Grant and Pete from Cardiff

Pete and grant made the journey from Cardiff and turned up as arranged. I ran them through the skills check and found they needed work on footwork and looking. Later on I worked on body position and their mental skill set. We began with the drop technique and Pete got his wheels off the ground for the first time and rode all three drops. I was able to work with grant with moving the bike in the air too. From there we moved to the skills trail and worked on linking all fourteen sections together via control areas and line choice. Flat, berm, off camber and switch back corners were linked to pumping, steps, jumps, rock gardens, absorbing and drops. Soon they were Riding the whole trail end to end and knowing when it was right and wrong, and why.  After a few more rides of the trail we moved to another trail and worked on pumping, jumping and linking two berms together with grant riding a 6ft And a 7ft gap jumps came after the berms. For our final application of the skill sets we worked on riding steeper terrain and the skills that apply. We rode a near vertical drop off which I demonstrated two different techniques to riding both Pete and grant followed suit. Our session ended after 5 hours as mental fatigue hit home. Great end to an awesome week of coaching.
High 5

James' skills session

James arrived and we began the session as always with the skills checks, where I found I mainly needed to work on body positioning and a bit on looking. He quickly understood what was needed and out it to the test, and felt how this could improve his riding. I also made a few set up changes before moving on. I gave James a quick cornering exercise before moving him onto the trail. We worked on the first third of the trail, linking both bermed and flat corners,  and rock gardens. I then showed him the drop technique, and gave him his mental skills set, which allowed him to quickly be riding off the larger of the three drops, and landing perfectly. I then showed him the next section of the trail, where he began to jump out of a fly out, and ride steps in the trail. We had a quick break for lunch, and then moved him onto a different trail. Here I showed him linking steeper stuff into corners, and then fade away jumps, which he rode comfortably using his new cornering technique. I then showed him some steeper stuff, both with and without apexes and he used his new mental skills set in order to be able to ride them both, and commented on how easy it was. Our session finished with him riding the tabletop, in which I controlled his speed, and he was soon landing perfectly of both and 6ft tabletop and 6ft gap jump.

great session James!

Nath.

A singletrack session for Michael

 Michael came to myself via recommendation and we began with the skills check where I found looking and body position needed work. I made a set up change and began with something he'd asked to learn, riding over small stumps and logs.
 His new set up and skills made the whole thing simpler than he thought and he could ride them easier than ever.
Onto the drop technique and soon he was riding all 3 drops using both mental and physical skill sets.
We worked on a cornering on the hill before moving to the trail itself where we worked n linking half the trail together to begin with. Pumping, absorbing and a rock garden were linked to 3 corners via control areas and line choice.
After a coffee break we moved down the trail further and worked on steps, jumps, drop offs and more corners before linking the whole trail end to end.
The mental aspect of the session as well as the physical really took its toll as Michael re-wired his brain to use his new skills and after 3.5 hrs he declared himself too tired to continue and very happy with his progress.
Awesome session
High5!

Tim, Julian, James and Simon's group session

James, Simon, Julian and Tim got the train here from London and rode the short distance from the station and arrived on time for their session.  During the skills check I found they needed work on looking and body position. Also mental skills which I worked on during the first technique, drops. Using their new body positions and mental skills they rode all three drops easily and I was also able to work with Simon on styling it in the air. Onto the skills trail and we worked on linking fourteen skills together. After the break for lunch they were then riding the whole trail end to end and linking all sections together via breaking areas and line choice. We moved to the 6ft table top and gap jump to apply the skills for jumping. In a few small short moves all four were sailing over the jump cleanly and I was even able to work with James and Simon on styling over the gap jump while Julian and Tim got more comfortable on the table top. Next we moved to another trail and worked on pumping, jumping, manuals and carrying speed round berms. Each run became more comfortable and it was so good to watch their skills sets embedding deeper and deeper. For our final application of the skills we worked on riding a near vertical drop off and applying two different techniques to it. Cracking session guys. 

High 5 

Tony