Monday 6 June 2011

Andy's return





It's been almost a year since I saw Andy and he contacted me wanting to over come his fear for drops. On meeting him I found the looking and footwork was there still in corners and I could work on his body position there and straight on in sections he lacked looking and the mental skill set. I set to work.
We began with the 3 drops and Andy was solid on the first two but showed a protective mechanism and a lack of commitment on the 3rd. He rode all 3 but the last wasn't as solid as the others so I quickly moved him away to not worry him further.
We then worked on the 2 drops on the end of the skills trail and linked them into the berm at the end. We worked on line choice and body position here too. Andy really began to be smooth here and after a while we moved onto the fly out to get him comfortable with riding up something to get in the air. He loved it but kept saying that he'd love to be able to jump the tabletop but reckoned it'd never happen.
Andy then went to the top of the trail for a complete run and even though he hadn't seen the top half, he rode it so smoothly and fluid and was buzzing at the end of the trail. A few more runs and it was time to ride the 6ft tabletop. I demonstrated from 3 distances to show show the effect of speed and Andy was amazed when he sailed over it with ease. Time after time he rode it, running laughing like a kid as he ran back up for another go.





He then used his new mental skills and moved across to ride the 6ft gap jump side and the yells of delight as he flew in the air over it was something special to hear and see.
Andy rode it twice more and then called an end to the session saying it exceeded his wildest dreams and wanted to come back for more anyway.
Andy, it was a pleasure to be there with you today!

2 comments:

  1. I've been riding with Andy on and off since 2007 and it's so nice to see his skills developing and for him to gain the mental confidence he needs. Well done!!

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  2. Well done Andy nice pics - your a legend!

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