While the boomerang has existed for nearly 15,000
years in Australia, boomerang throwing as an organized sport began in the 1970s in Australia and the
United States. Now the sport is practiced worldwide,
both for recreation and in competition, with International Team Cup Challenges and World Team and Individual championships held every two years. Distance
remains a factor in scoring a throw; others include
time aloft, elapsed time between throw and return, and
others.
History
While traditionally thought of as an Australian artifact,
boomerangs and their cousins, nonreturning throw
sticks, have been discovered throughout the world. The
oldest wooden boomerangs are from Wyrie Swamp in
South Australia and appear to be 8,000 to 10,000 years
old. Depictions of boomerangs also appear in Arnhem
Land rock paintings believed to be more than 15,000
years old. The nonreturning, low-flying throw stick was
used for hunting ground game.
Recent research has stunned the boomerang world
with discoveries that the oldest boomerang might not
be Australian. A boomerang made from a mammoth’s
tusk was discovered in southern Poland in 1987 and
has been dated at 23,000 years old. Egyptian throw
sticks and returning boomerangs were discovered in
King Tutankhamen’s tomb (1350 B.C.E.) in 1927 by
Howard Carter.
Rules and Play
The rulebooks of the U.S. Boomerang Association and
the Boomerang Association of Australia are the two
standards after which most countries pattern their
contests.
Boomerang competition includes eight standard
events: Accuracy, Trick Catch, Australian Round, Fast
Catch, Maximum Time Aloft, Endurance, Doubling,
and Juggling. With the exception of Maximum Time
Aloft, every boomerang must fly a minimum of 20 meters out to register a score.
Accuracy is similar in concept to darts, except the
competitor throws from the bull’s-eye on the ground. A
perfect score is 50. The boomerang cannot be touched
after its release until it comes to a complete stop.
Trick Catching catches are made with one hand, behind the back, under the leg, and with the feet.
Australian Round tests distance, accuracy, and
catching ability.
Fast catch involves making five throws and catches
as quickly as possible with the same boomerang.
Maximum Time Aloft times the longest of five
throws to stay in the air.
Endurance tests fast-catching ability over a fiveminute period.
The final two events are further challenges requiring specialized boomerangs. Doubling involves throwing two boomerangs at the same time, catching both upon return. Juggling takes two identical boomerangs.
They are kept alternating in the air for as many throws
as possible without a drop. Long-distance throwing is a
separate event, held when the space is available.
Surprisingly, it is not Australia but the United States
that has dominated international competition since its
outset. In November 1981, a U.S. team of 10
boomerang throwers went to Australia to challenge the
Australians at their native sport. It was the first such
international competition in history. Unexpectedly, the
Americans came away victors by sweeping the threetest series. The Australians came to the United States in
1984 and evened the score, winning the Lands’ End
Boomerang Cup.
International Team Championships began in 1987,
with five U.S. teams and two European teams competing in the United States.
Competitions are held worldwide, with local, regional, national, and international events filling the calendar. Nearly three dozen tournaments are now held
annually in the United States, and the sport continues
its international growth. National boomerang clubs are
springing up from New Zealand to the Netherlands,
Japan to Brazil, and throughout Europe, Russia, and
Asia. While the United States Boomerang Association
lists over 500 members, it is estimated that there are
now hundreds of thousands of recreational boomerang
throwers in the country, based upon sales estimates by
the many cottage industry manufacturers of boomerangs and witnessed by the recent involvement of national team sponsors and boomerang distributors.
Boomerang Throwing Worldwide
Different cultures value different aspects of the
boomerang. Australians show a distinct conservative
bent toward preserving the purity of the shape, materials, and competitive events of boomerang throwing. In
France, where extreme sports are in vogue, throwers
value world record performances and hold tournaments designed specifically for world record attempts.
Radical shapes and bright colors hallmark the French
creations. The French teams are renowned for their aggressive, flamboyant style in competition. On the other
hand, German craftsmen typically value the boomerang’s craftsmanship at least as much as its performance. German and Swedish engineers go to great
lengths to craft intricate strip-laminated and inlaid
boomerangs as well as boomerangs made from hightech materials like carbon fiber, fiberglass, and Kevlar.
While craftsmanship and design are important to the
Americans, they seem more pragmatic in their approach to the sport. Performance is the bottom line,
and winning the tournament can be more important
than setting a record or having the best-looking
boomerang. Radical designs, use of a variety of materials, and the addition of weights and flaps with duct tape
and holes drilled for wind resistance characterize the
U.S. scene.Although open space—the sole requirement
for boomerang throwing—is in short supply, Japan is
importing and selling hundreds of thousands of
boomerangs every year. The indoor boomerang made
of foam plastic accounts for the bulk of sales.
The boomerang has stood the test of time. Its popularity continues to grow exponentially in these increasingly complex times, perhaps due to its inherent
simplicity. Thrown here, it lands here. The boomerang
represents the cycle of life and reminds us of one great
universal truth—what you throw out does indeed
come back to you.
—CHET SNOUFFER
Bibliography: Darnell, Eric, and Ruhe, Benjamin. (1985).
Boomerang: How to Throw, Catch, and Make It. New York:
Workman Press. Smith, Herb A. (1975) Boomerangs: Making and Throwing Them. Littlehampton, UK: Gemstar.
Snouffer, Chet. (1994) The Leading Edge. Newsletter of the
Free Throwers Boomerang Society, 1980–1994. Delaware,
OH: Leading Edge Boomerangs.