Tim, Brian and Mark came to me for a skills session to work on drops and jumps but it was more than that. I worked on steep terrain, riding obstacles and cornering too , but not before correcting their set ups and skills sets.
I worked on footwork and positioning mostly and made them ware of the mental skills that I teach too.
I Have coached Tim previously and he returned with H and Chris for a session. They wanted to understand what to do and why in their riding and I set to work.
I worked on installing a simple skills set that really made a difference to their riding. Drops, gaps, pumping, riding obstacles, cornering and steeps were all on the menu and nailed.
Mike and Ad came to me for coaching wanting to get away from the hang on and hope style of riding it sometimes felt like they did.
A warm day greeted us and I put them through my skills check and set up changes where I identify for them the areas that need work.I worked on footwork, looking and positioning in all areas of their riding and also worked hard on the mental skills too.
What a session it turned out to be. Drops, jumping tabletops, steeps, drop offs, pumping and linking jumps together , even a few gaps and a wall ride were thrown onto the mix.
Ben, Jonah and his son Gregor came to us via recommendation from their friend Matt whom Nathan had coached last year. Blue skies greeted us when we met and we chatted about their expectations for the session and riding history.
The skills check revealed they needed work on looking and body positioning and the all important mental skills too, so i set to work. I made a couple of set up changes and they could already feel a positive change and later that would pay massive dividends for them. We moved to the coaching drops and I demonstrated before they rode them. The difference was there for all to see as they one by one rode all three drops with absolute ease and in a totally different way to their previous ways. I moved them across to jumping, something they wanted to work on and in no time at all they were clearing the 6ft tabletop.Tthe 6ft tabletop has two sides, one is a gap and they had to use their mental skills to each decide whether to ride the gap jump or not. One by one they applied their mental skills and all answered them positively and sailed the jump, Gregor even began styling it too.
We moved to cornering and they applied their new skills sets to riding three berms and a jump that followed and they all commented on how much faster they now were but also controlled too. We applied their new skills to as many sections we could through the duration of the session. Steep terrain, near vertical drop offs where I demonstrated different ways of riding them and they followed suit too. They were now buzzing and thirsty for more , so off we went to link drops into corners and work on line choice and braking areas. They got faster through the sections as they entered with more and more control and soon it clicked. They were linking corners, steps and drops down a trail easily and and knowing why it felt right or wrong in any section.
For what proved to be the last sections we worked on, we moved to a 9ft gap jump that is sandwiched between two berms. I talked them through it and then I demonstrated before one by one they answered their own mental skills to decide to ride it. One by one they cleared it and by self adjusting their speed it got smoother and more controlled. Once again , Gregor was styling it over the gap and they were smiling as Cheshire cats when the session came to a close. Amazing day in brilliant company
High5!