Competitive Hackysack Routines Are Goddamn Bonkers

Competitive Hackysack Routines Are Goddamn Bonkers

Hackysack is basically designed for stoned people. It requires coordination but not a lot of actual effort. It’s the perfect activity for ripping bowls in an abandoned soccer field. Or at least that seemed to me the case until I found out about “competitive footbag.”

Footbag tricking (“Hackysack” is technically a brand name, and thus generally not recommended for this application) comes in a number of varieties, but the singles competitions are some of the most impressive. Entrants take turns running their routines, which feature a variety of highly athletic kicks and stalls. In practice, it looks like a cross between a marital arts demo and any of the Step Up movies.

Because the footbag itself is small and is often flying around at high speeds, it’s easy to lose track of the thing — even for the competitors. In this footage from last year’s world championship, we see Milan Brenda drop his footsack about two and a half minutes into an otherwise flawless set. He still came in first.

Normally we wouldn’t condone the use of “Uptown Funk” but hey, 2015 was a different time, and Brenda’s hacking abilities are just astounding.