Phil, Ali, Ian and Andy follow me on twitter and booked a session a few months back and today was the day. They have had coaching from various companies before over the years but today would be different. During the skills check I found they needed looking and body positioning worked on and I made the set up changes to enhance the corrected missing skills then we moved on, much to their surprise to drops.
I went through the mental skills questions that I teach and in no time at all they all rode all three drops, landing perfectly.
We moved onto the skills trail and I began with the first 3 sections, pump bump, bermed followed by a flat corner. It wasn't long before They added in the rock garden and 2 further corners. Any errors were already being self diagnosed too. We had a break and worked on linking in the fly out jump and corner with a stepped exit and also linked in the final sections on the trail. I worked hard on line choice when linking drops into corners and it was time for them to ride the entire trail. Each run was smoother and faster than before as they rode to the vanishing point and the skills were shining through.
Now it came time to apply both mental and physical skills to our final technique, jumping tabletops. Using a 6ft tabletop , I demonstrated the same skills as all the other techniques and they followed suit. I worked hard on Ali's mental skills and in time they all flew over it and landed perfectly time and again! Ali was so chuffed at doing what she felt was impossible for her previously and she watched as Phil, Andy and Ian rode the 6ft gap jump too with whoops of joys as they did. Our session ended under the hot sun with a cold beer each and a riding demonstration by myself, on the herts woodwork.
Amazing session!
Thanks Tony for an incredible day, got much more out of it than I possibly thought and now feel like a totally new rider. The skills you've imparted will enable me to push on and really enjoy my riding.
ReplyDeleteI now fully understand the nickname "Jedi". I certainly felt "The Force" today and can't wait to hit the trails and try out some of my newly honed skills.
ReplyDeleteThere's no doubt: what you teach works I'm still flying now.
Brilliant, brilliant day. Really opened my eyes to what is possible I felt a new level of connection with my front tyre. Now I understand. But nothing tops seeing my wife jump a 6ft tabletop and conquer her fears, just a fantastic feeling for me, her too of course.
ReplyDeleteToday makes me feel the same as when I listen to one of my favourite songs, a song by Johnny Nash called 'I can see clearly now'. I sing this to myself when I'm elated, it always makes me cry. It starts like this...
"I can see clearly now the rain is gone.
I can see all obstacles in my way.
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshinin' day.
It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshinin' day."
Listening to it again now, was no exception... Thankyou Tony.
What an amazing day!! Not once did I feel out of my depth or out of control, a little apprehensive yes but it never lasted long.
ReplyDeleteAs I stood next to the tabletop shaking my head I knew that I was going to give it ago, but I never thought I would actually clear it! I was happy just to land on top and roll down the other side. But the more I did it, feeling totally in control, the more I wanted to do. I can not tell you the feeling when I actually cleared it...but I think you know ;0)
Thank you Tony