Sochi - Women's Slopestyle too aggressive?

[Domeskier]

The ladies dont hit the jumps as hard because they weigh less. Its physics. A heavier object will go down the hill faster and off a jump farther. They did not look as comfortable in the air but that is mental kot physical.

There is less of a difference between the men and women in freestyle aerials. My guess is that the gap will start to close when snowboarding passes through its relative infancy and the emphasis on fashion and hanging out is replaced by an emphasis on training and competition, which is where Shawn White really excels.

 

[twinplanx]

... My guess is that the gap will start to close when snowboarding passes through its relative infancy and the emphasis on fashion and hanging out is replaced by an emphasis on training and competition, which is where Shawn White really excels.

Are you referring to the same shawn white who dropped out of the slopestyle? I believe he stated he thought it was to dangerous. Sure he excells in the half-pipe, but I think he's just a one trick pony and media darling. Not sure what training and competition your talking about. Seems like sean is more about the fashion and hanging out then the opposite...

Sent from my SCH-S735C using Tapatalk

 

[abc]

For all those who say women are lighter and can't get as big air, that's wrong. If weight is so important, you would start seeing bigger and bigger guys winning which is not true. The difference in weight is too small to account for the difference in difficulty chosen.

Besides, looking at the women jump. Their air time were also pretty impressive. Not all that smaller than the guys. But the women just hang out in the air doing nothing while the guys try to milk all that air time for one more rotation or one more flip!

The biggest difference? Almost all the guys were inverted at least once if not twice. None of the women did any. They just spun around and around...

Whoever said earlier the difference is mental is right on. The women definitely have time to flip upside down. But none of them choose to do so.

 

[Domeskier]

Are you referring to the same shawn white who dropped out of the slopestyle? I believe he stated he thought it was to dangerous. Sure he excells in the half-pipe, but I think he's just a one trick pony and media darling. Not sure what training and competition your talking about. Seems like sean is more about the fashion and hanging out then the opposite...

Sent from my SCH-S735C using Tapatalk

You do not dominate both snowboard halfpipe and skateboard vert for close to a decade by being a diletante.

 

[darent]

I have coached women in gymnastics and spring board diving and I think the difference is their learning style. men are more crash,burn and learn and women are more methodical progression learners.women have the ability to flip and twist as men have, just look at what they do on uneven bars and vaulting.In time they will get closer to men in slopestyle.

 

[dlague]

If you look back men were doing what women are doing now to some degree. As the sport progresses and more people can do more complicated stuff it will push all of them to even greater heights. You watch, women will be doing much more in the next Olympics. Men will be doing more as well and always stay ahead!

If I recall one women actually did a 900 and another did and end over end barrel roll!

Same applies with the mogul comp, BTW!


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone

 

[baldylox]

Yes. I noticed the same. People seem to be afraid to say it aloud. As if noticing differences betweens the sexes is sexist, which it is not. I would definitely love to see them pulling harder tricks off smaller jumps. They just look out of their depth on that course.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Mapnut]

It may be a statistical thing. I'd guess there are maybe 4 times as many guys as girls into snowboarding at a high level, thus the odds are against there being an equal number of high-level competitors. Probably the same applies to ski jumping; it will be interesting to see how that goes.

 

[Glenn]

I'd like to point out Bob Costas saying slope style is a "Jackass" type sport...then the first Gold was one by the US in slope style.

 

[C-Rex]

There is less of a difference between the men and women in freestyle aerials. My guess is that the gap will start to close when snowboarding passes through its relative infancy and the emphasis on fashion and hanging out is replaced by an emphasis on training and competition, which is where Shawn White really excels.

I really hope that does not happen. I don't want snowboarding competition to become gymnastics on snow, which is basically what aerials is. Snowboarding has always been about style. You may be confusing fashion for style in what I'm saying. It's about how you tweak out a grab, lay out a flip, or press a rail that sets riders apart.

Are you referring to the same shawn white who dropped out of the slopestyle? I believe he stated he thought it was to dangerous. Sure he excells in the half-pipe, but I think he's just a one trick pony and media darling. Not sure what training and competition your talking about. Seems like sean is more about the fashion and hanging out then the opposite...

Right on. He is a one trick pony. Check out the movie First Descent for proof. He and some other riders known for their prowess in the park did some heli riding with legends like Terje Haakonson, and the difference in their abilities on big mountain stuff was obvious and even admitted by SW. The uninformed public generally think he's the best snowboarder out there but the truth is there are many that are far better. Travis Rice probably tops the list, and there are many others who, if they cared to compete, would most likely bury the rest of the field.

Do a youtube search for footage of the Redbull Supernatural comp that T.Rice designed. THAT'S snowboarding.

 

[Twism86]

I think many of them would have done better hitting the smaller side of the jumps but the judges were not rewarding them for that. They were forced to go big or go home. The judging seemed rather erratic as I felt some women deserved better scores as their runs looked more technical and had cleaner landings. For me, I would rather seen a perfectly landed 720 than a sloppy 1080.

I did not like the course, the rail section was pretty boring and due to the size of the jumps everyone had to keep their speed up through the rails. This leads to boring, plain, board slides rather than some technical spins on and off the rails.

I have no doubt women are capable of the same tricks but you just need to go out there and go for it. Womens freestyle unfortunately doesnt interest me after watching the men. They can ski 1000x better than me though so I cant knock them. Its all about chasing the competition, they need someone to really step it up and keep winning so they have a new high mark to strive for. Basically a female Shawn White needs to break out... Or just regular SW with long hair again.... You get the point. Why go for a 1260 triple cork when everyone else is throwing 900s? No need to push it that much further and risk injury.

 

[timm]

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how...3b86a4-8ed9-11e3-b227-12a45d109e03_story.html