Building Alan's skills and experience

 I coached Alan on a public session in August and he booked a one to one to cement the skills further and hopefully move his riding on as he'd only began riding mtb in June.

 We began with drops and then moved to the 6ft tabletop and gap jump to work on effort for distance/speed and how saddle height restricts the rider. We then worked on cornering and moved to the singletrack to apply the mental and physical skills to linking the 14 sections contained within. Line choice was worked on as well as braking technique too.

 We took a break and resumed on another trail. We worked on developing speed through multiple berms and also pumping and jumping sections on the trail.

 Alan said he struggled with flat drops to steep landings , so i moved to the woodwork to work on this. Control of the environment is paramount here so I showed him how to control any wobbles and why to dismount in a certain way before working on first a 3 ft high ladder drop, then 6ft then 7ft. all ridden smoothly and trouble free.

Our session ended after a few top to bottom runs of a line containing berms, multiple jumps as well as 7ft and 9ft gap jumps and a ladder drop too.

 Amazing progression in such a short time.

High5! 

Second session for Alex

 I coached Alex earlier this year and he wanted to return to maybe push his riding on further and to focus on drops and jumps predominantly. We began with applying the skills to the familiar 3 drops that I always start with and I was able to get Alex to begin to move the bike in the air. We moved across to the 6ft tabletop and worked on his effort and varying speeds required to clear it. I then worked very hard on the mental skills as we moved to the 6ft gap jump along side and mentally that was so different for him. Soon, however he was sailing over it with ease.

 We took a break and began working on cornering and carrying speed through 3 berms and used that speed to ride the fade away jump at the end, which in Alex's words, he "sailed like an eagle". We then rode the 7ft gap jump that he ended on in our last session and he rode that ten or so times and it was easier than before.

 Alex wanted to ride woodwork and after I demonstrated how to control it he began riding a line that drop from a 7ft high ladder at the end, This really gave him the adrenaline shakes and he rode the whole line a few times before moving on again to another few sections.

I knew Alex would tire very soon but I wanted to demonstrate riding 2 berms that sandwich a 9ft gap jump. Alex used his mental skills to decide he could ride it and rode it he did. A good few clears and Alex called an end to an amazing session ending a cracking week of coaching.

High5!

Gill and Mark's path leads to myself

 Gill and Mark arrived as arranged after booking with me after reading recommendations online. They looked worried as they arrived and when asked what they wished to get from the day, Jumping was top of the list and flow and fluidity on a trail came after.

 I found body positioning and looking needed work and of course , their mental skills also.

 We then applied their corrected kills to the techniques that I teach on the trails with drop first !

 It wasnt long beofre they were landing perfectly and they knew why too. They rode all 3 drops to 1 meter and I was even able to get Mark to style it in the air too.

 We moved to the 6ft tabletop and here I spent lots of time working on Gill's mental skills as well as working on Mark's judgement of effort for distance. To their surprise they jumped the 6ft tabletop and Mark rode the gap jump side a few times too. We took a break for coffee and resumed with corners and pumping and absorbing sections of a trail. Soon they were choosing what to jump, pump or absorb and linking three berms together and the following jump too. Amazing stuff!

We worked on steep drop offs and a near vertical drop off proved simple as I demonstrated different ways of riding such sections without having to get air. Back to the pump and jump trail and Mark rode the 7ft ladder gap and Gill was happily popping into the air by choice rather than accident as before today.

 We moved to singletrack and worked on line choice and breaking areas when linking the sections on the trail and all 9 corners and other sections really flowed together. Gill was knackered and called n end to her session and Mark agreed too and an amazing day with an awesome couple cme to an end. Some dys just shouldn't have to end.

High5!