CATCHING THE MISTAKES
There are three main mistakes that riders make when perfecting their jumping technique. The first is that they push too early. This is normally because they are timing the leg push for when the front wheel is near the top of the jump, but their back wheel still has an entire bike length to go before it is released from the pressure of the take-off. Try and time your leg push for when your rear wheel is at the take-off and you will use that pressure to drive you upwards, resulting in more airtime.
The second mistake is keeping arms straight when in the air. This is normally because the rider is thinking so hard about pushing, that they push all the way through to straight arms. Although this is a minor one, if you come off the pressure of the take-off too early, your rear wheel will clip the lip and create forward rotation in the air. If your arms are straight here, the rotation will be terrifying as it will take you over the bars. Keep your arms bent in the air and you will have loads of room to handle any unwanted rotation off the lip.
The final mistake is that riders are pulling in the air. Although it might feel like you’re going to go further if you do this, in reality pulling up will reduce your airtime. As you come up short you will most likely blame it on not having enough speed – same as pulling up in a speed hop on the trail as we discussed earlier. Focus on your slow, powerful drive away from the trail in the first place and you won’t need to pull in the air at all. You’ll have more air time and it will take you further over the jump with time to spare.