some of those swoops towards the end were scary! watching the new rules compared to the old rules, i've noticed that the swoops are either very boring to watch or very scary. were the old rules it was a bunch of smooth ones and a few epic throws down course.
Seems that the approach angle that works best is similar to the old event (steep aggressive), except further back from the gate to allow a water drag. Just like the old event, there were only a few competitors in each comp that could consistently be that aggressive without bouncing off the water. Popping up still seems to work if you can get past the last gate with enough speed for it to be worthwhile.
ianmdrennan (D 25821)
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May 8, 2012, 11:14 AM
Post #4 of 11
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Seems that the approach angle that works best is similar to the old event (steep aggressive), except further back from the gate to allow a water drag.
It's borderline. IMO the best results are a smoother set down. Generally when you set down aggressively, or too hard, you end up having to almost totally release the rears to prevent popping up over the last marker - which significantly shortens distance.
To some degree, I think we're all still figuring out what works best. Intentionally bombing the gate is risky, and not worth the reward imo
I think if you want to increase the entertainment aspect then you need to have instantaneous penalties ie. if you miss a gate or pop up too high, there is a judge (or a group of judges) to shoot at you with a paintball gun.
I didn't understand all the 0's. Some were clearly above the gates (or on the side), but some others seemed OK. And why do some peple touch the water and some don't ?
in the amateur category the gates are 10' and water drag is not required, pros must keep under 1.5m gates all way to last gate and drag water thru gate 1.
Looks like the rule change is doing what it set out to, reducing overall distance, still a lot of event specific technique required. Dragging gate 1 with a steep aggressive approach looks difficult but impressive when done right. Seems most competitors are making the decision to use more of a zone acc approach, but all the 100m + distances seemed quite steep and aggressive (curt @9:15 for example) interesting to see which way the event goes.
