How to progress

[ride dont slide]

ive been riding for about 6mnths now and over the last 2 to 3 mnths ive got serious about it. Ive had my gt moto around 3 weeks and progressed at jumping to about 3 - 4 ft jumps (i know it aint massive but im still learning) and i seem to have got stuck around the4 ft mark hows the best way to get bigger. Hope this post makes sense?

[dwaugh]

You havent been jumping for very long yet. I'll suggest what I do. Just take your time, dont force yourself into something too big for you all of a sudden. SWtay around the 4 foot jumps, or whatever you are currently at, and just do them over and over again, and after long enough they will start to feel small. That is when you know you can go bigger. This also gives you less chance of getting hurt. Good luck! Hope this helps.

[ride dont slide]

thanks thats helped alot ill stick at it and just progress naturally i guess

[S.K.C.]

...like what was said earlier - progress in a step-wise manner... Don't get over-anxious to progress to quickly, because if you do you will push yourself beyond what you are safely capable of... Look at Peaty, he takes a very analytical approach to his riding. He'll look at a jump maybe 20 different ways before he hits it, and when he does, he always makes sure that he has plenty of room (run out) to control his bike during the landing...

Keep doing those 4-footers till' your almost sick of em'.... then don't ride jumps for a day or two. Go back and hit em' up. If you feel like you could do them in your sleep (no butterflies setting up for take off or getting sketchy in the air or during the landing) then go to the 4.5 footers...

[NoOnEKnOsMe]

Also, try looking for jumps that are close in size but are different. Like ones that kick you higher or hips and stuff. having a variety of jumps to learn on is much better than just one jump.

[Ascentrek]

1. Save your money.
2. Buy a plane ticket to Las Vegas
3. Drive up to Virgin Utah
4. Call Josh Bender, offer up some incentive
5. Have him show you around... he's a great coach.

I learned to do a 10 footer from him.... sawwweeet!

[yeehaarider]

how did you actually get to talk to him, just knock on the door and say, "hey, can you teach me how to do big jumps?" seriously tho, i want to know how you did that

[ioscope]

Keep the DH bike. GO huck it. Force yourself, when you realize how great the adrenaline ruch is, you'll figure out how to overcome fear.

[AN6 Freerider]

do what im doing just find a few smaller jumps and get those down real well then start tryn tables and x ups on them you will eventually be more concerned about your style than the jump and you will realize after a few sessions that you need a bigger jump cause you have exhausted all of your hieght and skills on the little mound. so you will naturally progress this. way or ride with people who are better than you and just try to follow them..other than that its just goinjg to be find something bigger and just go for it...im learning the just go for it mentallity now.

AN6

[NoOnEKnOsMe]

Biking is all mental really... You have to understand that if you keep biking you will eventually get hurt. ive been riding for 6 months and im doing 20+ foot drops. All i think about is the worst that can happen is you fall and cant ride for a couple months. Then again, drops are much easier than doubles i think. tabletops are the easiest to learn on but they are hard to build. if you wanna go big try building what i call a step-up tabletop. its basically a tabletop with the first half cut out. they require less dirt but you can still case it without having to worry about anything.

[Tyman]

you just need to try bigger stuff when you find it!! if there are tons of huge things and u dont wanna hit them all u dont need to but if your with some friends and then u can just try it and it will work out almost always!

[mgy]

What nobody has mentioned (expect Ascentrek) is that jumping takes skill. All the practice in the world will just make you worse if you aren't practicing the correct technique. Take the advice of Ascentrek and take a skills camp and/or buy Lee McCormack's book (written with the help of brian lopes). Having a good coach teach you will save a lot of time, keep you you from further ingraining bad habits and save you a lot of down time from injury.

I don't know where you are located but Fluidride.com in Seattle offers great instruction, MadMarch Racing (Shaums March) offers great camps in B.C. and a few other locales and I have a freeride camp with Lance Canfield as my guest coach at the Ramage Freeride Fest Oct 1-3 in Virgin, UT (www.betterride.net).

[foxfreerider11]

[QUOTE=NoOnEKnOsMe]ive been riding for 6 months and im doing 20+ foot drops.[QUOTE]

hmmm most people are just trying to balance for long periods of time at the 6 month mark.....but you are doing 20 + foot drops....amazing

[8it]

Ride with people that are BETTER than you. Don't only ride with people on your level try to ride as much as possible with better riders and you'll get fast, higher and bigger in no time.
Plus stay of the forums and use the time you save to ride.

[caputo1989]

Practice to the max.

[boostindoubles]

what i did when i was learning to dirt jump: I built a small double, and jumped it. If it was easy i broke out the shovel and moved the landing back farther. Then i jumped it again. Then i would the landing back again. So i kept on progressivly building the jump farther apart until i felt it was beyond my skill level. Then i would build another set of doubles after it and started a rythem section. After awhile i could build a lip and then build the landing with a good eye and not have to move the landing much/ at all. I also started building the lips and landings alot bigger, and its harder to move big piles of dirt with a shovel. so you try to be more careful where you put the mounds when they are big sets.

[DH SB RIDER]

stick to table tops.....practice makes perfect!