Interesting Judging Discussions

[Toby]

but from the video don´t see either much of a crowd, or enthusiam for the show

I heard them, and that is what counts

I am on an 18, while others on 10s. I am challenging the smaller kites, but they go a bit higher.
On the video you don't see my highest jump, curious how high it was.

And I was happy to advance 2 rounds, so could do my show with different tricks in all heats (some never landed in any competition ever before) and entertain the crowd.

Yep, well done from Ariel.

[Westozzy]

Hey Toby you weren't on the rebel in any of those shots were ya???

[Tiago1973]

Pps crowd noise the whole thing was overdubbed by music, voice over or slow mows...you must have super sonic hearing or something!

did not even saw the video with the music on, just looked into the reactions of the people that were seeing it live

some reports here gave the impression this format generated a lot of buzz, sorry but not seeing that. not saying the video captured all, but if that then it´s a shame the video does not show it



about the idea of having people voting for the winner, guess it relates with what Airstyle wants to be

if it is to be a show, something like "American got tallent" or around that, then guess having the spectators voting for the winner could work.

if Airstyle is to turn into a legitimated sport then a proper judging pannel, with experts, is required. at least I am not aware of any high level sport where the crowd defines the winner

[Westozzy]

Very true, they just determine what the competitions get paid and where the money flows....

[longwhitecloud]

based on vid

The kiteloop caught just in time was a winner

Your fast takeoff double front with flip was good

aaron? and ariel with the dangle passes - they are difficult and very risky despite their trapeze like less stylish wobble dangle

crowd judging = popularity contest -we tried it - epic fail
nothing wrong with peoples choice tho i guess - "Kiteboaders got talent!"

Conclusion - add to PKRA
Expression session (most creative trick)
Hooked in only comp (not airstyle) - would be first for like 10 years?!
Stick with greater points for risk - it's more interesting to watch
or go down road that wakeboarding did when everyone got very board of every trick a mobe and required different categories of tricks to be included..
Masters and legends categories .

eg required to score 3 big air tricks (over 20ft to count) in your heat....

[Sinthoras1]

The King of Dead Man with board flip was great!

Public voting won't work cause the locals will always win. Just makes the sport ridiculous.

[Toby]

Public and online voting get a certain percentage next to judges.

Why not make Airstyle the show part? That's what it is all about!
Freestyle can be done just like now as the technical part of the sport.

It all can be done together. It is not about this or that, it is this AND that!

Yes, for those tricks I was on the Rebel 18.
We had gusts over 30 knots....

[longwhitecloud]

cos airstyle limits scoring for monster slide tricks, successive low fast hooked in tricks which can look sick, and those fill tricks that are low that can be loaded up on landing a big air trick. i think it is a bit too limiting - if you want more progression and innovation like in kiteboarding 9 years ago I think hooked in comp would push some crazy new ideas and keep teh wakestyle cos that is pretty damn hard out entertaining stuff - for a start no one got any unsnapped ligaments left.

[Sinthoras1]

As far as I know KOTA is currently the most popular format out there. The problem is, that you can't really transform it into a series or even a smaller single event as it takes too long to wait for strong wind (1 week this year) So why not making a similar event, except you start it whenever wind is above 15kn. With low wind you'll see more technical stuff like board flips and when the wind picks up you will see big air action.

For the judging I would love to see a professional panel with a system that favors variety. This can be achieved by forcing the riders to perform different categories of tricks or my favorit, a point system, that is adjusted every year. E.g. No one can say with certainty which move is more difficult, the 1080 board off or a kiteloop as they are so different. However we know for sure, that almost all pros did Kiteloops on this years KOTA, but only a minority did board offs. Furthermore almost all pros that did perform board offs let them fall at some point of the tournament, which indicates that they are hard to do. When they did so they lost valuable seconds, by body dragging back to it. (High risk of elimination when you can't show/land enough tricks.) The guys that didn't perform board offs went out with boots and lost less seconds, every time they crashed a move. (Lower risk of elimination)
That all is strong evidence, that for todays pros it's easyer to get their points by doing loops than by performing board offs. By consequence I would grade up board offs and grade down kiteloops. If riders adjust and the scene is dominated by board offs I would just counteradjust and downgrade them again. The ultimate goal should be to come up with a system that allows different riders to win with totally different styles.

[Toby]

Good point there with the crashing!
I agree, the risk of landing a trick like that is much higher then the kiteloops.
In Tarifa I don't recon anyone crashing after a kiteloop but many after Boardoffs.

Will point that out to head judge and see what he says.