Undisputed king of the holeshot

BobbyM
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BobbyM
Edited Date/Time 5/14/2020 6:24am
https://youtu.be/_cPKNPTLKmg
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Bret
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Bret 5/11/2020 1:56pm
5/11/2020 1:56pm
Has #800 ever talked openly about his methods for getting so many holeshots?
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mx1313
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mx1313 5/11/2020 2:05pm
5/11/2020 2:05pm
He must be the undisputed king of going backwards then too.
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Jeremy Macbeth 5/11/2020 2:09pm
5/11/2020 2:09pm Edited Date/Time 5/11/2020 2:11pm
I'm telling you, there's something to these mysterious braided steel cables that Alessi puts on the side of his bike near the rear brake master cylinder. I don't know what they are or what they do but something tells me it has something to do with starts. I took this photo back at Hangtown around 2014:



Same things, different bike.

@JeffAlessi - what are these things?
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Dirty Points 5/11/2020 2:14pm
5/11/2020 2:14pm Edited Date/Time 5/11/2020 2:18pm
mx1313 wrote:
He must be the undisputed king of going backwards then too.
Nah. Can't have multiple pro wins and still be the "King of going backwards".

That would be a very bad job of going backwards; in fact, the worst job one could do at it.
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davis224
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davis224 5/11/2020 2:36pm
5/11/2020 2:36pm Edited Date/Time 5/11/2020 2:43pm
What year was it that Short turned into holeshot master for a bit outdoors? 2010? Same year he won a moto or overall at Freestone?

Edit, looked in the vault and couldn't find it. Am I remembering it wrong? I could have sworn he won a moto at Freestone on a Factory Honda one year.
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level
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level 5/11/2020 2:37pm
5/11/2020 2:37pm
He must of shared the secret with Vince Friese also.
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OR Racer46
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OR Racer46 5/11/2020 2:43pm
5/11/2020 2:43pm
They are magnets . I asked Mike about it once . they are all over his bike . Not sure if he still runs them.
peelout
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peelout 5/11/2020 2:45pm
5/11/2020 2:45pm
Bret wrote:
Has #800 ever talked openly about his methods for getting so many holeshots?
tapes his nips
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9bro9
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9bro9 5/11/2020 2:53pm
5/11/2020 2:53pm
Bret wrote:
Has #800 ever talked openly about his methods for getting so many holeshots?
peelout wrote:
tapes his nips
And shaves his gooch after practice before moto 1
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Dirtydeeds
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Dirtydeeds 5/11/2020 2:53pm
5/11/2020 2:53pm
davis224 wrote:
What year was it that Short turned into holeshot master for a bit outdoors? 2010? Same year he won a moto or overall at Freestone? Edit...
What year was it that Short turned into holeshot master for a bit outdoors? 2010? Same year he won a moto or overall at Freestone?

Edit, looked in the vault and couldn't find it. Am I remembering it wrong? I could have sworn he won a moto at Freestone on a Factory Honda one year.
Dont remember the year but I’m pretty sure he was starting in 3rd gear.
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Dirtydeeds
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Dirtydeeds 5/11/2020 2:54pm
5/11/2020 2:54pm
Bret wrote:
Has #800 ever talked openly about his methods for getting so many holeshots?
Isn’t he the one that talked about watching the pin instead of the gate?
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visser62
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visser62 5/11/2020 2:55pm
5/11/2020 2:55pm
davis224 wrote:
What year was it that Short turned into holeshot master for a bit outdoors? 2010? Same year he won a moto or overall at Freestone? Edit...
What year was it that Short turned into holeshot master for a bit outdoors? 2010? Same year he won a moto or overall at Freestone?

Edit, looked in the vault and couldn't find it. Am I remembering it wrong? I could have sworn he won a moto at Freestone on a Factory Honda one year.
2010 he won a moto at Budds and was getting a lot of holeshots that year. He won Freestone I think in 2007 when that title went down to the wire with Langston, Ferry, and Alessi. He also got a lot of holeshots in 2014 on the KTM.
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Indian_Dunes_4ever 5/11/2020 3:33pm
5/11/2020 3:33pm
level wrote:
He must of shared the secret with Vince Friese also.
Beat me to it.

Though Friese doesn't seem to be as good as he used to now.....
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mx317
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mx317 5/11/2020 3:46pm
5/11/2020 3:46pm
He is light, quick reaction time, and always had a fast bike.
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ts.p311
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ts.p311 5/11/2020 3:52pm
5/11/2020 3:52pm
level wrote:
He must of shared the secret with Vince Friese also.
Indian_Dunes_4ever wrote:
Beat me to it.

Though Friese doesn't seem to be as good as he used to now.....
Friese has only gotten better through the years
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FreshTopEnd
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FreshTopEnd 5/11/2020 4:03pm
5/11/2020 4:03pm
mx1313 wrote:
He must be the undisputed king of going backwards then too.
Dirty Points wrote:
Nah. Can't have multiple pro wins and still be the "King of going backwards". That would be a very bad job of going backwards; in fact...
Nah. Can't have multiple pro wins and still be the "King of going backwards".

That would be a very bad job of going backwards; in fact, the worst job one could do at it.
Actually untrue without reference to ratio of wins to hole shots. Standing alone, more hole shots equals more potential positions lost to passes, and every holeshot not followed by a win reflects positions lost. Especially wrapping in SX, Mike may be the most passed title-prospect rider in the history of the sport. Not intended as a slight on him; he's competed strongly against some of the best in history. If you counted passes only within the lead 10 group, it could be a net negative number for Mike. Reality is that the faster you are the more likely you are to lose as someone progresses up to that elite level, and if you start at front there's nowhere to go but back unless you head the pack flag to flag.
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t_baum88
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t_baum88 5/11/2020 4:35pm
5/11/2020 4:35pm
I could blow your mind and tell you he didn’t have any earth shattering tecuniques that could help your starts. It’s just a lot of small things put together and executed over and over.


The most important part is having a perfect routine on the line from 30 seconds before the gate drops until it’s dropped. That provides the most consistent result as possible, and also going to the line without a doubt in your mind you’re going to get the holeshot. If you compare what Mike is doing on the dirtbike from 30 seconds until gate drop from 15 years ago to now it’s going to look extremely similar.


That’s fuggin it boys.
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ctbale
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ctbale 5/11/2020 4:40pm
5/11/2020 4:40pm
davis224 wrote:
What year was it that Short turned into holeshot master for a bit outdoors? 2010? Same year he won a moto or overall at Freestone? Edit...
What year was it that Short turned into holeshot master for a bit outdoors? 2010? Same year he won a moto or overall at Freestone?

Edit, looked in the vault and couldn't find it. Am I remembering it wrong? I could have sworn he won a moto at Freestone on a Factory Honda one year.
I remember they zoomed in on his left foot on the start. He double clicked up and the announcers were going "that's it, that's it!" Then they showed it in slow mo again during the race. In the interview after short was cool about it, he said yea guess you guys figured it out. Haha
Jeremy Macbeth 5/11/2020 4:51pm
5/11/2020 4:51pm
OR Racer46 wrote:
They are magnets . I asked Mike about it once . they are all over his bike . Not sure if he still runs them.
Magnets... sensors of some sort. Given the two down by his boots, perhaps they are to provide feedback on foot/leg position?

sumdood
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sumdood 5/11/2020 5:00pm
5/11/2020 5:00pm
OR Racer46 wrote:
They are magnets . I asked Mike about it once . they are all over his bike . Not sure if he still runs them.
Jeremy Macbeth wrote:
Magnets... sensors of some sort. Given the two down by his boots, perhaps they are to provide feedback on foot/leg position?

They're mini nitrous bottles, the magnet story was to throw guys off.
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500guy
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500guy 5/11/2020 5:52pm
5/11/2020 5:52pm
Mike was executing holeshots, Tony was engineering them, Tony has had his issues but one thing he's a master at is finding a weakness at every single track and relaying the info to be executed.
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TXDirt
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TXDirt 5/11/2020 6:01pm
5/11/2020 6:01pm
Some people just know how to start. It’s not really so much technique per say. Many great starters have had different technique. If it was technique then you could point to x y z and if you replicate that you can be a good starter too.

That’s not the case.

It’s all about feel and mindset.

I remember one year I was on an my old clapped out stock 125 Kawasaki at the Minni O’s and I was pulling hole shots all weekend in the modified class against guys with their brand new bikes. I’ll never forget Terry Varner was awe struck on how this was possible. He referred to my bike as a toilet bowl bike lol And it was!! But I just know how to start!! I’ll never forget when he said that to me lol
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VetMX.com
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VetMX.com 5/11/2020 6:32pm
5/11/2020 6:32pm
They break the energy field. Catch up man..
sandman768
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sandman768 5/11/2020 7:04pm
5/11/2020 7:04pm
Practice may have something to do with it....
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aFACEdismembered 5/11/2020 7:16pm
5/11/2020 7:16pm
davis224 wrote:
What year was it that Short turned into holeshot master for a bit outdoors? 2010? Same year he won a moto or overall at Freestone? Edit...
What year was it that Short turned into holeshot master for a bit outdoors? 2010? Same year he won a moto or overall at Freestone?

Edit, looked in the vault and couldn't find it. Am I remembering it wrong? I could have sworn he won a moto at Freestone on a Factory Honda one year.
visser62 wrote:
2010 he won a moto at Budds and was getting a lot of holeshots that year. He won Freestone I think in 2007 when that title...
2010 he won a moto at Budds and was getting a lot of holeshots that year. He won Freestone I think in 2007 when that title went down to the wire with Langston, Ferry, and Alessi. He also got a lot of holeshots in 2014 on the KTM.
The year he won the first Moto at Freestone was with factory Honda and water from pressure washing got in his electronics and he missed the start for Moto 2 IIRC.
CivBars
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CivBars 5/11/2020 7:48pm
5/11/2020 7:48pm
OR Racer46 wrote:
They are magnets . I asked Mike about it once . they are all over his bike . Not sure if he still runs them.
Wrist Band Magnets





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zehn
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zehn 5/11/2020 7:55pm
5/11/2020 7:55pm
davis224 wrote:
What year was it that Short turned into holeshot master for a bit outdoors? 2010? Same year he won a moto or overall at Freestone? Edit...
What year was it that Short turned into holeshot master for a bit outdoors? 2010? Same year he won a moto or overall at Freestone?

Edit, looked in the vault and couldn't find it. Am I remembering it wrong? I could have sworn he won a moto at Freestone on a Factory Honda one year.
ctbale wrote:
I remember they zoomed in on his left foot on the start. He double clicked up and the announcers were going "that's it, that's it!" Then...
I remember they zoomed in on his left foot on the start. He double clicked up and the announcers were going "that's it, that's it!" Then they showed it in slow mo again during the race. In the interview after short was cool about it, he said yea guess you guys figured it out. Haha
Pretty sure that was Supercross, maybe 2015? When he was on a KTM
usp4u
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usp4u 5/11/2020 7:57pm
5/11/2020 7:57pm
t_baum88 wrote:
I could blow your mind and tell you he didn’t have any earth shattering tecuniques that could help your starts. It’s just a lot of small...
I could blow your mind and tell you he didn’t have any earth shattering tecuniques that could help your starts. It’s just a lot of small things put together and executed over and over.


The most important part is having a perfect routine on the line from 30 seconds before the gate drops until it’s dropped. That provides the most consistent result as possible, and also going to the line without a doubt in your mind you’re going to get the holeshot. If you compare what Mike is doing on the dirtbike from 30 seconds until gate drop from 15 years ago to now it’s going to look extremely similar.


That’s fuggin it boys.
been a drag racer as long or longer than I've been an MXer......a calm, diligent, repeatable starring line procedure is unbelievably important to success. No tricks, just do the same thing, the same way, every single time.

Once you have consistency, only then can you make meaningful improvements.

If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.
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