Helping Sam unlock the rider inside

 Sam's session was originally delayed due to the snow but today was the day and blue skies greeted us. I could see that he was already a rider with a good skill set only missing body positioning but that he needed his mental skills developed.

A set up change and a skills tweak later and off we went to apply both mental and physical skills sets to the drop technique and boy what a change in his riding!

 We moved onto the skills trail and began working on linking the 14 sections together that are contained on the trail. Flat, bermed, off camber and switchback turns were linked to pumping, steps, rock gardens, fly out jumps and drops.

  We had a break for drinks and then resumed with why the skills applied to jumping tabletops. I used the 6ft tabletop and gap jump side for this and Sam used his mental skills to easily rode the tabletop and then to his surprise, the gap jump too.

We moved onto riding down steep drop offs and his new set up and body positioning felt natural and he easily accomplished that too. For our final task we worked on linking 2 berms and a ladder gap together and he sailed through it with a big smile and a high5 after.
 Our session ended and we retired to a beer to celebrate an awesome session.
High5!

Darren, John and James's session

Darren, John and James arrived as arranged and spoke of wanting to get faster in singletrack and also that they actually wanted to get some air under their wheels, simples!
 The skills check revealed that I had to work on footwork, looking and body positioning in all areas and I made some set up changes to enhance this.
 To their surprise we moved to the drop technique first and applied not only the physical skills but the mental skills also and the effect was immediate. they all began landing perfectly and knew why too.
 Onto the skills trail and over the next 2 hours or so we worked on each section individually and then linked the whole trail together. Pumping, drops, fly out jumps, rock gardens and steps were linked to flat, bermed, off camber and switchback turns. Soon, all 14 sections were being linked together faster and more controlled then ever before and any errors were self diagnosed too.

 I didn't want them to tire too quickly so we moved onto riding down steeper stuff and their new body positioning and set ups really made it easy for them.

They asked if it was possible for me to teach them to jump the 6ft tabletop and so off we went and in a short while all 3 of them were sailing into the air and landing perfectly, very much to their surprise. darren used his mental skills to ride the 6ft gap jump side too and style it!
 For our final task we worked on linking 2 berms together and carrying speed through them and they all got it dialled but before the end of the session, Darren decided he could ride the ladder gap jump that came after the berms and after a couple of goes that wasn't perfect he dialled it and landed sweetly with a massive smile .
An awesome end to a great session.
High5!

The long awaited return of kasey and Damion

 Kasey and Damion have both been to me for coaching before separately and this time wanted to share a session. Kasey hadn't been well for a few days and that would impact on her session and she knew it, but was happy to do what she could and watch Damion. We began with the skills check and A cornering excersise to reaffirm the previous sessions and then moved on to the drop technique and then to linking drops into corners.

 We then moved onto the 6ft tabletop and then to a 15ft tabletop to work on their speed management as well as the mental skills sets and they were both getting some large airtime now.

  We moved to the pump and jump and linked in all the sections including 2 linked berms and Damion also rode the gap jump as Kasey began to throttle back due to feeling unwell but Damion wasn't stopping he later rode a 9ft ladder gap and began riding the dirt jumps too as his riding moved on to another level as both myself and Kasey enjoyed the show.

 We moved onto riding steep drop offs and different techniques that applied and they also proved no issue.

5.5hrs in and our session came to a close and I can't wait to ride with them both in the very near future.
Birds of a feather , flock together.
High5!