Freestyle Lee Stone WF body tether?

Is this fair?

  • Yes

    Votes: 33 68.8%
  • No

    Votes: 15 31.3%

  • Total voters
    48

yamanube

This Is The Way
Staff member
Location
Mandalor
I haven't seen a thread on this, if there is one, I apologize. I was curious to hear people's thoughts on the tether that Lee used to hold himself on his ski.
It seems like an unfair advantage, takes a bit of the endurance/strength requirements away from multiple one/no handed tricks. Is there anything written into the rules about this? Will there be now?

upload_2016-11-1_9-2-52.png
 
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yamanube

This Is The Way
Staff member
Location
Mandalor
As far as being fair or not? All I've gotta say is anyone that hates on it, let's see you do it.

Knowing nothing about the tether or what it's like to ride with, would you say it is out of the comfort zone for most of the people on the pro-freestyle level and that is the reason everybody is not doing it?
 
Location
Edmond ok
He wasn't the only one doing it. I don't see anything wrong with it, nothing in the rules about it. It's available to anyone with the balls to try it.

Yeah, Yamamoto did it, but he has gotten away with it with no heat. I will say Yamamoto was way better about it though. He hooked and unhooked fast. And he did it as he rode away from the crowd. Not too many people noticed how he did it. Real smooth and fast. Disappointed we didn't get to see him go for the double back flip. Saw him try 3 two days before and pretty much nosed the 3rd in. The guy goes so big!
 
I noticed that too. All the fiddling around with the SF bars and hooking up the tether definitely ran the clock down.

As far as being fair or not? All I've gotta say is anyone that hates on it, let's see you do it.
View attachment 321088

This was without a tether right? I look at it this way, do a trust fall without someone to catch you, I know I would not make it very far until realizing I am going to eat poop. Lee is a real man, innovator of the sport, tether or not I will still be his fan. Hell I saw a tether being used by a competitor in USFC ask him what he thinks about it.
 

Big Kahuna

Administrator
Location
Tuscaloosa, AL
The same thing was said about handholds and footholds 18 years ago! There were several with them. Yamamoto's teather was clipped to the bars, that is why he was able to do it smoother and without notice, Lee's clipped under the pole. Any of you notice the latch systems to lock the poles down in place? Nobody complaining about those either!
 
This was without a tether right? I look at it this way, do a trust fall without someone to catch you, I know I would not make it very far until realizing I am going to eat poop. Lee is a real man, innovator of the sport, tether or not I will still be his fan. Hell I saw a tether being used by a competitor in USFC ask him what he thinks about it.
The photo has no tether. Lee specifically posted that for the tether haters.
 
I remember 15 years or so ago during X games a mx freestyle guy tethered him self for a full release superman. Now they are doing triple backflips. It's all progression of the sport. Won't be to long and double back flips will be normal in pro freestyle.
 
it seems to me most guys on here are dreaming about or struggling to master a single flip or roll. riding a turd 701 doesn't help with tricks but having 1200 pro level power doesn't make it a piece of cake either. try stringing a couple technical tricks together and see just how difficult it really is. with or without some tether, these guys can pull tricks that most of us never will, no matter how long we try, even if we had their boat. its all just for show anyway. doesn't matter. tether or not. i'm impressed with their acrobatic skills, knowing how hard it really is.
 
I almost can't believe this topic can even be discussed. Here's an analogy for ya, is having foot holds lesson tricks? Should their not be progression? Should we all go back to stock length hulls ext....? So we've been trying to rail our skis at my friends wakeboard pond, should we not try new stuff like that? I usually don't post my personal opinions, but criticizing bad a@@'s is just real hater BS!!
 

mike b

Michael "Mayhem" Bevacqua aka MikeyChan
Location
California
As stated above. This topic came up about footholds, hand holds and anything else to help you get better tricks. But progression is what the sport comes down to and impressing the crowd.

I heard some people saying this truck should only be scored the same as a one footed flip but still there is the mental factor of being able to let go. Bet you a tether has broken in the past so think of the mind fudging that does. Also, now these guys are strapped to a ski so if something happens and need to bail or upsidedown underwater they are in more danger than other riders.

I struggle to even remove one foot ir one hand. Im not going to bitch about them doing what they are doing. Seperates the biys from the men. I think the only riders who can give Lee and Yamamoto and any other riders crap for using the tether can only be the few who have done big tricks out in the surf without the tether doing the same tricks.
 
YES!!! I've always wanted to jib on a slider. How those bottom decks holding up to the rails? Assuming OEM SJ hulls since they are so beefy
Not to pollute this with off topic stuff. But yes we have been doing it on beater oem stuff. Building a 120lb phantom with sliders as we speak. Time for us to get pics of this and then wait for all the better riders to take it to the next level.
 

onlyFX-1

Jace Forest...BRAP!
I personally don't have a problem with it buuuut, I don't look at it as the double rail grab 1 footed flip he did without the tether. Or the no handed can flip Gomez was doing.
I talked with Lee about it, he doesn't really like it either but felt he should do it if Yamamoto was doing it.

I myself will not do it, I'd rather learn the trick without a tether, which is possible as stated in the pic above
 
So, about the teather, we were at a qualifying round last weekend and we were told the teather will not be allowed at WF this year. They also pointed at our skis, referring to the heel lock and said those r next to be outlawed. Apparently Non freestyle guys have a say in the rules. Just wanted to personally thank these individuals, who ever you may be, that keep freestyle progressing!! That was sarcastic
 
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