Overcoming Dom's fears

Dom loves his riding but came to me as he feared airtime and anything steep and was recommended by another rider to come to see me. The skills check revealed all I needed to know and I set up his bike for him too so he could feel in control. I could see he needed looking and body positioning worked on and the rest was psychological.
We began with the drop technique and to Dom's surprise, all three drops were easy with his new mental and physical skill set.


I began with pumping techniques and using this energy to connect to the trail. He then used this free speed to ride the berms,flat,off camber and switchback turns , rock garden, jump and drops. We worked down the trail methodically always adding the previous sections to the next and linking them via their correct braking areas.

I worked hard on linking drops into corners too and he was now riding larger drops than ever and also linking them at greater speed into corners.
After a few runs we had a break and I moved onto my new singletrack with more technical features. We started with a steep roll into a berm and Dom didn't think he'd ride it but using his mental skills questions he rode it smoothly and in control. I showed him some more of the trail and he carried speed through a berm to ride up a bus stop.

Dom, then rode it all together and was surprised that not only did he ride it easily but he felt fluid and always in control.


Finally, we moved onto a steep drop that can be rolled and also dropped. This really was a big fear for Dom but in a short time building up on other, smaller roll ins he not only rolled down it but also used his drop technique to fly off it too , landing 5ft down the drop.
The session ended there as Dom was physically and mentally tired.
Great session Dom and I'm looking forward to seeing you again.