# Kickers vs. tabletops?



## Guest (Mar 2, 2009)

Since they both serve the same purpose (step ups and step downs aside), why are some jumps kickers (trench, knuckle) and some tabletops? Is it because it takes less snow to make a kicker?


----------



## Guest (Mar 2, 2009)

My opinion is that a table top is more beginner friendly because if they didn't clear/make it to the knuckle on a kicker they would be dead. As for table tops the worst thing is they land flat and hurt there knees. Well that's just my opinion.


----------



## jmacphee9 (Nov 11, 2008)

Snow-4-Ever said:


> My opinion is that a table top is more beginner friendly because if they didn't clear/make it to the knuckle on a kicker they would be dead. As for table tops the worst thing is they land flat and hurt there knees. Well that's just my opinion.


thats a good point, prob not what its for, but still a great reasoning. i think the biggest reason is different strokes for different folks...keeping things different..


----------



## Guest (Mar 2, 2009)

I think that's a lot of the reason. Kickers that are 20 feet high vertically in the air with a 20 foot gap are much more intimidating than a tabletop with a 20 foot gap.


----------



## justdust (Jan 27, 2009)

Snowolf said:


> I love step ups for getting comfortable with bigger air. You get 100% of the feeling of big air without the spook factor of being so high off of the snow.


I am pretty sure I've never even seen a step up where I ride...I had to google it to see what it looks like. What's the landing like if you don't clear the upslope...can you ride it out?


----------



## Catman (Mar 16, 2008)

At my mountain we are not permited to build kickers (with a gap) but tabletops are ok. The insurance man says that claims drop by 75% on tabletops versus kickers.Stepups are a no no also.


----------



## Music Moves (Jan 23, 2009)

Snow-4-Ever said:


> My opinion is that a table top is more beginner friendly because if they didn't clear/make it to the knuckle on a kicker they would be dead. As for table tops the worst thing is they land flat and hurt there knees. Well that's just my opinion.


Lol at "dead" but that could be true on huge kickers. I know I've landed on the flat on some medium kickers and there was a helluva jolt to the body, but I skated for many years before I rode, so I am a little more used to it than someone who hasn't.

But yeah, tables and steps make you feel a lot more comfy when you're learning new tricks.


----------



## Enigmatic (Feb 6, 2009)

step ups are great. Gives you the oppertunity to really bomb in and get some mad hang time with a nice touch down landing.

They have a nice step up at bear right now that I was having a whole lot of fun on today but one time I came at it a little slower against my better judgement and didn't quite make it to the top...my knees sucked up into my stomach and i got the wind kinda knocked outta me but no biggies, very good fun to risk ratio.


----------



## legallyillegal (Oct 6, 2008)

true story

so yesterday at seymour i'm taking the last chair up and some guy on skis is going through the park

doing those old school ski moves off the kickers

goes off the big one

does that stupid running in air thing

LANDS ON THE FUCKING FLAT KNUCKLE

one ski sticks

the other flies away

poles everywhere

guy lands at the bottom of the landing area


----------



## York (Apr 18, 2008)

I don't think I understand the difference between the two.
I thought a tabletop was just a shortened way to say tabletop kicker.
I tried google image search but there is too much variety in image results.
If you landed short on either a tabletop or kicker, wouldn't it be in the flat area? Why is one more dangerous than the other?
And what's a step down kicker?

Lots of questions I know..


----------



## Flick Montana (Jul 9, 2007)

I thought a kicker was just a jump or a jump with a landing ramp nearby. They have a dropoff in the middle. A tabletop is the same thing, but with a flat plateau between the ramps. I could be wrong, though. I often am.

___/|____|\___ Kicker

.......______
___/...........\____ Tabletop


----------



## SMDSkata (Mar 4, 2009)

Flick Montana said:


> \
> 
> ___/|____|\___ Kicker


I always thought of a kicker as ___/|_______. Some times there built at the top of a hill, and the downslope of the hill is the landing.


----------



## Flick Montana (Jul 9, 2007)

That's kind of what I was trying to get across, but my ASCII skills are lacking. :laugh:

EDIT: My difference is that kickers scare me and tabletops don't.


----------



## SMDSkata (Mar 4, 2009)

Flick Montana said:


> That's kind of what I was trying to get across, but my ASCII skills are lacking. :laugh:
> 
> EDIT: My difference is that kickers scare me and tabletops don't.


Lmfao, my poor attempt of the real thing.

____/___
------------\Land 
-------------\Here
--------------\________


----------



## Guest (Apr 15, 2009)

legallyillegal said:


> true story
> 
> does that stupid running in air thing
> 
> :laugh: Its called a 'daffy' and it looks super duffee.. :laugh:


----------



## Flick Montana (Jul 9, 2007)

SMDSkata said:


> Lmfao, my poor attempt of the real thing.
> 
> ____/___
> ------------\Land
> ...


75 degree landing. Scary. :laugh:

Looks better than mine. You clearly put more work into that I did.


----------



## SMDSkata (Mar 4, 2009)

Would stairs make you feel better? Theres even a handrail.


____/|___
-------------_-\ 
--------------_-\
----------------_\________

Or how bout moguls?

____/|___
-------------^
--------------^
---------------^________


----------



## Enigmatic (Feb 6, 2009)

hahaha

I think you guys should become freestyle park design managers


----------



## zakk (Apr 21, 2008)

Flick Montana said:


> That's kind of what I was trying to get across, but my ASCII skills are lacking. :laugh:
> 
> EDIT: My difference is that kickers scare me and tabletops don't.


winner!! :laugh::laugh:


----------



## Guest (Apr 17, 2009)

Hahaha. So would this be a step-up then?  I'm not quite down with the lingo yet lol


```
__
  /__/--\
 /-------\
/---------\
```


----------



## SMDSkata (Mar 4, 2009)

Try this...


```
__
   __/--\
 /-------\
/---------\
```
You were pretty close.


----------



## Guest (Apr 18, 2009)

I don't really like either, because I ALWAYS over shoot the ramp landings....but I mean, I prefer to hit the kickers that use the slope as the landing....which is nice, since I can't over shoot that


----------



## TeamSR (Apr 22, 2009)

99% of the time a begginner rider is going to want to hit a table over a gap for the shear reason that has been stated already. They are far more forgiving and they don't look as intimidating. I know that when i teach my freestyle team a new trick i will normally take them right to a big table first just so if they eat shit, it's not nearly as gnarly of a crash.


----------



## twin89 (Jan 21, 2009)

tables or step-ups are more fun i think, cause u can go bigger w/o really going bigger if u know what i mean. cause your never really that high off the ground. i actually like step-ups the best cause if u hit it right it looks like your levitating cause your always the same height off the ground


----------



## twin89 (Jan 21, 2009)

hmmm i was wondering, what is this considered, cause these are all over bear and summit. Kicker? or table? or a Kible?

duno lol

.../|
../ |_____ 
./----------\ 
/------------\


----------



## Guest (Apr 22, 2009)

I'd say thats more kicker


----------



## TeamSR (Apr 22, 2009)

Coming from a motocross background i would be more likely to call that a step down. Considering it has the flat after the kicker.


----------



## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Bah real men jump over shark tanks that are on fire with a lion in a cage.


----------



## Guest (May 7, 2009)

BurtonAvenger said:


> Bah real men jump over shark tanks that are on fire with a lion in a cage.


seriously.. im suprised more resorts dont do this


----------



## nos (Mar 13, 2008)

Kickers because there's more of an incentive to clear the jump.


----------



## justdust (Jan 27, 2009)

Lion in a cage...what a wuss.:cheeky4:


----------



## Guest (Jul 9, 2009)

BurtonAvenger said:


> Bah real men jump over shark tanks that are on fire with a lion in a cage.


Is the lion on fire as well, or is it swimming with the shark?


----------



## Music Moves (Jan 23, 2009)

Ha, still love all the diagrams.


----------



## Guest (Aug 10, 2009)

tabletops scare me way more than kickers. ones like jump flat land? it wont let me draw ugh....

are way scary. i don't think we have any kickers. plus the lips on our jumps are way screwed up 

cause the park crew at beaver mountain builds their jumps kinda weird. its like a freakin bump at 

the end. unlike the canyons and park city. i just like making my own backside


----------



## Method (Apr 3, 2009)

BurtonAvenger said:


> Bah real men jump over shark tanks that are on fire with a lion in a cage.


Hmmm I would think a real man would have the lion chained up and not in a cage, so if you didn't clear the knuckle you would A land in a tank full of sharks or B, be eaten by the lion.


----------



## Guest (Sep 2, 2009)

For me a kicker or booter would be a gap or a step down:
Gap









step down









and a step up








out of control i know...

and of course a table top


----------



## Guest (Sep 2, 2009)

Method said:


> Hmmm I would think a real man would have the lion chained up and not in a cage, so if you didn't clear the knuckle you would A land in a tank full of sharks or B, be eaten by the lion.


i think a real man woulnt have a lion on a chain so that it runs around fucking everyone up


----------



## SMDSkata (Mar 4, 2009)

I haven't been here since like spring. Can't believe this threads still alive.


----------



## j.gnar (Sep 4, 2009)

i hate step ups


----------



## j.gnar (Sep 4, 2009)

Snowolf said:


> What? Step ups are great, especially for progressing to bigger airs. A rider can go really big and never risk being that high off the ground if something goes wrong. I use the step up to launch in ways I would not on a standard table. But to each his own....


well put, sir
its just every time i hit a set up, i under compensate for speed or over compensate and eat shit hard
although i havent hit that many; given i've only boarded for a couple seasons, i'd have to say the step up is my least favorite feature lol


----------



## Cr0_Reps_Smit (Jun 27, 2009)

we had a pretty big step up at mt snow this past season which i had a lot of fun on. it was pretty tough to clear but i would usually just try huge grabs tech grabs or double grabs over it. also the occasional backside 180 were a ton of fun over those things.


----------



## SPAZ (May 2, 2009)

<oops, wrong thread>


----------

