Extreme sports have grown to be very popular within the youth these days. Any sport that has some level of danger linked to it can be put in the extreme sports segment. These sports mostly involve a great degree of speed, dramatic stunts, specialized gear and a considerable level of physical exercise. Though these activities are usually not limited to the youth, it has been noted that the people participating in these activities do belong to the younger demographics. ESPN also provides all of the news and happenings around these events through their programs.
Most of the variables in extreme sports action are out of control. This can be one of the reasons why most of the extreme sports athletes begin training without a coach or considerable guidance and are mostly solitary in nature. Challenges not only extend amongst competitors but in addition to nature and environmental variables such as wind, snow, terrains and water. A few of the uncontrollable phenomenas linked to extreme sports is seen during events such as surfing, rock and ice climbing and snowboarding. The quality of ice and rocks, the heights of the waves in the course of snowboarding or the snow conditions during snowboarding events are beyond physical control.
One of the largest extreme sports sporting events is known as the X Games. This commercial sporting event is organized and aired live by ESPN.. There are two such sports activities organized during the year, one during winter and the other in summer. The Winter X Games are held in the month of January and February and the Summer X Games take place mostly in the month of August. Both these events are conducted in America.
The participants compete for the gold, silver and bronze medals within the games along with the cash prize that is connected with it. However, judging an extreme sport event is quite distinctive from the traditional games. While distance, score and time form a major portion of the judging criteria for traditional sports, extreme sports players are judged mostly on the aesthetics that they bring making judgment far more subjective. As a result of this each sport employs its respective dynamic ideals that evolve assessment with new techniques and trends set by the participants.
There’s been some controversy all around the tag of extreme sports. As some people contend that extreme sports is not more than a marketing strategy giving viewers the perception of the higher level of danger associated with it. These people say that a sport like rugby or Demolition derby is not considered an extreme sport although there exists a higher level of danger and adrenalin rush that is related to it. It is viewed similar to the youth trying to reject authority and order and setting up a place of their own making the participating demographics of a much younger age group. Although at first adult sports such as sky diving, bungee jumping, mountain climbing scuba diving etc were associated with extreme sports, this term is a lot more relevant to youth driven sports including skateboarding, aggressive skating, BMX etc.
