DownUnderGround – Australian BMX Flatland Championships

DownUnderGround is the Australian BMX flatland championships. DownUnderGround was started in 2008 by Freestyle Now as there was a need to have an Australian BMX flatland competition series to promote BMX flatland within Australia. Freestyle Now  has a vast experience in competition management skills and promotion which has been used in all the DownUnderGround competitions be make sure they are run in the most efficient way but still remaining fun for the competitors.

DownUnderGround is the Australian BMX flatland championships. 

DownUnderGround contest series is run over a calendar year with the series consisting of 2 competitions, one video round and one physical round. The video round makes it easier for competitors to compete in the series without having to travel too often, as this can be a large cost. For the video round the competitors submit their video of them riding as if they were at a contest. This video is judged and winners are determined just like a normal contest with the videos being posted on line for the world to view. This is one way to keep the promotion of BMX flatland going. The physical round takes place in Melbourne at the end of the calendar year. BMX flatland riders from Australia and international riders travel very large distances to compete at DownUnderGround the Australian BMX flatland championships.
In the past DownUnderGround had four physical rounds, it was then reduced to three physical rounds but the travel cost stopped some riders attending all three rounds. It was then finally set at its current format as Australia is a large country and travel costs can be expensive to the riders competing. Some of the locations that have hosted a contest have included Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Bridport in Tasmania and Adelaide. A full contest results list can be found on the DownUnderGround contest results page.
DownUnderGround is more than just a BMX flatland championships contest, it is also an opportunity for riders to travel to see other BMX flatland riders within Australia and to meet international riders who have travelled to compete. It is a way of building a scene and growing BMX flatland within Australia.

For more information on DownUnderGround, if you would like to attend, host a contest at your venue, or would like to support DownUnderGround please contact Freestyle Now

DownUnderGround Australian BMX flatland championships competition results page.

DownUnderGround Australian BMX flatland championships contest videos page.

DownUnderGround – competition description, format,  judging criteria, video round submissions 

BMX flatland freestyle riding is one of the most purist forms of BMX freestyle. No ramps, no obstacles, just the rider and their bike. The word freestyle is made up of two words, Free – no rules to follow, and Style – your own way to ride. Combine these two words you get freestyle, ride how you want without following any formal rules. Fun is one of the main ingredients that is required when riding BMX freestyle. So with that information rules of DownUnderGround are very minimal to allow for this freedom.

DownUnderGround competition categories and description

  • Beginner – Riders who are able to complete simple tricks with not much complex linking ability.
  • Expert – Riders who are able to execute single difficult tricks and/or able to link medium to difficult tricks to form combinations and trick runs.
  • Open – Riders who possess a high level of riding skill, able to execute difficult tricks to form complex or difficult combinations.

DownUnderGround competition format

  • Each competitor has three competition runs.
  • Each competition run can be up to two minutes in duration.
  • A rider can choose not use all of this time.
  • A rider will not be penalized if they opt out before the two minutes is up.
  • Each competitors contest run is judged by three judges.
  • The lowest score is dropped from the three runs
  • The remaining two scores are added together from points for a riders competition run.
  • Highest scores win or proceed to finals.
  • Beginner class has no finals and place getters are determined by an accumulation of points.
  • Expert and Open class have a final consisting of the top 3 to 6 riders depending on the number of riders at each contest.
  • The finals are run in the same format as the qualifying rounds.
  • The top point score being the winner of the competition.

DownUnderGround video round format

  • The video contest is  open to all riders within Australia and international riders who will be attending any of the other two rounds of DownUnderGround
  • The contest in open to riders in beginner, expert and open classes.
  • The video submitted will need to contain an unedited bmx flatland run similar to what you would unleash at a contest.
  • The video must contain up to two minutes worth of riding, but no less than 1 minute.
  • You are not judged on the quality of the video.
  • You are judged on the quality of your riding.
  • You don’t need to make the video fancy or have music backing or spend stacks of time editing it.
  • The video must be clear enough to show your riding.
  • Each rider’s video will be judges by three judges using the same criteria as the normal DownUnderGround contest format.
  • Each judge will score each category out of 20 points; the best possible score from one judge per video run is 60 points.
  • The three judges points are added together to determine the winner and place getters.
  • The riders placing points will be added to the DownUnderGround points tally for the year end results.
  • All videos we will loaded to our YouTube channel.

Points are awarded at the end of each contest depending on competitors placement to determine year end results to know who is Australian BMX flatland champion.

Judging criteria

Each judge will judge the competing rider out of the three categories below. Each judge will score each category out of 20 points; the best possible score from one judge per contest run is 60 points. Each competitor will have all three judges scores added together to form that riders contest run score. 

  • Difficulty – How difficult and complex the tricks are.
  • Consistency – How consistent the rider is in pulling the tricks within the contest run.(feet down, foot dab, smoothness of run)
  • Variety – This is left up to the judge’s discretion on what their own interpretation of variety is. This can take into account range of techniques (spinning, turbining, rolling, scuffing, stationary, pumping…) variety and range of tricks, types of tricks, combinations of tricks, front and rear wheel usage, backwards and forwards.

Important note – No judges at DUG will ever have to justify their decision to anybody.

How to submit your DownUnderGround video

  • Go to www.wetransfer.com
  • Click on the “Add Files” button and add the video file that you want to send (don’t send a raw video as it will be to big, run it through a edit program / app to reduce the file size)
  • Friends email is our email
  • enter your own email and in the message, your name and details.
  • Click on “submit” and it’s all done. We Transfer sends us an email and we receive your video.

 

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DownUnderGround – Australian BMX Flatland Championships