Racing = better at freestyle?

having been a former ski racer means 100% you will b better at jibbing. It takes 10 000 hours to become truly pro at anything and having those 2 planks atachet to your feet and doing anything with them will make you a better skier overall
 
There is a limit to how good someone is going to get without technical skills. How many great big mountain skiers are there out there without good edging skills? None.

Most of the park skiers who have become great big mountain skiers have backgrounds in racing, moguls, or both. Tanner, CR, Jon Henrik Windstedt, Candide.....They all have strong backgrounds.

To the OP, yes, racing will help you become a better skier.
 
I think other shit helps too though besides racing and skiing in general. Took up dirt jumping and mountain biking this summer and I feel way more conf
 
Yes.

Also the same can be said about bmx. All my friends that ride bmx and that race are soo good and can boost the shit out of a box,quater, or jump. Racing in any background just gives you better control of what your doing.
 
Not really at all. It helps you land jumps more confidently and be able to better judge your speed going in to things, but that's about it. Once your in the air its all gymnastics and rails are another thing entirely.
 
I never disagreed with the fact that racing, or better yet (in my opinion) moguls will make you a better skier. I simply was saying that soon we will see a whole generation of kids just givener in the park with no technical background whatsoever. There survivors will become pro skiers who learned how to ski in the park.

Personally I think that is awesome and that those kids truly remind me of what freestyle skiing is all about.

Same goes for the chinese aerial team. You can get all upset of the fact that they are "not skiers" but the fact is THEY are the ones throwing triples 50+ feet high in the air and landing on frozen chunks of ice in their first year of skiing. If that isn't fucking badass skiing right there I don't know what is.
 
I feel that by starting racing, you are better exposed all the aspects of skiing versus the new age park rats who have developed their abilities by just skiing within the boundaries of the park. Also kids who race generally start at a younger age, which can be a factor as well.
 
helps you land jumps, helps you judge speed, but ya it doesn't really help you at all eh?

speed is the most important factor when considering hitting a jump. if you fuck up the speed on a big jump you are going to ride away in pain / injury. no question there.
 
When I was younger I used to wish that I raced. Then I woke up and realized I ski at snowbird and that hucking my tiny corpse off cliffs instead of smashing it into plastic poles was significantly better for my skiing and more fun.
 
if you race you definetely will have more control over how you ski. But if you don't ski park for a long time nd then start again you'll look like a gaper.
 
Those "park rat" kids are the clowns who cant make a god dam turn outside of a straight line into a jump or a rail to slow down. Those ar ethe kids that when they get older and realize how awsome the mountain is outside of the terrain park are going to look like shit because they can't make a proper turn. Its pretty clear already how awful some of these park rats are at skiing just watching htem ski down a hill on a daily basis.
 
I also find that usually the kids who call themselves "all-mountain skiers" or comment on how park rats can't make turns are just saying that because they suck at skiing park.
 
I think you are onto something..... that's the logic I use for being an all mountain skier haha. But I could care less how park kids ski outside the park, and I'm positive they don't give a shit that an "all mountain skier" can carve....
 
Yeah if I had a nickel for every "all mountain skier" I've met who could only make it down about 70% of the runs at Snowbird I'd have at least $.085
 
Racing is what got me much better than half-decent at skiing when I was younger. So indirectly, it does.Here it is simplistically:

RACING -> BETTER SKIER

BETTER SKIER -> BETTER FREESTYLE
 
I think racing allows kids to ski more with coaching then not racing, especially when young. The best skier in my crew never raced, but he was also home schooled and got to spend a lot of time on the mountain. I am tired of these kids who say that racing is the most important foundation to be built off of. Its just bull, if you learn to ski on your own, the biggest disadvantage for you is that you never got the on mountain or coaching time of someone who grew up in the programs. If you grew up in a freestyle program and then switched to racing, you would probably be better at racing then someone who just started racing, that should be obvious. I think it is all about time on skis.

Never raced, never will, and i dont think i suck?
 
also building off my previous post, i have recently been to a lot of races for local high schools, besides for a few kids, it is downright embarrassing. Chill in the lodge, take your run, lodge for an hour, take second run, lodge, done for the day. Its quite aggravating to think that it is supposedly THESE kids who will be better than me at jibbing once they get into it because of their background. In reality, it will be the kids who are dedicated to the sport who are guna get good, usually that stems from having parents who love the sport and therefor the child races as soon as possible. It has nothing to do with the racing, just the people who are guna be incredible, are likely to have raced because of their situation. These will be the kids who ski the most and get the most on mountain time!
 
I tried to teach a kid this year (park lesson) and he would have been able to progress 100 time more if he understood the basics of skiing.

If you ski into the rail completley backseat, chances are your not going to magically right yourself when you get on a rail.

The same goes for skiing switch, if you cant ski forward its going to be hard for you to do it backwards.

Its not really racing that gives you that, its more being used to being coached and adapting your body and applying different skills.

Its also an attitude thing, if your used to being given advice and learning from it you will pick things up faster.
 
It kinda is nessary you need to know how to actually ski and carve good before you go try the park, it will just come to you better
 
when we talk about racing we aren't talking about high school racing. further prooving your ignorance on this subject. for the most part, high school racing is a complete joke
 
hey ther guy lets settle down a bit. my HS league was pretty intense, i learned a lot and loved it. maybe u dont travel as much as other leagues, but its certainly not a joke
 
this. im a level 2 and instructing REALLY helps with all around skiing. it makes you sit back and break down every piece of skiing and how they all come together. ive only been in the park for about 3 seasons, but i feel like its definitely helping out.

as for racing, i wasnt ever really into racing. but i can also see how that would definitely give you a huge advantage(s) when getting down and dirty in the park
 
coaching and competition is on a completely other level in USSA/FIS than in high school. where did you go to hs at?
 
it definitely helps a lot. you dont need to but id recommend just doing racing for a year then heading to park. youll have a much better feel for edges and whatnot. thats what i did and i feel it was a good move
 
Like other people have said there's nothing inherent to racing itself that makes people ski better, it's the coaching that comes with that. I personally never raced but I spent a few years in a freeride program in elementary school and it's the coaching that really helps you progress
 
Im not sure what you are saying. are you saying "all mountain skiers" cant make it down 70% of snowbird? or that most "all mountain skiers" are better?
 
Some of the best skiers I've ever skied with were at one point racers.v Makes you a better skier overall and it also gets you up on the hill. So a lot of racers spend many days in the park before and after their races
 
spot on. the kids making this sort of criticism are pretty blatantly trying to feel better about the fact that they can carve turns on groomers. yet, here they are on a freeski site worshiping park skiing while being too scared to hit a flat rail. there's no right way to ski, and there's no right way to approach it. why anyone would be bothered by a kid who has no interest in making "proper" turns but who likea sliding rails is beyond me. it's just so transparent that those kids feel threatened or cheated bc even though daddy spent years teaching them to find their edges, they still can't do a 360. the truth is that those same "park rat" kids will probably become lifelong skiers and will figure out how to turn when it suits them. you guys are crabby blowhards who sound like total bummers and zero fun.
 
if you suck at actually skiing and making turns and stuff, i couldn't imagine that person being comfortable in the park, or at least enough to have style. there is nothing wrong with just starting skiing because youve seen the latest gopro commercial, but its just known that you wont be as good as the kid who has been racing as a kid, at least at jumping.
 
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