How to Win the X Games (part 1)
Saturday December 15th, 2007Written by Law
Ok, so we're not allowed at the X Games anymore. Maybe "How to Win the AIL Championships". Well, maybe not win the AIL. How about "do better at your local skate competition." Yeah, that's more realistic.
Top 3 at the Latin X Games in 2002Most skaters can destroy their local park, or do amazing grinds on the rail up the street, but they always do horribly at a skating competition. What changed one they hit the street course? Are the judges just being jerks to "real street skaters?" Maybe they don't know what "real" skating is all about? Hardly.
Skating at a competition has very little to do with the tricks you put out there and more to do with the run as a whole. You're putting on a show here, it's all about how the crowd like your run. Sure you true 720 topsouled the ledge to fakie. But it took you 3 tries and that's the only trick you tried. Your friends love it, you might win some "street cred" but the judges don't care. It's not a best trick competition, and you better learn the difference if you want to compete well in events.
I've judged everything from the X Games in LA to the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey and one thing holds true from each level of competition; The person who puts together the best run, wins. Not the best trick, not the most tricks, but the best run.
Now, how can you define the best run? Well unfortunately I can't give you an easy answer. There are a lot of variables going into play, from your individual style to how you use the course, all the way to what time in the day you skate. I'm going to try and explain what the judges are looking for in a run. Granted, it's been a few years since I judged a competition. Things might have changed. However, I'm sure if you're really interested in doing better at a competition, you'll pick up a few tips that still hold true.
Disclaimer: These are my opinions and my experiences as a judge and don't reflect any other judge's style or opinion. I'm not trying to say this is "the way it is" but this is the way it was for me. Every judge is different and looks for different things in a run, this is just what I was looking for.
How does scoring work?
A typical skating competition's scoring is based on each run being worth between 0 and 100 points. The score is technically based on 4 criteria, 25 points each. Those include style, difficulty, line and consistency. Maybe there was 5, I can't remember the last though. At any rate, these are very loose definitions, not many judges break down scores into the different criteria. I just based my score on an overall average and I'd bet the other guys did as well.
Mike Opalek was a Judge at the Gravity Games, shown here testing out the course
If your run had a high level of difficulty but you fell a few times, you'd probably end up right next to the guy who played it safe, got in a few easy tricks but looked good doing it. After a few years of judging, you get used to the scores and what each run should end up getting. Each of the guys I judged with were able to call out a score with pretty good accuracy. This was really important at big events like the X Games where you didn't have time to argue.
Skater Ranking
Honestly though, and this is what will hurt the most, the scores don't really matter. They're just a number, a ranking. What would be a 60 at one comp could be an 80 at another, depending on who else is skating. Our role as a judge is to make sure the right people make it to the finals.
There are three levels of skaters in a competition; the ones who really shouldn't be there, the ones who are good average skaters, and the ones who should make it to the finals. Those are the guys with a 70+ score, typically 15-20 skaters per competition.
A lot of skaters in that middle range get upset at where they are in the standings. "Joe only did a 360 but I did a 540, how could he beat me?" Truthfully, it gets crazy in the middle scores. There is very little difference between a 50 and a 60 since there are so many skaters in this scoring range. This is the catch-all for average skaters which a lot of the competitors fall into. You'll see this trend if you ever look at the scores after a comp.
Don't get me wrong, we try to give each skater an accurate score. You deserve an accurate score. If you skated a 60, you should get a 60. But with so many skaters, and so many runs, it's impossible to be perfect. What we really stress about is making sure the ranking you get in relation to the other skaters is correct.
When do you skate in the day?
Winners of the Latin X Games in 2001After the first few skaters take their runs, all the judges get together and share scores. This helps us get a gauge on what the right score should have been, calibrating ourselves. Typically the first skater gets a mid 60 or so. After that run, it's really a game of "was that guy better than this guy, and by how much?" As I said before, it gets really crowded in the middle.
I'm sure you're now wondering if the first skater ever gets a fair score? Most definitely, I've seen the first skater make the finals on numerous occasions. But you'd be right to question it, that first guy usually gets jacked. It's just hard to know what score the first skater should get so early in the comp.
Put it in a judge's perspective. There's 100+ kids skating two runs (minimum) of 60 seconds. That's over 3 hours of skating we're watching. Unless you do something extraordinary, skating early in the day is a death wish. Think about it, how am I going to remember every little detail of your run? Sure I take notes, but I can't write down every trick, on every obstacle and how high you got or how long you grinded. Style plays such a huge part in my scoring. That's something that's hard to remember, unless you stand out.
What about skating at the end, leave the best for last right? Well, remember how long I've been watching skating? I'm probably tired of seeing the same trick over and over. That gap you discovered in warmups that you're gonna 540, that nobody else knows about? I've seen it 5 times already, and some guy pulled a 720. It's gonna take a lot to impress me this late in the game.
The best time to skate is right in the middle, or maybe even early middle of the comp. By then we have a good understanding of the scoring and know the course and what's out there. I'm still excited about seeing some skating and you have a good chance of impressing me with a new way to attack the course. All you have to do is be better than the skaters we've seen so far, and I'll guarantee you make the finals.
Until next time...
In the second part of this article, we'll explain what your run should look like and how you should make each trick count on the road to the finals. Check back in a week or so.
geekroller on Monday December 24th, 2007 said:
- Having just Judged my first street skate contest yesterday, I can say you're very honest about the realities of judging. I didn't realize there would be so much pressure. Who's to say one trick was better than another? Who's style or line was more creative? It's not an easy thing to decide when your peers are breaking them selfs on huge obstacles.
Law on Saturday December 29th, 2007 said:
- Thanks and welcome to the club. I really enjoyed judging and would do it again in a heartbeat if the opportunity came my way. Hope you get another chance as well.
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