What's Your Switch Landing Pole Style - Parallel or Rudder?

[bennwithtwons]

curious to know which way you guys like (or tend) to hold your poles while landing/skiing switch

i think of skiers as subscribing primarily to two different approaches, which i call

'parallel' style - you hold your poles up so they're roughly parallel to the hill

'rudder' style - you rotate your hand uphill and point the pole down so it drags in the snow

in case it is hard to visualize, i took some screenshots from that new jiberish edit (so sick) for reference:

parallel:





rudder:

 

[GrandThings]

Never even thought about it, but I think rudder looks cooler.

 

[bennwithtwons]

I feel like Matt walker was one of the first to really embrace, or perhaps even innovate, the rudder style. Many of his contemporaries were definitely more parallel style (thinking wallisch and martini, for example)

Never even thought about it, but I think rudder looks cooler.

 

[Shifty_God]

I’ve never thought about it but I naturally land parallel.

 

[270on420out]

Rudder looks cooler but it’s very obvious when it’s forced.

 

[BrownSnow]

parallel but point both my poles up the hill as if i was going forward

 

[Breccanh]

I think rudder looks cooler but its mostly from a spin and the momentum keeping someone moving. when its forced it looks stupid

 

[Farmville420]

Cool observation, I do rudder when I land forward and parallel when I land sw apparently. Had to rewatch footage to see lol

 

[Dlonetti]

the no poles equivalent of this is wavy straight arms or tight bent arms leading with elbows

 

[bennwithtwons]

the no poles equivalent of this is wavy straight arms or tight bent arms leading with elbows

yeah, if you deleted the poles out of these photos, you'd definitely see an obvious no-poles counterpart to each style

 

[skietedavidson]

When I land switch I prefer to just drop my poles midair

 

[OldParkRat]

Both are nice. Great post.

 

[Mangomangler]

poleless

 

[Vish-shoe]

Rudder too extra

 

[iH8pow]

Never thought about it but pretty sure rudder

 

[CT_CREW]

Dutch Rudder

 

[SteezyYeeter]

rudder is the epitome of steez if i ever look like that i will be complete

 

[partyandBS]

i rarely spin over 5 so I feel like the rudder is a sloppy look. if i was doing dub 12s then yeah the rudder is stylish.

 

[Sully_Lynn]

rutter seems cooler if you are good at it, being bad at rudder must look like shit

 

[Slowbro]

I have an alternate technique

 

[KilaTsunami]

Paul Rudder

also nice observation, I actually never thought of it!

 

[GayWolf420]

Milly Rock

 

[ReturnToMonkey]

View attachment 1092644

I have an alternate technique

Now this one is relatable

 

[dwt802]

Parallel for the tru OG thugged effect

 

[Rparr]

I think rudder only looks good with long poles

 

[keagan.karstens]

Not sure u understand what parallel means my guy

 

[bennwithtwons]

Can you elaborate?

'parallel' style - you hold your poles up so they're roughly parallel to the hill

Not sure u understand what parallel means my guy

 

[SofaKingSick]

pussies, you don't just revert immediately?

 

[gravel]

poles are antennae for your hands so rudder. but tbh parallel cooler.

 

[IanAvery-Leaf]

rudder

 

[skiP.E.I.]

Swinging dramatically

 

[Bernah]

Skiing corny as fuck

 

[stokedelic]

been in deep reflection over this the past few days.

i think both can be properly executed and go hard AF, but have different contexts.

parallel works with clapping the fuck out of the landing, no mercy OG type shit. i feel like everyone pre 2014ish idolized the stomp. Tom @2:24

[video]https://youtu.be/49PmN3MIo1U?si=5Nt3jViPzKCqVexm[/video]

rudder looks better if you’re landing weightlessly out of a spin. i feel like it naturally progressed out of swerve skiing, people generally staying off their center axis and keeping center of gravity low to the ground. Hanka @1:58 but the dude is a great example

[video]https://youtu.be/FhHmto2rb6c?si=nCuKrrdtaq9YTYxU[/video]

TLDR: North Americans land parallel, Euros land rudder

**This post was edited on May 15th 2024 at 6:07:11pm

 

[Farmville420]

been in deep reflection over this the past few days.

i think both can be properly executed and go hard AF, but have different contexts.

parallel works with clapping the fuck out of the landing, no mercy OG type shit. i feel like everyone pre 2014ish idolized the stomp. Tom @2:24

[video]https://youtu.be/49PmN3MIo1U?si=5Nt3jViPzKCqVexm[/video]

rudder looks better if you’re landing weightlessly out of a spin. i feel like it naturally progressed out of swerve skiing, people generally staying off their center axis and keeping center of gravity low to the ground. Hanka @1:58 but the dude is a great example

[video]https://youtu.be/FhHmto2rb6c?si=nCuKrrdtaq9YTYxU[/video]

TLDR: North Americans land parallel, Euros land rudder

**This post was edited on May 15th 2024 at 6:07:11pm

The two examples OP gave are north Americans lol

 

[stokedelic]

The two examples OP gave are north Americans lol

another CLEAR example of NATO corruption smfh

 

[Slowbro]

Rudder usually seems forced/intentional to me

 

[SteezyYeeter]

rudder is the epitome of steez if i ever look like that i will be complete

boys I must have been high off zyns when I posted this because rudder is not what I like. I'm a thug from 2007 so of course I like parallel. but seriously rudder contradicts my saga fits so parallel ftw.

 

[SofaKingSick]

corny reply here but this thread made me think of how much we've all been slacking on carved landings since jon brogan

 

[Angioedema]

i don't use poles in park bc i value my thumbs

 

[BradFiAusNzCoCa]

No poles if I’m skiing park that day. If I’m rolling through the park and spinning a bit with poles - parallel.