Learning to jump and move the bike confidently

Doing a jump or a manual, is a skill which you need to learn. While it is quite possible to learn things on your own, in the history of humanity, being taught how to do things by people who know how to do them, is pretty much accepted as being the best way to learn. Why should mountain biking be any different?

Bike gets scooped approximately at the peak, mid air. Scoop happens in a bunny hop after you’ve taken off too.

For me it goes –

1. compress into the bike before the bottom of the lip with a forward weight bia
2. weight shifts rearward as i push out through my feet, pulling gently off the bars
3. take off
4. look for landing, peak and scoop
5. i peak, bike is somewhat tucked
6. body uncompresses, legs either extend if it’s a mellow landing, if it’s steep i lean forward
6. landing, weight starts forward and low, moves rearward and upwards, pumping whatever transition is there.

I’d say 1 and 2 feature in jumping, pumping, manualling and bunny hops, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and sometimes 6 all apply to jumping and bunny hops.

Why do some of you have issues with people getting coached? When you’re a kid, you learn things by trial and error because you haven’t learned things that will hold you back in the first place (e.g.The fear of the pain when you break a bone). If you learn the same skill as an adult, there are a whole load other things going on which can either hinder or help your learning process, everyone is different.

I started riding just over a year ago as a 40 yr old adult. I didn’t ride a bicycle as a child and rarely as an adult. I can ski, ride a motorbike and do loads of other sports but couldn’t bring myself to jump off a small drop jump. I got coaching from ridelines and he talked me thorough the stages and built it up for me. No issues now.

Not everyone needs coaching in everything, but everyone could benefit from coaching in some aspect of their life. To date I’ve never met anyone who is just instantly brilliant in everything they do…..why do even top sportspeople have full time coaches?!?

Go and see Jedi.

I was doing gap jumps by 1pm after my 1 to 1 last year after never previously being able to clear a table top.

julzm – Member
Why do some of you have issues with people getting coached?

There is no issue with being coached, but there is a definite camp here that seems to think it’s the only option

There is no issue with being coached, but there is a definite camp here that seems to think it’s the only option

Errrr…

All you need to learn how to manual is a bike and some ground. Nothing else. All those words you just typed mean nothing. You don’t need a forum and you don’t need someone to hold your hand

Well, perhaps it’s more that if someone asks for advice on an internet forum, that person has most likely already tried to figure it out themselves and doesn’t feel they are getting anywhere, and probably doesn’t have regular riding mates who are good at that skill to learn from or they would most likely be doing that, not asking strangers on the internet, so the options are:
1 – Everyone gives them conflicting advice, some of it wrong, some of it right, some of it reflecting what that person thinks they do, not what they actually do, most of it hard to understand and all of it without having seen them ride.
2 – Suggest that they might get on best by going to see someone with a proven track record of watching people ride and knowing what the tell them to help them ride better.
Given that, the second doesn’t seem daft advice. It doesn’t mean that if that rider asked these same people for advice in real life they’d all send them for coaching rather than trying to help a bit.

ride the jump gulley (just the table tops) at a reasonable pace,and completely relax, go floppy, and get a feel for what the bike underneath wants to do. Good starting point ( although I am no expert)ohh and do not relax your grip too much.

Thanks all. Will get practising.