are you well rounded...be honest...can you go to a show tomorrow and do all of the following....now keep in mind that you guys all have great skill...but do you have the whole package...acros, technical, your OWN STYLE, combos, endos, burnouts, creativity, skill, technic, and more...

what i have watched in the past couple of years is this....
that once a trick is done by someone...that it is done by everyone..but how well do you do it..how good do you make it look...Apex i love you but i have to use you for an example..(plus if i use a friend i cant get in trouble) take the way that nick does elevators...some times when he jumps up he puts his hands in front of him as if hes going to grab the front for support..(but he never does and yes nick you do elevators at very low speed..that is HARD).
another example..you watch mana do jump to HC and he makes it look easy..watch other riders do it..and well they may pull it off..but how sloppy it looks doing it.
Burnouts, combos, and acros are the same also...all of you do about the same amount of STUNTS the same.....(you have to have STYLE....that sells..with crowds, judges and more)
everyone can do O's and combo O's but when you watch a darius do O's you see flavor and spice...when you see another stunter doing the same..sometimes it doesnt look the same..yet hes doing all the same combos..as if they stole his trick list.....

I would love to give 10 riders the same 10 tricks to do...and ill bet you that, depending on who you have do the stunts...they would all look the same...untill you pick riders that have there own FLAVOR...to many peeps are to simalar.

again this is all is my and well i can say these things for many reasons...and everyone knows i dont ride anymore...but i have filmed so many of you and logged so much footage..that i have seen about everything...so if you want to win your next event...think about STYLE and CREATIVITY...cause thats what separates the PROS from the JOES....

let me know what you think on this....i want everyone from the wood works coming out for this one...darius, britton, kane, teach, and more best reply to this..including no names and more...i want to hear it from the real deal boys.

 

I don't know what ur asking?

but I will say that I use to think I had to do everytrick out there to feel like I was as good as another rider, and that a riders skill and worth was judge by how many tricks they can do.

I don't think that way anymore. I don't do about half as many different tricks I used to...

I do what tricks I feel I do well and don't waste time with tricks I don't??

least not at shows n stuff...

 

Nope, not at all.

Im one of those guys who can do every wheelie variation and then some, but am completely skill-less in the other 3 departments.

 

hrm. ive been thinking the same thing.


maybe this is the reason people that can do every wheelie variation but not much good acro... burnout combos....etc... dont do well in competitions.


i agree its not so much as creativity... but definetly the style some riders put into there riding. make **** look fluid and try to add alot of extension to everything...

like frogmingo's. everybody can do them... but when you see one with the riders head over the triples with his foot over the height of his head....

obviously the latter will be better executed.

 

you kinda answered it....i think that you have your own style kane...it was not towards you..but just saying that people like you have style and others do your tricks and bit your style but yet look like poop imatating all the same flavor...

 

i got a huge BAG

 

i do the tricks i need to do to win contests when i'm competing. when i'm doing shows, i do the tricks that the crowd likes.

many of them crossover. ex> hc o's were not necessary to win last year, a better overall flow and style was more important.

ex2>crowds love drifting, so i add variation into it for style points during contests.

imo, to be at the top you have to have 95% of the tricks possible and be able to do them on command and make it look easy. then you have to flow and link everything together in an INTERACTIVE and ENTERTAINING way.

too many riders are either
A. super technical darius imitations with no originality or style...parking lot queens

or

B. clowns on bikes with noticeably less bike control (particularly in the endo and burnout arenas), but a great sense of entertainment value.

the best combine the two and unfortunately for many, either you are an entertainer or you are not. its a difficult personality trait to acquire. the technical aspects of the tricks can be obtained by virtually anyone with enough time spent mastering each trick...style and flow is not so easily attainable.

 

this is very interesting.... I was just talking about this with 1 of my friends.

I was told I should focus on 1 thing at a time, but I caint help but to practice hella different stuff. I have polished a few wheelies, but I am working on some stoppies, a acro or 2..... when I get a bit better I am sure my burnout combos will increase. that is just how I practice.... I like to try it all, and oneday soon get good at all of em.

as for the industry... I just think that everyone knows who the best are, and they feel that if they can imitate the top riders.... well, they won't get left behind. also, when they log on to SL and see trends changing all the time, the rat race begins. just look at all the clutching it up from the side threads from last month. I personally want to just start from the fundamentals, and variate from that... I know I watch everyones video's, but... I don't wanna go out and copy their style.... hopefully I can develope my own style eventually once I get more tricks in my inventory.

 

some times a smooth fluid rider doesn't get the attention a real choppy rider gets , it looks to easy some times if the rider is very good at a certain tricks ....

it's not right but it's true

 

of twinkies

 

I try to be well rounded. i get bored easy the ADD kicks in and i just play around. I got wheelies, stoppies, some acro's. defiantly don't have raw talent like some other riders. but its all a learning curve. I can do a HC circle but it doesn't mean crap when a rider next to me is whipping 20 of them. Stoppies are probably my favorite trick. I've never won a comp so I cant say i know what i need to do I finally got comfortable riding at a comp in front of judges. Shows will always be fun. a few acro's, bunch of burnouts/drifts and a few circles are enough to make a crowd scream as long as you blow up a tire. I've been going out everyday for the past week working on getting my acro's up to par. but still in that sense i'll never be able to pull out a hand stand or acid drop... I could probably learn it but its not tricks i really wanna do. We all develop a riding style that is our own i guess its just finding that style.

 

The thing that seperates the "Pros from the Joes" in my opinion is Confidence. The judges and crowd want to see someone who puts out a well rounded run and looks like they are comfortable on thier bikes, and the surface they have been given to ride on.(which usually sucks!) Someone who can adapt and change it up if necessary while still being able to show their own style is well on thier way to pro status.

 

dammit

 

but all of you are saying most of the same stuff...i mean..if you dont have flavor or style..then you can do every trick in the book..and it doesnt look the same..nor do stunters get judged right on alot of stuff.....all i was stating is you have to find your STYLE....like teach said..you can do every trick..but its how you stamp your style or flavor on it.

 

man thats all i used to focus on was wheelies but this summer i'm gonna try and mix it up a bit and work on stoppies. theres nothing as entertaining as seeing a well rounded rider, like daces cory is one of my favorites. good point though mike, i think style has alot to do with it and sometimes what the judges want to see and what the crowd wants to see arent the same and u have to find that happy medium. anybody can do the trick but its about how you do the trick.

 

this aint exactly news mike.. this is the same for all the (freestyle) sports..

 

all very true..

 

i know that..thats why i asked you guys...what your take is on all of this...becouse we have so many riders now...how do you separate the men from the boys.

 

I think we all have our strong points but there are definitley some guys out there that can do 71 circles while jumping around the bike but can't do burnouts from yester-year.

The riders that stand out to me not only because they are "well-rounded" but because they put their own style on every trick that they do would be:

Teach
Jason Britton
Joe Vertical
Joe Brown
AC Farias
Pfeifer (Sorry for butchering the spelling)
Mr. Ryan Smith
Dan Jackson
and yes - Scary Gary.

 

you dont seperate nothing i think it would be better if everyone could just be friends and ride. like pro snowboarders always happy to see each person do better thats how it should be. there are no pros in stuntriding. its not even a sport or it would be on x-games or something. pro not pro Blah Blah Blah go ride and have fun doing it or quit