So You Want to be a Superstar?

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Outside magazine, July 1999

So You Want to be a Superstar?
With a touch of hard work and a whole lot of pizzazz, you can master the ten coolest moves of the season. Dive right into the fun.

By Paul Scott

The Diving Dig

The Cartwheel

The Figure Four

Take the Stairs

The Crossover Dribble

The Righteous Gitis

The Rock-a-Copter

Hang Ten

The Twisting Somersault

The Wheelie

Well, actually, people don't mind show-offs, so long as they're good at what they do and don't make a career of being pompous asses. More to the point, we all secretly like to be show-offs. Sure, steady competence and consistent execution are the building blocks of any skill. But why bother with all that sweat and toil if you can't also grab some razzle-dazzle fun while you're at it? If you can't celebrate your mastery with a flourish? This, we propose, is the season to add some flash to your dash. We're talking summer, we're talking look-at-me maneuvers guaranteed to get you noticed, we're talking shameless exhibitionism in the pursuit of thunderous applause.

To help you elevate your performance from merely competent to cool, we've enlisted vaunted athletes with healthy egos from all of summer's essential sports—from surfing to basketball to mountain biking—to teach you their jazziest moves. They'll show you the tricky-but-not-impossible ways to claim your bragging rights without ever having to utter a word. Don't be shy.