Interesting Judging Discussions

[edt]

thing is, how many loops can one see till it gets bored?

It's not the loop. It's the style of the rider. Stormjees 3 came out in 2009 and five years later I still love it. so how many loops? Not sure yet. I'm still not bored with that particular clip. Ask again next year maybe I'll have a number then.

that goes for all styles of riding, it's not the trick, it's how you do the trick. I would rather see one trick with power and style instead of 1,000 tricks done without any

[Toby]

This topic is the best example how many different opinion of styles exist...gotta show all to please all !

[plummet]

Yep. They are different and you will never find a judging criteria that suits all styles evenly.

[Oldpeople]

The whole question of judging criteria sort of amuses me. I've been kiting for about 4 years now and am a decent rider (front and back 720's, board offs,deadmans) and have never even seen a competition and have never known anyone who has,( other than a race) either in person or on TV.
Golfers of all levels love to watch golf tournaments, ditto for tennis players, skiers love the olympics. So why does no one watch kiteboarding competitions in the same way? Of course there are really not that many kiters in the world compared to other sports but no one I've talked to has even expressed any interest in going out of their way to watch one. And certainly for non kiters they would prefer watching an airstyle competition along with a king of the air and a free style all as part of a competition. Forget "risk" all they would want is to be entertained. It seems that the current competitions are great for pushing the sport but end up being interesting to only a small percentage of the kiters out there.

[plummet]

The whole question of judging criteria sort of amuses me. I've been kiting for about 4 years now and am a decent rider (front and back 720's, board offs,deadmans) and have never even seen a competition and have never known anyone who has,( other than a race) either in person or on TV.
Golfers of all levels love to watch golf tournaments, ditto for tennis players, skiers love the olympics. So why does no one watch kiteboarding competitions in the same way? Of course there are really not that many kiters in the world compared to other sports but no one I've talked to has even expressed any interest in going out of their way to watch one. And certainly for non kiters they would prefer watching an airstyle competition along with a king of the air and a free style all as part of a competition. Forget "risk" all they would want is to be entertained. It seems that the current competitions are great for pushing the sport but end up being interesting to only a small percentage of the kiters out there.

True. To be honest I'm not interest either. I'll never compete. Nor will I ever travel to watch. He'll if there was a comp at my local id look for another spot to go kiting at to keep away from the masses

[Tiago1973]

thing is, how many loops can one see till it gets bored?

It's not the loop. It's the style of the rider. Stormjees 3 came out in 2009 and five years later I still love it. so how many loops? Not sure yet. I'm still not bored with that particular clip. Ask again next year maybe I'll have a number then.

that goes for all styles of riding, it's not the trick, it's how you do the trick. I would rather see one trick with power and style instead of 1,000 tricks done without any

I´m all for that, but that´s not what i see in this particular Ruben´s video. the guy is doing what he does best in surviving mode conditions - i see insane power but not much style

[Tiago1973]

Golfers of all levels love to watch golf tournaments, ditto for tennis players, skiers love the olympics. So why does no one watch kiteboarding competitions in the same way? Of course there are really not that many kiters in the world compared to other sports but no one I've talked to has even expressed any interest in going out of their way to watch one.

broadcast conditions are massively different between those and kiteboard competitions

on seeing it live most kiteboard competitions are away from big urban centers, if not mistaken. the closest high level comp I can find is in Tarifa - it would mean I´ll need to drive 700 km. Apart from Olympics (more for the party) or a World/European football final I would not do it for any sport.

[Westozzy]

thing is, how many loops can one see till it gets bored?

It's not the loop. It's the style of the rider. Stormjees 3 came out in 2009 and five years later I still love it. so how many loops? Not sure yet. I'm still not bored with that particular clip. Ask again next year maybe I'll have a number then.

that goes for all styles of riding, it's not the trick, it's how you do the trick. I would rather see one trick with power and style instead of 1,000 tricks done without any

I´m all for that, but that´s not what i see in this particular Ruben´s video. the guy is doing what he does best in surviving mode conditions - i see insane power but not much style

Yeh those kind of conditions would surely attract a crowd...

[Toby]

And judging is so relative...I had scores from first to last in the same heat...how can that be?

This is why I gave up up riding for judges, and rather do a show for the spectators.

And still wonder how they judge with their point system...there is also personal taste and whatever else involved.

[Westozzy]

Well I suppose we can't be too harsh on the judges as they are judging very different styles at the same time. Unlike say diving or a certain gymnastics routine where the difficulty and criteria variables are far more discrete. Those kind of judges (had a friend who was an Olympian gymnastics judge) train for years coming through the ranks in a very organised system and tend even then to specialise in only one particular apparatus or one type of floor routine.

Hence the discriminatory scores all round.

You should keep competing with the show only in mind regardless of scores maybe.