Video Analysis: Morrocco Media, Finding Hidden Seconds
Have you ever wondered what the fastest line is through a section on your home trails, or wanted to know the best way to get some more insight into the fastest line on an EWS stage, well now you can find out. Morrocco Media is a video analysis company that has the equipment and experience to find those elusive seconds on a Downhill, XC or Enduro stage, those seconds that are lost through poor line choice and mistakes, and we had booked ourselves into a session to check out what they had to offer.
This was a video captured at last years EWS final in Finale Ligure, it makes for some interesting watching.
Morrocco Media Analysis is the brainchild of Stefan Morrocco, and can be used for many applications, but it was the mountain biking side that we were interested in. Stefan works in the field with a high quality high speed camera and analysis software to give almost real time video analysis and overlays. Stefan has already worked with some big downhill teams last year, following the World Cup and videoing riders during practice, working out the fastest lines through technical sections. Stefan has also interestingly worked with some Top10 EWS enduro riders and found that even though the experienced racers think they are picking the fastest lines through some test sections, the video reveals otherwise. Being able to ride a section a few times, then get instant feedback on which line is the fastest, visually observing the different runs overlaid, is undeniably a phenomenal coaching and training tool.
Stefan was keen to test the new real time equipment on some local trails, and I was certainly fascinated to see how the process worked, so I called up a local Tweed Valley shredder, Thomas Mitchell, who rides for Kona bikes and Harts Cyclery and we headed up to a quiet local downhill track to check it out. After a really quick setup we were straight into it, and the learning began.
Thomas Mitchell checking out some lines through the corners
We picked a short section of trail containing two bends, with a number of possible entry points, you could cut high or stay low and take a short cut. After a few practice runs we were still not sure which was fastest, but after just two runs in front of the camera, we found that the initial low shortcut was initially faster, but by the second turn things were not quite so clear. By taking the longer and higher line, we carried more speed through the first turn, making up a bike length and were now moving faster at the end of the second. It was only a slight difference, but these small incremental savings add up to many seconds over a long stage, and seconds can mean the difference between 1st and 4th, or even worse.
As we worked from corner to corner, we looked at different lines and made our choices, after a few runs Stefan could then tell us exactly which was faster. As we progressed through the session, our choices became more astute as we started to think about the bigger picture, not just the corner in question but the next sections of trail. All the time Stefan would relay back information and we even started to micro analyse technique, there is nothing more enlightening that seeing your riding style in slow motion. At the end of the session, we had become line choice nerds and both left with a much greater understanding of the process of practicing stages. Think how difficult it is to improve your times by pure fitness alone, hours of training result in tiny incremental improvements. However, through better line choice we could save half a second here, a second there and after a 2km stage it all adds up. It was a very educational experience.
Bottom Line:
Morrocco Media offers a unique service that would make a fantastic coaching and racing tool, while the line choice and performance analysis is perhaps more applicable to racing teams with a good budget, I can see it being a huge advantage in coaching and skill development. While it would be impractical to analyse a complete enduro race course, the knowledge and experienced gained from sessions looking at line choice, certainly benefits a racer’s armory.
For more information, check out Morrocco Media
Words and photos: Trev Worsey