Anja's quest to be a better rider had led her to 3 other coaching companies before she came to me. On meeting I gave Anja my commitments to her and an outline of the session and the simplicity of it made her quite sceptical at first. The skills check revealed body position and looking faults but I made her realise that she pushed a bike naturally to unweight the front end and that was the key to un locking her lack of confidence. I made a few bike set up adjustments and away we went to the drops.
Once I slowed her down and gave her control she began to apply her new skill set perfectly as she landed both wheels together off of the drops, even riding the largest after using her mental skill set as I had told her.
Next, we moved onto the skills trail and I began working on connecting the 14 sections on the trail together using their exits and entry's and using the trails energy.
pumping undulations on the trail, linked into rock gardens, steps, fly out jumps and drops. Flat, bermed, off camber and switchback corners were all worked on and Anja used her body position and looking to ride faster, smoother and way more confidently.
We worked our way down the trail always reinforcing what we had done before and adding it to the next section before we were riding the entire trail end to end. It really came together and the smile on Anja's face said it all.
After a few more runs I moved over to the tabletop and began working on applying the same skill set and technique we had applied elsewhere. I controlled her speed so I could work on the psychological aspects of the technique and after some minute adjustments Anja sailed over the 6ft tabletop.
A few more goes and it was time to end the session as the heat of the day took its toll.
I gave Anja a demonstration of the exact skill set I had taught her being used in my own riding on the high woodwork and she could see it was the same.
great session!
Great coach and perfect area to efficiently and quickly improve skills. Trusted Tom from the start and in contrast to previous experience trust continued throughout the session. Tom listened to what I wanted to achieve and adjusted his coaching style to the way I learn best. Everything seemed so easy - even the drops and the table top - almost unreal. I'd appreciated his way in going back sometimes to ensure the technique is correct before moving on. Finished the session strong with a lot of key improvements to my riding style and confidence without any mishaps. The session was definitely worth the investment and much better value than some of the cheaper alternatives out there. Stoked and it opens up new possibilities and boundaries to my riding ...
ReplyDeleteanja, thanks for the feedback, i'm tony not tom! :)
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