If you or your kids are gray or bald, this vid's for you

[cgoudie1]

I did watch the Olympics. So you're saying in the last 50 years that the
human body has evolved to better athleticism? Not sure I believe that
Steve. The training has definitely gotten better though. I don't see that
much difference between the bump skiers of the current day and of 40
years past, but it was newer then, and a lot of the format has changed. Snow
Boarders get more radical, but Shawn White is (a whopping) 35
years old, and most of the difference between him at 15 and him at 35 is
mentality, training, and creativity. All my opinions mind you.

Totally agree that not everyone is cut out to be athletic, but they could still
go outside and play a game of chess in the park on a nice day ;*)... instead
of on-line. It'd be ...........healthier ;*)
My last 5 or 6 games of chess have been outside.... with one of my grand
kids.

-Craig

[coachg]

Actually, you guys are all correct; for boys. The average male teenager is less fit today then the average male teenager 40 years ago. The lower state standards prove it. Forty years ago easily 1/3 of a male PÉ class could do a basic pegboard; today probably less than 1/10. For girls it is a totally different story as before Title IX there was virtually zero opportunity.

However, today’s top teenager are far more athletic then the top teenagers from 40 years ago. Kids in high school are running faster 40 times than the pros from 40 years ago. In college a 4.5 used to be defensive back times; today that is defensive linemen times. Earlier & better training. The term we use in the athletic field is cumulative deficit.

Coachg

[swchandler]

Well Craig, I guess I was referring to all the aerial gymnastics being done on snowboards and skis. Still though, how many folks were doing quad spins on ice skates 50 years ago. And, all the times in downhill ski events are notably quicker today than in my youth. Folks today in premier sport circles are far more athletic in most every way.

I guess it also safe to say there are more nerds today because of computers and cellphones.

Speaking for myself, I bought my first cellphone in December, and I can't believe how lame I am using it. A 12 year old today, male or female, could kick my ass and easily make me look stupid.

[GURGLETROUSERS]

Aristotle. (384 B.C. to 322 B.C.)

' They - young people have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life, or learned its necessary limitations; moreover their hopeful disposition makes them think themselves equal to great things. ------- All their mistakes are in the direction of doing things excessively and vehemently. They overdo everything.'

Nothing really changes! I once read of an American high school student who got up early one morning (remarkable in itself) and started to brush his teeth (even more remarkable) and just went on and on and on because he felt like it, setting a claimed world record of over 24 solid hours!!

No idea if actually true, but it figures!

[cgoudie1]

Hey Steve,

I guess my point was that it wasn't "impossible" 50 years ago as the human
body isn't that different. I will say that current training methods with
computer simulated visualization, trampolines, and bubble pools, were not
in use, so Quads with Quads (a ski jumping full full full full) would have taken years
longer to learn, and the nature of humans to learn new "tricks" doesn't
typically go from a double double (which by the way was called a double
mobius 40 years ago when my brother and his friends were attempting
them) to a Quad Quad without going through a Triple Triple. Oh, and Quad
jumps on Ice were being attempted (sometimes with success) 34 years ago.

All unimportant. My nature is basically forward looking, but I'm grateful
for every memory of all those bump runs, that wave I caught, ripp'n
good jibes, sweet swell rides, or the hang time I've been blessed to enjoy.
I liked the video, because it sparked a few memories, but I'm not nostalgic
for that world, that would be a waste of energy, and being as old as I am
I've precious little energy left. I plan to use what I have left for what's
happening today (and maybe tomorrow).

-Craig

p.s. It's not stupid to be unable to operate a cellphone you don't understand,
it's just a lack of ..................training ;*)

[isobars]

First question: How in the HELL do people get good at the incredible aerial gymnastics they do over even snow, let alone dirt, without killing or permanently crippling themselves in the learning process?

Second question, especially relevant to dirt and concrete stunts: Have they even given any consideration to their mobility and pain levels past 40?

At my 30th high school reunion -- we weren't even 50 yet -- the football players were limping around like 75-yo couch potatoes. Lots of gimpy knees, hips, backs, etc. OK, the rules and equipment were pretty lame in the 1950s, but man did they paid a price for their fame, fun, and glory. (I've always been glad I saved my football for intramural flag football in the Air Force, which I played into my 30s without lasting injuries. Less fame and glory, but at least it didn't bench us by middle age.)

[SAS]

[GURGLETROUSERS]

Long term effects of extreme activity in youth does seem to be a dividing issue nowadays. The mantra seems to be 'Go big, or go home.' It splits people into those who live for youthful glory at all costs, and those who realise that youthful excess is relatively brief, and healthily growing older without long term injury lasts for a very long time ahead.

Is it ever increasing standards that is pushing the pendulum unavoidably to the extremes, and to hell with the future consequences? We rarely hear the views of those who were only a few years ago were icons in their extreme sports, but who are now long past their prime, yet paying the price for their past fame, and must do so for the rest of their life. Was the bodily abuse and fame really worth it? (Remember those Soviet era young girl gymnasts who were drugged to retard their normal body changes. Who even thinks of the them anymore? I wonder how they now feel?)

[cgoudie1]

Hey Mike,

For ski jumpers, It's like I said, under the supervision of a coach, you get on
a tramp with a harness, and practice the crap out of your trick, until you
can do it pretty consistently with muscle memory (albeit in slow motion).
Then you use a ramp into a bubble pool (year round) and practice
until you're pretty proficient, then you take it to the snow.
This keeps you mostly uninjured, and competent to do the maneuver.
On snow it's not without risk, but at least you have a chance to land
without injury.

As to your second question, I doubt there is anything an old man can
say or do, that would change the perspective of someone who's 18 or 20.
-Craig

[techno900]

Technology/phones and YouTube are a big factor in the wild and crazy stunts that teenagers and young adults do these days. In the "old" days, you did nutty stuff in front of friends or just to test yourself, but that was it. Now the motivation is that the world gets to watch all your dumb stunts, successful or not.