Rodeo Rulebook
small to encourage the high-flying combos
that many herald as the future of freestyle. “It
reminds me a bit of 1995 when splitwheels
hoW to keeP sCore at hoMe
and loops scored the same as a cartwheel,”
veteran competitor Clay Wright grumbles on
the Jackson Kayak website.
Whether you’re training for the Worlds, orga- While some restrictions have remained the Perhaps the most significant improvement
nizing your own backyard rodeo or simply same for 2009—each competitor may use in ICF scoring is the recent introduction of
trying to understand what the hell’s going on only one boat design for the whole event, for variety scoring, where each move can be
while watching streaming video on YouTube, example—there are a few significant changes awarded only once per ride. The purpose of
you should know the rules. for this year’s Worlds. Most notable of these variety scoring is to avoid performances like
The World Championships involve four are the way rides and tricks are scored (more those that dominated the ’97 Worlds. The tru-
rounds of 45-second rides in which pad- on that below). Also, practice may no longer ly remarkable thing about the winning rides
dlers score points for various tricks on a be taken just before the actual ride. Finally, all that year was not that Ken Whiting’s 35 verti-
wave, in a hole or both. In the preliminaries, judges must now attend a pre-championships cal ends trumped Eric Jackson’s 34, but that
paddlers complete two or four rides—two training camp and may not be competitors in anyone bothered to count.
on a feature that can be paddled back into the competition that they are judging. Three So what will a winning ride at the 2009
from the eddy, and four on a feature that variety judges dole out points for each ride, World Freestyle Championships look like?
cannot be re-attained after flushing. The which are then averaged for a final score. Well, while the exact routines are being
two best scores are totaled and the top 25 The ICF scoring system has a new list of kept top-secret, the inside scoop from 2007
per cent advance to the quarterfinals. Here, basic moves that assigns a value to every medalist Nick Troutman is that we’ll be see-
the sum of the best two out of three rides is possible move, with additional bonuses for ing lots of Helixes, Air Screws, Back Pan
used to advance 10 boaters into the two- moves that go huge, get air, or are performed Ams, Phonics Monkeys and other big-ticket
ride semifinals. Again, the field is whittled clean or super clean. A new “linked” bonus is tricks, as well as high-scoring aerial com-
down with the five highest scoring boaters given when two moves are completed con- bos like the Blunt McNasty. A ride with a half
continuing to the finals. Finally, each boater secutively in one fluid sequence. The linked dozen well-executed tricks like these could
has three rides with the single highest scor- bonus has become a bone of contention for grab upwards of 900 points and the World
ing ride determining the winner. some paddlers who are arguing that it is too Champion title. —VM
Freestyle Score Sheet
[instRuctions: use a highlighter to mark a move and its basic points and indicate whether it was thrown left or right. if one or more bonuses are attached to
that move, highlight these on the same row as the move in the appropriate column. Remember, a move can be scored only once each right and left. at the end
of the ride, add up all the highlighted numbers. this is the score.]
BONus
r L Basic Moves Points Clean super Clean air huge Linked trophy
entry Move 1,2,3 30, 50, 80 0 0 0 0 0 0
Spin 10 10 20 30 20 0 0
roundhouse 15 10 20 30 20 0 0
Back roundhouse 20 10 20 30 20 0 0
Shuvit 5 0 20 0 0 0 0
Cartwheel 30 10 20 0 0 0 0
Splitwheel 40 30 40 0 0 20 10
Tricky Woo 100 0 60 50 40 30 10
Blunt 40 30 40 30 40 20 10
Back Blunt 70 30 40 30 40 20 10
loop 60 30 40 30 40 20 10
Space Godzilla 90 30 40 0 40 20 10
Phonics Monkey 170 0 60 0 40 30 10
Pirouette 25 10 20 0 0 0 0
Pan Am 110 50 60 0 40 30 10
Back Pan Am 130 50 60 0 40 30 10
Flip Turn 90 30 40 30 40 20 10
Donkey Flip 120 0 60 0 40 30 10
Air Screw 140 0 60 0 40 30 10
lunar Orbit/Back McNasty 150 50 60 50 40 30 10
McNasty/Pistol Flip 160 50 60 0 40 30 10
Felix 80 30 40 30 40 20 10
Helix 180 50 60 0 40 30 10
Trophy Move 1,2,3 100, 170, 200 50 60 50 40 30 10
www.rapidmag.com 2
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48