Saturday 28 August 2010

Public session with Rich and Kate






After having to adjust the formula of the session due to a table top being taken out I met Kate and Richard who wanted to go ahead and have an all round session with me.
After the skills check I found they had similar existing skills and missed looking in to the next. I set about correcting this before moving onto the bi lateral pumping and dis connected bunny hop techniques. Both Richard and Kate got to grips with these very quickly so we moved to the drop technique. Once again Kate and Richard got into the air very quickly and I worked on the skills that must be present within this technique with them and began building their mental skills too.
Now came time to move to a trail and work on the sections contained within. Cornering was heavily worked on as was identifying braking areas and linking sections together using these.
We worked methodically down the trail and finally had a few runs down the complete trail to cement the skill set further.
An awesome session in many ways!

Friday 27 August 2010

Phin and Jamie's session


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Phin and Jamie came to me after reading feedback on bikeradar.com.
I became clear early on that they ride togther lots as they had the same missing skills but also had developed the same push technique to un weight the front wheel which I then brought to the surface for them to embrace and use.
After the skills check we moved through pumping and the disconnected bunny hop before moving straight to a trail to work on cornering and flow. Here we worked on each section methodically and gradually moved down the trail linking each section together using the identified braking areas.
Section after section was ridden fast but controlled. During the drop technique I was able to use the flourishment of their mental skills to good effect as I gave them an identifiable skill set mentally and how to use it.
Amazing session to end an amazing day.

Gary's session of style






Gary came to me when another client Tim recommended me to him. On meeting I explained the outline for our session and I gave my commitments to him for the session.
We began with the skill check and found a very tidy rider indeed with great stuff hidden among the good things he had learned in his riding history.
We began with bi lateral pumping and moved onto the bunny hop technique before moving straight to cornering on a live trail.
We worked on body positioning and speed management before working our way down the trail linking each section together suing the correct braking areas.
We then moved onto another trail with looser and tighter corners, a larger drop section and a gap jump. I demonstrated as always and then we worked our way down the trail and each section past with effortless ease and flow.
Finally, I moved us to an isolated drop section where we worked on airtime and style in the air.
Our session ended with smiles all round and Gary became the fastest rider yet on the first trail, which came with hard work but a visual and kinetic understanding of what needed to be done.
Great session!

Thursday 26 August 2010

Barrie and Richard's two to one session.



On meeting Barrie and Richard, I put them through my skills check and identified the missing links in their riding. A couple of exercises to begin to correct their looking and footwork followed by raising the front wheel. I made a few set up changes to their contact points and then we moved onto the pumping and disconnected bunny hop techniques.
Next, we worked on climbing using the skill set before moving onto a trail to work on the sections contained within, beginning with cornering.
Gradually we moved our way down the trail linking each section together using the correct braking zones.
Both Richard and Barrie's cornering came on in leaps and bounds and confidence grew and grew along with the flow.
Finally we worked on the drop technique and applied the skill set, both physical and psychological to the technique and the result was there.
We ended our session as tiredness crept in and I look forward to our continued connection as they work on all the things covered in the session and more.

Great day guys!

Wednesday 25 August 2010

Twisting with Elliot

Elliot came to us with one main wish, to land a 360. Mark Atkins was the main coach for this assisted by myself. We began with seeing how happy he is rotating into a foam pit and this enabled us to keep him safe but improving. Looking was his main fault and We focused on this heavily before moving onto the resi ramp.



As Elliot's looking got better Mark gradually worked on adding speed and slowly but comfortably Elliot began spinning over 270 but kept trying to bail mid flight. This was something we have seen before and know how to overcome it and in a short time Elliot threw his first 360 and rode it away.


After a few 360's we moved onto the jump line and here I worked on Elliot's step up technique and soon he was happy to ride the quarter pipe into the step up and over the following jump.


The plan was to then twist the resi after riding the step up but tiredness crept in and called a halt to a very good days riding.
Keep us informed on how you develop Elliot!

high5

Thursday 19 August 2010

Murray's one to one



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Murray attended a group session a few months back but now felt it was time to come back for a one to one session.
As always I put Murray through the skills check to see what installed and what is still a work in progress.
1st technique was pumping which we covered before but this time Iwas able to ramp it up a bit and show how to bi laterally pump too.
On to the drop technique and it was here that Murray had confidence issues,. slowly, I sped him up once the other skills were set in and air time began to be the norm rather than the exception!
Murray was now smiling like a Cheshire cat.
We moved onto cornering and built on the footwork and looking from before and onto body positioning and also over coming the protective mechanism he has when speed increases.
We worked on 6 sections and worked on the braking areas and where footwork changes.
Gradually, tiredness began to tell on Murray and he called time on the session.
Awesome improvements and i look forward to the updates during the coming weeks.

Louise, Toni and Nigel's session





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Nigel and Toni had been with me before and wanted to attend another session to reinforce the skills and techniques we covered before but also with their friend Louise.
The skills check not only showed me what was missing from the skill set but also what had installed from before with Nigel and Toni.
From there we went through bi lateral pumping and also the dis connected bunny hop which Nigel got after a few runs.
From there I demonstrated the drop technique and all got air beneath their wheels and the smiles really beamed.
Now was time to move onto cornering and here we worked heavily on footwork and looking with Louise but also body positioning with Nigel and Louise. We worked on 6 sections on the trail and using the identified braking zones really began to flow down the trail. Confidence and commitment were developed in sections, in particular the linked section that involved a roll down into a corner but using the physical skill set no problems occured and we ended our session with smiles all round.

Wednesday 18 August 2010

Iain and Laura's two to one session





On meeting Iain and Laura and running them through the skills check it was clear that they rode together loads as they had the same missing skills but more interestingly, they had developed the same push followed by pull to raise the front wheel. This fix was easy as all I had to do was remove the pull element and the technique happened with ease.
Now all we had to do was apply the push to various techniques along with the skill set.
First up was pumping and the dis connected bunny hop followed by the drop technique.
Laura said she really wanted to be able to get air under her wheels and that happened in only 2 tries!
We moved onto a trail and it was here that we worked heavily on cornering. Slowly and methodically we added each element of the skill set and both Laura and Iain were starting to ride smooth and fast. We worked our way down the trail, linking the sections together and using identified braking zones.
We ended the session as mental fatigue began to creep in.
Awesome day and it was a pleasure to ride with you both.

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Charlies bmx beginning





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Tim contacted me for a coaching session for his 13yr old son Charlie.
Charlie has a local skatepark but wanted to learn the basics of park riding.
Along with Mark Atkins, we worked on carving the ramps, riding out and dropping in.
We applied these techniques on various ramps, beginning small, spread through out the park. Charlie hadn't ridden a bowl before but in a short while he was pumping figure eights around it and riding out too.

We rode the street section too working on park etiquette and linking ramps together. After 3.5hrs Charlie had reached physical tiredness and we ended our session with him smiling like a Cheshire cat.
high 5 Charlie.

developing Andrews skills






We met in the car park and after going through the outline for the session I ran Andrew through my skills check.
I found he had footwork and looking faults but had a very natural un weight of the front wheel, so I set to work.
We began with bi lateral pumping, using his past skateboarding experiences and soon Andrew was flowing down the trail. I demonstrated the dis connected bunny hop and although he didn't get it totally as his timing was slightly off The components were there and Andrew will work on that in the coming weeks as per his home work.
From there we worked on the drop technique and gradually , using his new skill set Andrew was comfortably getting his wheels off the ground.
It came time to move to a trail. I split the trails 9 sections into 3 segments and we worked on each segment one by one before linking them together and finally riding the whole trail end to end.
Work on the physical skills that we focused on and let me know how it develops Andrew.
Great session!

Sunday 15 August 2010

A rainy session with Simon.





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Simon s skills session was a gift from his wife. After 20years of riding he felt he had plateaued and wanted to overcome this.
During the skills sheck it was clear that he could ride the bike and already had some very tidy skills deeply ingrained but he lacked the mental skill set.
We worked on his looking first and once I got him to look up and into the next everything happened easier.
We worked on un weighting, bi lateral pumping and the bunny hop techniques. It was here that Simon learned the true value of his natural push to raise the front wheel.
We went straight to the coaching trail and worked on his cornering and braking. Slowly we worked our way down the trail linking each section together methodically. Confidence was blossoming nicely as we entered tha last segmnet of the trail containing the drop and it was here that we really worked on his mental game where apply the mental skill set really showed it's true worth. After a few runs of the whole trail Simon was smiling as he had overcame a large part of his fear of wet wood and in the rain, using his looking and other skills the roots just became something else and flew by with no drama.
Finally we worked on jumping on a small tabletop where I isolate the skill set and slowly add them into the technique and before you knew it Simon was airborne.
We ended the session soaking but smiling.
Great session.