Style vs Skill/balls(Does Style Matter?)

Ian_Fitz

Ian_Fitz

Member
A dude who I ride occasionally with has been criticising my riding for lacking style......I realize style is important and also its needed in park skiing but I honestly don't have any style lol...People say style comes with comfortability but I think im really comfortable park skiing....I think I got into the habit of doing things that look bad and its hard to break them.....I'll snow plow a little when going onto rails and let my arms flail when im spinning on rails. The dude I occasionally ride with will throw easy tricks like front 2s off and when I throw something a little harder like a K fed or switch 2 on he will "especially recently' criticise my riding and say I have no style. One time he told me that a straight air with style is better then a backie or misty 7 with no style.....Any tips on improving my style? Does it really matter? To show you my lack of style here is a video of me skiing https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=13&v=yLAJUIvyeZshttps://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/774431/Mt-Hood-Insta-Edit
 
It sounds like your friend just wants to justify his inferior skill.

I disagree when people say "style comes with comfort". Style comes when you are mindful of your body and it's movements. People may say "but then it looks forced". Sorry to break it to you, but all style is forced to a degree.
 
It looks like you are not so comfortable with those tricks. Style comes from being comfortable with the trick. If you do trick first time it doesnt look as good as when you can do it every time.
 
THEDIRTYBUBBLEIt

I disagree when people say "style comes with comfort". Style comes when you are mindful of your body and it's movements. People may say "but then it looks forced". Sorry to break it to you, but all style is forced to a degree.[/quote]

When i think of it, this sound more true than what i just said.
 
13612901:THEDIRTYBUBBLE said:
I disagree when people say "style comes with comfort". Style comes when you are mindful of your body and it's movements. People may say "but then it looks forced". Sorry to break it to you, but all style is forced to a degree.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. A lot of kids think that style comes with how you dress and what brands you wear which I strongly disagree with.
 
13612901:THEDIRTYBUBBLE said:
I disagree when people say "style comes with comfort". Style comes when you are mindful of your body and it's movements. People may say "but then it looks forced". Sorry to break it to you, but all style is forced to a degree.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. A lot of kids think that style comes with how you dress and what brands you wear which I strongly disagree with.
 
Is this all negative criticism, or his he giving you ideas on how to improve? If he's just a dick, I'd quit riding with him. If he has good solutions on how to help your style then let him help you out. If you really need to improve your style, just make it a point to tweak grabs and afterbang everything.
 
if you see yourself on film its easy to find out what is making your tricks look weird. carve instead of pizza, and find pros or people who are good at your resort and try to emulate them and take elements of their style and implement it into yours.
 
When I think of style, I think "what looks good." I personally think that keeping tricks simple, say a backflip, are better than double cork 7's and so on. Doing tricks a little slower looks nicer in my opinion too, so a fast 3 looks choppier and less stylish than a nice slow-spinning 3. Thats just me tho.
 
Honestly just practice keeping your arms down on rails and don't pizza into them, I don't think doing a pizza every now and then is bad. I think your friend honestly is just jealous or wants to try and one up you at least it sounds that way. I know this from skateboarding like I have a decent amount of tricks and they all feel good but when I see them on camera I'm like "fuck I look retarded." I would recommend trying to emulate the style of one of your favorite skiers to an extent. You don't want to fully copy their style but notice how they after bang and what they do with their arms on rails and such and then add your own touches.a big thing though is get someone to film you a lot like maybe just a line through the park and watch what you look like and see what might be causing that and then try and correct it. For me I don't think it's so much being comfortable but just doing it correctly. So I encourage you to get filmed and watch what you look like and try to fix it. Watch other skiers and maybe combine a few of them to try and create your own. Also when you ski try and relax and don't tense up I find that that helps. Some people just have it naturally and others don't but you can always fix that. Ski faster into rails too, faster you slide=less balance required, slow slide= more balance and more flailing to try and keep you balance. Obviously don't go Mach 9 them but go at a medium to fastish speed.
 
IMO style is better than skill. I would much rather watch a stylish edit with more basic tricks than an edit of hucked and flailing corks or wackflips. I would much rather watch a stylish 5 with a grab than a pencil 9. If youre arms are flailing, what i did was focus on holding my arms down while doing the trick i normally do and it eventually became natural and my tricks looked much better.
 
You need balls to send it, then style comes into play to make it look good.

Imo its half n half. Gotta work on being fearless and making look like a good time.
 
Try using poles for a bit. Although I rarely use poles I found that using them for 1 week helped me flail less and be more controlled. In terms of style vs tricks, there is no winner. It's all about having fun, not if you can do some next level tricks or if you ski like Antwuan Dixon.
 
13612901:THEDIRTYBUBBLE said:
It sounds like your friend just wants to justify his inferior skill.

I disagree when people say "style comes with comfort". Style comes when you are mindful of your body and it's movements. People may say "but then it looks forced". Sorry to break it to you, but all style is forced to a degree.
Click to expand...

Interesting, I would disagree with that. I find that I ski the "Steeziest" when I can completely forget about everything, when my minds clear, and when I'm not thinking of anything. it just sort of happens. I guess its different for everyone else though. Id like to know what goes through your mind when you do something "steezy"
 
13614237:Jon_Taffer said:
Interesting, I would disagree with that. I find that I ski the "Steeziest" when I can completely forget about everything, when my minds clear, and when I'm not thinking of anything. it just sort of happens. I guess its different for everyone else though. Id like to know what goes through your mind when you do something "steezy"
Click to expand...

Is it possible that you're just subconsciously controlling yourself?

When I think to myself: "The trick I just did was steezy", It means that everything went smoothly and accordingly. Adequate speed, no flailing, etc. I was where I needed to be, when I needed to be there.
 
13614247:THEDIRTYBUBBLE said:
Is it possible that you're just subconsciously controlling yourself?

When I think to myself: "The trick I just did was steezy", It means that everything went smoothly and accordingly. Adequate speed, no flailing, etc. I was where I needed to be, when I needed to be there.
Click to expand...

I mean, I'm subconsciously controlling myself every day from the time I wake up till the time I fall asleep, so yes, technically I am. However, when I ski today (although it's been about 8 months since I've skied) it feels the same as when I was a novice park skier, except for the fact that I land tricks more consistently. I never worried about style when I was a gaper, and I never worry about it now, it just sort of comes naturally to me, without thinking. sometimes ill do stuff and not even know that I did it until I watch the footage, it's really weird. some/most people can force style and make it look pretty good, though.
 
My style was ridiculed by all my friends because i just started skiing last year, I threw on poles for a joke this year, and everyone was saying my style got a lot better. I think try using poles it keeps your arms down. Just worth a try.
 
13614274:WavyKids said:
My style was ridiculed by all my friends because i just started skiing last year, I threw on poles for a joke this year, and everyone was saying my style got a lot better. I think try using poles it keeps your arms down. Just worth a try.
Click to expand...

^^^

this definitely helps

everybody goes no poles think they're suddenly b-dog. poles keep you from flailing your arms around like a raving idiot which is a big step in the direction of lookin steeezy. also afterbangin kinda looks better with poles for some reason imo.

oh yeah and another big one its pretty nice to not have to skate everywhere, and to have the ability to stop yourself in a crowded lift line without pizzaing so you dont ski over somebodies tails.

and then you can graduate to no poles when your training is complete, yung padawan.

but poles are good for implementing grabs tho so theres that.
 
style=skill. I have no idea why no one is mentioning this. You will never see a gaper with good style. The biggest things that has also never been mentioned is individual style. OP, you need to get better at park to have better style. Some people have really good style, som dont. its based on anatomy and skill. Im not saying that doing tricks doesn't equate to skill, but (i mentioned this in another thread) ive seen terrible skiers do 2's on to rails and it was terrifying but they did the trick. I do not count them as anywhere near as good as someone who can do a 2 on with style/ control
 
not gonna lie your style isnt the best but neither is mine. but you have the tricks down. just keep throwing them and style will come. you gotta start somewhere
 
I watched the first video, and I'll be honest, it looks pretty rough. I would probably say the same thing, if I couldn't do all the same tricks, just to make myself feel better. You just need to relax, go faster, and commit. It looks like you are fighting to get the tricks.
 
13628264:koolkale said:
If you are little go for hucking tricks, because little people (no offense I am little) have minimum style.
Click to expand...

check out ethan swadburg dude the kid is tiny
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top