Tyr's Tre

We got a very special gift at the Kings of Kubb World Premiere three weeks ago. Way back in 2011, Eric played with his friend Paul Mullen at the first ever Twin Cities kubb tournament on their team Sweden's Sons (the next year, the tournament would join the The Loppet Foundation event.) At that first Minnesota Kubb tournament and for a few Loppet tournaments after, Frostbeard Studio created what we think are some of the coolest and most unique 1st place kubb trophies ever in the U.S. The trophies were named Frostbeard. The colors, the expression, the style, the connection to the Nordic roots of the game…it all fit perfectly.

On that cold and snow-covered Minnesota afternoon, Sweden’s Sons won that first tournament in the Twin Cities and were blown away and honored to get Frostbeard. As Eric enjoyed, he’d make sure his playing partner got the trophy, and he’d keep the bracket.

Paul kept Frostbeard up on a shelf in his family’s house until his death in 2017. After Paul’s death, his family kept Frostbeard up in the house. It brought them warm and happy memories of Paul.

At the Kings of Kubb World Premiere, Paul’s family came from River Falls, WI and brought that first Frostbeard for Eric and gave it to him after the movie. What a gift. It is as beautiful as I remember it. I still often think of my friend Paul. Thank you so much to Anwen and all of their children.

Here is Frostbeard’s new home and a few photos of that day.

You can read about that first Twin Cities tournament here:
https://www.tyrstrekubb.com/og

Win #22, The ECKL Spring Fling win, may have looked easy, but it was not and it was a ton of fun.

The ECKL Spring Fling was a couple months ago. Cory and Gregg asked me to play with them, and I knew if I was going to say yes, I’d have to put serious time in practicing leading up. Combine the deep field of really good teams and if one teams up with the levels of Gregg and Cory and plays anything under a B+ level, it is going to stick out…and I in no way wanted that to happen. I also knew I could not cheat myself and just show up and expect to play well. For preparing for that tournament I threw batons in the morning before work and evening every day from the Saturday before.

Mental preparation before and reminding yourself of key things during the competition continue to be huge for me. Over the years I have written notes on paper and put those notes in my pocket. Some things are more often on that paper, and some things are on there based on what I was working on in preparation. As they say, talk to yourself, don’t listen to yourself. This helps me talk to myself.

For this tournament, I wrote my notes on a Kings of Kubb sticker for a couple reasons. I had that sticker in my pocket the whole day, and I even had a couple opponents ask me why I was throwing with my hand in my pocket sometimes. I was working on my rhythm the whole week and a couple of the things I have on the sticker relate to that. Cory and Gregg played as lethal as two players could play all day, and it was amazing to experience that. Other than a drop in 8 meter form late in the prelim rounds, I feel like I hung close with them. But the whole day I kept looking, touching, and remembering that note and reminding myself to trust what was on it…and myself. It was a grind all day and I loved it.

Couple still shots from videos on this post. One is from the 2014 World Championship and I’m getting ready to throw the last 8 meter in group play to advance to the 16 team playoff. In the actual video will notice me looking off to the right at the Swedish flag that was waving and then you will see me tapping my pocket…I still have that note. Second, if you think I’m full of crap, tell that to Aaron Donald. The second is from an iconic video of him preparing before the Super Bowl.

When people ask us if kubb can be a sport, we say unequivocally and unapologetically say YES!!

Kubbers…don’t listen to yourself…Talk to yourself! And find ways for you to do it best for yourself.

OGs. We dropped the first painted tournament kubbs in the U.S. back in 2012 at our Dallas, WI Oktoberfest Tournament. We needed some new wood on the pitches. So we had a couple Tyr’s Tre painting parties in the basement lab. Lots of painting, laughing, talking, relaxing, meals, and planning for the future. Maja, Cecilia, Kristen, John (from Flux Capacitors), Eric, and Erin got in the mix. Tyr’s Tre is family!! More big things coming in 2026. The kubbs are in our traditional sky blue / Bavarian blue, looking sharp, and will be ready for you at the 6 v. 6 in Dallas.
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We think one of the most (we would say the most) overlooked aspects of a team reaching its fullest potential is being the best teammate you can be and lifting up your teammate to be as close to their 100 Percent as possible. Sounds so simple and maybe it looks that way on the surface, but we believe it isn't simple and it isn't often thought or talked about...but yet, all players reaching their performance potential is a necessity for a team to reach its highest potential. Depending on your team size, it might even require you to be a different type of teammate to each of your teammates.

Most of our videos are how to make your batons and/or kubbs better. Your batons are at most 50 percent of all the batons, and might be even 1/3 or 1/6. Teammates can impact the other 1/2, 2/3, or 5/6 and even inkasted kubbs.

Do you think about being a teammate? Do you put emphasis on this? Do you take notes about this? Have you met as a team and talked about what you all want from your teammates that would help you perform at your highest potential? It is the start of 2026, now is the perfect time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo0F3EyzDCE

Video from Happy Kubb interview. Lots more discussion in the YouTube description.

How To Play Kubb: Be The Best Teammate You Can Be This video is from a 2023 interview with the Happy Kubb platform. Klaus is a great interviewer. As I mention in the video, my stepdad Ray gave me some great ...