I mean in halfpipe. He did get 4th in Sochi, but that's still pretty good. He'll prefect the YOLO by next year definitely, and can land a triple cork in halfpipe. I'm wondering if he's still on top. Iouri won this, but does that truly mean that Shaun's 14 year career has been knocked down in one single comp? And I'm not even the biggest Shaun White fan, but you can't deny he is the face of the sport. But is he still the best? Back in 2010, his tricks were like 3 years in advance for other rider, but now some have caught up!
Is Shaun White still the best?
ListenUp
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Tons of SW threads this season!
Give the kid a break, isn't he like 27 or something? He dominated for half his life, now he's just trying to get the world to stop viewing him as a total douche, which is good.
There's a new generation out now that will make him obsolete within the next few years. Nobody beats father time..
Give the kid a break, isn't he like 27 or something? He dominated for half his life, now he's just trying to get the world to stop viewing him as a total douche, which is good.
There's a new generation out now that will make him obsolete within the next few years. Nobody beats father time..
I hope you're joking. He invented the Double McTwist 1260. That's his most famous one but a lot of the tricks that are common now, he was the first to do most of them! YOLO is the first trick he's brought out and struggled with ever. He is a extremely creative guy, and most definitely without him, YOLO would not of been invented for years to come. Shaun White is what drove half pipe snowboarding progression. He drove slopstlye until he couldn't balance progression between the two disciplines. He's obviously not the best at slopestly, but is the best at half pipe. Yes his end is near, but still has a couple of good years left. I think what I forgot when I asked the question was that no one else does YOLO and Iouri is only 2 years younger than Shaun. Basically, he doesn't have that long left either. Other riders still need to catch up a little, but that gap is closing very quickly, especially since other pros train year round while he doesn't anymore
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ignorant post is ignorant.
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I think that the rest of the competition has caught up with him - to an extent - but other than the young Japanese kid (and iPod when he's on) is there really anyone else at his level? The half pipe at next years X Games will be pretty interesting and I think we'll find out what kind of trajectory SW's career is on.
I feel he is like the Tiger Woods of snowboard. For awhile Shaun White was unbeatable, just like Woods used to be in golf. Now both White and Woods are beatable. White still has potential to win competitions in the next few years, but now that he has been beaten, people don't see him as superhuman. When he's in the lineup for a competition next year, we should be in for a great event. As of now, In my opinion, he still is ranked #1 for the best halfpipe rider, but he's left the door open for someone else to claim that spot. We'll just have to see what next year brings.
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You have to be a child prodigy like Woods&White to be able to log the time and development process to get to triple corks in the pipe. This will always be a small sample size of riders. And when you factor in the increased risk factor (KP) that will shrink that small population of riders further. I don't think there is a Woods or White always waiting in the wings. But these child prodigies do age out eventually.
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Both feel the pressure of being the best, but can't produce like they once could. He may be the best, maybe not, but both Tiger and SW are not going to win dominantly like the once did.
On another note, you want to talk about an elite athlete that continues to progress with his sport into his forties, Kelly muthafukin Slater. He still paddles out in 25 foot pipeline, beats groms and can do all the new school airs necessary to win world titles or get close (last year)at age 42.
Talk about a world class athlete that no one knows about outside of the surfing world....dude is a legend, I remember watching Kelly Slater:Black & White as a teenager and just being amazed.
As far as White goes, I think the Tiger Woods analogy is a good one. One of the best of all time but no one is really scared of him anymore and that "fear" was a huge psychological edge for both of them in the past. Also, like Tiger, White has forced others to push their skills to the next level in order to be competitive.
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IMO you can see it in his eyes his whole mind set is just a little off…Scared of losing
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Well they have Jamie Anderson in Slopestyle, she seems to be pushing that event pretty well. As far as pipe though, I can't really think of anyone. Maybe Kaitlyn Farrington? No clue.
Let's be honest, has he fallen off some, obviously. But if he spent a third the amount of time he use to at perfecting his pipe skills he'd likely still be dominating. He barely rides now compared to what he use to and he's still dominating 90% of the field who dedicate 100% of their life to it. And if he dedicating himself purely to BC like Terje anybody who says he wouldn't be one of the best there as well is lying to themselves.
The dude just does whatever he has to to get what he wants. Currently thats transitioning to music and being an ambassador but if he actually wanted to be pure dominance he would be. I mean who can basically make halfpipe a minor hobby for themselves and still be one of the best? It's unnatural and because of that he will be the best in my eyes for a while yet.
The dude just does whatever he has to to get what he wants. Currently thats transitioning to music and being an ambassador but if he actually wanted to be pure dominance he would be. I mean who can basically make halfpipe a minor hobby for themselves and still be one of the best? It's unnatural and because of that he will be the best in my eyes for a while yet.
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Kelly Clark has dominated the women's pipe for quite awhile - at least in the X Games.
I concur with lab, he is 27 and he is doing music now too in which he likes when he was a kid. SW still works hard for competition as what you have seen on his Video prior to Sochi,if he landed that YOLO trick this topic would be different. I'm sure he will still compete and be a threat on halfpipe on the next olympic. Then if he lose,it will be just another topic like Kobe Bryant and Lebron James comparison:dunno: He will still be the best until somebody else wins as much as he did on either X-Games or Olympic games or surpasses him. Just to point out, I am no SW fanatic but i do admire his desire to be the best,there is nothing wrong with that.:thumbsup:
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LOL no. She's been doing virtually the exact same run for 5+ years, it's just that women's snowboarding is so lame that no one else seems to be able to link a 540 and a 720 together as Jamie can.
But make no mistake, there has been virtually ZERO progression in women's slopestyle for years.
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To be honest, I didn't even think of her. Don't know why, but she slipped my mind. She is getting up there now though, so her career is probably closer to the end, but she does dominate.
Well, I admittedly don't follow Women's snowboarding much, so.... she has looked good this year. Didn't realize it was the same run she was doing, that's lame.
Yes what's up with that? I'm really suprised at how big a difference women's and men's tricks are. The thing women are doing to win the Olympics were things Shaun white was doing to win x games back in 2002! It irks me how no one is truly driving women's snowboarding. I have high hopes for Chloe Kim, I'll be watching her for the next couple of years because she is amazing and will ultimately become a big name for women's snowboarding, if she isn't already
FINALLY SOMEONE SPEAKS THE TRUTH! I saw Jamie Anderson throw down like a 720 or 900 and win the freaking Olympics? Women's snowboarding could go so far but it's like everyone is scared to go bigger! Same with pipe, Kelly Clark is doing well but I'm just surprised that women's snowboarding isn't a progressed as men's. I thought that because women are lighter they can go higher and do more spins? It's physics, man. Pure physics. Ok probably not, I've never been good at physics
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