the 2017 single grip open (draft details)

Aroundsquare presents, the 2017 Single Grip Open Begleri Contest

The 2017 Single Grip Open Begleri Contest is tentatively scheduled to take place during the second full week of November (Nov. 13-19). Like the 2016 SGO, the 2017 competition will take place online, with contestants submitting continuous clips showing off their best “single grip” begleri flow. We ran the 2016 SGO as an experiment, and meh, it was fun, but we can do better. The 2017 contest will have some significant changes. 

First, there will be some greater flexibility in the definition of single-grip play, allowing for more advanced tricks. Aerials, slides, and momentary breaks in the grip are fair game this year. See details below. 

Second, the focus of the event is participation, and we don't want people to not participate simply because they don't think they'll win. The whole point of this is to get the community involved, so we're doing a couple things differently this year. To encourage broad participation, the main contest will be for unsponsored players. Sponsored players and those representing begleri companies are invited participate in an exhibition division, and will still be eligible for some of the prices up for grabs. And in the spirit of participation, there are going to be a bunch of draw prizes up for grabs.. anyone who participates will be eligible for those. 

Third, rather than a “like-based” voting system, which can be quite biased by the profile and popularity of contestants, the 2017 contest will use a “criteria-based” scoring system, with clips being rated on the basis of relevant criteria. Judges TBD. The proposed criteria at this point, subject to change (and input) are: 

• Clip quality: quality of lighting, filming, framing etc. (i.e., pick up your socks before you hit record ya goof)
• Technical difficulty: sophistication and variety of tricks, innovation etc.
• Artistic merit: performance, style, flow, editing, music etc. 

If you have input on the scoring criteria, please provide it in the comments below. 

Draft Rules

Here are the draft rules for the 2017 event:

• Clip must be continuous, and must be 20s to 30s in length

• Clip may contain slow motion segments, zooming, and other editing, provided the continuity of the clip is not interrupted
• Clip must be performed from a single grip, with the following clarifications: 
  • Players are allowed to switch between grip variants (i.e., standard to fakie or back, within the same grip)
  • “Additional” grips are allowed on top of the primary grip (i.e., wraps, where the free bead is trapped in a secondary grip; tension grips, where the free bead is caught to create string tension). However, the secondary grip must be released before the primary grip, otherwise it will be considered a grip change, resulting in disqualification. 
  • Aerials are allowed, provided the begleri launches from and lands in the same grip
  • Momentary lapses in the grip are allowed, for example, to perform an aerial or a rolling stop, provided there is a continuous motion of the begleri during the entire lapse, meaning that it is not caught or passed through any other grip during the motion
• Any begleri can be used (i.e., it does not need to be an AO2 set)
• Anything not explicitly allowed in the rules, and anything falling into a grey area, will be subject to judges’ decision, which will be final. If you’re unsure of something you can contact AO2 for clarification prior to the competition. 

If you have input, comments, or questions on the scoring criteria, please provide it in the comments below. 

Prizes 

Lots of great prizes are planned for this year’s contest, including draw prizes that will go to randomly selected participants. There will be designated prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the main contest. Draw prizes will be given to randomly selected participants from both the main and exhibition division. There will also be a “most innovative” award which will go to the most innovative entry from either of the divisions.