Saturday 31 January 2015

Snowy session for Jon














We began the session with the skills checks where i worked on Jons skills set, and made any corrections here before moving on. We moved onto drops, and i explained the correct technique for riding them. Once understood it all made sense and he was quickly riding off the larger drop and landing perfectly. We next worked on cornering. Once again i showed him the skills required and then applying this too 3 berms. After a few goes he was linking the berms together with speed and had lots of control and grip over his bike, despite the wet conditions. We also linked this with a large tabletop and Jon began to jump. After a coffee break, we started to work on the skills trail. We spent the next hour working on each section individually, and then riding the trail top to bottom. Rock gardens, fly outs and steps were ridden with ease, and the wet conditions didnt slow him down with his new technique. Our session finished on the tabletop. I worked on managing his speed to help over come certain protections and his overall technique for jumping.

Nice work today Jon, let me know how the riding goes! Remember to jump as high as you can

Nath (@ukbikenath)

Tony (@ukbikeskills)

Karl and Dave's two to one sesion


 Karl and Dave arrived for their session ahead of the forecasted snow flurry and I began as I always do with the skills check, where I found they needed work on looking and body positioning as well as the all important mental skills. We started with cornering on the hillside and they immediately felt the difference in control and grip and we moved to applying it to linking berms together.
 Next we worked on drops and although Dave was more comfortable on drops and jumps than Karl, I was able to work with both at the same time. I showed Dave why his new skills set made style inn the air an easier task and Karl soon was landing perfectly and feeling the positive changes.
We moved to the 6ft tabletop and I spent lots of time getting Karl comfortable with the techniques required and by the end , Karl was jumping the tabletop and Dave was sailing the gap jump side too.
 I worked on riding steep drop offs as well as linking their drop techniques and cornering techniques together by line choice and control areas.
The snow disappeared, as we moved to pumping. jumping and cornering on the trail with the three berms and it was awesome to see Karl popping in to the air by choice now and Dave styling it. Any errors were now being diagnosed by themselves as they now knew why it was wrong in any section.
Karl was tiring mentally and declined the final section we covered using his mental skills and Dave went on to easily ride the berm, 9ft gap jump, berm combo .
An awesome session came to an end and I cannot wait to hear of their riding improvements in the future.
High5!

























Snowy session with Jon


Tuesday 27 January 2015

Mudhugger Paul's session




  Paul found out from the Mudhugger.com guys about my coaching as he rides with them all the time and as they have booked another session with me, Paul wanted one before joining them on their forth coming session in April.
 The skills check showed me that I needed to work on his looking and body positioning as well as the mental skills set too. The drops were the first sections we applied the new skills set to the technique involved in getting air from and the effect was immediate and we quickly moved to jumping and landing on the backside of tabletops. Soon , Paul was sailing over the 6ft tabletop and then repeated the move as he rode the 6ft gap jump too. We worked on cornering and the required positioning for enhanced grip and then worked on pumping, jumping and linking everything we'd covered so far together.
 We worked on linking drops into corners and via line choice and braking areas we eliminated the comfort braking he was doing through his turns. Next, we worked on different ways of riding very steep drop offs and that blew Paul away as now it all felt so simple.
 Back to pumping and jumping and I added a 7ft gap jump into the mix and later on, a 9ft gap jump. Paul rode them individually before riding the whole line a few times.A little bit of work on endo's and turning endo's before we moved to adding style and moving the bike in the air. 
Over five and  half hours since we began, our session came to a close and I cannot wait for Paul to return with the mudhugger brothers to further their riding some more.
High5!


















Friday 23 January 2015

Big Steve's session






Steve made his way down from derby shire and stayed in a recommended bed and breakfast over night before arriving for his skills session on time and raring to go.
The skills check showed I needed to work on footwork and body positioning and once corrected, I was able to work on the mental skills too.
 The drop technique was first and that was followed by the jump technique and Steve remarked at how simple and easy it all felt. The 6ft tabletop sailed beneath him with control ad simplicity.
We took a break and resumed with berm riding and soon, Steve was linking three berms together and knowing when his footwork was correct or not as he could feel the acceleration when correct.
We worked on riding steep drop offs and the variations ways they can be ridden and after demonstration fro  myself , Steve followed and it blew him away.
We worked on pumping and maintain , gaining speed through a trail and when to jump or absorb. It was so awesome to see the development throughout the session as Steve's Physical skill set became more of an unconscious action and he was riding faster and smoother than ever before.
Let me know how the riding goes dude. High5!