Bristol Ball-istics
Flyball Team

Starting lights similar to a traffic light system begin the race - no dog may cross the start line until the green light goes on! The first dog must race over all four hurdles to the box and trigger the box with its paws. The box then releases a tennis ball, which the dog must catch and bring back over all four jumps.

As the first dog returns, the second dog starts running. Ideally, the dogs pass nose-to-nose at the start line. The dog is faulted if it passes too early and must run again at the end.

The race continues until all four dogs have finished. If a dog or handler makes an error (such as dropping a ball, going around a jump, or passing too early), that dog must rerun. The first team that finishes running all dogs wins.

                   Change overs                                            Racing                                                 Box turn

Competitions are divided into divisions based on the teams' fastest time in their last three competitions (their seed time). Divisions are then run in round-robin format, with each race being best of 5 legs.

The current british record for a team is 16.37s and is held by Wires A-Live, the world record is 14.86 held by Touch N Go A from North America. The speed of each dog varies, with the fastest dogs in the UK running at 3.7s. However, dogs and teams of all speeds can compete.

Each time a team races in a BFA sanctioned tournament each dog racing in the team will receive Flyball Points, the number of points the dog is awarded depends on the time the team ran.

For a recorded time of under 22 seconds each dog receives 25 points
                                 under 26 seconds                           10 points
                                 under 30 seconds                             5 points

The BFA award certificates of achievement to each dog, and these correspond to the total number of points that dog has obtained so far in it's flyball career. The titles awarded as follows: