User:Hypermatec/sandbox

Snowboarding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowboarding

This article has some strengths and weaknesses that I noticed right off the bat. Some of the weaknesses that were quickly apparent were several paragraphs and sentences that seemed to state facts, but provided no citation. Many other editors endorsed my view because they added the “citation needed” comment at the end of some of the content. A number of the sources cited also seemed to be weak. A few sources point to articles written on sites I’ve never heard of, or to blog sites where the expertise of the writer of the article is not made clear. This left a sense of some uncertainty about the trustworthiness of some of the contributors. The last thing I think could help strengthen the article would be to include the names of the more famous snowboarders, such as the people who broke records or won competitions. Shaun White is a huge name in the snowboarding world and I only saw his name in reference to a movie in this article.

On the other hand, this article has many strengths in my opinion. Other than the few questionable sources, this article also has some strong sources, such as the International Olympics website, several studies conducted by reputable research journals, and a few well-known news outlets. Another strength is the fact that the article is well focused on just snowboarding, and snowboarding- related topics. It does not go off topic and bring other snow sports such as skiing or snowmobiling into the article’s focus. The sources are all very neutral, even, surprisingly, the source about the feud between snowboarders and skiers. The article did not try to persuade the reader to have a particular opinion about snowboarding. In fact, it gives a lot of information people might not think of when they consider starting to snowboard, such as injuries common to snowboarding, and potential hazards of the sport like avalanches, tree wells (which are basically like sand traps at the base of trees, but snow), and the ways you can help reduce risk of injury, such as wearing padding, and getting proper training. I checked several of the linked sources and all of them worked, although some of the sources looked very old. I was also very happy with the layout and amount of information in each section of the article. The article, like many, started with a basic definition, then moved to the history, which I wanted to see, and on to other things that are important like the styles of snowboarding and media. I feel the sections on snowboarding styles and the sport-related injuries were probably a little longer than the other sections, but that is mainly because there is more to write about on those topics. I liked the use of images at key points in the article to help understand what was being talked about.

While going through this article again, I noticed a description that could be made more clear with a word change, and image, and a reference to another wiki article. This will be one change I try to make under the "Freeriding" section of the "Styles" section. Another weakness I think I can help with is one of the citations that is missing. After doing some research, I have found an article to back up one of the claims made in this article that needed citation.



Freeriding
Freeriding communicates the concept of dynamically altering various snowboarding styles in a fluid motion, allowing for a spontaneous ride on naturally rugged terrain. See also Backcountry snowboarding.

History
In February of 1968, Poppen organized the first snurfing competition at a Michigan ski resort that attracted enthusiasts from all over the country. One of those early pioneers was Tom Sims, a devotee of skateboarding (a sport born in the 1950s when kids attached roller skate wheels to small boards that they steered by shifting their weight). As an eighth grader in Haddonfield, New Jersey, in the 1960s, Sims crafted a snowboard in his school shop class by gluing carpet to the top of a piece of wood and attaching aluminum sheeting to the bottom. He produced commercial snowboards in the mid-70s. Articles about his invention in such mainstream magazines as Newsweek helped publicize the young sport.