The Engineer
By Luke Woodling (more by this author)
From WATER SKI MAGAZINE: The Engineer

Marcus Brown is short.

Not for a human, of course. On a species level he is, at the very least, of average height, maybe even a little better. But for a professional slalom water-skier, Brown is downright dwarfish. In fact, at 5 feet, 9 ½ inches, Brown is among the shortest men in the ranks of slalom skiing, a sport in which height is an athlete's great advantage. How then did Marcus Brown manage to beat 6'2" Steve Cockeram, 6'2" Aaron Larkin, 6'1" Jodi Fisher and 6' 5" Chris Parrish to earn his first major pro victory at the Moomba Masters in Melbourne, Australia, in March? Simple, Brown says. With better technique.

"For me to ski the same as the tall guys, I have to be better technically," Brown says. "At Moomba, Larkin, Fisher, all those guys are taller than me, and we all have to get around the same point with our ski. So I have to be better to get to the same mark in good enough position to turn. I don't think I'd have been able to win the final round without my technique."

It's not that simple, of course. No, the technique Brown champions, West Coast slalom — an analytical approach to skiing that has more to do with Sir Isaac Newton than Lucky Lowe — has baffled much of the skiing community since its introduction half a decade ago. Yet it seems simple to Brown, who lectures in traveling camps, on water-ski discussion boards and pretty much anywhere else he can that not only is West Coast slalom the best, most efficient way to ski, it's the most enjoyable way to ski as well. Instead of the slamming, twisting and fighting the line that the majority of skiers have for years accepted as Scripture, West Coast is a holistic approach to slalom skiing — a technique that first stresses an understanding of the physical principles that govern the earth and our bodies, then capitalizes on that knowledge to find the most efficient means of travel through a slalom course.

"Mechanics are ABSOLUTES," Brown wrote in an entry to the water-ski discussion board skifly.com last December. "There is an ideal location for your center of mass at every point throughout the course. Understanding and then using this fact to your advantage is the key to maximum growth. Period. End of story. That is the key."

Which brings us to our second big character-defining statement about Brown: He's an engineer. Or at least he'll be one soon. Brown is set to graduate with a civil engineering degree from California State University, Chico, this December and has plans for a career building ski lakes that preserve and enrich their surrounding natural environment.

To understand how this shaggy-haired, goateed self-described ski bum came not only to join the ranks of elite slalom skiing but also to list physics as a hobby on his Web site, one has to travel back 10 years to a tournament on a ski lake in Northern California. Because at that 1996 tournament at Southwood Lake in Redding, Mike Suyderhoud saw a then 16-year-old Marcus Brown ski for the first time.

For the previous three years, Suyderhoud, a five-time world champion turned coach, had been mulling over the rudiments of a new approach to skiing — a technique based on real-world physical principles, the same laws that allow us to walk, run or ride a bike. But Suyderhoud needed students good enough to prove his theories worked at 391¼2 off. When Suyderhoud saw Brown and his best friend, Terry Winter, skiing, he thought he'd found the perfect incubators for his new concepts. Once he started teaching them, he had little doubt. The obvious reason, and the one Brown himself cites, was their height. Because they were short (Winter at 5'9" is even shorter than Brown), they had the most to gain from a new focus on technique. But Suyderhoud cites a different reason.

"I wanted to work with them because they were very smart, and when I explained why I thought something would work, they would listen and try it," Suyderhoud says. "The advantage of working with Marcus and Terry was that they were more willing to try new things, so we could experiment more."

For the next several years, Suyderhoud made the hour-and-a-half drive from his home in Redding to Brown's site in Biggs 10 or 15 times a summer to coach the pair. And the three went about developing what has become West Coast technique. "He started introducing us to a different way of thinking about slalom skiing, which was thinking more about the actual mechanics — to look at it analytically," Brown says. "He was trying to build an understanding within us, so that the better we understood skiing, the better we would get at it."

Suyderhoud's theories found an apt pupil in Brown, who had long been interested in skiing technique, but had never been presented so complete a picture of how mechanics on the water actually worked.

"It's funny because you're interested in it, but you really don't know what the hell is going on, you know?" Brown says. "You hear so many different things. I was coached by Gordon Rathbun for a while. I was coached by Willie Ellermeyer. But while some of the stuff they were saying made sense, I never really knew what I was supposed to do at every point in the course. As I started to understand, I wanted to know more, and I started to try and develop my own ideas and theories."

What Suyderhoud taught them in these first early summers would become the foundation for West Coast slalom and, as Brown contends, for his skiing success.

"If it weren't for Mike Suyderhoud," Brown says, "I would still probably be trying to lean hard away from the boat and this bullcrap that doesn't really pan out, especially at 38, 39 and 41 off. I guarantee you I wouldn't be as good a skier as I am today."

While Brown credits Suyderhoud and West Coast for his skiing success, he could just as easily cite the technique for his academic success. Two years after Suyderhoud began coaching him, Brown enrolled at Arizona State University. His interest piqued by those early lessons in West Coast, Brown started dabbling in physics and mathematics classes. Before he knew it, he had enough prerequisites to major in engineering. "I loved physics once I got into it," Brown says. "I really enjoyed the mechanical side of physics, but I didn't want to be a physics major because you have to learn about quantum theory and relativity theory. It's pretty abstract, but mechanics is applicable to everything."

More than anything, Brown has applied what he's learned in the classroom to his life on the water. He has also tried to use his unique understanding to teach other skiers about West Coast technique. "Marcus is like me," says Suyderhoud, who has a chemistry degree and also studied math and physics in college. "When you're like that, you talk about things and you try to understand the way things work."

In the past few years, Brown has done no shortage of writing and teaching to get the word out on West Coast technique. In February 2004, he entered a series of posts on waterski.net that amounted to a thesis statement for West Coast technique. Then last December, Brown entered a thread on skifly.com to defend against what he saw as attacks on West Coast technique. The thread quickly became a sparring match over technique, complete with equations, between Brown and former national champion and coach Steve Schnitzer. Brown even posted a paper on his Web site called "West Coast Slalom."

But Brown's win at Moomba likely has done more to further the acceptance of West Coast technique than all these efforts combined.

"My win at Moomba validates West Coast slalom to everybody else — I know what it allows me to do," Brown says. "It's sad that you have to do really well before someone thinks a concept is valid. "I got more interest in just the two weeks after winning the tournament than I ever had," Brown says. "Now everyone is like, 'Hey, can you come to our lake and put on a clinic?' or 'Can you help me with my ski setup?' or 'Can I fly my kids out to ski with you?'"

For now, these things, as well as chat room lectures, will have to take a back seat to simply skiing, because that's all Brown plans to do with the first few years of post-graduate life. "I'm going to devote 100 percent of my time to water skiing," Brown says. "I want to give water skiing a go, undeterred. I want to win tournaments."

And that is about as simple as it gets.

Marcus on Marcus: Turning
Through the edge change, I'm thinking about projecting the ski out as far as it can go — ultimately to reach the apex (widest point of the turn) no matter what line length. Obviously, the wider you can apex and the sooner you can apex the earlier you're going to be.
As I start to slide in after the apex, my hips are dropping forward and inside the turning arc, which keeps the ski tip in the water. The tip only comes up when your center of mass is back, allowing the ski to get out in front of you and wheelie. If that happens, all you can do is wait for the rope to come tight to accelerate you across course, because any speed that was brought into the turn was lost when the center of mass
dropped b

 

ack.

Center of Mass

The Center of Mass (CM) of a human body is located just above the hips.   To move a human body through space, its Center of Mass must be accelerated.   When a snow skier carves a turn on snow (CHECK OUT BODE MILLER'S VIDEO), their CM is "falling" in the direction their skis are moving.   In other words, the CM is moving towards the center of the turning arc.   The skier is able to stay up, because the skis are constantly "catching" the skier, and accelerating the body.   To accomplish this, snow skiers have been Counter Rotating for decades.   Counter Rotation is   twisting of the shoulders and hips away from the center of the turning arc.   They do this because it allows them to angulate their bodies very effectively, and angulation is the key to efficiently placing the CM at the inside of the turning arc.   The result:   A Perfect Turn!

Carving a turn on water is exactly the same, its just the rope that confuses most people.   Imagine arcing a turn without the handle in hand: i.e. free from the boat's pull.   It would be done exactly as described above:   Counter Rotating, which allows the body to angulate to the inside of the turn.   In order to do this in the course or open water, and still maintain the handle, the skier must learn to be "free" from the boat just before the finish of the turn.   With relatively little rope tension, the skier will be able to angulate through the turn, to maintain speed.   The result:   another Perfect Turn, with maximum acceleration approaching the wakes.

Old School vs. New School
From Discussion Board on Waterski.net
FEB 18th, 2004
This is a really simple matter, that is getting really contorted by incomplete info.
What you guys are calling "new school slalom" is nothing more than a different approach to slalom skiing. In the past, slalom skiing and coaching has entailed telling someone to "get their hips up and shoulders back" because Lucky Lowe is world champion and it works for him so it must be the right way. The new wave of slalom, emerging about 5-6 years ago, is a result of slalom based on physical principles.....the same principles that govern how we move during any other activity: walking, runnning, riding a bike, skateboarding, roller blading, and especially snow skiing.
Drew Ross is an incredible skier who has been running 39.5 off since before I could run 38' off,....but, he is by no means a "new school skier" nor are his concepts given in his video "new school" concepts. Just watch him ski, and then watch Jamie, Terry or Chris Rossi ski....trust me, the difference is evident. The ideas of using your knees to gain angle or setting the ski on a direction and then maintaining angle by assuming a "guarded" position is completely unfounded and incorrect. Jeff Rodgers, world champion, has wooden pegs for legs when he skis....yet he gets more angle out of his on side than anyone in the world!!!...there goes the "knee" theory.
The problem is that water skiing has two important aspects, which are often mistaken for the same thing: mechanics and style. Everyone has their own style, whether it is Jeff R's straight legs and back, or Jamie Beauchesne's compressed approach or even Jason Parades' mixture of the two....they all work! This should be good news, because it shows that their is no ONE style that is best. Now, the Mechanics. What IS important is where your Center of Mass (CM) is during every point in the slalom course. In other words, you can look like Andy Mapple or Terry Winter and both styles will yield the exact same angle and speed if their CM's are in the exact same place through the turn and across the wake. Period!
West Coast Slalom (gaining its name from where it originated) or "new school slalom" is a technical approach to slalom skiing. No need to be afraid, however, because it is incredibly easy to learn and far more effective than any other way of skiing. The only problem that exists is exactly the problem raised by this discussion.....NO ONE really understands what it is,....YET! To date, their are very few people who understand even half of the physics involved in water skiing (slalom, tricks or jump), and still fewer who can coach the new techniques correctly. Its a shame....so many people are missing out!
I suggest that anyone interested in learning about this new way to ski be cautious of who you listen to. If I had to send my child to a coach,...there would be only a small handful I would ever consider: Terry W., Jamie B., Chris Rossi, Chris Sullivan or Mike Suyderhoud. Of course, I may know a little bit about West Coast Slalom myself....
Anyone wanting to learn more about this or curious about clinics/coaching can feel free to contact me.
Marcus Brown
marcusbrown.net
FEB 19th, 2004True, there is no one "correct" STYLE. But, their is a "right" way to ski, as pertains to body placement:
Old School would be this: "To finish your turn with maximum angle, make sure your SHOULDERS and especially your HIPS are rotated around as far as possible towards the next buoy....this allows you to set the ski on angle and maintain a good LEVERAGED position with the ski(feet) directly BETWEEN you and the boat. All you do then is hold that strong position until you are ready to edge change, trying to keep the angle established in the turn" Let me know if this doesn't sound familiar.....
West Coast (new school) would be this: "To finish your turn and ski INTO maximum angle, your center of mass must be AHEAD of your ski all the way through the turn and until the wakes....by keeping your body on top of and even in front of your ski (feet), you will generate maximum ACCELERATION which will give you SPEED which in turn will ultimately give you ANGLE! Speed comes BEFORE angle! To keep your body on top of/in front of your feet, you must NEVER ROTATE your shoulders or your hips at the end of the turn. Rotating will stop your body's continuous movement and allow the ski to get out in front (i.e. wheelie or tail-turn) Instead, keep your hips/shoulders facing downcourse, or if possible, outward towards the shore, all the way through the turn."
This is just one small example, but the disagreement between the two is obvious. A good way to illustrate it is that Old School is "ANGLE = SPEED" West Coast is "SPEED = ANGLE" With two obviously different philosophies, the manner in which you achieve the goals are completely opposite.
The difference: the first instruction is built on past experience (history) that has been slowly evolving through the years based on improving "how it used to be done". The second instruction is based on real world physical principles that cannot be disputed.
MB
Question from ktm300: FEB 20th, 2004
Marcus, I would think that you wouldn't describe Jeff Rodgers as using new school techniques or Mapple either for that matter. Do you not agree that there are some techniques that are quite different from new school that seem to be amazingly successful? We are all interested in techniques that will help us but, I, for one, am wary af anyone who says that one technique or the other is the right way to ski. One of my first coaching experiences was Lucky yelling at me from the boat to stop bending my knees. It was a great experience because after spending a month trying to ski with straight legs I realized that what works for Lucky doesn't work for me. The fact that he ran 39 like it was 28 didn't mean that I needed to do what he was doing. Thanks for trying to help us understand what works for you. One of the things that I enjoy most about watching skiing is that no two people ski the same. Similar perhaps but, different.
My Response:
my previous post.
".....water skiing has two important aspects, which are often mistaken for the same thing: mechanics and style."
Style is completely independent of Mechanics. Let me ask you this....does everyone walk the same?....NO! Some people swing their arms quite wildly, others sway from side to side, some even look like they have a backboard stuffed underneath their sweater. Regardless of how someone looks when they walk, every single person on the entire planet has to obey the same laws of physics, discovered by Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th Century. Our center of mass leads our feet, and then our feet catch us from falling forward. Plain and simple. Infinite walking styles, but all have to ultimately obey the same law.
This is how it is in waterskiing....only difference is the aspect of the rope that pulls the person forward...this is a cause of great confusion. It also allows and has allowed skiers to historically ski incorrectly, or not as efficient as possible. With rope in hand, a skier wants to resist anyway they can, which means leaning against the rope for maximum leverage. This is not the best way and neither is it West Coast slalom. Leverage isn't the goal at all...instead, the goal is to move the center of mass as efficiently and fluently as possible, and let the ski catch up!
Jeff Rogers, Andy, Jamie, Terry and myself all have a lot in common, mechanically speaking. We use different styles to place our center of mass in very similar spots at very similar locations throughout the course. Physics doesn't change, but style is ever changing.
Here's the key. West Coast Slalom (new school) at its root, is about isolating what I just discussed above, and building on it. Not progress that improves or changes style....but progress towards better mechanics and ultimately more enjoyment and better performances. It requires an initial understanding of how things work,....only then can true progress be made.
Many, if not most, of the top skiers in the world do not fully understand HOW they ski....because for the most part what they think they are doing and what is actually happening are two very different things. Again this goes back to how we've all been taught and what we were taught....much of which was based on previous experience instead of a truly scientific approach. I can say this because I know it to be fact, and I'm not afraid to lay it out there.
I hope that helps clear things up a bit. It is a fine line, and I understand that a lot of this probably sounds very unconventional. However, it is the only right way....the proof??--
short guys (using West Coast slalom) = tall guys (using old school slalom) That right there should tell you which one is correct.
MB
Question from ktm300: FEB 24th, 2004
Hey Marcus, Do any of you West Coast guys own a video camera? Alot of people, including me, are interested in learning about what you are advocating and the mecahnics that you describe. Make a video explaining it ! It really doesn't have to be professionally produced for folks to buy it. Mapple's video ain't going to win any awards for production but, people buy it because we want to hear what he has to say. A little information is dangerous without a full understanding of the concepts. For example: It took me two years to figure out that all the well meaning "coaches" in my ski club were wrong in constantly telling me to change edges earlier. All that did was cause me to come to the inside too early. True, I did need to change edges earlier but, the way to do it was to get better angle which caused that earlier edge change to be automatic while still moving to the outside. Give us that complete understanding in a more complete format. Thanks.
My Response:
The theories I have previously discussed in this thread on the topic of slalom are completely valid for all types of skiing. West Coast slalom capitalizes on improving mechanics and center of mass placement in order to be efficient and LIGHT on the ski.....well, a trick ski has NO fin at all...they've been skiing this way for years simply because they HAD too, however subtle. The difference is they accelerate for a very very short amount of time, trying to fit as many tricks as possible into 20 secs. This makes it hard to break down what they are actually doing. I spent some time with Cory Pickos during the University World Championships in China in 2002, and we got to discuss this in some detail. He slaloms very little, but completely understood everything I was saying. This alone proves how closely the two disciplines are related, as well as how intelligent Mr. Pickos is!!
Free skiing, skiing on two skis, and obviously jumping all embody this theory as a fundamental need. To be the best, these mechanics need to be employed! Free skiing is a great tool for learning, as the skier can forget about the buoy "telling" them when to turn and instead "feel" what is actually happening and where their body is in relation to the ski. Two skis and Jumpers are very beneficial to ride,...ESPECIALLY for a slalom skier! With an extra ski, one can learn to "angulate" or shift their center of mass more than they ever have without the worry of falling or losing balance....because that second ski is there to catch them! Another very good training tool.
ktm300....you are absolutely right! I purchased a professional grade digital camera 3 yrs ago, with the goal of making a film. Well, I'm getting closer, and after this summer I'm sure I will have enough footage to put something together like nothing ever seen before! I want to do it myself to keep the costs down, although Brent Larson (father to the Larson twins) has some top notch equipment and is also a very strong believer of what us young guys are teaching. True, may not win any awards for quality, but the content will be there for sure.
I know this word isn't in a Slalom skiers vocabulary.....but, if you all can be "Patient" I promise you won't be disappointed. Another possibility: a very good friend of mine has his Masters in Film and wants to put something together as well....won't have the same content as mine, but it will be something to talk about....most likely that will be spring 05' as well.
So, for now I really urge you to keep your eyes open for Terry Winter and Jamie B's movie coming out sometime soon. I don't have a clue what it will be like, but I know it will show some incredible skiing. It will likely be the FIRST ever video avaliable to the general skiing community that shows what I've been sharing with you folks on this discussion topic. I'm excited!
Hope this info helps out. Also, if anyone is interested in coaching via the internet....keep your eyes open for that too!.....
Marcus
Response from ktm300:
Marcus is dead on right about riding jumpers to learn how to: turn with your shoulders level and head up, angulate with your lower body, understand that your upper body does not have to engage in a tug of war with the boat to get the skis to go cross course, understand that proper width will provide all the deceleration you'll ever need. Riding the jumpers had been key in breaking some of my old school tug of war habits.
Response from Jim Brake:
Hey Marcus, this is Jim Brake. I want everyone here to know that if they really want to understand the "new school" methods (the term "new school" is starting to get pretty dated actually - it's kind of like saying "extreme" skiiing - it's so '90s) then they should arrange to spend some time on the water with you. Like you said, there are only a small handful of guys out there that can explain and teach the method. I've skied with several of them and I think you've got the best handle on describing the whys and hows. I look forward to skiing with you some more this year.

 

West Coast Slalom
By Marcus Brown

What is West Coast Slalom? Some people like to call it New School Slalom, but the reality is that it began on the West Coast over 10 years ago with a man named Mike Suyderhoud. It has become the “buzz” in the water ski world. It has also caused its own share of confusion as to what exactly is the correct way to ski. Here is one answer.
West Coast Slalom(WCS) should not be feared as if it were a radical new way to ski. When someone compares Andy Mapple to “New School” or WCS to prove that old school does work, they are missing what is important. Every single Elite slalom skier utilizes some portion of WCS in their skiing, otherwise they wouldn’t be the best of the best. Jeff Rodgers, Wade Cox, Will Asher, Drew Ross and even Andy Mapple all ski with some portion of WCS embedded in their style. It is easy to see a different style in younger skiers like Jamie Beauchesne, Chris Rossi and Terry Winter, but it is not so easy to see the West Coast style in older skiers. That is because most people do not know what to look for. Once WCS is understood, it becomes easy to see a piece of it in almost every pro skier.
WCS is simple. The most important concept is how the body relates to the ski. Imagine the mass of your whole body concentrated into the size of a tennis ball. From here on, instead of a complete body with feet, legs, trunk, arms and even head, pretend you are reduced to a tennis ball. Now, imagine yourself standing perfectly upright. Where would the tennis ball be? Well, unless you’re about to fall over, the ball would be directly over your feet, meaning you are balanced. If you wanted to take a step forward, you would disrupt this balance by allowing the tennis ball to fall forward, at which time you would take a step. So it goes that to move in any direction in this world we must first fall that direction, then allow our feet to catch up. The most important concept that every slalom skier should realize is that a slalom ski does not care what a skier looks like. All that matters in WCS is where that tennis ball mass is in relation to the ski. The tennis ball is like a joystick that controls the ski. Put the mass in the right spot and the ski will do anything within its capabilities. Everything else is just details.
When Andy Mapple runs 41’ off, he may look very different from Jamie Beauchesne doing it, but chances are they’re getting the job done with very similar mechanics. What was “old school vs. new school” will soon become simply a difference in style. The point is that when someone is getting a lesson on WCS they aren’t getting a lesson on how to change their style. Instead, that person is learning how to use their own style to get through the slalom course much more efficiently. It becomes easier on the body, more consistent and more effective than any other technique.
So, the next time you have the urge to label someone old school or new school, take a second look and really decide if there is a difference. It may just be a matter of style, nothing more!