Chris and Anita's 2 to 1 session

Chris and Anita turned up at the skills area as arranged and over a coffee we chatted about their xc racing and their aspirations for the session.
The skills check revealed everything I needed to know about their missing skills and i set to work.
We began with the drop technique and although neither had previously got air comfortably before they both flew into the air and began landing perfectly as their new looking and body positions took effect. They applied their mental skill sets to ride all 3 drops to whoops of joy from Anita.




Chris was loving the ease of it all too.


We moved onto the skills trail and I began working on footwork, looking and body positioning in corners too. Pumping, rock gardens, steps, drops and fly out jumps were linked with bermed, switchback, off camber and flat corners.


I worked on both taking off on the fly out jump and also pumping it to stay on the ground and speed up. I worked hard on line choice when cornering and linking drops into corners and in time they went from rolling into the corner to dropping into it.

In time they were riding the entire trail end to end and faster and smoother than before. Each run, although there were errors was faster than the previous and any mistakes were recognized by the riders as they now knew why it ever felt wrong.
To end our session I moved onto the steeps and applying the mental skills to decide whether to ride them or not .
The session ended with a riding demonstration by myself so they could see the exact same skill set in use in my own riding.
Great session!

A 1 to 1 for Greg

Greg turned up as arranged for his session and over a coffee we chatted about his aspirations with his riding and I gave him an outline for our day. During the skills check I discovered the missing skills and found he had perfect foot positioning but had body positioning and looking faults.



We moved onto the drops and applying his new mental and physical skill set. The effect was quite profound as he was landing perfectly on all 3 drops and the smile on his face never left.
We moved onto the skills trail and worked on linking the fourteen sections on it together.
Flat, bermed, switchback and off camber turns were linked to pump bumps, drops, rock gardens, fly out jumps and steps.

I showed why the skill set applies in every technique we covered and that included pumping, which Greg got to grips with and linked it to half the trail and his new skills meant he was starting to travel fast!
As we moved down the trail piece by piece we always added the previous sections to it and before long we were linking drops into corners too.



It soon came time to ride the trail end to end and Greg got faster and faster but always in control. Any errors were identified by himself now.
We moved off the trail to the 6ft tabletop and I worked hard on Greg's mental skills to enable him after a while to sail into the air and land on the transition, 6ft away.

I then used part of another trail to develop his pumping the trail to generate speed to jump and he really connected with it and his speed was increasing as it should with each pump.
To end our session I showed why his new skills could be used to ride over logs/fallen trees. Our session ended after over 5 hours with smiles all round. Great improvements Greg and I can't wait to hear your updates on your future rides.
High5!

Nirvana cycles visits Ukbikeskills

Simon and the guys turned up as arranged and I ran them through my skills check straight away. I could see I needed to work on their missing looking, footwork and body positioning. I knew they were ok jumping and dropping off stuff but they all had a body position habit that needed correcting. I made the necessary set up changes and the Guys could feel the difference immediately.
I moved them to the drops section and worked on their mental skills also and soon they were able to land perfectly and all feeling comfortable with it. I was even able to teach them to move the bike in the air too!



After a while we moved onto the skills trail and I worked on pumping techniques and using the gained energy to connect to the trail. Flat, bermed, switchback and off camber turns were linked to rock gardens, fly out jumps, steps, pump bumps and drops. I showed why their skill set applies and we applied it in different contexts throughout the trail. I worked hard on line choice when linking drops into corners too and before you knew it they were riding the trail end to end. Each run, although some errors were present was faster and more controlled than the previous and they knew why the errors were there.

I moved onto the alpine switchbacks and once again showed why the skills applied and they felt more controlled on them . I used a drop with a steep roll in for the first time coaching and yet again they applied their new skills to confidently ride it. By now the guys were tired mentally and they were happy to end the session with a ride down the new singletrack we have there and end with a cold beer!
Great riding guys and I look forward to riding with you soon on a sunday.
High5!

February's jumps and drops public session

Al, Jamie, Rob, Mike, mark, Andy and Frederic turned up as arranged for the public skills session.



On arrival I ran them all through the skills check that applies to jumps and drops and made set up changes as always. We began on with the drop technique and in no time at all the lads were using their new physical and mental skill sets to easily ride the drops.

I got them following each other to replicate normal trail conditions too before moving onto linking drops into corners. I gave them the cornering basics and worked on the effect that line choice has and then they were all riding those sections too.



We then moved onto a fly out jump and i demonstrated why the skills set applies to getting air on upslopes and after some footwork, looking and body positioning adjustments they all got some airtime!


We then moved onto the 6ft tabletop and the gap jump and then repeated the exact same thing and soon they were once again getting air.

They used their mental skills to decide whether to ride the gap jump or not too

For the last part of the session I worked on pumping sections to gain enough speed to jump other sections too .

The concentration of the session and the physical aspect really began to show on the riders and soon after our session ended.
Awesome riding guys!

Rafe's skills coaching session

Rafe is involved in Swindon mtb club and came down for a skills session with myself as he wanted to improve his own riding.
The skills check revealed that he possessed great footwork but needed body positioning and looking developed.
I made a few changes to his bike set up and set to work.
We began with the drop technique and using his new mental and physical skill sets, Rafe was riding the drops effortlessly.




I moved us onto the skills trail and began working on riding the fourteen sections that it contains using the correct braking areas. I broke the trail into bite sized chunks so we could easily focus without overcrowding the mind.
Pumping was first and the gained energy was used to ride the following berm and flat corners. I later added in the rock garden and a berm and switchback corner into the mix and soon Rafe's new skills were working for him and any errors were identified by him too as he now knew why it was going wrong before.


I demonstrated why his skill set could be used to get airtime from an upslope/fly out and he linked that into a corner with a step on the exit. things were going well now and the smile was beaming across Rafe's face. I worked hard on linking drops into corners by line choice and now Rafe was riding the largest drop and linking it into the final corner. Rafe rode the trail a few times end to end and each run was more controlled, smoother but also faster than previously.
Finally, it came time to teach Rafe to jump a 6ft tabletop.


In a few small steps, Rafe was sailing over the tabletop and even rode the 6ft gap jump side too!
A good few times he rode them before I could see he was tiring mentally and called an end to what was a very cool session. Rafe's a nice guy and I'll pop down to Swindon for a ride on his trails with him sometime.
High5 Rafe!

Tim, Rob and Lawrence's private coaching session

Tim, Rob and Lawrence turned up as arranged and Over a coffee we chatted about their aspirations for the session and beyond and then I put them through my skills check. I found feet, looking and body position faults so I made some set up changes and set to work.



As always I began with drops and using both their mental skills and physical they began riding all 3 drops easily, commenting on how simple it felt.
I moved us onto the skills trail and I broke the trail into quarters so we could focus on the sections easier before adding them all together later. Fly out jumps, rock gardens, pumping, steps and drops were linked to flat, bermed, off camber and switchback corners by using the correct braking areas.

The lads were surprised at how easy it was to get air and control up slopes as they applied their new skills.


I worked on linking drops into corners and the correct line choice and before long they were riding all 14 sections on the trail end to end and faster and smoother than ever.
After a while I moved us onto the 6ft tabletop and showed why the skills applied here also and in time all 3 of them sailed over it easily.


We moved to the alpine switchback and I demonstrated linking the 2 switchbacks together using their new footwork, looking and body positions and also riding steeps.

Our session ended as they got really tired mentally and errors began to appear.
Great session and I look forward to their feedback and ongoing updates
High5!

Correcting Matt's skills

Matt made his way to me for a 10am start and I soon got to work on his bike set up and I ran him through my skills check and found body, looking and footwork faults and set to work accordingly.
We began with the drop technique as always and I worked on the 4 mental skills questions that i teach so that Matt could decide for himself what he does ride in future.
His new body position made the whole technique effortless even though it was quite the opposite of what he used to do.


Before long, we moved onto the skills trail and began working on the sections contained with in it. We worked on pumping to use the dips and troughs on the trail for free energy and used the speed gained to ride the following berm and then flat corner. Matt really struggled to get his footwork correct but every time he did, he commented on how great it all felt. I showed why the skill set applies to riding rock gardens and Matt used his mental skills well and rode them drama free and linked a berm and switchback to it before riding the top half of the trail end to end a few times.
After a short break for coffee, we continued down the trail and added a fly out jump and a corner with a step on the exit and again, he linked all the sections we had ridden previously together.

Finally, I demonstrated line choice when linking drops into corners and soon Matt was riding the trail end to end. Now any errors that were made in any section Matt could tell me what was wrong as he could feel the difference his new skills made to everything and The analytical side of him was tiring him mentally and after several runs of the trail it was time to call and end to the session as he declared himself mentally drained.
Great riding Matt and now comes the embedding period
High5!

A 3 to 1 skills session for Stu, Shay and Andy

Stu, Shay and Andy made their way to me for their long awaited skill session and wanted to gain skills and techniques for their upcoming alpine trip to Chamonix.
The skills check revealed body. foot and looking faults but a few set up changes and a correction exercise began to change everything.
The drops came first and I was even able to show them why their mental and physical skill sets applied to styling it in the air.


Later, we moved on to the skills trail and I worked with them on linking the 14 sections contained in the trail together using the correct braking areas. As they used their new skill sets they really began to flow and their confidence blossomed too. Flat, bermed, switchback and off camber turns were linked to rock gardens, fly out jumps, drops, steps and pump bumps.



I worked on line choice when linking drops into corners too before they began riding the entire trail end to end and the speed and flow was there for all to see.

We moved onto the alpine switchbacks and after a demonstration they one by one began to ride them using their new footwork, looking and body positions. After a short while we moved onto riding steeps and both dropping and rolling into them and although this used to trouble them they now rode them easily and any errors were identified by themselves too.
To round up the session we moved onto the 6ft tabletop and Shay sat it out while Stu and Andy both sailed over it after a bit of speed management correction. the rains came along right at the end as we called an end to a very comprehensive session.
great riding guys!

Rob's 2nd one to one skills session

Rob came down for his 2nd session today and I focused on building on his previous session that we had back in August. I worked on the psychological skill set today as well as the application of the simple skill set in various techniques.



We began with more advanced pumping techniques and scrubbing and absorbing jumps and by varying the application of the skill set Rob could choose to jump or pump. On the 6ft tabletop and gap jump side Rob soon applied his skills from the last session and comfortably rode both sides easily.
We moved onto the pump/jump trail and worked on linking sections using these techniques before moving on to the woodwork to work on the mental skills side of riding.



I began with a 1ft ladder drop and showed how to control and dismount if anything upsets him before moving on.
In no time at all Rob was riding a drop from a 7ft ladder and then linking it to the following wooden berm with a massive grin on his face.

We then moved onto a similar sized drop and also A 9ft stepped down gap jump and after A demonstration from myself, Rob rode it. In a couple of runs he was then linking it from the drop!


We had a break and I could see the adrenalin from the session was tiring him but we moved away from the woodwork to the alpine switchback to work on his footwork and looking to enable him to easily ride them, bringing an awesome session to a close.
Great session Rob and awesome improvement overall!