24 mbr M AY 2 019
FAST & FIT
atchingnewridersprogressisincrediblysatisfying.
Whetherit’sworkingwithkids,introducingyourpartnerto
mountainbiking,orevengettingoneofyourmatesintothe
sport,therewardscomewhenyouseethatsparkofjoythat
gotyouhookedinthefirstplace.However,thewaythatyou
thinkaboutsomethingnowit’ssecondnaturetoyoumight
beverydifferenttothewaythey’llpickit up.Givethem
thewrongadviceandyourwordsofwisdommightendup
havingtheoppositeeffect.It won’tbethatyou’reexplaining
it incorrectly,justthatthewayyouthinkabouta certainskill
isoutofcontextwithhowthey’lllearnit.
Herearesomeclassicpiecesofadvicethatareoftenover-
simplifiedtothepointthatthey’renotactuallythatuseful.
Explaintheminthecorrectway,though,andyourbudding
newstudentwillmakemuchfasterprogress.
SKILLS TO
TEACH
When coaching a new rider, context is
everything; here are some tips to help
make your advice stick
KEEP YOUR
WEIGHT BACK
This is a classic piece of advice that is
totally out of context. It’s often used
to persuade someone to roll over a
drop-off , or down something steeper
than they’re used to riding. It’s not
entirely wrong, but a much better way
of getting someone to stay in control
over something like this is to get them
to stand low and keep their head close
to the bars with their elbows bent out
to the side. That way, when the front
wheel falls away they will have a huge
range of motion to be able to control
the movement. Their body weight will
remain neutral and they’ll feel like they
have control.
At the point where their front wheel is
much lower than their rear, their weight
might be ‘back’, but if you simplify it
to just keeping their weight back and
don’t explain anything else, they’ll never
have any movement left in their arms
to compensate for the obstacle in the
fi rst place. If they stay low their bike will
be able to move around loads without
them feeling like they’re losing control.
Remember to encourage them to get
back to their attack position, or neutral
riding position, as soon as they’re past it.
DROP YOUR
OUTSIDE FOOT
Again, this one isn’t necessarily
wrong. It’s actually a really good
habit for a beginner to get into. It
keeps them from clipping pedals
on the inside of corners, it allows
them to lean the bike a little more,
and it lowers the centre of gravity.
All good. As a rider progresses
onto rougher terrain though, a
straight outside leg will mean that
they have no infl uence over how
much pressure or push they can
exert on the ground. This can have
a huge negative impact when the
surface is loose or bumpy. A much
better thing to tell them to do is
to get into the habit of standing
up and keeping the pedals level
with the ground. As they lean the
bike one way or the other, the
pedals should remain level, so a
slight back pedal one way and
forward rotation the other. This
will allow them to move a lot more
and ultimately control how much
grip they have as they become
more confi dent.