How to Judge a Freestyle Snowboard Competition

As with most competitions, the judging in snowboarding events is very subjective. The criteria that one judge uses to make her scoring decisions may be different than what another judge uses the base his score on. This is why sanctioned snowboard competitions have up to six judges reviewing the riders. Certain judges review the tricks attempted by the snowboarders while other focus on the runs themselves. All judges either are or have been snowboarders themselves and know what to look for in good freestyle snowboard runs.

Instructions

    • 1

      Evaluate the difficulty of the tricks attempted on the course's terrain, which includes boxes, jumps, rails and the halfpipe. Focus on how much air the snowboarder gets under his board, how many rotations he makes on attempted tricks and the length of any jib tricks, which are slides across various objects on the course.

    • 2

      Review the number of tricks that a snowboarder attempts during her run. Watch for the number and difficulty of the tricks like straight airs, such as ollies and shiftys; grabs, such as frontsides and nuclears; Slides, such as tail slides and nose presses; and stalls, such as nose stalls and tail blocks.

    • 3

      Watch the rider's body language as he performs the tricks. Compare the attempt against the usual standards for the tricks, as well as how the trick was started, the rider's form during the trick and how well he lands the trick.

    • 4

      Evaluate the flow of the entire run. Review how well the tricks seem to work together, how long it takes to go from one trick to the next and any adjustments that the rider makes during the run, such as attempting a 720-degree spin but only landing a 540-degree spin. Watch for how much variation the rider has on her trick selection, the style in which she performs her tricks and the number and type of combinations she includes on her run.