Circle Kick

Circle kick is the more common version of footbag, and it is the game people are referring to when they talk about "hacking the sack" (or any other variant on the term "hacky sack"). In this game, players stand in a circle, do tricks with the footbag, and keep it moving around the circle. A 'hack' is achieved when every person in the circle contributes a kick.

Variations on Circle Kick

Peg

In one variation, commonly called peg or Cali, a number of kicks is chosen. After that many successful kicks are made, whoever catches the footbag may throw it at, or peg, another player. If a player grabs the footbag before the predetermined number of kicks, any or all of the other players get a free "peg" on them.

Kill

In a very similar variation, called kill, a number of kicks is chosen; for example, two-hit kill uses two hits. Players try to make two consecutive hits, after which they can kick the footbag at another player. If the footbag hits the player, they are "killed" and out of the game. However, if the player successfully hits the footbag, the footbag is put back into play and the player is not out.

Kill differs from peg in that in kill, players have to make (for example) two consecutive hits by themselves before they can "kill" another player; in peg, all players contribute to this number. In both games, higher numbers of hits make the game more challenging.

Kill can also be played communitively, meaning that just one person doesn't have to make all the kicks and anyone can go for the kill. So for example in 3 hit, 3 different people can get a kick then after the third hit anyone can kick the footbag at any other person.

Blood

Blood is similar to peg or kill. After a predetermined number of kicks (often 5 or 7) the footbag is "live".

When the footbag is "live" it is kicked at another player. Whoever the footbag hits last before it hits the ground recieves one "out", even if this player is the one who kicked it (if they miss their target).

After a player has recieved the predetermined number of "outs" (usually 2 or 3 depending on the number of people playing) that player must leave the game.

The last player remaining wins the game.

Washington Rules

Another variant is commonly known as Washington Rules because it is commonly traced to the West Coast. In this version, when a player drops the footbag or errs in any other way, they must go to the middle of the circle. If they err again, all the other players are allowed to hit and kick them until they can break out of the circle. If another player drops the bag or otherwise errs, the player in the centre is allowed out and the latter player takes the middle position.

Guiltless Shred

Guiltless shred is an advanced game where players agree to take turns in a specific direction around the circle and only perform tricks above a 3 add rating. Players who perform a trick with less than three adds are said to have guilted and are encouraged to pass the bag to the next player. Players who perform a one add trick or a kick are said to have have tilted and must end their turn and pass the bag.

The origins of this form of play started when professional players were doing one trick after another for 5 minutes or more. Some players felt guilty using easy tricks to keep the run going, thus the term guiltless was born. This rule increased the difficulty for advanced players and gave a more equal time with the bag to each participant in the circle.

Other terms relevant to guiltless shred circles include:

• tripless (playing without using three add tricks)
• fearless (playing without four add tricks)
• BSOS (Bee Sauce, hitting a trick both sides in one string)
• 'the' (missing a trick in someway)

"The" is probably the most confusing of the terms. It was originally noted that "the" in english is a pretty vacuous word, much like a trick done poorly is pretty vacous of value.

The creation of guiltless shred has advanced the sport of footbag at an incredible rate since the mid 90s, and served as a goal for many of the first few generations of players. Guiltlessness is no longer the pinnacle of footbag, but now serves as an entry point for players looking to compete professionally.

To get a feel of what guiltless shred is like, without having to put in lots of time learning the tricks, there is an online flash video game that lets a user link tricks like the pros. Damon Mathew made this game from real tricks as performed by real players. The original concept of the game only had two tricks, and was animated by hand. At the peak of the game's popularity in 2001, the game kept highscores, featured more tricks, and tracked run statistics as thousands of players from around the world competed against each other for the top spot. This game has helped many players learn what tricks should look like, and the timing needed to string big combos. It's been a great way to pass time over the years, and a wonderful resource for the community. The finished game was lost in a series of unfortunate accidents, and today only exist on the CD-ROMs distributed to promote the sport in 2001.