Yup. good call. Contests are about pushing yourself, the other riders and the sport to the next level. Just because YOU (not kitegrommet, just referring to anyone reading this) don't want to compete or watch competitions doesn't mean that they have no merit or validity. There are a lot of people out there that thrive on competition. I'm one of them. So wht better way to have competition than contests?kitegrommet wrote:...but competition is competition. You go faster, knock the guy out, score the most points, you win. Period.
Contests: can you be better than the other guy, given a specific set of guidelines?
So as for styles for kiteboarding...
Kiter-cross:
Cool. Makes sense. The first guy over the line wins. Simple and quantitative.
OldSchool:
Lame. We don't need a pro-level oldschool contested requirement. Doesn't the name itself "oldschool" imply to you that it's done and over with? This is the freestyle of the past when riders couldn't do what they can now. I'm not saying that theres anything wrong with this style of riding, it just doesn't have a place in pro-level contests.
You don't see F1 car racers stopping at red lights, parallel parking and loading groceries in the trunk during a course because it's what people do when they drive in the real world, do you?
Damn, why not the make it a requirement that during each heat - you have to make your own plywood board, then drive and check the wind at 3 spots, then make a special custom bar, ride and then make a post on a forum about your session before you score any points?
BigAir/hangtime:
Fine, whatever. It's quantitative so it's good for competition. Not my thing personally, but I can see how it would have merrit and I would probably end up watching a few minutes of the highlights reel.
Speed:
sounds good - but not to be included in the regular contest tour or format.
Long distance:
okay. Point to point. Good stuff I guess. We can pack a picnic and a waterproof camera!
Mutant freestyle:
whatever I guess that will be sponsored by all of the brands that still make production mutants?
Freestyle:
Whatever impresses the most, wins. And what impresses...? Techincal tricks. Like the current PKRA. Right now at least. Sure, some refinements can be made (powered landings, etc..), but that's just fine-tuning. As for required tricks - that's lame. The whole point is to ride better than the other guy, right? So do it your own way and find a way to shine. Sure it's subjective, but there's a pretty good points system in place. Just because it looks to you like "10 handle passes in a row", doesn't mean that it does to everyone (especially the riders, who are the ones competing anyways).
It's all about pushing the boundaries.
But who knows... Lenten has a pretty cool combo of big air powered and technical. Maybe that's closer to the future.
Kiteloop/best trick:
well, this is pretty much freestyle. This is fine for local contests, and pretty fun to do - but not really a pro-tour type destinction.
Wakestyle:
Boots and baggy t-shirts are a requirement to get past the qualifying rounds. Hah. just kidding - I'm actually in to the wakestyle stuff.
uhh... this should fit under freestyle. It's just that some riders aren't doing it right. Hah! Personally, I'm in to wakestyle, but I think that for contests sake, it should be grouped together. Maybe once all of the pros have most/all of the tricks dialed, then "style" will come in to play a little more in freestyle contests. Then it'll will likely start taking back a few more influences from 'wakestyle' (ie. kite powered & low, powered & fast landings). But this is just a refinement, and everyone draws the line somewhere different. Besides... we're really all just rollerbladers-of-the-sky, right?
Sliders/kickers:
Cool shit, but it don't think that it is mainstream and widely available enough to be included as a requirement for pro competition.
Waves:
ohhh.... here's where it gets a bit tricky. not a new thing to kiteing, but new to the mainstream. and it's evolving and changing so fast. Okay, so judging on "style" is key here. I think that it's doable though. check out the ASP. You set up a criteria for judging on style. Then if you like it and fit it - you compete. If not, you take off and do your own thing and don't bitch about it.
I'm stoked to enter some wave contests and check it out from a competitor's point of view before I make any real comments here though.
Well, that's my 2cents.