round"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It seems that the majority of non freeflyers have very little knowledge of the artistic arenas. I often hear comments like \u201cIt looks hard but I’ve no idea how it\u2019s judged.\u201d or \u201cThe problem with freeflying is that it’s purely subjective\u201d lead me to surmise that many still regard freeflying as a purely peripheral discipline lacking both structure and direction. Because of these common misconceptions it seems that many skydivers feel that making a transition from the point-based competition structure of FS into the world of the artistics might be too big a leap into the unknown.<\/p>\n

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After all we\u2019re all in skydiving to progress, so it\u2019s understandable that taking up a discipline that seems to lack direction might seem like making a bit of a risky investment. And after all, the majority of skydivers will see slower gains in freefly progression in comparison to FS. I feel that another big reason for the relative lack of interest in competitive freeflying is the fact that there are very few flyers who understand the competition structure, ie, what makes up a free routine?<\/p>\n

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How is freeflying scored?<\/h1>\n

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A full meet is seven jumps, of which two are ‘compulsory’ rounds, the other five are ‘free’ rounds. As the name suggests the compulsory rounds include some ‘must-do’ moves that have to be included in the jump, called Compulsory Sequences. These can appear in any order, and may be joined together with other moves at the team’s discretion.<\/p>\n

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What is a freefly free round?<\/h1>\n

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The rest of an artistic freefly competition is made up from five free rounds (free routines). The IPC competition rules for Artistic Events (5.2.2) define this round thus: \u201cThe content of the Free Routine is chosen entirely by the Team.\u201d<\/p>\n

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I would define it as an artistic demonstration of aerial skill and control, using creative camera work to grab the spectators\u2019 attention, with the aim of involving them in the flow of the dive. It is essentially a piece of performance art and, with this in mind, should affect the spectator or judge at an emotional level. It is also essential that the free routine should include the demonstration of technical ability as part of the performance, in order that its artistic production can be broken down and analysed.<\/p>\n

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How is the free routine judged?<\/h1>\n

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The myth that free routines are judged in a purely subjective manner comes from a lack of understanding and a misinterpretation of the rules. A free routine is judged on presentation (both the performers and the cameraflyer) and technical difficulty. A panel of judges is broken down to individually concentrate on these specific areas in order to increase objectivity and accuracy in regards to scoring.<\/p>\n

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Of course there will always be argument when it comes to teams being judged on their own artistic merit or individual style, especially when a team fails to keep up with the latest developments in the specific discipline. Despite this I believe that artistic freeflying is pretty much what it says on the tin:<\/p>\n

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