How much of skiing is skill vs Balls?

Ben_Mo-Fat

Ben_Mo-Fat

Member
First of all i am talking about park skiing, not mogul, backcountry, big mountain, etc.I feel like if you are fearless and throw everything you can think of, you could progress so quickly to doing tricks that pros are throwing and get to the top. Granted, you run a high risk of hurting yourself a lot more. But, i feel like as far as skill goes, it is just making those tricks smoother and more consistent. So, really park skiing involves way more balls than skill? Thoughts?
 
As soon as you have the basic shredding skills down, (going fast, riding switch, good balance) then you can start progressing with park. Then when you get comfortable with the really simple things with park, you'll have to get some balls to try new tricks and features. But as long as your skill level is right, and you're not trying anything way above it, then you probably won't hurt yourself. The worst thing is when kids can barely even ski and they try to hit the park...
 
10% luck,

20% skill,

15% concentrated power of will

5% pleasure

50% balls

and 100% reason to remember the name

 
i disagree, pleasure is always 100% all the time. I think the 3 factors are balls, skill, and luck?I think will and balls are very similar.
 
I didn't grow any balls until about a month ago. I noticed how quickly I progressed throughout these past couple weeks and I can say that if you have the skill to cork 7 but not the balls to throw it, it's not happening. So, 40% skill 60% risk it for the biscuit.
 
At this point in my park career, my balls are significantly greater than my skill level. I see people on my local hill who have more skill than me but don't have the balls to try anything new. Sure, they can 270 off most rails and look smooth but I ask them about more complex tricks, big jumps, etc. and they tell me they are too scared to try anything.

Me meanwhile, struggles with sliding urbans but I will hit every feature in the park including hucking backflips and 3s off the biggest jumps on the mountain for the sake of progress and "just going for it." Eventually as I get older I hope my skill will surpass my balls but for right now I'm enjoying just going for it and learning from experience.
 
Can't be good with all balls no skill. You suck and you get hurt.

Can't be good with all skill no balls. You might be great, but you'll never progress.

You get hurt if you're tonnes of skill and tonnes of balls. Only awesome until those three knee surgeries ruin your pro career.

I think like anything in life its a balance. You for sure need skill, and you need enough courage to believe in your skill. You need enough intelligence to keep yourself out of the hospital though, so that you can do more than that one breakout season before you almost died.

 
He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying

Nietzsche

Build off what you know. Visualize. Be confident. Embrace bails, if you are falling you are progressing. The more you fall the better you get at it, and knowing how to fall is one of the biggest parts of any action sport.

I'd like to say they are equally important. Push your boundaries and your skill will follow.
 
10% luck, 20% skill,

15% concentrated power of will,

5% pleasure,

50% PAIN,

and 100% reason to remember the name
 
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that. I would love to be at that level of smoothness but from my perspective (turning 26 in a month) I am trying to be ballsy to build tricks into my muscle memory so that as I get older, I have a solid catalog of tricks I can fall back on and still feel like I am going hard.

I've got backs on lock now and I am finally starting to get my 3s all the way around. Not stomping them yet but I love the feeling of air and spins/flips. I'm tempted to try a side flip today but my better judgement says to wait for the weekend and the air bag.

My rail game needs a lot of work. I'm hitting mostly Urbans today but I always find myself not spacing my kegs far enough apart or not looking towards the end of the rail and falling off early.

What do you guys think? In my opinion jump tricks are easier but take more balls whereas rail game is less balls but much more skill, balance, timing, etc to really master.

I want to be a well rounded skiier so I try to hit 50% of each feature on any given run.
 
i you go about it quick and only little practice it takes balls, if you practice a lot then it is skill. yet it will always be a bit of balls.
 
i'd say comp skiing take more balls (right doubs, triples, faster progression)

and style skiing is more skill (tweaked grabs, inventive tricks, rails)
 
I think balls just make you skip the basic steps of progression, I was all about balls my first years, i did dub back before i did 7's with grab, also where close to do a dub flat 9 before i tried a regular 9. I got sick footage and a lot of pain. Because of all that my knees are now pussies, so i have taken a step back, and tried to learn stuff the progressive way, last season i did all kinds of 5, this year i do all kinds of 7, next year i can focus on 9's, mabye after that i can to try a dub 9 again, and probably have less chance of getting hurt!
 
Ok, Let's perform an experiment. This weekend everyone in this thread is required to go out and do a tripple.

Everyone post back in thread to let us know how it went. Then we will compile a skill vs balls formula. To determine the "SKILL" variable we will need to calculate how many "pole clicks/claps" you have received for a landed trick, in the last week or so.
 
being around some insane skiers like LJ and Karl its all about confidence and past experience. Doing a harder trick or doing a trick in an urban environment just takes the confidence to say "fuck ya I can do that on this rail" and then determination is also very key when it comes to being a good skier. Skill is definitely a huge part too, you need that skill or else the confidence won't be there either. Thats just how I see it.
 
This man has it right. Anybody brave/drunk can ski off a lip at speed and set a trick. The skill part is not turning into the skiing equivalent of a jellyfish in the air and holding it together until you come down, preferably on your skis.
 
It is somewhat balls because i have a friend who is a snowboarder and has done it for eight years and has good carving skills but is a complete puss when it comes to park besides boxes and i just started skiing this year and try almost everything at the parks and succeed at most of it so what im getting at is just go for tricks/jumps/rails
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top