Kitemenn wrote: ↑Tue Nov 23, 2021 11:49 am
Amen...It was about time for Marc to get rewarded. Fully agree with above!
This year I think Janek should have ended up higher as well...that round with Joshua did not make any sense (how could he have gotten a bigger variety score)
It's not actually a variety score. From the website:
"The fourth score (unique score) for overall impression of the entire performance will be given at the end of the heat, this score will be determined by considering a combination of different factors such as: variety / technical difficulty / style / execution / risk / show / innovation, this will be added to the total score (and could make the difference)"
So in my view for Josh v Janek:
Variety - Winner: Janek. Pretty obvious. Josh essentially did two tricks.
Technical difficulty - Winner: Josh. Janek's tricks are more difficult on the surface, but Josh's are astronomically harder with his loops vs Janek's.
Style - Winner: Janek. I prefer Josh's maniacal style, but I think most people like Janek's super smooth rotations. They do look cool.
Execution - Winner: Tie. Josh pulled off more extreme tricks with really hot landings while Janek was smoother (although a little wobbly a couple times).
Risk - Winner: Josh (huge margin). His tricks are so much more risky with his aggressive loops. You could argue this should be included in the extremity score as part of the trick though.
Show - Winner: Josh (slim margin). It depends on what people want to watch. In an event, I much prefer Josh's energy, speed, and general antics. It fires me up and adds to a crowd's involvement. If I'm watching youtube videos at home, I much prefer Janek's lazy rotations.
Innovation - Winner: Janek. Josh did do a psycho loop late back, which I believe is a competition first, but I doubt I could convince anyone Janek isn't pushing the sport with his new stuff.
So, for me this is a tie with an edge to Josh. Other people would obviously score differently, but because it's an "impression" score and I much prefer extremity in loops over endless rotations, that's how I would score. The official judges gave a 7.84 v 7.52 in Josh's favour, so pretty much along the lines of my thinking. (I have no idea how the judges actually score, this is just how I interpret the above criteria).
At the end of the day, it's entirely subjective. Most audiences (especially non-kiters) would prefer a straight Airstyle comp rather than this looping stuff. Toby comments about this in one of his videos (Airstyle vs Freestyle, but the principle is the same). It's just easier to watch. Most people won't understand a simple trick with a low megaloop is harder to do than a more complex one with a high kiteloop.
