Tim's "freeride" session

Tim came back to me to further his riding once more and as he wants more "freeride" focus, We worked on both dirt and wooden constructions.
I worked on pumping the transition and also footwork whilst linking sections together with turns.
I began with riding ladders and getting used to feeling like you are off the ground before adding it to a hipped drop.
We then moved onto a small dirt jump and worked on that before adding a wooden kicker into a corner into a 9ft step down gap.
I worked on beginning to move the bike in the air off of a booter made from half a tree.
Each section was worked on individually before adding the next section to it and so on.
I worked hard on the mental skill set here too as commitment and confidence needed over coming.
We ended the session with a few complete runs before darkness fell.
high 5 Tim.

Pete and Julie's skills session

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Pete got a gift voucher from me for skills coaching from Julie and she decided to join him on the session too. The 1st thing I do is see what skills are there already and install what is missing before even moving onto techniques.
The first technique we covered was the drop technique where both used their natural unweight of the front wheel to land perfectly. After a few successful goes we moved onto the skills trail where we worked on the 14 sections contained within it including steps, pump bumps, rocks, fly outs, drops and flat, bermed and switchback corners.
Each section was methodically stitched to the next using the correct braking zones and the flow began to happen. Gradually we worked our way down the trail until we they were riding the complete trail and really riding fluidly and relaxed. I worked heavily on footwork and looking as well as body positioning. I also went into the mental skill set required for all techniques too.
Finally I worked on body position on steeper descents with Pete and we ended our session as daylight faded with smiles all round. I gave them feedback and things to work on too as we warmed ourselves around the fire.
A great end to a great session.

26th Nov public jumps and drops session.

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Werner, Paul, Dom, Neil and Simon booked their places on this session to work on getting and controlling airtime on jumps and drops. 1st I worked on the technique of unweighting the front wheel and the skill set that comprises it.
We then applied it to the basic drop technique and in a short time all the riders were riding at differing speeds and landing perfectly as I worked on their mental skill set. We then worked on doing drops in a trail situation with a corner afterwards. Once again all the riders rode it perfectly.


Next I began working on jumping the tabletop and again all 5 riders were clearing it. using their mental skills, each rider choose on their own accord to move over and do the gap jump side of it.





After a quick break for drinks, we then moved onto ladder drops where I worked on the drop technique in that context. Same story here , as each rider comfortably used their physical and mental skill set to land perfectly. To cap our day we moved onto a larger gap jump and worked on speed management and body position to fly controlled and ride away smoothly and even though at the start of the day not one of the riders thought they would, all of them rode it.




This really capped a great session and we ended our day there with smiles all round. I am still smiling now as I write this.
High5 guys!

Andy, Dave and Gary's day of confidence building

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Andy and the guys explained that they are always back markers on their group rides and never really keep up in singletrack. On putting them through the skills check I could see why and set about correcting this. We then went on to putting the correct skill set into the techniques required in riding singletrack.
We worked on drops, corners ( flat, bermed, switchback and off camber), rock gardens, steps, upslopes and linked drops into corners.
All three of them had concerns about rocks and we over came that very easily indeed. drops sailed by and I worked heavily on their footwork and looking in corners as well as body positioning. Each section on the trail was linked to the next by the identified braking zones and soon the flow became evident in their riding. I timed segments of the trail to demonstrate teh value of their new skill set as they all improved by 10-15% time wise!!!
We then ride the trail a few times to replicate trail riding conditions and they all rode fast and relaxed.
Our session ended as mental tiredness crept in. This ended a great day.
high5 guys!

Geof's one to one session to develop confidence

Geof contacted me for coaching as he was tired of always struggling down singletrack and although he has good fitness, he lacked the techniques required to ride the singletrack.
I first began by seeing what was missing in his physical skill set and I set about working on these before moving onto the drop technique. Once I had shown Geof that he already had the correct technique for drops he began using it and landing perfectly. Next, we moved onto the trail and worked on pumping, rock gardens, steps, drop offs and cornering.
By splitting the trail into segments, it enabled me to focus on the sections contained within them and really work the skills into Geof.
Geof's timing for pumping was worked on and the following corners too, where footwork and looking were really worked and Geof began to really feel the difference in both his speed and control.
The rock garden was initially a fear factor for him but in a short time that was over come. Rolling down steep drop offs is a very common fear and Geof was no different. I worked with him on his looking and body position and began with a simple short one before moving onto larger ones with a step at the entrance too!
I worked on linked sections where there is little or no braking area too.
We rode the whole trail several times and each one was smoother than the last. We ended the session as I began to see signs of mental tiredness and Geof was still smiling and I could see that confidence had been installed.
Great session!

A private group session with Vik, Paul, Mark and Lyndon

I met Mark and Vik a few years ago and they contacted me for coaching at the Herts skills area.
On meeting the 4 of them in the morning I ran them through my skills health check where I see what is missing in their skill set and during this, I found what they did naturally too.
The first technique we covered was to their surprise the drop technique.
Working on their physical and mental skill sets I demonstrated the push using their skills set and the application in this technique and away they flew!
We then moved onto the skills trail where we worked on the sections contained in it by breaking it down into segments. We worked on pumping, speed manuals, cornering (flat, bermed and off camber), drops, steps, rocks , and up ramps. each segment was added to the previous one as we worked our way down the trail. I timed thier runs so they could see the effect the skill set has on their riding too.
Lastly, jumps!
I use a table top with one half taken out to form a gap jump . Here I showed the power of the skill set and the simplicity of jumping. In maybe 5-10 controlled run ins they all jumped it clean and some even moved over to jump the gap too. With this our session came to a close as fatigue began to show.
Awesome session guys!

Teaching Llew and Sam to dirt jump

Today I took a break from digging the pump/gravity trail to teach Sam and Llew how to ride a 6 pack or linked dirt jumps. Both have been coached by me before so they have the good basic skills of looking, speed management, body positioning and footwork but now needed to apply them in this context. The mental skills were needed!
I had worked with Sam on Monday for an hour, so I picked up where we left off and Llew joined in.
We worked on the 1st one and worked on speed management and looking. Llew had a body position fault that made him nose dive that I quickly identified and removed. Once Sam was through all 3 jumps I began teaching him to relax and look more stylish in the air!
We ended our session as darkness fell with high5's all round!

Trogs mtb club session.

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Five of the trogs mtb club came to me for coaching. I identified what was missing but also what was present in the skill set I teach, and set about changing their riding positively.
1st technique was the drop technique where I worked on both the physical and mental skills set and all 5 riders rode all of the drop options!
We then moved onto the trail. I broke the trails 14 sections into 4 segments and worked methodically on each before adding it to the previous segment and so on.
Steps, drops, flat, bermed, switch back and off camber corners, rock gardens, kickers and linked sections were rode and worked on.
I worked on body position, footwork, speed management and looking into the next, and gradually the riders became more fluid and began to flow down the trail. Airtime was gained and speed was controlled by using the identified braking areas. We ended the session after some complete runs of the trail as mental fatigue crept in.
Amazing session!