MarcusBrown

@lundberg @Drago Intriguing comment about the apex/finish of turn: "The really interesting thing is how much slower you go when the line is short. For the line to stay tight you must slow way down." Didn't someone once say, that to keep the rope tight and the carved radius tighter, one might need to learn to Turn from the Tail of the ski? - AKA the part of the ski that creates the most drag... 🤔 ....or else, SLACK

Sat down with Jenny to discuss this very thread, in a bit more detail:

@Than_Bogan my only question now, is "How serious is your statement above?"

@ALPJr You are exactly right. Honestly, without Suyderhoud's contributions during the 90's and 2000's, I do not think very many people would be on the right track. Today, it seems like a majority of skiers out there (and most on this forum) have a sense that standing on the ski "correctly", means the skier has to make a dynamic effort to keep their body moving slightly "ahead" of their feet. Now when we say mass "ahead" of the feet, what we really mean is mass closer to the wakes, than the feet, on the acceleration phase. The frame of reference matters, and in this line of thinking, the frame of reference is the Skier+Boat system... One way to put this, is that the skier should be trying to actively "Fall" towards the wake - as the skier begins accelerating toward the wakes, if they make a "dynamic" effort to keep their mass "ahead" of their feet, they gain water speed under their ski...which provides more support, which allows them to add "LEAN", which creates more rope AND ski load,...BUT if they keep their mass moving ahead of their feet, that ski load (hydraulic force, as some call it, felt through the feet) contributes to acceleration towards centerline, which instantaneously reduces rope load slightly....which increases water speed under the ski,...which then allows for a bit more lean, and the cycle repeats itself up to centerline....where it approaches a limit, of sorts. The Adam's have discussed this very same thing, from a different frame of reference: the Skier's perspective. From that frame of reference, the goal is to achieve (and actively maintain) a stance Perpendicular to the ski. Either way, the same thing is being described. However, without Suyderhoud breaking through in the 90's (as you've mentioned) I really don't think any of us would've figured this out...OR if so, it would've taken much longer to get to the level of collective understanding we are at currently.

Super Cool Idea !!!

Shep is a legend!! Stoked to see he’s putting the Wave camera to use. I’ve had the camera for a little bit now and it’s pretty amazing. This was shot exclusively on the Wave camera:

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” Mark Twain

@drago thanks for the pull! Been coming to Kodiak for 20 years and I'm stoked to see you help bring new life to the lake! And that's the World Record boat.... Chris "The Pickle Tower" Parrish ran 1.5 at 43 behind that boat in 2009!

@Than_Bogan we are working on a kickstarter campaign to take it to the next level. We'll keep you posted once we're setup and ready to take your money...

@jipster43 yes, there are lots of times those 2 have nailed this move. Remember, the moves you make on the water ALWAYS have their roots in the concepts, beliefs and models you create in your mind off the water. The better the Model you are operating from, the better the outcomes when you are in the course.

@Deep11 I agree with you. There are multiple ways to "smear" or drift the ski for sure...below are a few that come to mind: 1. Ski setup - From riding different skis, it seems the Denali is the most automatic at this 2. Tip Engagement (which was always my goal in the past) - ski tip engages/grabs, feet push the rest of the ski thru and you have a "rotation" of sorts. But this is a lower probability move than #3 3. Body Manipulation - Weight transfer + Proper Sequencing. This approach requires tip engagement to initiate, but minimal tip engagement through the finish of the turn. When learned, its my belief this will give you the best, most repeatable and highest probability direction change from Apex in....no matter what ski you ride....and, generally speaking, no matter which turn we are talking about, Onside/Offside. #3 requires a unique sequence of movements....and it may be a bit of an advanced concept. The beauty of our sport is the free flow of information and energy between Pros and Amateurs....but it can also be confusing at times. I don't believe this should be a Beginner/Intermediate focus...my guess is this truly comes into play at the bridge pass between 32 and 38 off. At 35 off (12m) things start to feel a bit funky, the rhythm is drastically different than 32, and intuitive skiers learn how to deal with it, but the rest of us can tend to struggle. I believe 35 off is the limit pass for being able to proficiently "carve" the ski and still keep rhythm. Once we get to 38 off, the margin for error when carving a ski becomes incredibly small, and its here that skiers have to learn another way to change directions through apex.

@Wish thanks for posting....I'm wondering if @Mastercrafter postings clarified things a bit? This is definitely a Completely NEW way of thinking about turning dynamics for me....and I've not heard this part of the course discussed in this fashion...so I think its going to take a bit of time for the concept to sink in for many skiers. Definitely don't want to leave anyone confused. I'll leave you with this analogy: The Hammer and The Nail -For a very long time, skiers have been trying to push the nail in by holding the hammer agains the nail head and simply trying to push hard enough to get the nail to sink into the wood. That's gonna be a frustrating approach -All I'm advocating for is we use the Hammer how it was meant to be used....cock it back, aim and swing it so that it hits the nail head square and with MOMENTUM! The impulse of the hammer hitting the nail head puts a lot of energy into the nail, and the nail moves into the wood. The finish of the turn, if done right, should be exactly the same: your body is the Hammer, and the ski is the Nail. If you "Set it up" right in the Outbound Swing (PreTurn) phase, you can get the ski to rotate much easier at the finish of the turn but loading through your back foot at the right place and at the right time, than by simply standing balanced and waiting for the ski to carve/rotate/finish on its own.

Thanks Appreciate it!

Thank you! getting the exposure right with this camera setup is hard, as its a bit of a guessing game: the aperture control is non-existent, as I don't have Cinema lenses for this camera. So, for any lens I want to use, I have to first put the lens on a normal camera body, set the aperture, remove the lens, mount it to the slowmo Camera, then hope I have enough leeway to fine adjust exposure with shutter speed. Not ideal, but still doable.The problems arise when the light is low, and the aperture needs to be wide open.....in that case, nailing focus becomes really really hard. so true. Lucky thing about water skiing is we do it outside (until someone builds a dome with a lake inside), so the chances of ample light are higher. But still tough when a cloud gets between the sun and the skier.Actually this camera will shoot over 9,000 fps, but at a resolution of about 2,000 x 128 which ends up being a very wide and thin strip of footage. Haven't played with that yet, but as I've found, even the 2048 x 1080 footage (HD) is a bit below what I would want to try to use for cinematic purposes. Diagnostics and technique is a different case tho, so maybe I'll try to find some of the 1500 fps stuff I shot and post a few clips in the near future....

Thanks guys. Was fun to see this project through. @Rednucleus I did slip a few shots from the 2021 Hilltop ProAm into this edit! @Than_Bogan this camera shoots 1500 fps at 1080p, and 422 fps at 4k resolution. The old MasterCraft thing we shot was on a Phantom camera that shot about 1200 fps at 1080p resolution. Unfortunately, shooting max frame rate on my camera at 1080 ended up not being quite what I wanted...so all of the stuff I shot at 1200 - 1500 fps had to be scraped, as the images didn't really hold up to the standard I wanted to show. So, all of these images are 4k, and somewhere between 300-422 fps....or anywhere from 12.5x slower to 17.5x slower than normal speed.

Over 10 years ago, when I was skiing for MasterCraft, I had the opportunity to film with the talented Mark Bame and Eric Jeffcoat. At the time, I didn't know it, but that trip ended up inspiring me to ultimately pick up a camera and learn how to create. Just one year after that shoot I was injured and life took a huge pivot. But the actual footage we got was pretty special, and left an imprint on me that I couldn't shake - see edit here, it was quite insane for the times in 2010, actually: Since that project, over a decade ago, I've been wanting to shoot a completely slow motion water ski short film. But Phantom cameras had always been too expensive ($100,000 +), and I could never find the budget to pull it off. Last year, a more affordable super slowmo camera was released, and I maxed the credit card just to get my grimy paws on one. So, with camera in hand, the best water ski company behind me and the best water skiers in the World in front of my lens, the goal was to build on those MasterCraft projects from years past, that had originally sparked the madness. This project, right here, is honestly why I got into filmmaking to begin with: trying to create a feeling and a sensation in the viewer that would make them understand what Water Skiing is all about....what it feels like to ski at the highest levels, and what it looks like to have a front row seat to the spectacle. Big Thanks to HO/Syndicate for continued support of FlowPointTV ....2022 will be nine years and we kinda can't believe it. Below is the Narration for this story, and just to give you a bit of insight as to how I create the words for these FPTV episodes...I don't really know. Most times, I'll have a feeling or an idea pop up and I'll just run with it. But as you can tell, this particular episode is special to me. Most importantly, the idea for the FlowPoint came from my own experiences on a water ski....pushing my own potential, and finding the edge of what I was capable of doing....and through that journey, I caught a glimpse of something greater than myself. That was powerful...and something I hope you all have experienced at least a few times in your life. SHORT END of THE LINE: "We are warriors, in a forgotten game. Not because its a matter of life or death… But warriors because we push the limits of what’s humanly possible….we choose to look beyond the soft, shallow existence that has become normal everyday life….we can feel that there is more...that if we choose to seek it, life can have a deeper meaning than simply falling in line….we follow our passion, and we find the edge….and we hang out there as long as possible…. …..out there, lies the place where a human, can become god-like...if only for an instant… So if you wanna find us….we’ll be on the edge that exists only, at the short end of the line." - Marcus Brown

@Horton FPM

@horton I already did that last weekend… https://www.instagram.com/reel/CVgZRYNBpm7/?utm_medium=copy_link

@Horton I think you need to try harder

One of the last videos I have of him skiing - First time on this particular ski, at 39.5 at his home site, back in 2017, :

Well, I hate to bring you all this news (to those that knew him) but @matthewbrown passed away peacefully last night, surrounded by family, after almost a decade long battle with 2 different types of cancer....actually beating them both, at different times, before finally having it get the best of him. He fought till the very end....until the last possible millisecond....much like many of us have skied a pass, maybe our toughest pass....not giving up and not losing hope, until the very last possible moment. 51 years. 18,800 days. Lots of laughs and memories. Water skiing, in many ways, was his life. Undoubtedly he had great perspective on it, and realized it was just an arbitrary sport, that means next to nothing on the face....but that it was a vessel, or a vehicle with which each and every one of us can express ourselves...can find community,...can push our boundaries....and ultimately become better versions of ourselves. He loved it for the challenge and the chase of trying to understand the most technical details at the most elite levels....and he loved it for the community, friends and memories it afforded him and the people he loved, along the way. I'll have you know, without a doubt, that John Horton and the BOS community he created, helped to keep Matt fighting all these years. It helped him stay connected to a kick ass group of passionate, knowledgeable and caring people. It gave him something to focus on, through the tough times and the pain. It kept him going, even when he no longer could get behind the boat himself. AND, it reminded him that he wasn't alone....that many people out there are fighting their own battles, and it helped him learn how to fight his own fight, with grace and class. Here's the story about how Matthew changed the trajectory of my family's life: My parents were pioneers of sorts, and adventurers. My father built his first boat...an old wooden flat bottom with an outboard, probably in the early 60's. That kicked off 20 years of recreational skiing all over the US and Canada....every summer a different lake or river. BUT, it was open water recreational skiing.....NO BUOYS. Until 1983, when my brother decided he wanted to try a tournament - Twin Cities, in Sacramento, Novice division. Matt ended up winning, getting the trophy (and probably some cool glasses or something), and THAT moment changed everything for us. That moment was the moment we became competitive water skiers. Matthew was the tip of the spear for our family (in more than one way, of course), and literally everything my family and I have been lucky enough to gain from this sport, was all because we were able to stand on the shoulders of the giant that came before us....Matthew Brown. The rest is not worth digging through now, but the reality is that Water Skiing has given our family so much, and gave him so much....right till the very end. And it was his own doing. He carved that path for himself, whether he knew it or not. The only other story that needs to be shared now, is another water ski story of the last year and a half of his life: He was broken down, battling 2 types of cancer, and doing all the treatments he could....but still hungry for life. And about 18 months ago, Terry Winter and his family moved back to California, and lived here at the lake with us. Almost every day, from Jan 1 through the summer, Terry skied. And Matthew was in the boat, for most of those ski rides....learning, coaching, sharing, thriving....living. And I got to be there for a lot of that time, witnessing the power of passion...and dedication. It was a gift, and something that kept MB going when probably nothing else would've. Below is what I shared on social media...if you were close enough to MB to have a funny or powerful story, PLEASE feel free to share! If you didn't have the chance to know Matt, he was usually the funniest guy in the room, and always looked people in the eye and gave them his full attention. This picture isn’t necessarily the MB many of you remember, but this is the MB of the last 8+ years: humble, focused, loving, loved, defiant, passionate, wise. He became a Warrior. And those of us who were fortunate enough to be in the trenches with him, learned something from him in that time. But he was a force even before cancer. And he touched a lot of people throughout his 51 years. He made a lot of people laugh. He made a lot of people feel good. And he somehow always ended up wearing other people’s favorite shit: hats, sunglasses, shirts...didn’t matter, somehow he always ended up inheriting the best of what other people had to offer. My best hat would go missing, and a week later I would see Matt wearing it proudly, almost as if it had been his all along. But you liked him too much to call him out…or at least I did. In fact, for me, he was my bullseye from day one,....the guy I looked up to, and aimed at....always wanted to be like. And he was pretty damn awesome to me, even when I was that “little brother” that always wanted to tag along for everything. I’ve never known life without him. It’s day #1 after Matthew and there’s a hole. And I know there’s going to be a hole for a lot of you out there as well. And I don’t really know what to say to that...except thank you. Thank you for being a friend to him...A person that he loved spending time with, skiing with or laughing with. Thank you for being a part of Matthew’s journey, in whatever way you were. He was who he was, because of ALL of us who had the chance to cross paths with him. So thank you whoever you are. And I’m sorry to bring you this news today. Nothing planned to commemorate him as of now, but I will post at a later date, if and when I have that information. I just wanted to end by sharing the beginnings of a thought stream I experienced, and typed out 16 days ago, on one of the toughest mornings of Matt’s journey: “HUMANITY: It’s like Gravity….it exists, whether you believe in it or not. Whether you actually look for it, or have already given up. Either way, it doesn’t matter….its still there...but its a Tango. You must show up to find it, and to feel it…..its the ultimate leap of faith, definition of faith, marker of true faith. Faith in the ones to your left and your right….it means you’re still here, still “grounded”, still have skin in the game,...It means you rely on and provide for the ones you can look in the eyes…...Humanity is our name for it, right now, on this Earth...but no matter what the “name”...its the same everywhere in the Universe: you absolutely know that you’ve felt this, at some point in your life....and the only way forward out of whatever hole we’ve stumbled into, is directly thru that “thing”....to let it work through us...to be humanity...to realize “we are it”….this moment. Here. Now. Real. Raw…. feel it. STOP and feel it. Smell it. Taste it. Be…..with the ones you love.”

@Horton you made my point exactly.... My answer would be not really: ZO settings matter, insofar as its important to keep them consistent through time. Has anyone ever done a double-blind test to see if a skier could actually decipher whether they were being pulled by their favorite B2 setting, or if the driver suddenly had switched it to A1? I would guess that most skiers wouldn't be able to pass that test. If 5 thousands of an inch really mattered, my opinion is that there are more fundamental issues in technique. Propping can matter. Octane, it probably could make a negligible improvement on overall performance through time, given a large enough sample size....but I just haven't seen the data one way or the other and my gut tells me its mostly smoke and mirrors.

@AdamCord I would agree with you about the FlowPoint....the passes that feel effortless, like you are in a perfect dance with the boat, are often a requirement for anyone actually coming close to entering the flow state. I just don't agree with a call for "All Hands On Deck" centered around the supposition that octane is whats limiting skiers from reaching better scores...