Froggy Soven...peaked?
 

Remember how I like to dig up old videos and act like a big man while I hide like a coward behind my keyboard and talk smack about pro riders who are better than me? Well not much has changed.

Not much has changed in Phil Soven's competition run either.

This video is from 6 years ago:

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This video is from this year:

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See the unedited version of Froggy's run here: http://wakeboardingmag.com/videos/20...ing-run-pwt-4/

Well...I guess he did step it up with a TS 900 and a HS backside 7, but wakes are bigger now than they were six years ago. Still, the man is very talented.

I gotta wonder why he hasn't learned a front-mobe 5 by now. With all the Dumdums he's done it should be no problem. Or how about learning a TS backside 5. I'm not trying to hate on Phil. I just think he could try harder.

I know people are gonna be like "oh Mr. Q that's not fair, he landed a crow 7 and moby dick 7 since then!" and then I'll be like "oh well talk to me about a new trick he landed since 2010"

As far as I know, Phil's last video part was LF's The Truth.

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I can understand why Phil hasn't had a part in any more recent videos because whenever I see Rusty in a video, I'm like hmmm this looks just like his pass from the Pro Tour. Mind you Rusty has pulled some sick osmosis spins lately.

Look at Palma's big old bag of tricks. It just keeps growing.

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Frogs are cold blooded. Maybe Phil just aint got the heart for the sport and its all about the money. Or maybe #progression is not as important as the internets tells me it is.

He clearly really really wants to win though. Maybe that is what the sport is about for him. The competition of it. Nothing wrong with that if that is what drives him.

if it aint broke dont fix it

Speaking of video sections it seems like a lot of the best "video riders" aren't putting out too many sections in videos lately: Vandall, Benny G, Watson, etc...

Sure there are the odd web clips but good O'l banger video sections in movies seem to be less and less frequent. Good thing for videos like Lipsmack.

And I haven't seen a Phil section in years and years. I wonder why no one makes videos with him in it?

it must be winter.

Phil's still learning tricks, don't you worry. But ya, he's here to win, not to "push the sport" (I hate that phrase).

you don't see a lot of the main video riders in video parts anymore because not many people are making full length films anymore. Had Company not went under you would have seen Randall and O'shea with probably two of the sickest sections ever, but LF put an end to one of the best companies out so there's that. I mean look at the feature films that came out this past year you have Lipsmack (put out by slingshot with only team riders) and Defy which was Harf and his hand picked crew. Haven't seen Defy, but I'm not sure why Watson wouldn't have had a cameo. Hopefully pointless is still working on a full length. I'd still like to see Justin Stephens and Randall put something out, with the slow mo he has done with LF in the past shot like that with Randall would be raw.

After watching that first video I could only focus on one thing... I've been singing that song incorrectly for over 6 years now! Whenever I would hear "Here we go", I thought they were saying "New York"...

Example - Here we go on a ride with the new freestylers (new york) freestylers (new york, new york)

Boy was I wrong.

he's peaked. He's also a prick.

lol^

He landed his 1st 1080 fairly recently didn't he?

He's still progressing, just not at a "Harley" rate. The big tricks that Phil can do are already so difficult that to try and top them takes a long time.

Phil likes to win contests, and he's still winning. That's been his focus it seems, and I'm guessing it's worked very well. He's probably one of the top paid athletes our sport has ever seen.

It's probably hard to change a pass too much when it pulls in 1st place. Like mentioned above: Not broke? Don't fix it

Contests are about consistency. New tricks always involve a level of risk. Until they are consistent you're not going to pull out a high risk trick unless you need the high risk reward. It also helps when many of the things you do consistent are already higher risks to many riders.

Haha! you got that right Andy Nintzel!

True, Phil did land a 10 wake to wake, but like I said "talk to me about a new trick he landed since 2010"

Here is his first 10 from 2010
<embed src='http://www.alliancewake.com//wp-content/plugins/mediaplayer-licensed-viral/player-licensed-viral.swf' height='360' width='640' allowscriptaccess='always' allowfullscreen='true' flashvars='file=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alliancewake.com% 2Fvideos%2FPhilSovenNewNew.flv&skin=http%3A%2F%2Fw ww.alliancewake.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fwordtube%2Falliance.swf&image= http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alliancewake.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2010%2F08%2Fphil10801.jpg&mute =true&linktarget=_self&stretching=fill&volume=80&t itle=PhillipSovenNewboatNew1080&bufferlength=5&plu gins=viral-1'/>

The embed didnt work the first time I posted it so try this link: http://www.alliancewake.com/wake/phi...oat-new-trick/

Here is his second 10

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I'm not sure when he landed a wake to wake 10. Prolly 2011, but taking a trick from a doubleup to the wake doesnt really make it a new trick. Kinda I guess, but not really unless your the first one to do it wake to wake.

Jsweat: Watson was in Defy. Maybe cuz he is a Monster drink rider like Harf. Lots of Monster logos in that vid. It makes me sad when I watch him ride. Like all he does is wrap 180s and 3's. It's like he only rides on weekends in the summer and doesn't own a boat. lol.

I didn't really like Lipsmack. Shredtown has a sweet part. (SPOILER ALERT!)

The movie starts with a crash section. So far so good. Then Slingshots toots their own horn for a bit, "incredible" this and "great" that and "passion" more "passion". The first section of just riding goes as follows:

- indy poke, another indy poke, a third indy poke, method, melan, tail grab, another method, a third method, goddamit a fourth method, OMG I'm gonna kill myself a FIFTH method, (oooowie mixin it up) method FS 180, method BS 180, melon FS 180, shifty nose poke, stalefish, tail BS 180, toeside tail BS 180, tail FS 180, stale BS 180, tail BS 180, another tail BS 180, wrap mute BS 180, I'm losing count but another tail BS 180, toeside BS 180 late melan, another stale BS 180, now four minutes into the movie and everybody on the team does a 360 variation, and five minutes in we see the first invert.

The movie gets better from there, but WTF is with all the same grabs back to back over and over?!?!

On the brighter side, its not like wakeboarding tricks already look the same to the untrained eye...oh wait a minute. Well, Slingshot can argue that they don't all LOOK the same, because in fact they ARE all the same tricks. Movies like this make me wanna start cutting myself again so I can feel like I'm in control of my life (that's a joke kids, seek help if you feel that way)

IMO Slingshot blew it for the last time. All those jiggly boobs in the trailer got me excited for what? Video killed the radio star, and internets killed paying for full length wakeboard movies.

Check out this new release for FREE. Just came out today.

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Lol, Cisco, are you seriously hating on one of the sickest video sections ever? Wakeboarding isn't just about who can do the most rotations or flips. Maybe all you see is a bunch of 1s and 3s, but I see not just 1s and 3s but loads of style. Those 1s and 3s are grabbed, poked, double-grabbed, grabs held long enough that you can go make a sandwich and eat it before they let go, FS, BS, TS, HS, melon, mute, stalefish, every variation possible, and all done with plenty of style. I hope I'm not the only one who doesn't even really care if there was or wasn't an invert thrown in at the end of the section.

Harley has and continues to blow all these guys away! He does have the advantage of riding a bigger and badder wake though.

I have to say I couldn't disagree with Cisco MORE!

Lipsmack was far and away the best wake film made in recent years for ALL the reasons he mentioned. I have seen sooooo many non grabbed 7's and 9's over the years that I loose interest in a section fast when it's spin after spin after spin. Lipsmack shows us regular riders tricks we could actually do and how to make them look good but mixes in bangers, crazy rails and just tons of style. Wake videos need MORE sections like the first one in Lipsmack or he section where the whole crew just goofs off on the boat for a day surfing and riding doubles and having fun. That's what wakeboarding should look like for all of us wannabes, just a group of friends having fun.

Progression smogression, we have all seen enough non grabbed 10's that no one gets really pumped to ride from watching something like that (at least not me).

Ya I gotta say I never really valued Ciscos sh?t disturbing opinions but dissing Lipsmack is taking it to far bro. Slingshot are the kinda guys and company wake needs.

Ok, I'm done.

i will say Watson wasnt in Defy just because he is a Monster athlete. They have been friends since the late 90s early 2000s. they're both in pointless and have made two films with the pointless crew. if you havent seen incomplete or mixtape you need to venture back and watch them. also there are plenty of videos that were made years back even ones from the 90s that i throw in and just get so pumped to go and ride.

I want to try more of Slingshots products. I like Slingshot as a brand, but the editing of their video with Indy, Indy, Indy, method, melon, tail, method, method, method, method, method 180, method bs 180 is frickin overkill. Incomplete was a sick video and so was Mayday, My House, Monkey on a String, Switch and Switch 22, 12 Honkeys, Natural Born Thrillaz (red VHS tape), Byerly Doc, Defy. But I don't remember any of them having such repetitive editing. Should be a rule of thumb not to edit three of the same tricks in a row. Even if they had three heelside 1080s in a row, I think it would be bad editing. Two at most and preferable from different angles.

Getting back to Phil, his choice to do tricks only one way will hold him back next season when competing against guys like Shota who can do Crow5 and switch Crow5 in their run, or Harley who did Whirly5 and switch Whirly5 at the IWWF Worlds. Here is a vid from that comp. My favorite part is when Harley flips off the wake at 36 second mark. I once saw Byerly do this to a rail (i'm sure we all have) so no need to apologize Harley cuz thats just what wakeboard world champs do.

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Phil has only peaked if he lets himself peak. Gerry Nunn kept learning new tricks like wake to wake heelside 720s and double backrolls when he was almost 40. Phil's youth, bigger wake and greater experience should help him learn wake to wake heelside 9s this off season. As the announcer at IWWF Worlds said, "we are entering the Harley Era". Next season is gonna be fun to watch, unless your name is Phil Soven. Prove me wrong, bro. Prove me wrong. (don't worry, he wont read this)

Well I still don't agree with Cisco. According to him all wake videos should just be the same.

Agree to disagree I guess.

Don't feed the trolls

Soven is a cocky A** hole and will never beat Harley again.

Wanna bet?