Is Wakestyle dead?

[jumptheshark]

Thanks Mr Moderator.

But I prefer Starsky.

[Flyboy]

No question that wakestyle with handle-passes is difficult. But difficulty has nothing to do with fun. People kiteboard because it is a great feeling - to be out on the water, planing, boosting, carving, foiling. Wakestyle is, for the most part, for people who are able to spend A LOT of time on the water. It is the equivalent of "freestyle" riding in windsurfing - very difficult to master because it requires A LOT of trial & error. Most people want to have fun on the water when they have the chance to get out there ... not go backwards & forwards repeating the same trick & getting trashed until they finally master it. I think most kiters could learn to handle-pass if they set out systematically to learn it, but most kiters are not interested enough in handle-passing to go through that process.

[alexeyga]

Interesting. So let's summarize:

If you want to consider yourself an ELITE rider - you have to forget about what you really like doing and only concentrate on the most difficult discipline in kiteboarding - the wake-"style". Only reason being - it is very difficult - that's why it's da sh@t!

Oddly enough - it is the only discipline in kiting which isn't even native to wind-driven sports and originates from motorized boating. And - incidentally - it is also the only discipline in kiting which requires installation of some artificial devices like sliders and kickers in order to practice it effectively.

And if you still don't see why you have to wake-"style" - you're nothing but a mere, average pu$$y!!!

Long live wake-"style" yay!!!

[juandesooka]

Good posts both JST and edt. Wakestyle reminds me of the phase of skateboarding when it became all super technical flippety spinny flat land tricks. Remarkably skilled trickery but the average viewer's interest, skater or not, lasts about 1 minute. Unless you can appreciate the finer skills involved, it's boring to watch. Same thing here, after years of fast forwarding videos through the spinny bits to the next wave or big air segment, now seems like they rarely even include wakestyle any more. But as you say starsky, it then goes underground, with a hardcore group that keep on doing it, refining it, discovering new and better ways, and maybe it'll re-emerge into something so much better. Like the rebirth of skating, where those flippy flat land tricks started to get done at full speed on real world terrain obstacles, and street style now defines radical skateboarding and there's a terrain park in pretty much every town and city.

Dunno. Will be interesting to see what happens with kiting. Feels to me like it's faded a lot in the past few years (though hard to say how much of this is my own arc, leaving the honeymoon period behind). Maui in Dec was sure noticable the lack of young people doing tricks. Average age was 40s. Lots of foilers and cruisers and surfers (me too). Barely anyone boosting. This forum has also become more "mature" ... hate to say boring, but not as fun as it was in the MOST SEXY days. Your phase explanation makes a lot of sense.

So equate it to surfing, which has had a number of boom/bust cycles, from mainstream to underground, and now seems more popular than ever. Surfing has also had its dead-end niches, where a certain style of riding and gear by the pros was not attainable or fun for the masses. That plus shitty boring contests in terrible conditions nearly killed pro surfing. Making surfing exciting to watch again revived it. But also a perception change in the masses. The transition from scumbag water rats living in vans by the beach to CEOs of multinationals surfing before work ... how did that happen? Is it just a generational thing, that 50 years later the question is no longer "why would you want to surf" but "if you have the opportunity, why WOULDN'T you?" Maybe kiting is similar, still a very young sport.

[jumptheshark]

Interesting. So let's summarize:

If you want to consider yourself an ELITE rider - you have to forget about what you really like doing and only concentrate on the most difficult discipline in kiteboarding - the wake-"style". Only reason being - it is very difficult - that's why it's da sh@t!

Oddly enough - it is the only discipline in kiting which isn't even native to wind-driven sports and originates from motorized boating. And - incidentally - it is also the only discipline in kiting which requires installation of some artificial devices like sliders and kickers in order to practice it effectively.

And if you still don't see why you have to wake-"style" - you're nothing but a mere, average pu$$y!!!

Long live wake-"style" yay!!!

The question was is wake dead, with a follow up of, is it really the most difficult. Were at the point on the bell curve where the real hard stuff is done by the smallest percentage of riders so wake is in recession as it really is the most physically difficult.

No ones calling you a pussy, but if my post upset you.....

[JustAGirl]

I don’t know if wakestyle is the hardest! A triple overhead wave requires more skill, training & guts. So does a really low megaloop!

Wakestyle is technical, sort of like dungeons & dragons, only for insiders, kinda like measuring penis size, which I’m a fan of, really!

But if you are gonna measure p-size, ask the girls: wakestyle just isn’t sexy, sorry! I half expect the guy in the boots to start talking in a squeaky voice.

The top wakestylers are really great guys, with great personalities, so they are excluded here. They are pros doing what’s expected of them. I’m talking average Joe!

I’m just being dead honest here! No offense, please. It’s just a take.

This sport is about lifestyle & style & sometimes the older guys have more style — some exceptions — bc they have more experience.

Don’t let this rub you the wrong way please!

[jumptheshark]

Welcome back airbunny

[JustAGirl]

and if we can’t have substance, we go for the name & the avatar, I see... more prepubescent creepy stuff

[longwhitecloud]

it is simply down to progression imo , any freestyle sport that doesnt move forward is not going to have the awesome hype associated with breaking new territory.

youri zoon wanted to turn wakestyle into iceskating and imo that was a total fail. even streetleague in skateboarding is relatively boring compared to the progress being made in freeriding/ real street skating/insta./ more core street comps

what are freestyle kids doing these days? riding scooters.. and why.. because it is super progressive right now( every day new ideas) and inspiring to kids, they have the best vloggers too that inspire a young generation...

every generation has their moment in the spotlight but i think the mistake is holding on to old ideas and thus not being open to new ones... keep things moving, progressing... keep things fun... and creative in freestyle.

[Flyboy]

... and I'm pretty sceptical that what Airton is doing is easier than what the wake style boys are doing.