Need some Jump/Drop Help

mtn

mtn

Well-Known Member
Anyone here able to help me out with jumps and drops? I’m 30 and after having multiple injuries, I am extremely hesitant to hit anything that puts me a foot or more in the air. Even with all the videos on youtube, I cannot seem to translate that into the real world. I need to learn proper form.

So, is there someone that can help spend a morning or afternoon working with me? I’m in north jersey, so creek is possible, but if there are other trails with beginner features, I will travel. Jumps (tables) are way more intimidating to me than drops.

Here’s a pic of a park in Roanoke that I tried progressing on without anything to show.
 

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As posted in the Rides & Events Section:

Highland Camps is hitting the road!

As gravity-driven terrain becomes more common around the country, you may be looking to upgrade your skills not just for Highland’s features but also at your local trails. Our coaches will be hosting skills clinics in communities around the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic this fall, beginning with two stops in Vermont.

We’ll be traveling with ramps, drops, jumps, and airbags to create a teaching space that emphasizes safety, fun, and learning. Clinics are kept small to allow for focused, individualized coaching.

Click the link below to learn more and register for a clinic near you!

highlandmountain.com

Highland Skills Clinic | Highland Mountain Bike Park

The Ayr Academy at Highland Mountain Bike Park has helped thousands of adult and youth riders to maximize their fun and learning at our downhill bike park in New Hampshire. We are going mobile to bring Ayr Academy to great locations throughout the Northeast.Our professional instructors create an...
highlandmountain.com highlandmountain.com

Oct 14 & 15 — Camp Edge, NJ
Oct 21 & 22 — South Brunswick, NJ
Oct 28 & 29 — Phoenixville, PA
#americasbikepark #highlandcamps

FYI - these clinics are with Ben from Cognition Coaching
 
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I've taken the above class with Ben from CC (twice actually) and it was an immense help to get "jump" started with proper form and technique with jumps/drops. Id recommend this class to anyone looking to start or just hone/correct existing abilities. Beyond this class, you can take a class with Jeff Lenosky at Creek for some higher difficulty material.
 
Anyone have Ben’s phone number or email? He has not bothered to respond to my instagram DMs (after reading).
 
Kathy from Dirt Rock N Root

I've done a few private and group clinics with both Ben (Cognition) and Kathy... so if Ben's not around (answering), give Kathy a try.... I've done sessions with both at Creek.
 
MissJR said:
Kathy from Dirt Rock N Root

I've done a few private and group clinics with both Ben (Cognition) and Kathy... so if Ben's not around (answering), give Kathy a try.... I've done sessions with both at Creek.
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Thank you! DRRT offers a cost-effective private lesson which is what I'm looking for!
 
Definitely coaches will give you the proper techniques.
I'm also certain if you start joining in and riding with others who are a couple levels up will also help tremendously. Following someone in is way easier then shooting something uncomfortable alone.
 
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i think 2 hours is (generally) enough to teach the technique, in order for it to become truly useful you need to practice way more than that to make it 2nd nature when you are riding, if you need to think about it while out on a ride you arent there yet.
 
I am sure a class will help. With anything repetition/practice helps. Generally with jumps if you don’t hit them after three our four attempts/run ins - you are not going to.

Find a few jumps you are willing to commit with and go from there. As you are more comfortable try other things. Steep lips and hips used to intimidate the hell out of me when I first started DH, after a few season they became more natural - but in between there were other Jumps I had zero issues pulling tricks on - after a while and riding many DH parks the jumps that intimidated me seemed much more approachable/within my skill set.

Practice - then riding with others. That will get you there. Try a few parks and session the hell out of the easier lines - then work your way up.
 
Youtube has some great videos that might help you out. They will show you proper technique, your job will be to duplicate that as you progress through the learning process. Probably not as great as having someone watch and critique you, but it's a good start.
 
TommyF said:
Youtube has some great videos that might help you out. They will show you proper technique, your job will be to duplicate that as you progress through the learning process. Probably not as great as having someone watch and critique you, but it's a good start.
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Trust me. I watched videos from maybe 15 different riders. They tend to all say stuff different, but I'm guessing it is mostly the same. I do feel like Rich Drew and his brother fit what I'm looking for the best, but another guy said that it feels the same as getting the floor pulled out from under you, which does make sense.

Either way, I'm working with Kathi to get something set up. She has ramps, so as long as we can get it in before the snow falls and I forget everything over the winter, we are good.
 
shrpshtr325 said:
i think 2 hours is (generally) enough to teach the technique, in order for it to become truly useful you need to practice way more than that to make it 2nd nature when you are riding, if you need to think about it while out on a ride you arent there yet.
Click to expand...

This is what it boils down to. The willingness to practice basically any MTB skill until it becomes second nature. I spent a solid hour at the Skills area on Darling Hill at Kingdom just sessioning the same 3 jumps over and over until it actually stuck.
 
Well, it was quite a long day on the "mountain". First it was pretty darn cold, but warmed up fairly quick thankfully. Kathi started with me in the progression/skills area which I had no idea even existed. I even saw somebody in a group of not mountain bikers roll the mini progression drop on his electric beach cruiser bike. No idea where they came from. So we quickly worked on weighting and unweighting the bike in a couple ways and then moved to jump technique. Now I will say that there are a couple classes I watched youtube videos on and they just went straight into bunny hopping. Kathi did not, and explained different circumstances where they would be used. So yeah, jumping went pretty well with the video feedback. I was certainly not the slowest learner, but certainly not the fastest. I think age/mental barrier has something to do with that...along with wearing a half shell helmet and no pads to a DH park. But after a few times of doing that and some video feedback, we moved lower deviant. Definitely had a lot of garbage technique on the first table, but seemed to get better on the last two as I sessioned them. Then we went back up to Ego Trip I believe and hit those a few times and then down to Deviant to do all those features.

I was taught to weight the bike about a wheel length before the lip, dig the heels down, straighten the legs while centering above the bottom bracket if not a bit more forward, and let the bars come up to you while guiding them away as you level off. Between not weighting at the right moment and not standing up enough much of the time, I don't really think that I got far enough to really focus on doing anything with the bars. But at least now I know what I should be doing, so now comes the repetition part of things until it feels right and natural.

Not that I have to worry about this any time soon, but I do wonder after riding past lower dominion, when do you weight/compress the bike on a massiveface like that?
 
mtn said:
Well, it was quite a long day on the "mountain". First it was pretty darn cold, but warmed up fairly quick thankfully. Kathi started with me in the progression/skills area which I had no idea even existed. I even saw somebody in a group of not mountain bikers roll the mini progression drop on his electric beach cruiser bike. No idea where they came from. So we quickly worked on weighting and unweighting the bike in a couple ways and then moved to jump technique. Now I will say that there are a couple classes I watched youtube videos on and they just went straight into bunny hopping. Kathi did not, and explained different circumstances where they would be used. So yeah, jumping went pretty well with the video feedback. I was certainly not the slowest learner, but certainly not the fastest. I think age/mental barrier has something to do with that...along with wearing a half shell helmet and no pads to a DH park. But after a few times of doing that and some video feedback, we moved lower deviant. Definitely had a lot of garbage technique on the first table, but seemed to get better on the last two as I sessioned them. Then we went back up to Ego Trip I believe and hit those a few times and then down to Deviant to do all those features.

I was taught to weight the bike about a wheel length before the lip, dig the heels down, straighten the legs while centering above the bottom bracket if not a bit more forward, and let the bars come up to you while guiding them away as you level off. Between not weighting at the right moment and not standing up enough much of the time, I don't really think that I got far enough to really focus on doing anything with the bars. But at least now I know what I should be doing, so now comes the repetition part of things until it feels right and natural.

Not that I have to worry about this any time soon, but I do wonder after riding past lower dominion, when do you weight/compress the bike on a massiveface like that?
Click to expand...
Nice follow up update, I'll likely take a similar class next spring. Which bike did you ride?
 
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