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| Q&A: Slalom Pro Mike Maysey (2489 Posts)
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weight
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On 2/11/2003
Mike Maysey
wrote in from
(67.121.nnn.nnn)
Yeah, I have been packing on the pounds this winter. I'm up to a whopping 175lbs.
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Making Ransom's Ick flex
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On 2/11/2003
Jenny Craig
wrote in from
(205.188.nnn.nnn)
Hey, Mike,
Maybe it's just been a long winter and you need to shed a few pizzas? :-P
(I can brag because since Morro Bay I've dropped another NINE POUNDS. My optimum weight of 165 is only 11 away!)
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Soft or Medium
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On 2/11/2003
Mike Maysey
wrote in from
(204.30.nnn.nnn)
Dave, you should go with the medium flex Hybrid deck and you should go for the Avalon 80's (the 68mm wheels). Mount your board with the Seismic in front and the Full Track in the rear. That will probably work best.
The board Charlie won the World's on doesn't lack flex completely. I stood on it a few weeks ago.
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Soft or Medium?
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On 2/11/2003
Wesley Tucker
wrote in from
(152.163.nnn.nnn)
Dave,
If you're new to slalom and buying your first board, I would always recommend going with a MEDIUM flex.
Let's put it this way: at 150 lbs, you get your medium flex and it still feels too "stiff." Well, the good news is that as your calf, thigh and back muscles develop and you become a stronger skater, that "stiff" board will get "softer" over a period of just a few weeks. The board doesn't change, but you do. See what I mean?
If you buy a soft board, though, and it's too "squishy," you're pretty much screwed. No matter what you'll always have a squishy board. Without the benefit of being able to ride dozens of different boards for other skaters' weights and finding out what's best, I would tell Howard that I weighed 150 and wanted a medium flex.
Personally, I'm of the opinion no board can ever be too hard. Just remember, Charlie Ransom won the World GS championship on a NO-FLEX wood core Ick. Also, as I like to repeat often, Tony Alva was one of the fastest slalom skaters around in the '70s on an oak-slab Logan Earth Ski. Trampoline-like flex is not necessarily the key to solid slalom performance. Some boards, though, do flex more than others. Don't get stuck with a board, though, that instead of flexing just sags and lays there. That's no fun at all.
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What to buy.
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On 2/11/2003 Dave
wrote in from
(67.2.nnn.nnn)
Thanks.
I see that Turner has the hybrid on sale. Would this be
a good all around deck? Will my seismic 110 + fulltracks
work well with this? Should I get the turner 62mm or 68mm
wheels? At 150# should I get the soft or med flex? Sorry for so many??????????????????????????????????????
Thanks Dave
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slalom what to buy
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On 2/10/2003 Gary H.
wrote in from
(17.221.nnn.nnn)
Dave, buy the turner wheels. As for a set-up for your 12 year old, the Bahne Blackhill is a good choice. When we taught the slalom class at Yahoo we use some of them. Excellent value
-g-
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Slalom what to buy?
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On 2/9/2003 Dave
wrote in from
(67.2.nnn.nnn)
I tried running some cones this weekend and I am hooked.
I have a cut down S9 cosmic 1 with 110 seismics and
fultracks. I borrowed a set of La Costa wheels and these
had good speed/grip but what do I know?
It seems the choices are Turner vs ABEC. The Turners are
winning more of the races from what I have seen.
I also need something for my 12yr old son. Is the Bahne black hill a good deal?
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Who's Racing Who?
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On 2/9/2003
Mike Maysey
wrote in from
(204.33.nnn.nnn)
Hey there TK,
That's a very good question. Let's see...the person I hated to draw the most would have to have been Paul Dunn. It always seemed like whenever I'd make the final four, it was always Paul and I in the first round of the final. I hated it because I always knew we wouldn't finish 1st and 2nd...one of us had to go down and it was usually me, 1 of 5 times or something like that, if memory serves. My second least favorite was Chicken...his starts are amazing, and once he gets out the gate ahead, get ready for a beating.
My favorite draws...or the guys who brought out the best in me, have to be...in this order from recent memory, Charlie Ransom at the Worlds...when I got beat by Ransom by hardly a cone penalty, I was satisfied with my day, especially when he went on to WIN, Paul Dunn at the Worlds on Sunday...he pushed me to do everything I could, but it still wasn't quite enough, GC at Breck on the second day we qualified together and he got 1st I got 2nd...we agreed that the qualifier felt like a final.
Hey any Bay Area Slalom Skaters...I'm heading over to GGP in a little while to skate. I think there's going to be a small group there as usual. Come out and skate in the park on this beautiful Spring-like day in San Francisco.
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Who's racing who
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On 2/8/2003
TK
wrote in from
(24.128.nnn.nnn)
Mike, who did you hate to draw the most in the FCR series. Also who brought out your best racing ? TK
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Me....a Master?
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On 2/7/2003
Mike Maysey
wrote in from
(67.121.nnn.nnn)
HARDLY...there is much I don't know, but in a forum like this where we all can share I know I've learned a lot about this sport and my hope is that everyone who comes here, can take away some tidbit of knowledge that they can use to help push themselves to the next level.
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conservation of angular momentum
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On 2/7/2003
john airey
wrote in from
(63.113.nnn.nnn)
I think mike said the same thing as wesley.
pumping a vert transition or pumping a slalom cone is
actually the same physical thing.
its the same thing that you do on a swing when
you pull on the ropes. it's the same
reason a pendulum goes faster if you shorten the string.
its the reason richy c. spins faster when he pulls his
arms in while setting 360 records.
if something is going around in a circle and you make the
circle smaller, the thing will go faster. the physicists
call this conservation of angular momentum.
when you go up or down a transition you are going around
a part of a circle. If you push your weight up towards
the center of the circle you go faster because it's
effectively making the circle smaller.
when you go around a cone, if you push towards the inside
of the turn, you make the circle smaller and you go
faster.
This works in reverse. If you soak up a transition you
go slower, same with turns around cones.
type 'conservation of angular momentum'
into google and read about if you want.
here is one link from google:
http://btc.montana.edu/olympics/physbio/biomechanics/cam-intro.html
So those fast guys like MM and brian patch and cabbage
are essentially masters of converting angular momentum
to velocity. knowing this won't help you beat them tho.
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Braking
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On 2/6/2003
Hamm
wrote in from
(63.175.nnn.nnn)
Obviously is takes a great question to create a great answer, but that is one bitchin' post Wesley! Exactly the type of discussion I was hoping to provoke.
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Talent
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On 2/6/2003 george g.
wrote in from
(162.42.nnn.nnn)
in trying to compare Ransom to any one is hard. seeing him live run El Fuerte one footed through cones for nothing but fun made me realize there are racers with something gifted. some people have serious talent. I spoke with Rick Howell at length about improving, and watch regular footed racers all the time to try to improve. i could get lucky because luck takes a part in racing. However Rick told me he believes he has seen C/R step off his board at serious speed and run it out. i would not attempt to compare any of the top 10 meaning Cross, Ransom, Dunn etc with the rest of us. luck and hard work might get you somewhere. that was a great post by Wes about the breaking thing i am trying to learn all the time, next race dude if you make it out to an FCR and i am there your on for a beer, G
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Braking it all down
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On 2/6/2003
Wesley Tucker
wrote in from
(152.163.nnn.nnn)
Well, yeah, Mike, but just saying that is kind of boring:-)
I agree with you, though. I watched Ransom and he is a master of braking and accelerating. Of course, the one thing I didn't mention is the part that timing and execution plays in all this. It's not just enough to get down, turn, extend and go to the next cone. There's also the question of when, how much, and when to stand up again and accelerate.
How do we determine these variables? Simple: practice. We skate and skate a lot. It's a question of making it more of an instintive response to a situation as much as a some sort of tactical decision purposefully executed under certain conditions.
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..the brakes
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On 2/6/2003
Mike Maysey
wrote in from
(67.121.nnn.nnn)
Thanks Wes...that's quite a description.
In a nutshell then...If I approach a cone crouched and at the apex extend, will I slow down going into the cone and speed up coming out? It's very interesting to watch someone like Ransom on the GS course at Avila. He utilizes this technique of speeding up and slowing down better than anyone.
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Nope, can't have it Mike.
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On 2/6/2003
BoBo
wrote in from
(172.135.nnn.nnn)
Alls you gotta do is have a friend like geezer-x, have an old Tracker fultrack [I'm sure you can get one!] and get it modified. This truck performs like no other and I'm stoked to have it on my fave deck as well. Here's a nice shot of it from the middle of the deck. I had to shave the Cambria's to get em to fit but they grab like no other wheel so I had to use em. 
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That's just the brakes
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On 2/6/2003
Wesley Tucker
wrote in from
(152.163.nnn.nnn)
"Braking" on a slalom skateboard has nothing to do with sliding, scraping, dragging, or slipping. It is not a technique where you use vert skills in order to slow down. That's not it at all.
Braking as referred to in slalom is a means of altering YOUR CENTER OF GRAVITY and thus "bleeding off" some of the inertial energy that results from going downhill. For those of you who don't know, the human body's natural center of gravity is somewhere between pubic bone and the lower spine. It's way down there around the kidneys and bladder. That's why it's so hard to walk when you drink too much beer: your kidneys and bladder fill up and you lose your natural center of gravity. Of course you'll fall down. Although standing on a skateboard and rising a couple of inches does alter the overall center of gravity for man+machine, the difference is negligible.
Ok, now what's this stuff about changing the center of gravity to reduce speed? Well, since I sincerely doubt anyone can get taller on a skateboard, then the obvious conclusion is to get SHORTER. That means going down and getting closer to the road. Of course, just leaning over or hunching down low is not all that it takes. There is also the action of the pendulum to expend this potential energy we call momentum and release it in a kinetic form that leaves us with a net loss and thus going slower. Where do we find this pendulum effect in skateboarding?
Going around a cone. We often see competent course setters purposefully put a cone on an easy, wide open arc half way down a course so as to bleed some speed. That's a well-placed "braking cone." If the hill is really steep, we'll see two such cones for a wide lazy "S" that will sometimes almost lead to too much deceleration. Why anyone would put a lot of wide lazy "S" turns at the top of the hill and then leave the other 75% of a screaming downhill with wide open offsets is beyond me. I know it sure does make for some boring television.
If you're on a hybrid or GS course on a fair to steep hill and find yourself going way too fast to make the next offset, don't panic. GET DOWN LOW. Bend the knees, bend at the waist, lower your center of gravity and trace a perfect arc around the cone. As your body and machine round the cone, you will feel the board SLOW as it makes the parabola and you set up for the next marker.
As a parallel skater, I can tell you there is one advantage to this stance: I can go straight down and almost sit on my ankles. I get so low that I almost roll to a stop! This is one of the things that ruined my times at 'da Farm race last August. Having missed all the early morning practice session, my first run on the course was a DQ as I missed the first wide offset. Well, I thought about it and knew I had to get a time in before the rains came. So on my second run, I went into the far right offset cone and just as I said, got down WAY LOW. I braked alright. When I stood up coming out of the cone I was barely cruising. I double pumped, got my speed back up and finished the course with one cone hit. Unfortunately, my time was in the 17's while the winners were down in the 13's. I made the course and braked successfully, but the lack of practice and over compensating put me so far out of the running I may have well went home . . . but then I would have missed the bar-b-que at Steve's house. That, though, is another story.
No hand dragging, no sliding, no foot dragging or using your shoe as a brake pad on the rear wheel. Just a little physics resulting in lost inertia and reduced velocity. Works every time.
Well, it works every time as long as Newton, Kepler and Einstein still have a say so as to what goes on around here!
AND, one last thing. Maybe you doubt me? Maybe you have no faith in the laws of Nature, God and the Universe? Fine. Go out in the damned street, find a hill and carve it. Go real fast standing up and then hunker down in a low stance and make the same turn again. Come back and tell me you didn't slow down. Sure, I know what you're gonna say, "hey, Wes, that's nothing. I always slow down when I get down low and carve a turn."
TA DA!
P.S. For those of you who were waiting for the magic word, remember: there is no such thing as "centrifugal force." We have centrifuges for increasing inertia, but they do nothing to generate the nonexistent "centrifugal force" bandied about rather carelessly in some of the more poorly edited science fiction. There is only "inertia."
Thank you. Coffee mugs and T-shirts are for sale in the lobby.
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...Turner and Tracker together
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On 2/6/2003
Mike Maysey
wrote in from
(67.121.nnn.nnn)
BoBo, gimme that back truck....you don't need it...hand it over...c'mon, I'll give it a good home. What do ya say? hehe
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And the front
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On 2/6/2003 BoBo
wrote in from
(172.133.nnn.nnn)
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Forgot the brackets.
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On 2/6/2003 BoBo
wrote in from
(172.133.nnn.nnn)
It's been a while since I posted a pic. My bad :(
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Yes, we need some stinkin wedges
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On 2/6/2003
BoBo
wrote in from
(172.133.nnn.nnn)
Figured I'd post a wedge pic. Talk amongst yourselves. img src=http://members.aol.com/alxclaire/Robsskates/wedge1.jpg
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Speed scrubbing
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On 2/6/2003
Brady
wrote in from
(66.21.nnn.nnn)
Hamm,
Good question and I`d like to hear what Mikey has to say..
I find myself doing a little of both (well, not the farting bit) and prefer to go wide when I can but sliding out the rear seems mpre appropriate in tighter sections where you can`t really go wife.
I had set some courses on Dump Rd and had Chuck there and was trying to learnt him how to slide and scrub. It`s a fast and rough road so probably not the optimal learning spot as evidently Chuck blew off course, bombed the hill to high speed wobs, missed the turn and went over the side. I felt bad for him and when he walked back up the hill, I didn`t know if I should console him or run.
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SPEEDING UP and Slowing Down
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On 2/6/2003
Mike Maysey
wrote in from
(67.121.nnn.nnn)
one more thing regarding speed...you are also correct Hamm in pointing out that there are sections of courses where you can go balls out and sections where you want to just coast and guide the board. Such was the case at the Presidio race. The first day, that course had about 4 sections that I had figured out and I would pump my butt off in the top and though the hip then back off for the offsets in the middle then start to rev up after the offsets to another pump my butt off section through the timing light. Sometimes everything applies...
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Slowing Down & SPEEDING UP
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On 2/6/2003
Mike Maysey
wrote in from
(67.121.nnn.nnn)
Hamm,
...okay...I think when I want to slow down, and I haven't really ever thought about this but...let's see...let met think about this...when I want to speed up, I sort of bend my knees and extend out of the turn...this motion makes me soak up the entry into the turn and them explode out of a turn. I speed up.
Now to slow down, I think I keep my legs pretty straight throughout the turn so rather than extend to accellerate, I sort of stiff leg it and don't pump. If I'm going super fast, I do in fact square off a heelside turn and throw a check slide just enough to slow down but not blow my line...
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Wedges....we don't have to show you no stinkin' wedges!
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On 2/5/2003
Chuck
wrote in from
(63.62.nnn.nnn)
For my Roe Hester (Hybrid / GS set-up) I run an RT-X wedged up front, and an offset RT-X flat in the rear. For my FibreFlex GS Lite (TS set-up) I run a wedged RT-X up front, a de-wedged Indy offset rear (Mike-"de-wedged" is what you are talking about with the fat end rearward on the rear truck to take turning out).
I find for shorter wheelbases I need to take more turning out of the back, for longer less so. I even wedge the rear to turn on boards 36" and longer.
It's all about feel...
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