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So, what is
FLYBALL?

Written by Karen Burks
Updated by Jenn Davis

At a tournament, racing lanes come in sets of two, which are at least 12' apart from each other. A minimum of 29' is required leading to the start/finish line - this is the RUNBACK AREA.  Then, the distances are officially set to 6' between the start/finish line to the first hurdle, four hurdles 10' apart from each other, 15' from the last hurdle to the flyball box, and an area between the flyball box and the backstop of at least 5'. There are five judges:  one at each team's starting line (LINE JUDGES), one at each box (BOX JUDGES), and a HEAD JUDGE between the lanes to start the race.  The additional judges assist the head judge in seeing everything that is going on.  There is a distance of 102' from the start to the finish line, and some of the fastest teams can run it in 16-17 seconds!  In recent months, some highly competitive clubs have been officially clocked at under 16 seconds.

Teams are split into DIVISIONS so they are racing teams of equal speed.  Divisions are set based upon a SEED TIME which is submitted to the tournament directors several weeks in advance.  The seed time is the average racing speed a team runs with a particular line-up of dogs, and a division usually consists of four to six teams.  A RACE consists of three to five HEATS, and a heat is when both teams send all four dogs in succession one time, racing to the box and back.  The tournaments may be run on either a ROUND ROBIN format or an ELIMINATION format.

An EJS (or Electronic Judging System) assists in keeping the racing fair and the winners clear.  A judge makes sure that everyone on both teams is ready, then presses a button that sets off the lights to the EJS.  Just like auto drag racing, a "Christmas Tree" light set at the start line counts down red, yellow, yellow, green at the press of the button.  When the green light is lit, the dogs are free to cross the start line.  This makes starting very exciting since you want your dog to get to the start line first, but not before the green light is on.  (If a start dog touches the start line the exact second the green light comes on, it's a PERFECT START because it has a time of .000) 

The START dog (first dog in the line-up to run) races at full speed down its own racing lane, jumps the four hurdles in it's lane in succession, then hits the flyball box with it's feet and catches the launched ball, then returns over the same four jumps to its owner. As the nose of the first dog crosses the finish line, ideally he should be passing the nose of the second dog who repeats the same performance, and so on through the end of the four-dog team. The last dog in line is called an ANCHOR dog.  The first team to have all four dogs run without errors wins the heat. All dogs racing will receive NAFA points toward their titles, and the winners of each heat will receive points toward their standing in the tournament. A dog will have to re-run after the fourth dog crosses the start/finish line if he makes an error.  Errors include actions such as crossing the line before the dog ahead of him crosses the line (called an EARLY PASS); goes around a jump; drops the ball; fails to trigger the box but still retrieves the ball; or if the handler accidentally steps or jumps over the start/finish line.  Additionally, if the start dog crosses the start line prior to the green light turning on, it is called a FALSE START, and the dogs are called back to start all over again.  If the same dog false starts two times in a row during a race, the racing continues and the start dog has to run again after the anchor dog crossed the finish line.

The points can be earned by teams running in or under the following times:

Titles are awarded to the dogs by NAFA, and the points required to achieve the titles:

Additionally, the ONYX and FDGCh award winners are listed on the NAFA website.