Posted by Melissa Walker on Tuesday, May 21, 2013,
In :
Tournament
(New shirt? You'll find out in a month or two)
What an experience the 2013 U.S. Midwest Kubb Championship was for Chicks with Sticks, and it wasn't all necessarily good. In all honestly, we had high hopes coming into the tournament. We had been practicing for weeks, individually, in groups and as a team. We thought we had a good strategy and felt fairly confident we had all of the areas covered from king toss to 8 meter to drilling to short game. One of our team members was not able to attend,...
Posted by Melissa Walker on Tuesday, May 21, 2013,
In :
Charity
To honor and to thank our Iowa servicemen and women and to spread the game of kubb, Des Moines Kubb members decided to donate and send two kubb sets to our troops who are currently serving overseas. We wanted to give our troops a chance to learn the game and hopefully, to provide them with a fun, new activity to do during some of their down time. (The kick-off crew. Photo taken by DMK member Rose Field)
DMK members and their children painted the sets during our season kick-off April 21st. We t...
Posted by Josh Feathers on Sunday, May 19, 2013,
In :
SKAL
fire the weather forecasters. Today was scheduled to be a 70% chance of thunderstorms and it turned out to be sunny, high 70's, and windy as heck. This made for some longer than normal games, and some less than tight groups in the field. A day where choosing side over throwing first came up in most games. We had great turnout with 7 players, and afterward our own Steve Feathers taught all the Girl Scouts who reserved the shelter near us how to play!
This past weekend we hosted a big party at my house. It’s the birthday party we host every year for my wife Becca, her brother Josh, and one of our oldest friends Doug (Doug couldn’t make it this year, but we still thought of it as the Triple Birthday Bash.) This annual party is the reason we found Kubb, as I was looking for something all of the guests could play in the back yard and stumbled across instructions for building a set and how to play. That was back in 2008, and while a lot of...
Posted by Chris Hodges on Monday, April 29, 2013,
In :
SKAL
What a beautiful day to play some Kubb in the park! The nice weather brought out quite a few passers-by that were interested in learning about the game. We love sharing the game!
We're halfway through the season, and it's really starting to look like a three horse race with Doug, Grant, and Steve within 5 points of each other and a dozen points ahead of the pack...
Week 4 Results:
1. Grant : 10 2. Doug : 9 3. Chris : 8 4. Steve : 7 5. Mary : 6 6. Jaime : 5
Posted by Chris Hodges on Sunday, April 14, 2013,
In :
SKAL
A very gusty day in the park didn't keep us from another successful week of SKAL! With 9 players we play the largest schedule allowed by rule (9 rounds), as if we hit 10 players we split into two schedules with a playoff. 9 twenty minute rounds is a three-hour play time, and it felt a little long towards the end! The wind was brutal, changing speed and direction without notice, and everybody struggled to string together 8m hits. All-in-all, an afternoon of Kubb in the park is nothing to compl... Continue reading ...
Posted by Chris Hodges on Sunday, April 7, 2013,
In :
SKAL
The season kicked off at Tower park on a warm (if somewhat overcast and breezy) Spring day. Grant and Doug both entered the fourth round undefeated, giving up only a single base kubb apiece in the first three rounds. They continued a shootout for the rest of the afternoon, facing off in the 7th and final round with a half of a game separating them. In the end Grant showed why he carries the #1 tag, but we've got to hand it to Doug - he hasn't thrown a baton in months but he showed up and pla... Continue reading ...
Posted by Horhey Pachelli on Monday, April 1, 2013,
In :
Tournament
After 2 long months of deliberation between team captains, and the Des Moines Kubb Board Members, the 2013 teams have been renamed and restructured to accomodate the changing landscape of Kubb Country, USA.
Here is a breakdown of the restructure:
Team Knockerheads will adopt the team name: The Wringers The Beers will now be Wolfpact Pitch Slap will play as Kubb Sickles Los Padres will now be known as Sweden Suns Head Slap will be Thad Kubbler Chicks with Sticks is now Kingpen Kubb'd will now be the T... Continue reading ...
Posted by Josh Feathers & Chris Hodges on Tuesday, March 19, 2013,
In :
Advanced Rules
hey josh. i read your article (http://desmoineskubb.com/blog/kubb-rules-breakdown-1-the-kubbadox) and funny enough, we just postet an article on www.baselcitykubb.ch with the same problem, but a very different idea. i try to translate the two basic-rules to enlish, but i need help of a friend. but it would be nice, if you could comment on our rule (i think it's by far the best). The Article can be found here (http://baselcitykubb.ch/?p=899), i'll soon add a translation.
Posted by Chris Hodges on Thursday, March 7, 2013,
In :
Strategy
Kubb is a tactical game, and almost
all of those tactics come into play during two phases – the defenders will
probably have some tough choices to make about how best to stand thrown field
kubbs, and the attackers will have to figure out the best way to take down the
resulting groups. Here are a few pointers on how to make the best decisions
when...
Posted by Josh Feathers on Wednesday, March 6, 2013,
In :
Advanced Rules
Kubb raising is by far the most complex phase of kubb, and I
would put it up against any other sport in its elaboration and involvement. A
mosaic of timing, reviewing, checking for state-based consequential variables,
with fluctuating counter-checks and triggers.
It reminds me of a strategic board game, or a complex
customizable card game….the ...
Posted by Chris Hodges on Tuesday, February 5, 2013,
In :
Tournament
The alarm clock wakes me up; its 4:30 a.m. I load the car and pickup my team. on the road by 5:30 a.m. and while I drive the next 3 hours, my teammates get their beauty rest. To say the least I was worried about endurance. The cold sucks the energy out of your body, and cold was vey much in the forecast.
I was confident (not cocky) about our skills. We’d practiced hard and often. We worked drills, discussed strategies, practiced on various playing surfaces and various game situations - I kn...
Posted by Melissa Walker on Friday, January 18, 2013,
In :
Advanced Rules
One of the most talked about things in the world of kubb
this year is likely to be the rule changes handed down from the U.S. National
Kubb Championship.
The biggest change, which Eric Anderson, organizer of U.S.
National Kubb, described as “significant” is the decision to legally allow a
baton to travel at 45 degrees off vertical as opposed to 10 degrees before.“This matches the World Championship rules and rules in a
host of other countries, as well,” he said. “I say ‘legally...
Posted by Chris Hodges on Saturday, January 5, 2013,
In :
History
At our year end meeting we talked a bit about what this past year meant for the club, but a recent Facebook post from the U.S. National Kubb Championship got me thinking about what memories from the 2012 Kubb season will be sticking with me, and it turns out there are quite a few!
·Teaming with Grant for his first Kubb tournament
at the Loppet.
oThe whole match playing Puppies Puppies Puppies,
especially Grant sealing the match with a no-look king shot!
Posted by Josh Feathers on Monday, October 8, 2012,
In :
Road Trips
On the ride back from Dallas, WI, we were pointing and lauging at Steve Feathers, who currently holds the record for T-5 titles at North American kubb tournaments. We started wondering if 5 was just his number:
Hold record for most T-5's (self-proclaimed) Currently holds #5 in the DMK ladder rankings 55 years old 5 Grandchildren Parents had 5 children Hit 5 baseline kubbs in one round against FVK Left for Dallas on October 5th with 5 People in a car that has 5 tires (inc. spare) Parents had 5 childre... Continue reading ...
Posted by Josh Feathers on Wednesday, September 26, 2012,
In :
Tournament
Just do a search on Youtube and you will find a ton of videos of kubb players rocking out perfect games. Why can't you make one, too, you are asking yourself. Well, here at Des Moines Kubb we have compiled a "game plan" to your Youtube Kubb Stardom that anyone can use to make a video of a "perfect game of kubb" in less than 1 hour.
First and foremost, you need a video machine that posts to Youtube via the wireless internet. You don't want to get bogged down in editing too much; we are going fo... Continue reading ...
Posted by Josh Feathers on Monday, September 24, 2012,
In :
Tournament
Saturday was Klassic.
After testing all the technology on Friday morning, a handful of club members met up at Tower Park to setup. We knew that the girls were going to be playing soccer with us on the field, and we did everything we could to keep them there. I am glad we did it, too. While the room between pitches may have been a little tight, a lot more people know what kubb is because of it and no soccer balls came into the pitches.
After setup, I made a trip out to Tim Arends workshop to pic... Continue reading ...
Posted by Kristy Hoelscher on Monday, September 10, 2012,
In :
Charity
I didn’t even know the Child Life Council (or just “Child Life,”
as it’s more commonly called) existed, until I needed them.
Last fall, my youngest child, Finn, suffered a life-threatening
skull fracture. It’s all so vivid
still... the accident, the blood, the trip the hospital. I thought he needed a just a few stitches,
but I was still horrified by the amount of blood he lost and the task of
keeping him awake on the way to the hospital (I was pretty sure that’s what
you’re s...
Posted by Steve Feathers on Friday, August 3, 2012,
In :
Road Trips
Earlier this year I decided to go to as many kubb tournaments as I could. The first hurdle to overcome was getting my wife, Sue Feathers, to bless this endeavor since she would be travelling with me and being my co-pilot as we drove around the Midwest. I shouldn’t have been surprised but I was when she quickly agreed. The only tournament she wasn’t in for was Minnesota Kubb's Loppet in February (she really doesn’t like the cold).
The second challenge was determining which tournamen...
Posted by Chris Hodges on Thursday, July 26, 2012,
In :
Strategy
Let me start by recognizing a basic fact about Kubb: This
game is about knocking over as many kubbs as you can with the fewest possible
number of batons - everything else is just window dressing.In this article though, I want to talk about
one particular aspect of it; One particular phase where knocking down the
maximum number of kubbs seems to be even more important than ever. A phase we
have taken to calling “The Answer”.
The open gets a lot of mindspace in this game. Anybody who
talks...
Posted by Chris Hodges on Wednesday, July 18, 2012,
In :
Nationals
Hey DMK!
I want to start by thanking everybody that made the trip up
to Eau Claire this past weekend – we rolled DEEP this year kid! Twenty-Three
playing members (plus various family, friends, looky-loos, and groupies of
questionable repute) made for easily the best showing by our club at any event
outside our area code, and one of the largest groups of DMK members in one
place at one time ever! Secondly, on behalf of everybody that was there and
playing, thanks to all of you at home ...
Posted by Josh Feathers on Saturday, July 14, 2012,
In :
Nationals
Two words.
HOLY WOW!
A beautiful day filled with beautiful kubb. It was great meeting new teams and players, seeing old friends, and japing with the best in the business.
Some games from DMK that really took the stage today:
Chicks with Sticks vs. The Farfars (Consolation Game)
I think the girls had a crush on these boys. The Farfars not only won the single elimination game, they also won the hearts of the 6 person all-girl DMK team. That's respect!
Posted by Josh Feathers on Friday, July 13, 2012,
In :
Nationals
Okay boys and girls. This is going to be quick. Tomorrow is a big day.
My phone blew up, and I wasn't able to post a few of the pictures I wanted from Day 4, so here they are: (Team Kubbom, with their secret mystery 4th player)
(Lazy monk. Or lazy blogger that can't rotate clockwise)
Slept like crap last night and for once the alarm wakes me up. Tomorrow is go-time, and I'm anxious to get to the soccer park to work on some drilling. I leave Tony in the dust as I grab a banana, and a coffee and ma...
Posted by Josh Feathers on Friday, July 13, 2012,
In :
Nationals
Got up early today and made sure to check in with the "pack" back home. Steve provided an update on the state of things in Corn Country:
Dobbie,
Leaving work early today just because I can and I really need to get some practice in BEFORE getting to Eau Claire. I'm not sure what the slight nausea is that I feel but I think it's nerves thinking about all of the GREAT teams we have to beat just to get to the sweet sixteen.
The van made it out of the shop repaired and ready to make the trip to Eau C...
Posted by Josh Feathers on Wednesday, July 11, 2012,
In :
Nationals
Woke up early and checked my email and got some news from home. My Uncle Steve from Team Kubb'd sent me a note:
_______________________
Dob, Coordinated bringing "stuff" to Nationals with Chris Hodges. Canopies - check Coolers - check Banners - check Chairs - check Water jug - check
Just hope the van gets out of the shop in time for the trip to Nationals. What I hoped was an inexpensive and easy fix has turned into a $700 plus repair. However, if the A/C isn't working the van is staying at home and ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Josh Feathers on Wednesday, July 11, 2012,
In :
Nationals
7:55 a.m. The Jeep is loaded, and the kids are smushed in like sardines. We don't have room for a cooler, but I have been wanting to get a new monster cooler for a while, so we will be shopping for one on the road (once the kids free up some space.) We are dropping them off at camp, and with them the 3 bags of stuff they need for camp.
Back to the cooler....the cooler decision is important. I need one with wheels, that is a requirement. I need one with the ability to be modded with lights (th...
Posted by Josh Feathers on Tuesday, July 10, 2012,
In :
Nationals
So the idea here is to write each day leading up to the U.S National Kubb Championship. Here in Des Moines this is a pretty big week for our kubbers, full of social media participation, last minute practices, and coordination of getting more than 20 players to Eau Claire for a Saturday morning start. Some of us are starting the party early (like Jaime and I are), some are taking a few days off, and there are a few that have work and family commitments that only allow them a Friday departure. ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jeremy Miller on Monday, July 9, 2012,
In :
History
Any tradition as long and storied as the pastime of kubb has many people who contributed to its success , but today I would like to take a moment to recognize a few of those people who truly revolutionized the game .
As we all remember from history class the Franco-Prussian war was fought not with guns and artillery but rather with 19 simultaneous and synchronized games of kubb played on Saturn's moon Mimas (which by the way looks just like the damn Death Star) (Which one is made of wate...
Posted by Josh Feathers on Saturday, June 16, 2012,
The issue with overlapping footprints:
The ability in the Midwest is amazing, especially in the last year regarding drilling kubbs. We are getting to a point where good groups are common in tournaments, and sometimes the U.S. National Ruleset doesn't cover a specific scenario. One such scenario came up recently at the Rockford 2012 tournament, and it brought with it some great international discussion regarding the very interesting and (on the other hand) very irksome kubb arrangement.
Posted by Josh Feathers on Saturday, June 9, 2012,
In :
History
Recently in the vaults of the small brick and mortar building where we run all the Des Moines Kubb business from, we recently came across a Super 8. Not the hotels, but the old video cameras from 1965. Apparently, the beginnings of the Des Moines Kubb Club date back to the mid-sixties. See for yourself:
Well....not really. But I did get a few new iPad apps for kubbeotography. One is iSuper8, which allows you to render video into various editing packs, such as the Tru8 Film stock used above.
Posted by Tony Hansen on Sunday, June 3, 2012,
In :
Tournament
-by Tony Hansen
Pitch 1 & 2 at the Rockford SHS Tournament
I had been looking forward to playing in the Rockford 2012 tourney since I missed going in 2011. While sad the other half of Pitch Slap couldn't come, I was thrilled Dobbie was able to partner up with me. I always enjoy playing kubb with him and knew the tournament was a fun one to boot.
On the drive to Rockford, we chatted about the possible strong teams we may encounter and tried to predict the seedings in bracket play. I think...
Posted by Jaime Feathers on Monday, May 28, 2012,
In :
SKAL
I wanted to put the finalization on this years' Spring Kubb Adult League. Thank you to all 11 different participants this year, especially the new league faces, including Brian and Johnny Walker.
In the final week a tie emerged between the two Feathers boys. Both sought club champion, but in the end, with the amount of ties and the use of "math", Josh Feathers edged out Steve for SKAL champ.
The Spring Kubb Adult League is the only event that we do to help with club operating costs. Your member... Continue reading ...
Posted by Josh Feathers on Wednesday, May 16, 2012,
In :
History
So there’s this guy…..
And he started making up pronunciations for words, and I have laughed very much due to this guy. It is a satirical play on the actual Pronunciation Book, a series of Youtube videos to help people pronounce different English words appropriately.
Here is an actual Youtube video from Pronunciation Book:
And here is one from the "dieloushious" Pronunciation Guide:
See the difference!?
I am a fan! It is just a bunch of ridiculous pronunciations; so stupid it’s...
Posted by Josh Feathers on Friday, May 11, 2012,
In :
Strategy
The scenario:
Your opponents throw a good group of 6 in the upfield. Your team leans over the pile of wood and have no clue where to start. You know that getting the kubbs away from each other is the main defensive strategy, but in this case, the group is good. Too good to rely on spreading out the kubbs. You wonder what other factors you should consider when righting kubbss an opponent has thrown. Have you ever considered how the facing will effect play? Facing:
Posted by Josh Feathers on Friday, April 13, 2012,
In :
Variants
Based on the Inkastare Tavling scoring system built by GVB, I painted by own "house", threw 10, and scored them. Click for larger size image
I got this group scored at:
2 at 3 points = 6 5 at 2 points = 10 3 at 1 point = 3
Total: 19
I like the idea of this "skills competition" like this, and 8m shot competitions. I want to see this play out someday in a tournament. You can continue the discussion at ask.planetkubb.com, specifically the question "How about a Kubb Tossing as its Own Contest". ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Josh Feathers on Wednesday, April 4, 2012,
In :
Tournament
Splitting Hairs on Splitting Kubbs:
Splitting kubbs....literally (pic)
Kubb is… (brace yourself) a Team Sport. Barring local ladder tournaments to keep things interesting, no tournament has a 1 player per team minimum. Maximum baton rules are also a staple of tournaments to make sure the team that is the best...wins. Yet there are no maximum kubb throwing rules. A player serving as the inkastare (the kubb thrower) can throw all the kubbs, each game of a match; all matches in a tournament....
Posted by Josh Feathers on Sunday, April 1, 2012,
In :
History
According to Josh “Dobbie” Feathers (DMK “Kubbmissioner” and member of reigning U.S. National Kubb Champions “Knockerheads”) Des Moines Kubb will be changing it’s focus this year to Ladder Golf. “I’ve gone about as far as I can with this cub game or whatever it’s called.” said Feathers. “Besides; it will be nice to finally play a game people have actually heard of.”
"Ballkastares" - slang for elite ladder golf players (pictured above: the 2011 Champs)
Posted by Josh Feathers on Friday, March 16, 2012,
In :
Strategy
We have all had that bad bounce. Maybe it was a “clack” . Perhaps your drill was a lame duck and went left instead of right. Maybe the pitch had a twig or pine cone on it, and the kubb bounced a direction that seemed to defy physics. Maybe you threw a punishment kubb, and you didn’t topple it on your turn.
It may be time to call in the Kubb Rescue Squad:
There is no higher risk play in kubb than the rescue. But when it works it can completely swing the game in your favor.
Posted by Josh Feathers on Wednesday, February 22, 2012,
In :
Strategy
I have yet to witness a tournament kubb game where the king was not attacked head-on. I have yet to attack the king in a competitive environment, namely due to hesitance from deviation. Luckily for me, my partner takes care of (in my opinion) the hardest part of a kubb game....winning.
This blog is two-fold. One, to continue to engage you, the reader; the kubb enthusiast, in thought and discussion. Secondly, to go through the process of examining a potential change in competitive strategy on ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Chris Hodges on Monday, February 13, 2012,
In :
Ladder Tournament
Hey DMK!
We've had a flurry of challenges lately - this ranking ladder tournament has exceeded everyone's expectors, and has generated more games in the past week than in the prior 3 winters combined. We've had 8 ranked matches and have 3 more pending. All this activity has forced us to evaluate and fine-tune our rules regarding challenges--and like Dobbie told me, "This is a good problem to have."
1st: Challenges must be issued to a member without any current pending matches. You can't challen... Continue reading ...
Posted by Josh Feathers on Friday, February 10, 2012,
In :
Strategy
DISCLAIMER (or the DONT PANIC section): We generally don't know what we are talking about....generally. However, we love kubb, and breaking kubb down into composite parts helps everyone understand the game better. This is not a way to try to find the loophole of kubb, or to break it. We just want to get other people thinking about the game in a way they might not have before. We are not kubb. Kubb is immortal. We are just a couple of obsessive individuals with spreadsheets and too much time o... Continue reading ...
