Moving on keith's riding

 Keith has been to me twice in the past 3 years and he contacted me feeling like something as missing enough for him to need another session. I found he had slacked on his body position so I knew what to work and why. We started on drops and Keith could feel the return of the full skill set and we even worked on moving the bike in the air too. We moved onto the skills trail and I developed his pumping as he was having trouble getting over the crest of steep up slopes.

It wasn't long at all before Keith was riding the trail end to end again and the mental and physical skills were in full use. I moved onto a new singletrack trail and worked on various ways of riding drop offs where you don't want to get air time. 

We then moved to the top of the trail and broke it down into three segments so we could focus on each section completely before riding the entire trail end to end. Seeing Keith drop in at the end of the trail with a big smile on his face was awesome. Keith was tiring and After a couple of goes at another drop and a couple of punctures we had enough time to roll a steep drop off on the way back to the cars.
 Great session Keith. High5!

A 1 to 1 skills session for Lance

 Lance drove down from Birmingham for his session and even though he'd had coaching by another company before, I had to change his set up to enhance his control and discovered he had looking and body position faults. We began with drops and Lance straight away said it feels so easy compared to before. He rode all 3 drops easily so we moved quickly onto the skills trail. I worked on pre jumping, flat, bermed, off camber and switchback turns. Rock gardens, drops, up slopes and steps. All were dealt with using both the mental and physical  skills sets. In no time at all he was riding the entire trail end to end and linking the 14 sections that are present within the trail together using the correct braking areas.

We moved onto the 6ft tabletop and gap jump side and Lance found that simple now as he sailed over both sides in no time at all .
 It wasn't long before we moved onto the pump and jump trail where I demonstrated why the same skills set applied to jumping, pumping and manuals. Lance found it easier than he thought to manual over tabletops and doubles. I moved us onto an isolated drop that was a bit larger than the previous three but it was mentally harder but using the skills, Lance had no problem with that either.
 
 Finally, we moved onto another trail and worked on drop offs into corners that lead up a hip, into 2 more corners and a gap jump followed by a drop in . I demonstrated it as ever and then lance rode it in segments before finally linking it all together.
 Awesome session Lance and i look forward to your riding updates.
High5!

7 go mad in Hertfordshire

 The seven riders made their way to me from Dorset way and on meeting them Myself and Nathan ran them through the skills check and it was there that we found foot,body position and looking skills were missing so we changed their set ups and showed them why we did this. They all said they immediately felt more in control and so we moved onto the drop sections to apply both the mental and physical skill sets to this technique. I demonstrated all 3 drops for them and then they had a go. they all began landing perfectly and after a good few goes we moved onto the skills trail.
 Pumping was the first technique and I showed why this enabled riders to gain speed through undulations on the trail and we used this speed to ride the following berm, flat corner. I added the rock garden and 2 more corners in quite quickly and they soon began riding smoother, faster and more controlled. Any errors were identified by the missing skills and they now knew why it went right or wrong.
 We had a break and resumed with adding a fly out jump, corner, step , corner, drop and a berm into the trail. I showed why line choice was so important when linking drops into corners and soon they were riding the trail end to end and loving it.
 We moved onto the pump and jump trail and both myself and  Nathan demonstrated pumping the sections on the trail and whether to choose to pump or jump. Each rider got to grips with it after a while so rather than waste more energy on it we  moved onto steep drop offs and also steep drops into corners. Their new mental skills were used to decide whether to ride sections or not rather than bravado and It was awesome to see them smiling at their new found confidence.
 Our session ended as mental and physical tiredness showed and We gave them a tour of the herts woodwork to end the session.
 I cannot wait for your riding updates!
High5

 PS, blogger wont load these pics the right way up but I thought i'd post them up anyway :)

Mark and Tim's 2 to 1 session

Mark and Tim made their way to me from Milton Keynes. During my skills check I found they needed work collectively on their footwork, looking and body positions and I made some bike set up changes to help these. The 1st technique as ever that we applied the new mental and physical skills set to was drops.

 In no time at all they were in the air and landing perfectly. A few goes on each and we moved onto the skills trail where I broke the trails 14 sections down and we worked on them in chunks. Flat, bermed, off camber and switchback turns were linked to steps, pump bumps, fly out jumps, rock gardens and drops. I worked hard on their skill set application and in time it really began to show dividends. The correct braking areas where identified and used and they really began to ride faster than before and also more controlled and confidently. When we resumed after a break for lunch, they were riding the entire trail end to end. I worked some more on line choice and braking areas when linking drops into corners. They were taking it in turns to lead as they both rode the trail together.
  To end our session I moved us onto the pump and jump trail where I worked more on pumping sections of a trail to gain speed to be able to get air time off jumps. The rains came as we ended our session to smiles all round. Great riding guys and it was a pleasure to coach you both.
High5!

A group session with the essexhertsmtb forumites

Andy, Jon, Chris, Rich, Marco and Alan turned up on a very wet day for their skills session and I made all the necessary set up changes and identified the missing skills very quickly so we were able to move on and apply their new physical and mental skills to techniques in mtbing.

 We began with the drop technique and very quickly they were riding all 3 drops and  Andy and Jon even beginning to style it in the air too. After a while, we moved onto the skills trail and I worked on pre jumping, flat, bermed, off camber and switchback corners, rock gardens, steps, fly out jumps and drops. We broke the trail into bite sized chunks so they could focus easier on the task ahead and their new looking, foot and body positions really began to pay dividends. After a break for grub we continued by riding the entire trail end to end and with every run they became smoother and faster regardless of the conditions.
 I moved them onto the pump and jump trail where I demonstrated why pumping allowed you to gain speed through sections to be able to jump a 9ft tabletop. The guys got to grips with this and rode the whole trail in the same vein. I finished the session by teaching them why the skill set applies to manualing and they were soon choosing whether to jump, pump or manual jumps.
 They were pretty much shattered by the end of the session and a tour of herts and a cold beer was the order of the day. Great riding guys and it was a pleasure to coach you all.
 High5!