Matt, Tom and Simon's day.

After a late start due to m1 traffic we got into the skills health check and I discovered all of them had some skills issues but had tried to make amends for them in their own individual way. I set out to correct these. A few set up changes enhanced their looking into the next and we began working through pumping, bunny hops and the drop technique. Tom, Matt and Si really got to grips with these techniques, Simon's lack of confidence on the bunny hop was not evident on the drop technique at all.
We then worked on technical climbing using the new skill set and after my demonstration they all got further than using their old techniques.
We then moved onto a trail and worked on all the sections that presented themselves and linked them all together methodically and gradually the mental skill set grew and grew. Calmly and confidently the guys stitched the sections on the trail together and the drop section at the end became just another section.
At the end of the session the boys had a new skill set,knew what an entry, section and exit were and demonstrated trail energy management.
Awesome session!

Ollie's Skills Reset

On meeting Ollie I went through the outline for our session and we proceeded through the skills health check. After identifying the areas that needed work we moved on to pumping. This didn't take Ollie long to get the hang of and in fact equalled the previous best distance without pedaling .
We moved through the drop technique and onto climbing. Ollie took a while here to adapt from his usual style of climbing but when the technique was adopted in his climbing ,Ollie managed to climb a lot further.
I then moved us onto the coaching trail and we worked on cornering and linking sections together and flowing down the trail using the trails energy. By now Ollie was really showing me that the new skills set was becoming more and more ingrained as Ollie rode corner after corner and drops smoothly and confidently.
We moved onto another trail to work on tighter corners and line choice and once again Ollie took to it and was riding smooth and fast.
Our day came to an end after the final run on the coached trail . Ollie said that run felt amazing and it was by far the best run of the day and demonstrated his total change in riding style.
Great day.

Paul and Russ's day.

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After meeting as arranged, we proceeded through the skills check and onto pumping, unweighting and the disconnected bunnyhop techniques. Both Paul and Russ really excelled at the pumping and on leaving the pumping area , both managed to ride past the previous best by a client . great start to the session i thought!. we then moved onto the drop and jump technique and once again they took to it very well. By now I had identified which primary learner they were each and used this to good effect. I then let them try to climb out of the area with little instruction before making some changes and I demonstarted how to climb using their new skills set.
I then took them to the trails and we began working on cornering and linking sections on the trail together and the lads both started to really flow down the entire trail with confidence and control but also with loads more speed than previously.
we ended the session as the onset of mental fatigue showed and we rode back with smiles and a renewed skill set.
Thanks guys!

Karl's Day

Karl's day began with the skills check as usual and I found he had some good natural skills . I identified the areas which needed work and we set to work on his speed management and footwork.
We worked through un weighting the front of the bike and then onto pumping . By the end of the pumping technique Karl was stunned how far he got without the need to pedal down a trail . We moved onto the drop technique and then onto jumps. A few minor tweaks were made to Karl's set up and the result was better body positioning.
I then moved us to cornering and we worked on two different trails, linking all the sections on each together and using the trails energy more efficiently and not his own.
Our session ended with us working on line choice into tight corners.
Awesome day Karl!

Andys one to one

Andy met me as arranged and during the skills health check said he'd love to learn to jump/drop.
As usual I methodically built him through the pumping, un weighting techniques before moving onto the drop technique. Andy was peculiar in that he listened and executed the task perfectly 1st time but it then broke down and I had to build him back up. This happened with each technique but each time we got a solid result, ensuring it's uptake.
We moved through the drop and jump technique and then onto cornering and linking all the techniques together on a trail.
each run grew more and more fluid and controlled as confidence grew and commitment showed.
We ended the day as tiredness started to show but smiles were still beaming.
awesome riding Andy!

Wes and Troys day

Wes and Troy met me at Woburn sands as arranged. I ran them through the skills check where I see what they do naturally and without thinking and then begin to install the missing skills.
We moved through pumping, un weighting and the bunny hop before moving along to the drop technique.
Both Wes and Troy took to the new skill set very well and wanted to move onto jumping .
Wes really took to it.
We then moved onto a trail and worked on corners and linking the sections of the trail together accumulating with a larger drop section at the end which both of the lads rode easily and comfortably.
by the end, both were showing me trail energy management and I look forward to our continued contact.
great day lads!

Rick's day of progress

Rick told me he lacked confidence on drop and tabletops as sometimes he goes "wobbly" .
We began with the skills check and found that Rick pulled on his bars to lift the front wheel and looked in front of his wheel most of the time. So I set out to correct this.
After working on pushing and not pulling the bars to un weight the front wheel we moved onto pumping and then bunny hop as Rick had the timing to pull and once that was converted the bunny hop became easier to him. We then moved onto the drop and jump technique before moving onto the trails to work on cornering and linking sections together. It was here that Rick came into his own and began flowing top to bottom down trails. We worked over three different trails with a very gradual climb in technical difficulty.
Our session ended on a high as Rick completed a trail several times including a gap jump that was now well within his "new" comfort zone.
Great session Rick!

Rosie and Jason's day.

Today's session was a 2 to 1 session. Rosie and Jason have a wide range of riding experiences over the years but after trying to overcome any inconsistencies in their riding themselves they contacted me.
We began with two exercises that let me find out what they do naturally on a bike and allows me to see what I need to address. We moved through pumping the trail and un-weighting before moving onto the dis connected bunny hop over a fallen tree. we then pump the trail without pedaling to see where we get and they both surpassed the previous best by a client. An amazing achievement seeing as they couldn't do the technique half an hour previously. I then took them through the drop technique before moving onto a trail and working on cornering, multiple sections and larger sections. We ended the day flowing top to bottom along the trail and both Rosie and Jason knew they had made huge leaps in their riding technique.
I await their future riding updates :)

Tony
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Alex Toms Day

Alex met as arranged in the car park at Woburn and we proceeded to the skills health check. Alex had no footwork and was looking down all the time during both exercises and that gave me the starting point for our day.
We worked on pumping and after a few set up tweaks and body position suggestions the technique got dialled so I moved onto the disconnected bunny hop. On leaving the pumping area Alex got further than he imagined he would and was now starting to operate using his new skills. We applied them to the drop technique next , then moved onto the coaching trail and began working on his cornering. Alex struggled to get his footwork correct at first but after a few mind tricks he was flying. We worked our way down the trail breaking it into three segments. We rode each segment before finally joining them all up and Alex's trail energy management shone through.
We ended our day on a more technical trail and rode it top to bottom with more control and flow.
A great day.

The Portsmouth Connection

The lads contacted me for a 2 to 1 session and wanted to focus on drops and jumps. That's fair enough but I need to make sure the foundation is solid and began from the very base as usual. After the skills health check, I could see that both needed to look into the next. I began correcting this in the pumping technique and into further techniques. After the individual techniques we started working on a trail that contained all the elements and started stitching them together. Barry got to grips with cornering and weighting the bike in corners. We covered overlapping sections and Gary really began to flourish. The day was progressing and my job was to control that pace so that the boys didn't ride outside their comfort zones but moved within them as we progressed.
We ended our day on a trail with loose corners,drops and a gap jump. The end result was their riding was way faster,smoother and more controlled than when we began.
cheers lads!

Jo's Confidence .

Jo emailed me and said she has confidence issues and that she is an intermediate level mtber. After the skills health check I could see she had some major skills in place that just needed expanding . I could see her looking into the next was almost there but needed to be further worked on and that after pushing her bike to unweight it she jerked the bars back. We slowly and methodically broke the following techniques of drops,jumps,corner,off cambers down and re-built them using her new found skills. as the day progressed, Jo's confidence grew as did her commitment. Jo applied her new skills to every section and was linking them all up seamlessly and smoothly. Our day ended when Jo declared her own tiredness and we departed back to the car park. Awesome riding today Jo!