Boomerang

EDMONDS — It’s unlikely prehistoric people spent much time boning up on Bernoulli’s Principle before they took to throwing boomerangs.

They just knew the darned things worked.

Even today, an understanding of the complex aerodynamic and gyroscopic forces that cause boomerangs to return is not what motivates the best throwers.

"To me, it’s kind of a spellbinding pleasure," said Will Gix of Brier.

Gix and his wife, Betsylew Miale-Gix, are members of the U.S. national team that’s scheduled to defend its title at the World Boomerang Cup in July in Charleville-Mezieres, France.

The Cup is held every two years. Gix previously qualified for the U.S. team in 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002. On March 30 in Seattle, he earned his fifth consecutive selection to the 12-person team. Miale-Gix has qualified four consecutive times since 1998.

The modern sport of boomerang began in the 1960s. Worldwide, there are 25 countries with formal governing bodies, including the United States Boomerang Association (USBA), which was established in 1980.

The USBA estimates there are several hundred thousand boomerang enthusiasts throughout the United States. The state of Washington is considered a boomerang hotbed — six of the 12 members of the U.S. team reside in the Puget Sound area.

The boomerang, which has existed in various forms for an estimated 15,000 years, is believed to have originated from the aerodynamic throwsticks used by people ranging from the Australian aborigines to the Hopi Indians of the American southwest.

Gix, 44, first tried throwing a boomerang in the yard of his father’s western Pennsylvania home while on a college break.

"It went over my head and whacked my dad in the shin," Gix said with a laugh. "Trying to throw it in the front yard was not a good idea."

It was an inauspicious start for someone destined to finish 2003 co-ranked as the No. 1 thrower in the nation. Gix became fully immersed in the sport shortly after graduating from West Virginia University. Friends invited him to a bluegrass festival, which, unbeknownst to him, featured a boomerang competition at the same venue. And, well, a star was born.

Miale-Gix, 45, a highly competitive athlete who grew up playing baseball, basketball and softball, among other sports, got hooked on boomerang at a tournament at The Evergreen State College in 1986.

The lack of separate gender categories in boomerang has not hampered Miale-Gix, who ranked No. 3 in the U.S. in 2002 and No. 5 in 2003. She is the only woman, and the oldest member, on the 2004 national team.

"Men and women compete equally," Miale-Gix said during a practice Thursday at the old Woodway High School athletic fields, "as long as you have agility, quickness, a strong throwing arm and the competitive desire."

Boomerang throwing techniques vary. Those with ball-playing backgrounds tend to throw the boomerang overhand, similar to a pitcher in baseball. Others, especially Italian throwers, use a more compact throwing motion.

"They crack the whip and you wonder ‘How did they do that?’" Gix said.

Knowing the angles is of utmost importance. Good throwers align the boomerang almost vertically, perhaps in the 12:30 or 1 o’clock position and then throw about 45 to 90 degrees off the wind.

"The boomerang reaches its peak going out against the wind," Gix said as he demonstrated an array of throws and acrobatic catches. "And the wind drives it back."

Boomerang competitions include up to six individual events: accuracy, Australian round, trick catch, fast catch, endurance and maximum time aloft (MTA). At the WBC, there are also team events.

The accuracy event is akin to darts. A boomerang is thrown from a bull’s-eye with a radius of two meters. Points are awarded based on how near the boomerang lands in relation to the bull’s-eye.

Miale-Gix sometimes add pennies, rubber bands or lead tape to a boomerang’s wings to adjust the flight pattern.

"Make it so it flies, comes back and drops like a scud," she said.

In Australian round, points are scored for distance, accuracy and catching. The maximum score possible is 100 points. The world record is 96. Gix briefly held the record in 1993 with a score of 91.

In trick catch — a strength for Gix, who has a freestyle Frisbee background — a player throws two boomerangs simultaneously and makes stylish catches with points awarded based on degree of accuracy.

Gix demonstrated the under-the-leg and behind-the-back combination, followed by the foot catch and something called the eagle catch. "You let it go by and then you snatch it from above," he said.

Fast catch measures the time it takes for the player to make five throws and five catches.

"On a calm day your fastest throw in fast catch is coming out of your hand with the velocity of a major league fastball — at 90 to 100 miles per hour," Miale-Gix said. "In the Aussie round, it may be 120. There is definitely a premium on having a strong arm."

In MTA, the goal is to find a good thermal and keep the boomerang aloft for as long as possible before catching it within a designated area.

An Ohio man once threw a boomerang that remained aloft for 17 minutes before he caught it. Because the throw did not occur in a tournament, and the catch was not made within the prescribed landing area, it is not an official record.

"It was just one of those situations where it went up and caught a thermal," Miale-Gix said. "It was a shifty wind and it kept drifting back and forth across the river and over the trees. Fortune smiled upon him and the last gasp of wind before it fell out of the sky pushed it back into the field where he could catch it."

Often times in MTA the boomerangs don’t come down within sight. This is referred to as "skying" the boomerang.

Miale-Gix has lost more than her share. "There’s a guy in Minnesota still looking for one of my boomerangs," she said with a laugh.

Once, at an exhibition in Tucson, Ariz., one of her $100 models gradually drifted away.

"We chased it as far as we could in the desert," Miale-Gix said. "The spectators were thrilled, but I was pretty bummed."

Gix and Miale-Gix thrive in team events, which will be included along with individual categories at the WBC.

One such event is super catch, which involves one player throwing an MTA while three teammates simultaneously make as many 30-meter throws and catches as possible while the MTA boomerang is aloft. "The real bogey drag about that is if the guy throwing the MTA doesn’t make the catch, the whole team gets zero for that round," Gix said.

At the WBC, super-catch rounds will occur on four consecutive days, with each of the four players taking a turn throwing the MTA.

The teams also will compete in a five-minute endurance relay. Each of the four players makes as many throws and catches as possible in one minute. After each player has completed a turn, either the No. 1, 2 or 3 player goes again to complete the five-minute period.

"There is a premium on being quick," Miale-Gix said. "We have to be more fit than you would expect."

But, is the U.S. team fit enough for a repeat title?

"We are one of the deepest countries in the world in terms of talent," Miale-Gix said. "But the Europeans are determined to take back the cup."