The Appeal of Consistancy

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Pete Pachota

Member
All right, so Ive been watching those XW Comp videos, and, although the fact that any scooter comp is the sign of the sport growing and an opportunity to unite, learn, ride and have fun together, there was something sad going through my mind. This sadness was caused by seeing riders like Ryan Whetstone or Travis House, the riders who are capable of doing amazing and original tricks, stuff that's just unheard of (360 whips out of grinds on street ledges? cab 540s on flat?), but for some reason they couldnt land shit! Even John Radtke, who is known from landing some biggest tricks in scootering history, couldn't put together a solid run. Im not trying to bitch out the riders I have just mentioned and I'm not implying that I would be able to stick a better run. I know that putting together a run after a long drive during a competition in a park that you've never been to is hard and all, especially if youre a street rider, but how come all top bmx and skateboard riders are somehow able to do that? There are courses built specially for bigger competitions to create a native ground, so no local rider dominates the comp (as it has happened in most past scooter comps). But even in skatepark events there is still fair competition between the locals and the comers. You might say that they all have been riding for years, but aside from vert, all recent competitions are dominated by young riders. 'Their sport is way more progressed' you might say. THEN WHY SHOULDN'T WE TRY TO DO THE SAME? Now we can impress others with sick park footage, sick street footage, now we need to step the competition level up. Of course, scootering needs ton of competition experience, but now we can progress way faster then skateboarding and bmx when their first comps were set up. Another thing is that consistancy in riding makes it better in general. Im sure than theres way more fun in flowing the park with little tricks, hitting every obstacle on your way (and actually landing it!!!), than landing a sketchy trick onto flat in a hundred tries, even though that is (or was) the easiest way of earning respect in the scootering world. Some people have mentioned that some of the top riders are 'pushing it too far' when it comes to landing sick tricks; making everyones riding would be compared to broadening the base of a construction youre building, a construction built by many people, which is so high that some are scared that it might fall - broadening the base makes it more solid and stable and what is more, makes it possible to build it even higher.

Be consistant, ride beautiful and let's make scootering step up another level. And please don't bitch me out for typing all that crap above.
 
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farmboy uk

Steel Member
nice post, got me thinking, hmmmm i know people need more consistency but they will keep pushing it, give most people the choice between learning double flips for their next comp or brushing up on there tailwhip skills i think most people would pick the 1st one

edit: not bitching though as you are perfectly right
 
N

Nate Grant

Steel Member
yes please don't bitch pete out.

altho pete i am gonna say, a lot of people aren't used to competitions yet. simple as that. and all three you mentioned, (ryan, travis, and john) were all in there first competitions. now i'm DEFINATELY not bitching ANYONE with this statement, but i think that really, there are maybe 2 or 3 riders in our sport that are good enough to be consistant. look at all of jesses TIC and XW footy. he bails what like twice? idk, maybe in comps it seems people are trying to be "something they're not" and just trying things they aren't comfortable with to land everytime. watching Kevin and Jesses TIC runs, i noticed that everything they did they pull regularly. for them it was just like another session.

I think scootering just needs time, and more comps. people will get more used to it, and things will definately improve. i would like to see a street comp, cause i know that things would probably be different. maybe less intimidating, especially for someone like Ryan.

yes no bitching in this thread please!
 
Matt Dibble

Matt Dibble

M3MB3R
Staff member
Alright, i know for me at least the pressure of being in a comp was too much for me to think about while trying to put together a solid run. I was doing ok and gaining confidence in my first run until i fell on my 540. From then on i was just thinking about "wow i cant believe i cant land this easy stuff" and then on my last run... my last trick. I just took a deep breath and was literally thinking to myself "why do i care what they think of me? i know i can land this and im going to" then i got close and it just slid out. That was my inconsistency. There was no nervousness on that last trick at all it was just not being able to do it first try. Ryan Whetstone is an amazing rider and he was throwing down 720's.... and whip to tap on that wallride.. and he whipped over the rail. Not all under the pressure of competition. You all need to keep in mind that Travis didnt ride for a MONTH before this comp and it was his first day back. I have on film him doing a 360 table that he did first try.. but of course it wasnt during the comp. I think pressure got to everyone in one way or another and its easy to think that you should be able to put a solid run together when the spotlights on you. I was trying to play it safe with doing easy stuff like airing the spine and whip airouts... just so i could put together some type of run. I couldn't even get the basics. So next time you have pressure on you to land stuff, shrug it off. Say "fuck you" to whoever might judge your riding, and just go.


Wow. Sorry for typing that much.
 
A

AlexSchad .

Member
it was the excitement taht got me .. the day b4 i was doing feble to bar spins out like nothing then i was just to pumped to consitrate on the trick.

cool pete thread , alot of people do need to work on consitisty but ryan whetstone was soooo freaking good the day b4 the comp the he said he was sore because he hasnt road this long in a verry long time . he stayed at my house {-)
 
brandon kilbury

brandon kilbury

Super Moderator
consistancy is something im always working on, and i rarely have a problem landing a trick or putting together lines or anything. even before the comp i rode in my garage one night and landed 5 of a bunch of differnet tricks like trucks, 360 whips, scooterflips, bar to whips and other shit like that just to make sure i had it all down. and most of the time im doing tricks i already can do to the point where adding another tailwhip, or doing it in a 360 isnt that hard. i think consistancy can also vary among riders, like some just have it and others have ot really work at it..people like jesse and levon are wicked consistant...not just where they can get a trick good, but they cna learn a new trick, and after they land it once they have it forever. I remember at the TIC comp i wasnt really thinking about the pressure, i was thinking about how exhausted i was..haha maybe that helped becausei only screwed up one trick per run i think..which isnt so bad i guess
 
Travis House

Travis House

Wu-Tang Master
Staff member
Yeah, I wasn't fit to ride in that comp, not riding for a while gets to you... hahaha. I am a pretty consistent rider when it comes to filming stuff and riding in genral but being in front of people I have looked up to for the longest time was so...sureal. After not landing a trick I did the wrong thing and tryed to make up for it with other tricks that I pretty much can only get half the time... Meaning not landing them, which was the complete wrong thing to do, looking back, If I had to do everything I could do and land it all, I would have done better... And im not talking about whiping and double whipping stuff eather... I just forgot all my old tricks that I was good at and almost tryed to learn ones on the spot.

All in all I had an amazing time with some of the coolest people ever and I am so grateful that I could be a part of it.
 
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AX3D

Member
No offence to anyone but Pete is absolutely right, kids on the Gold Coast can go all day with out stacking or missing a trick, I was accualy thinging about this after watching them but I didnt have the balls to bring it up lol.

Edit: And dont flame Pete, its a very good point, as is Brandons
 
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Pete Pachota

Member
Okay, one more thing to clear up. I HAVEN"T made up this thread just because of two guys that rode below their possibilities during the comp. This has only turned my eyes to a general issue which seems important to me. So I dont want to start the fight or hear excuses, that's not the point.

Brandon has a good point, you're either naturally consistant or you have to work on it.
 
P

Pete Pachota

Member
Not if you define the statement of being able to do the trick properly. If you have landed a trick once after a bunch of tries you can't say "I can do that trick".
 
Travis House

Travis House

Wu-Tang Master
Staff member
Pete Pachota said:
Not if you define the statement of being able to do the trick properly. If you have landed a trick once after a bunch of tries you can't say "I can do that trick".
Click to expand...


Agreed 100%
 
W

whoopa

Member
well i agree because i am pretty consistent when just having fun and shit but when i was in comp i licked big ass balls but it was so fun i didnt even care
 
K

Kenny O.

Member
AlexSchad . said:
it was the excitement taht got me .. the day b4 i was doing feble to bar spins out like nothing then i was just to pumped to consitrate on the trick.

cool pete thread , alot of people do need to work on consitisty but ryan whetstone was soooo freaking good the day b4 the comp the he said he was sore because he hasnt road this long in a verry long time . he stayed at my house {-)
Click to expand...
teehee
 
B

Brian Boston

I got myself banned.
Not that Ryan and Travis should be excused from this issue, but we have a bigger one. The guys on Razor couldn't land shit! They're on razor, shouldn't they be leading the sport and stealing the top spots in the competitions? Maybe they just have a problem with the East Cost, becuase they don't place over here haha. Could this mean the East Coast has the talent when it comes to competition and consistancy? I could say more but im gonna get flamed and shit for it (Jesse dosn't count because i still haven't adjusted to him being on the Razor team haha and he only fell like once)
 
W

whoopa

Member
well wtf now they have someone who can win every comp so right now jesse is like who they count on to place n stuff
 
brandon kilbury

brandon kilbury

Super Moderator
yea bri i noticed that too, that nobody on razor placed at TIC, did any even make it to finals? i dont remember, but then even at this comp nobody from razor placed excluding jesse. and someone told me toy spent a lot of time during his runs playing with his knee pads? if you ask me, you should just leave them be during a run. by the end of jesses runs at TIC they were like at his ankles and he just kept riding
 
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