1/What is Freestyle Slalom ? Freestyle
slalom consists in skating through different cone courses, which number
of cones and distance vary, doing different tricks. The skater chooses
tricks he wants to do but time is limited. A jury evaluates and
compares each skater's performance to make a ranking. Skaters may use
inline skates or quad skates. 2/Battle concept Several
skaters skate together in groups. Each skater have to do better than
the others of the group to qualify for next rounds and to reach the
final with the best skaters. 3 /Distance between cones There
may be 1 to 5 different cone courses depending on organisation's
wishes. Distance between cones can be 50cm, 80cm or 120cm (This
distance is calculated from centre of the cone to center of next cone).
On a same line, distance between cones is the same. The amount of cones
per line can change depending the place available and wishes of the
organisation. This amount should be between 10 & 30 cones. At least
one line has to be composed by minimum 10 cones with a 80cm space
between them. For example, if you use 3 lines, the size can be 80cm x
10 cones, 80cm x 20 cones & 50cm x cones & you will need 45
cones or for example, 80cm x 20 cones, 120cm x 20 cones 50cm x 20
cones. If you use only one line of cones, distance will be 80cm x 10 to
30 cones. 4/Size of cones The usual size of cones is 8cm wide, 8-10cm high. They may be cones or cups. 4/ Competition Area
The lenght of the competition area has to be at least 16m long
(répartition : 8m for minimum 10 cones separated by 80cm, 4m on each
side to take speed) ; the width should be minimum 4m (2m for judges
& 4m for skaters) There is no maximum size for the area, but the
judges should always have a good view of the competitors and the whole
area. As much as possible, the 50cm course is the closest from the
judge table and the 120cm course is the opposite from judge table. The
judge table is centered regarding the cone courses or in an angle of
the competition area. (Outdoor, don't place the judges in front of
the sun (umbrella) ; this issue can also happen indoor with large
windows. Depending on the place and size of the event (public &
competitors) it can be necessary to built an area and limit its access
to «competitors only » area. (fences, tube, wood base, ... those can be
use for advertisment) 5/Competition
During Battle Freestyle slalom competition, skaters will be placed in
"Battle groups". Each battle group is composed by 2 to 4 skaters (a
group may be composed by 5 riders exceptionnally). Each
competitor has to go one by one to do his tricks and combos. Each
skater has 30 seconds to perform each of his runs (chronometer starts
when the skater pass the first cone ). The time of each group is
in between 5 and 15 minutes depending on the number of skaters in the
group and the number of runs. The quantity of runs per competitor
is from 2 to 4, + evntually 1 last trick (see « last trick »
explanation below). In each battle group, skaters will have the
same amount of runs and everyone will have equal chances to do the best
posible. Skaters will be judged on different criterias :
Technique, style, originality... after each battle group, each judge
has to make a ranking of the skaters of this group, then all judges
compare their ranking with other judge's rankings, and deliberate all
together to determinate who will qualify for the next round. In the
Battle system, competitors are free to do the tricks they want on the
course they want, they don't have to use each slalom course available
if they don't want to. They don't have to go through all cones of a
same line. There is no compulsory trick to do or compulsory trick
families, neither minimum of cones to be passed to validate each trick.
However, competitors can show their polyvalence using different
tricks repertories and using different courses. If a skater makes
mistakes during his run, for example doing very difficult trick, he can
start again and again in the same run until the end of his 30sec. run. During each run, a competitor can use as much courses as he wants during the time of his run.
To go for another run, each competitor has to wait than other skaters
of the group have done the same amount of runs and the green light from
the speaker. Training :
Before each Battle group, skater of the group can practice on the
competition area, the warm-up time can be from 4 to 10 minutes
depending on the number of skaters in the group. During training
session, the speaker introduces each skater of the group. During training sessions, skaters can train all at the same time but respecting each other.
The skaters of the next group can start to warm-up as soon as the
previous group is finished, when the judges are delibarating. A/Composition of groups
Groups are composed depending on attending competitors and their latest
wssa ranking. From this ranking, competitors are ranked following this
procedure (Examples) : Example with 24 to 32 or more skaters : Exemple with 6 groups : (Starting from 24, it would be easier to make 8 groups of 3 skaters) B/Non-ranked competitors
If in the list of competitors, there are non-ranked competitors, they
will be added at the end of the list randomly. The organisation
comittee of the competition, can, if there are too many participants,
and with the agreement of the judge team, organise a one or several
rounds of qualifications battles for non-ranked competitors or with the
weakest ranking. The winners of this qualification tournament are then
aded to the final list to be added in the groups. 4/Judges 1/Table Judges :
-The ideal number of judges is 3, with a main judge (center judge) who
is designated by the judge team according to his experience. There
may be only 2 judges, depending on the importance of the competition
(0T+ & 1 T+) (See competition calendar) Each judge evaluates
each skater of the battle group depending on different criterias like
technique, style, new tricks, quantity of tricks, speed and quality of
execution, ...After each group, they make a ranking of the skaters of
this group and deliberate to decide who will be qualified for the next
round. Each judge evaluate each skater of the battle group
following this method : He writes down maximum of the tricks done by
the skater as a reminder. The most difficult tricks have necessary to
be wrote down. He can choose his own method (for example ++ or --) to
specify the particularities of the realisation of the tricks
(mastering, easyness, speed,..). Judges can also use « arguments
» like polyvalence to separate two skaters : example : if a skater do
always same type of tricks and that another is less good on this kind
of tricks but shows his technique on other types of elements, the
judges may give an advantage to the one who does different tricks. 2/ Speaker : A speaker is essential for any Battle competition.
The speaker has a very important function in the competition. He
manages the time of the runs and of the groups. He introduces each competitor and put life into the battles. He manages the start of each competitor. He informs each competitor on the time left in his run.
He calls next battle group and invite them to warm-up on the
competition area as soon as the previous group is done. He is always linked to the judge table to forward the informations to the public and competitors. He announces the qualified skaters for the next round after each group.
He can comment what the skaters do to « explain » to the public, put
life into the battles and look for cheers of the public. He can
support the skaters but has to stay equal not to influence the judges
on one skater especially. 3/ Cone boys/girls :
At least one cone boy is needed for the good progress of the
competition. The ideal number is 2. They have to take the cones hit or
moved and put them back on the marks. They do it only when the skater
left the line where the cones have been kicked down. They have to be
very fast and precise and never stand between judges and competitors,
not to trouble them. 4/ DJ : He
has to manage the music and maintain the intensity and prevent skaters
to skate without music (between two musics). He is able to accelerate rythm when the skater is in a too slow musical phase. He is able to slow down the rythm when the skater is too slow. 5/Judgement
In a Battle group, each skater has several runs, each run is evaluated
by the judges who write down what competitors do, to compare with other
skaters of the group. At the end of the time for the group, the judges
set up a ranking considerating what each skater has done in term of
quantity and in term of quality, and comparing each skater between
them. They deliberate together about the results and annouce those
results before the beginning of the nest group. If the judges cannot
separate 2 skaters, they can ask them to perform a last run each. Original: http://worldslalomseries.com/battle.htm
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