The return of Steve, Alex and Paul

Steve, Alex and Paul had been with me last year and it was great to see the coaching had paid off and was recognizable in them . They wanted to develop their jumping mostly but I found that carrying speed through berms needed work too so I set about my work as usual.
As always I began with drops and worked on body position in flight and moving the bike in the air.
I then worked on linking drops into berms too and found that body position needed working on and also the mental skill set too.
I moved onto an isolated berm and we gradually added speed into it and carried it through.
After a while I moved us onto a wooden berm and once again used the same technique there too.
We then moved back to the drop into the berm and they all rode it more controlled and the speed came naturally.

We then moved onto the 6ft tabletop and to everyone's surprise, they all cleared it in no time at all. They all then rode the gap jump side too. Time and again they rode the jumps before I once more worked on their mental skill set as I showed a 9ft gap jump. Both Steve and Alex declared mental tiredness at this point but both said they feel if fresh they could ride it. Paul then stepped in and rode it smoothly and rode into the following berm too.
The session came to an end to cold beers in the sunshine and smiles all round.

Richard and Al's session

Rich and Al came to me wanting to get air under their wheels. They had been riding for years and had no confidence in trying as they crashed when they did. During the skills check I discovered why this had been happening and set about correcting it. I uncovered great techniques that had been bogged down by missing skills and once corrected we set about applying them.
The first technique I covered and to their surprise was the drop technique and in no time at all they were flying off them and landing perfectly.
We then moved onto the trail and I worked heavily on cornering and braking areas before adding another section and so on.
Flat, bermed, off camber and switchback corners were linked to steps, rocks gardens, fly outs and drops. We moved down the trail methodically and linked each section to the previous. We then rode the trail a few times end to end and each run became smoother and more fluid and faster too!
The last technique I covered was the jump technique. Using a 6ft tabletop and gap jump I demonstrated how and why the skills applied here and to their amazement they both flew over it and high 5's all round was the order of the day. Both Al and Richard then used their mental skill set to comfortably ride the gap jump side too. The session came to an end and we had a cold beer to celebrate and awesome session.

John's one to one session

John came to me from riding with the muddy moles, some of whom I have coached.

During the skills check I found what what missing in his riding but also uncovered a natural body position and push technique.

Once corrected, we moved onto the drops and applied both the physical and mental skills.

In no time at all John was landing perfectly and riding away smoothly.

We then moved onto the skills trail and the 14 sections contained within it.

We began with pumping a mound on the trail and linked it into the following 2 corners. I worked heavily on John's looking and also his speed management skills here before adding the rock garden and 2 further corners into the mix.

On timing John along a 70 meter section we shaved 4 seconds off just by developing his skills set further and speed was a by-product.
We worked down the trail linking each section to the next using the correct exit and entries.
We linked flat, bermed, switchback and off camber turns to rocks, fly outs, steps and drops.

We then rode the entire trail quite a few times and each run John became more fluid and smooth as he flowed down the singletrack unhurried and faster than ever.

Finally, I showed John how the push applies to jumping and to his complete amazement he was sailing over the 6ft tabletop easily and effortlessly. Mental tiredness brought our session to a close with a demonstration of the skills set in use by myself on the wooden singletrack at Herts.
Great session John!

Alex and Claire's 2 to 1 session

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Alex and Claire came to me for a session wanting to improve their riding and enjoy it as a couple.
After the skills check, where I discovered the missing skills but also uncovered a great push in them both. We moved onto the drop technique as always.
In no time at all both were riding the drops and landing them perfectly and recognizing why.
We then moved onto the trail and began working on pumping and the other techniques required to ride smoothly and efficiently along singletrack.
We worked on flat, bermed, off camber and switchback turns and linked them with steps, fly outs, drops and rocks. Each section was linked to the next using the correct braking zones too.
Slowly, we worked our way down the trail and the flow really began to happen.
I also worked on the mental skills too and worked hard on Claire's protective mechanism when She feels exposed. We linked drops into corners before finally riding the whole trail end to end and with each run they both got faster and more fluid and remarked on how slow it felt as they were looking way further along the trail than ever before.

After a few runs the session ended as mental fatigue was beginning to show and I did a demo of the skills set I teach in use on the wooden constructions.
Great session.

A session of 2 halves with Craig

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Having worked with Craig last year I was interested to see what had stuck and what other areas needed work. He made the trip from New Zealand and I set about working on footwork and body positioning in corners and also the push technique too.
We worked on his bug bear, drops.
I worked heavily on this and soon had Craig landing perfectly on the the 1st two drops and found a protective mechanism on the 3rd drop which although he rode it didn't ride as smoothly as the other two and this affected him. We then worked on drops into corners and still affected by the larger drop he couldn't relax and got agitated, even saying after seeing all the previous blogs of riders doing jumps/gaps he felt like he was failing, not so!
I then brought him right back to cornering alone and we worked on flat, bermed and switchback corners and soon he was linking them together nicely and the smile began to appear.
I showed him the 2 pushes of the speed manual and he soon got that technique dialled too.
We linked the entire trail together and he soon began to really fly as he relaxed more and more.
We linked corners, rocks, steps, drops and fly outs .
The smile was back on his face and confidence and concentration was back again.
Lastly, and to his surprise we worked on something Craig had never done, jumping!
Using the 6ft tabletop I took him through my steps that ensure comfortable progress and to his amazement he sailed over the table top and smiled like a Cheshire cat. Time after time he rode it landing perfectly and even rode the gap jump side loads too.
The session ended and I can't wait to see Craig's improvements next time!

Rich, James and Scott's jump, drop and corners session

Rich, James and Scott came to me wanting to progress their jumping and drops and also work on carrying speed through corners. After the skills check, I began correcting the faults I had found and set about making good their riding and their wish.
We began on the 3 drops and in no time at all they were landing perfectly. I worked on their body positions in flight so they could begin to style it a bit too! I then began working on cornering and linked the drop into a berm. We worked on line choice as well as braking areas and soon they were riding fast but smooth.




I then began working on the jump technique and we linked that to corners and rode the entire coaching trail end to end a few times and they all used great footwork, body position and looking to fly down the trail.
Next, I began working on jumping tabletops and the gap side also. After my demo, they all began to land on the transition perfectly and even rode the gap side a good few times too.


We then moved onto a 9ft gap jump and they used their mental skill set to great effect as they all rode it smoothly and confidently and linked it to the berm that followed too!
Lastly I worked on riding wooden berms and after a few confidence issues they all railed it time and again using correct looking and footwork too!




The session came to a natural end as they began to feel tired and I ended with a demonstraion of the skill set being used on the woodwork trails there.
Awesome day!

Tegwen's one to one

Tegwen came to me to build on her already present skill set and the skills check showed me what was missing and also present.
I found footwork, body position and looking faults during the check and set about correcting them.
The first technique was the push to unweight the front end and as soon as that was working we moved onto the drops to apply it.
In no time at all, Tegwen was landing controlled and confidently on the drops and the ease of it surprised her. I worked heavily on this technique to really embed it.
We then worked on the pumping technique and used the parallels in her snowboarding to gain momentum from the trail.
We then linked it to the corners present on the trail. flat bermed and switchbacks were ridden and footwork and looking was worked on. We linked pump bumps, corners, steps, rock gardens and fly outs and Tegwen really began to ride smoothly. for 70 meters of trail she took 4 seconds of her ride time as she used the trails energy and the skill set to great effect.
Tiredness brought an end to our session and I can't wait for her future ride updates as always.