Could anyone give me any advice please, i see myself as a fairly competent mtb rider. This issue that i have got is jumping, was at cannock chase this weekend doing the Monkey trail, there are several rollers and drop offs that you can hit at speed. My problem is that i always seem to be off balance in the air, this often results in a off direction landing and ultimately results in a impact with a tree!! Anyone got any tips please 😆

Go on a skills course with Jedi seems to be the usual response to this, and it probably the best idea if you havent got loads of time to spend practicing.

If your going off balance, it sounds like you’re stiffening up in the air. Stay loose on the bike and you should be ok.

Start small and build up.

I broke my hip trying to teach myself to jump. Go on a skills course.

cheers, think the tensing up comment is true. Anyone know of any good skills courses in South Yorkshire area?

Ask Ed maybe 🙂

Are your pedals level when in the air?

Urm.. good question mate and to be honest not 100% sure but would generally say yes.

Go and see Jedi or more normally known as Tony, you will jump.

Is it cos you is white?

😉

Damn, binners beat me to it.

Are you being aggressive enough with your bike whilst in the air. You gotta push that beast out with your arms and dictate your landing.

Great Rock is the answer, methinks.

Also, BOO!

it’s because you’re scared of it. 2nd post has it – you’re tensing up in the approach and also in the air.

approach the take off with your energy pre-loaded, by that i mean in the ‘attack’ or ‘ready’ position: knees and shoulders bent & body weight generally low. as you go up the kicker extend your limbs and push up and out to lift the bike upwards – this will propel you into the air. as you feel the bike reach the crest of the trajectory you should aim to bring the bike up further still using your hands and feet. if you do this correctly it will give you that little more time to correct your mid-air balance, in fact, by doing this that is what you are doing. as you begin to fall again extend your arms and legs and then absorb your body weight with your knees and elbows once your wheels touch down.

or something like that. sounds more difficult than it is, you just need to practice.

As said, start small and session until it’s mundane. Confidence (or the lack of) is probably manifesting in tension. Watch some vids of people good at jumping and it’s so fluid. I’ve noticed a calm exaggeration seems to help me get it right. I bail when I tense up and doubt myself.

thanks everyone for the advice, also why did i not think of think of putting that image on binners! 😀

Start big, everything will seem easy in comparison :p

(I accept no liability for you breaking yourself if you follow my advice)

Go BIG, or go home.

Repeat until you die.

Are you pulling up on the bars to lift the front end? That’s what I used to do and it’s very easy to make the bike unstable because I guess it’s hard to pull evenly.

If so, don’t.. give the forks a quick pump before the lip and the rebound should give you enough lift.. let the bike do the work and it should feel a lot more stable.

(courtesy.. yup, you guessed it – Mr.Jedi)

I was going through a bad spell of crashing on jumps, with a very similar sounding symptom to yours – being off balance in the air.
I read somewhere, might have been that nice Mr Jedi on here, that this is common when you pull up on the bars at takeoff. One side of your body will be dominant, hence stronger, and this side goes higher and throws you off balance.
I’ve thought about this and started from scratch again, working on the push with my legs and arms, rather than pulling up.
So far, so good.
Bet I crash tonight though…

Yes i do tend to pull on the bars and my right side been the dominant makes semse as to why i’m off balance to the left. Mr Jedi website got some good tips and vids on there. Will seriously consider a skills course.

Its all about the push, pulling up will muck you up..

I had exactly the same problems as you. I went on a Jedi day . I still have exactly the same problems as you . Some of us are just not meant to jump . I just wont do it , nothing ‘flows’ and its tish at trail centers when all the chicken runs kill speed and kickers ,jumps and table tops work against you.

Singletrackmind are you the only failure of Jedi? Shame on you.

singletrackmind, who are you and when was it?

Learn how to land like a ninja and you’ll stop being afraid to jump

I flew head-first almost 15 feet yesterday and I can still type 8)

Thus endeth the lesson

@Jedi
Rob . Summer last year , maybe June or July
I refused to do a drop and we gave up and went home.
Naked carbon Proflex Oz

i’d love to read your blog. can you email me?