Competing in lower divisions.

[C-Fan]

Usually in a Sick 3 competition, you bust the hardest combo you can, because the stakes are high and you want to win. These internet Sick 3s are slightly different in my mind, since it seems like the main purpose of them is to give us videos and entertainment, and for the competitors to push themselves. But really, people are only competing for bragging rights, not prize money or anything.

Aaaanyway, this all got me to thinking: what do you think of Open level players submitting easier, but styly combos in the Intermediate (or even Division 3) categories? I intend on competing in the next division 1 competition, and submitting a combo which is very difficult for me. But what about a styly combo for me which is all on my flipside? Would people have a problem with me submitting that in the intermediate category?

For example: smear-fear-far symple swirl is a really easy combo for me on my strong side, but its real hard for me on my flipside. How would you all feel if I submitted that combo in Division 2 if I did it on my flipside?

It`s not really sandbagging since its not my strong side, it pushes me to improve (my flipside), and it gives you all another video to watch. As I see it, that fulfills most of the purposes of this competition. What do you all think?

Cole, could you make this a poll for me? Make the question: should people be allowed to submit combos to lower skill divisions? and the options just yes and no.
Thanks.

[Jeremy]

I think that's a great idea!! I have an awesome combo in mind which in terms of adds is 2>2>3 but is soooo cool! - You'll have to see it to know what I'm talking about.

Maybe rather than dropping down a level - we could have a "style" round or something like that - with restrictions on the add values or something like that - so div 1 people still compete against one another - but rarther than going for the hardest combo with 11 dexes and 6 spins in it - people all had to go for cool styly combos!

[qphox]

Or a round where you've got to wear a pylon on your head!

But seriously, that's a cool idea. Take it beyond just a style round, and have separately "themed" sick 3s.

Like...3 adds total (as in 1 > 1 > 1), Symposium, Swirls, Ducks, ummm...must the all three tricks? hehe, that foursquare rule kicks so much ass.

[C-Fan]

I think the Styly 3 idea is interesting... one problem is that style is already a factor in Sick 3. But yeah, when i think of Sick 3 I think more `go huge` than `make it styly,` even though style does enter in my judgment.

I think that if we do run a Styly 3 combo, it would free up people to try cooler links, rather than just huge tricks. Personally, I feel some pressure to hit a high-dexing combo for my Sick 3 Division 1 entry, whereas a Styly 3 would let me play around more with things like dragons and zooms. And hey, everybody likes more videos.

Cole, would it add too much to your workload if we made a Stylish division? Or a flipside combo division?

Maybe we could make some polls to see what people think. For both questions, the styly 3, and the competing in lower divisions.

Just to reiterate: I see the online Sick 3 comps as a way to help people push their games, and to get more people to put out video. Right now, the Sick 3 encourages people to hit big combos. A styly 3, or a Flipside 3 would encourage people to work other, important parts of their game as well. It would also give us more videos.

Thoughts?

[Jeremy]

My vision was really that we say "the month of December is less than 4 month" or something like that - so the div one results are still div one etc - but you are restricted to only doing moves less than 4 adds - with a voting emphasis on style rather than difficulty.

I'm a bit sceptical of a flipside comp - but maybe it would work. I just have a lot of moves where I'm not sure which side is my flipside. That's not because I'm really both sided - but because I hit a lot of up and downtime moves. For example the pixie torque I hit in my last sick 3 was probably my strong side pixie torque. It's a flipside pixie set and a strong side torque. It's also hard to know if people are doing flipside stuff or not.

Lynton's stong side pixie and atomic sides are both done with the dex on the same leg. My strong pixie and atomic sides are both done with the set on the same foot (dex on opposite feet) - so smear>atomsmasher is easier for me - while atomsmasher>smear is easier for Lynton.

[Seath]

I like that pylon Idea alot.

And styly3 would be cool with me too.

[Posi-Cole]

ummm...must the all three tricks? hehe, that foursquare rule kicks so much ass.

Haha, at Worlds I suggested this foursquare rule .. It went over very well So much fun!

As for the question of the thread .. I don't think there's much point in having a separate 'styly sick 3' or 'flipside sick 3', because in general people are probably trying to be styly in their sick 3's, and also, there is no real way to tell what is someone's flipside.

However, from the time I first started this I thought it would be cool to occassional have "themed" sick 3's. Perhaps these will be once a month or something and they could be where say an add limit is set so players must attempt to be really styly, or something like having to have an unusual surface delay, having to incorporate a head stall, or like Kevin mentioned, making something completely goofy and having a competition where all moves must be completely and utterly 'the'. There are countless types of novelty competitions we could have, and these will probably fit into the equation sometime later on to mix things up, but for now I don't think anything like this warrants creating a separate division.

[Splint]

My personal opinion is that an open level player should NOT submit entries to the lower levels unless they are moves that you are not proficient at, flipsided, and on par with the skill level for that division.

For instance Ken, if you are going to submit a flipsided bedwetter> toe blur> dimwalk to the Division 2 then I'd expect Cole to reject it. Not that it's necessarily Division 1, but compared to the videos that have been submitted thus far, it'd likely sandbag Division 2.

I also think it's generally a bad idea. Even though you are only competing for bragging rights you still have the opportunity to submit and take those bragging rights from other players who are only good enough to submit in one division. Basically you are saying that because you may not win in Div 1 you want to be able to try for Div 2 or 3. Even if it is a flipsided combo it's still a sandbag.

If people really want braggin rights then they should push forward to make their flipside equal to their strong side and then bust a flipside combo in their division.

[ebo]

I think the idea for a "Style not Skill" Competition is awesome. I would really like to see this. This would be the place for all the unusual moves,
regardless of adds, or especially cool looking links. It would be a
demonstration of creativity rather than pure skill. I LOVE IT!

[footjam_heger]

you get more players at comp. , if the level of combos lower is!

[DoctorJay]

if you compete with a hard combo for you than you do not sandbag!
if you do all the stuff flipside your combo will has the disadvantage of its onesideness, which is the most positive thing for you for you of course .

in my opinion as much people as possible should compete online but we shouldn't change the judging of the natural sick three.

for me it doesn't matter if my valuation is another than the decision of other voters.

it is quite clear if ken competes in div 2 that he has handicapped himself in some kind - but if it was hard for him to hit his combo than it is quite fair to compete in div 2.

the only thing which should be forbidden is to handicap oneself in an unnatural manner like wearing a box on the head --- that would be disrespectful to the other competitors who worked hard for their combo too.


hope to see more people in any division

[Laroche]

The next time im doing a sick 3 online im going to wear a box on my head, to disadvantage myself.

WATCH OUT DIV ONE