When I think back to how I rode 6 years ago when I took up MTB as an adult I have really come along in terms of skills.

I can ride faster for longer making less mistakes. A trip to the alps for the first time this year gave my confidence a boost when I saw I was not one of the slowest descenders in the group but one of the guides who gave us some skills coaching mentioned that I hadn’t really taken in what he’d said. I can get down the mountain quickly but not with the best technique.

Yesterday I went for a ride with some very accomplished riders and I felt like my skills were way off and needed improvement.

An obvious answer would be to go and get some coaching but the MTB coaching boom has yet to take off in Spain where I live. The other obvious answer is to just get out there and ride more but again I find this difficult due to family and work leaving me with very little riding time.

Does anyone have any useful advice as to improving skills with limited practice time and no access to coaching?

Get really drunk. Go out and ride.
Sober up. Go ride the same trails.

Instant overnight skillz booster there…

DrP

You’re only getting better at something that is entirely pointless in the first place. Don’t worry about it, just ride your bike.

(edit: keep riding with the faster guys, you’ll pick stuff up)

I’m far from being an MTB god, but I’ve found stopping at a particular feature and “sessioning” has been useful after having a similar feeling of plateauing a bit.

Sounds like you know what you’re doing “wrong” already?

I used to ride with a group and found that I was the fittest and most technical rider. I thought I was well Enduro. Then I joined a different group and really struggled in terms of fitness and skill. Few months down the line I hold my own and would say I’m mid pack now. I think that riding with better riders boosts your riding massively. You pick up small things they do and they offer advice. Plus it’s more fun!

I like the Fabien Barel videos:
Particularly this one:
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF5K9V2w6W8[/video]

And I also got a lot out of this one:
[video]http://www.vimeo.com/41187732[/video]

Great aid:
http://www.descent-world.co.uk/2015/06/09/dirt-school-goes-global-with-launch-of-new-digital-services/

Take the app with you, film yourself and self-compare against the ‘perfect’ or you can even get the coaches to coach you anywhere in the world by uploading videos and then receive personal, focussed feedback at a fraction of the cost of a lesson. This was designed to compliment their day courses and help people in exactly your prediciment anywhere in the world! Genius.

thestabiliser

You’re only getting better at something that is entirely pointless in the first place. Don’t worry about it, just ride your bike.

God, what a great attitude. Why bother posting about it on a forum? Why even bother riding? Why go on living? It’s all pointless.

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(meant it more in the vein that the OP shouldn’t feel any pressure to get gnarly, cos it’s it’s just about having fun)

I’ve only recently learned to let myself session stuff. I think it’s very easy to get hung up on “doing a route” where the object of the riding is to ride a specific route (often in a specific time) and that’s it…Often failing to do the techy bit on “the route” time and again…

Well, I’ve made a concious effort to not do that all the time, helps that I’ve moved to a part of the world where I can ride from my door to some pretty techy terrain, but I let myself fail, learn, look at at what I’m doing with no other restraint other than to clear an obstacle.

Coaching helps, and I hear the voice of a coach I used a couple of times in my head, but mostly it’s just; Deep breath…Go.

I’m far from being an MTB god, but I’ve found stopping at a particular feature and “sessioning” has been useful after having a similar feeling of plateauing a bit.

Pick one thing and try and figure out how you could do it differently (not always better, just differently).

Mine was fast berms, I thought I’d hit the limit of how fast I could take them as the front wheel was washing out, then one day I tried exiting much much tighter, a few corners later I found that pumping even harder with my legs ‘lifted’ the front wheel (remember your lent over, so actually moving sideways), which both added speed and meant I was in a much better position for the next corner.

That added speed also meant I carried a lot more speed into a section of jumps/drops, which meant I improved on those too. There used to be one drop/jump/stepdown I wondered how on earth you were supposed to make the landing (the last ‘big’ one on Red25 at Swinley), now I’m clearing it easily.

All from figuring out how to ride berms tighter.

thestabiliser

(meant it more in the vein that the OP shouldn’t feel any pressure to get gnarly, cos it’s it’s just about having fun)

Getting good doesn’t necessarily mean gnarly. Cornering better flowing better, climbing better…whatever. The better you do it the more satisfying it becomes. If you’re going to do anything as a hobby you might as well endeavour to improve at it. You know, like the Chinese term Kung Fu (Gonfu). The more you put in the more you get out imo.