So this year I am 20 and I finish my bachelor's degree and next one I am going to live and work in the mountains to do what I most love, fucking ski. I am already quite good at skiing but when it comes to freestyle I just know the basics, hitting jumps, 180s, not landing a good 360 yet and about rails, I just know how to go on a basic straight one. Also, I like to cliff jump but nothing crazy, backflips frontflips, gainers, f180 heights like 13 to 10 metres so I have some aerial awareness. I just bought the arv 100 and can't wait to fucking send it but I fear that it might be a bit late. How do you think one can progress if he really practices nearly many days in a season, like 4 or 5 per week? Idk what objectives to set, maybe hitting good 7s at the end of the season and some corks. I really have no idea how much progression takes so please tell meeeee.
Learning freestyle at 21
- Thread starter S1t0
- Start date
freestyler540
Active member
Skiing is easy. Ya should be landing your first cork within the year. Gainers and rodeos off of 14meter cliffs are for your second year usually. Most people make X-games on their 4th year of skiing, then go heli skiing in Alaska.
ogit
Member
I was in a very similar situation last year but i was 22. I am a pretty capable all mountain skier but could only do bad 360s and slide a straight rail. I live in southwest Sweden where it is pretty flat. Have a small hill 1 hour away with a shitty park with small jumps. Got 10 skidays on that hill and learned front and back 270 of rails, good 360, 540 and decent 720. Just focused on good pop and keeping my shins against the boot and i progressed super fast.(in the past i always had problem with landing backseat) Then went to kläppen and learned proper 360 blunt on ~30 foot jumps and it was the best feeling ever. You are definitaly not too old if you are just hungry to learn. You got this!
BradFiAusNzCoCa
Active member
20 is fine. You can still learn. You’re younger than you think
Farmville420
Active member
Tanner hall is 40 and landed a quad backie, I think ur fine
crimeenthusiast
Member
watch edits of ur fav skiers and watch how they move. try to replicate it as you start learning. you gotta develop body awareness but also think about how you are moving from a 3rd person pov and adapt until you stomp what you want
b0ss
Member
aight, throw that 7 goal out the window and learn 3s with lots of grabs. A better goal would be either all 4 fives or 4 or 5 fives you really like. Thing with rushing to 7 is you might learn bad habits that make it hard to move into 9. You really could learn 7 but good luck unlearning grabbing too early/ bad pop after 21. If you do lots of switch and know lots of 5s you will probs switch 7 first. Also since you have strong alpine fundamentals, try setting a trick list goal or a line goal like 20-40 easy tricks. Its easier to digest cause 4 way 180 with 5 grabs is 20 tricks. Up to you whether you only want to learn tricks you will be able to do your whole life or not.
iDontHitRails
Member
I didn’t get my triple cork 18 until my third year skiing 
this caused me to only get into the X game on my 5th year skiing
this caused me to only get into the X game on my 5th year skiing
Wizerd
Member
Practice tricks on features that you’re super comfortable and confident on. Once you can lace something on a feature you know inside and out, you feel more confident taking that to a new feature, then trying to spin more, swap, etc. If it makes you feel any better, I’m absolutely trash at jumps because I never feel confident enough. Rails are much easier for me, so thats what I focus on.
Remember, skiing is supposed to be fun and make you feel good. Don’t push yourself too hard.
Remember, skiing is supposed to be fun and make you feel good. Don’t push yourself too hard.
vissi
Member
I know people who did their fist backflips and flatspins after 30. Tanner is going strong at 40. Age matters, but is not a deciding factor.
I went from ski racing to park and got into in fully in 2011 when i was 19, did ALOT of skiing, some summer setups, trampoline ect,and was just really stoked to go skiing with no real objectives or "practice" schedule. Put together small video from old clips and seasons edits to show the progression from my point of view. A alot of missed grabs and sketchy tricks but who cares just go skiing and have fun!
https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/1078841/Progression
[video]1078841[/video]
**This post was edited on Oct 29th 2023 at 2:30:18am
**This post was edited on Oct 29th 2023 at 2:30:42am
I went from ski racing to park and got into in fully in 2011 when i was 19, did ALOT of skiing, some summer setups, trampoline ect,and was just really stoked to go skiing with no real objectives or "practice" schedule. Put together small video from old clips and seasons edits to show the progression from my point of view. A alot of missed grabs and sketchy tricks but who cares just go skiing and have fun!
https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/1078841/Progression
[video]1078841[/video]
**This post was edited on Oct 29th 2023 at 2:30:18am
**This post was edited on Oct 29th 2023 at 2:30:42am
disappointmett
Member
I got into skiing when I was 25 you'll be fine
BLandz
Active member
14560549:b0ss said:
I agree with this except for the all 4 fives and the sw 7.
I took the “learn a 7 first” approach to skiing too and it messed me up to this day due to the bad habits I developed. You will not only progress faster by learning smaller spins with grabs first but it will be more fun because instead of learning 3 or 4 really hard tricks badly and working backwards with bad habits, you will have a whole bunch of tricks to add diversity to your runs.
BLandz
Active member
For rails I would suggest getting 270’s out first, then either sw lips or unnat slides, whatever feels more comfortable. That will more than likely take you all season right there. For some ppl tricks come fast, I know for me personally, and a lot of my friends, it did not come easy at all. Doesnt help if your local park sucks
Christian_Bale
Active member
It sounds like you have a good foundation of skills, I don't think it's too late at all. It's gonna be hard, but it always is, no matter when you start. As long as you're prepared to fall a lot and to have days where you feel like you're regressing. Progress generally isn't linear, and some people give up because of that reason. But it sounds like you've got a good mindset so I'm sure you'll have a great season. As far as seasonal progression goes, it really depends on so many factors: how many days you ski, how lucky/unlucky you are with injuries, how good your park setup is, as well as natural talent. I know some people who used to play hockey and picked up skiing super easily. Some people have less talent or less of a skill set prior to starting and they have to work harder to get good at skiing. I think the best thing to do is to set a large number of goals. Some should be easy goals that you plan on achieving sooner, and others should be more ambitious. Not every goal needs to be a cork 7 or something. You can set goals as simple as a lipslide or hitting a small box switch.
iDontHitRails
Member
14560813:b0ss said:
I know, my lack of skiing ability has massively set back my career
BradFiAusNzCoCa
Active member
I’ll see you out there. I’m legit trying to get serious about my rail tricks again. I let them slide for too long
14560579:muffMan. said:
SteezyYeeter
Active member
14560935:iDontHitRails said:
this made me laugh haha
Farmville420
Active member
If it makes anyone feel better I just started heavily progressing rails this season and I'm 25. Made more progress than in my teens by a mile. Recover from injuries faster than when I was younger too