# learning to jump.



## Shooter98 (Aug 26, 2011)

I did a search for this and founds tons of useful info, but one thing, well two things that keeps happening to me I am having troubles finding answers for. 

1st problem is each time I leave the ground, the bars instantly yank left or right while in the air. After a lot of practice I'm thinking maybe I am too tense in the arms? 

2nd problem and the biggest. Any time I get any sort of air off a lipped jump I end up landing nose heavy. It has created two huge crashes with destroyed front wheels. Again, I'm thinking I am too straight armed and would help things If I started straightening up a little off the jumps with my elbows bent? 

Thoughts?


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## ssiegrist (Jun 22, 2011)

Sounds like you need to move farther back on the bike. Straight, tense arms would be the result of being too far forward. Your butt should be behind the seat. Make sure you do your "aiming" while still on the jump and not in the air.


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## One Pivot (Nov 20, 2009)

Is it a xc bike with a long stem?


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## jeffscott (May 10, 2006)

Shooter98 said:


> I did a search for this and founds tons of useful info, but one thing, well two things that keeps happening to me I am having troubles finding answers for.
> 
> 1st problem is each time I leave the ground, the bars instantly yank left or right while in the air. After a lot of practice I'm thinking maybe I am too tense in the arms?
> 
> ...


When you take off you have to jump both wheels at the same time....if the front drops of first without unwieghting it you will nose dive.

You can practice jumping off a curb take off from both wheels so you land on both wheels.


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## Shooter98 (Aug 26, 2011)

One Pivot said:


> Is it a xc bike with a long stem?


 XC yes, but I put a short stem on it.


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## Shooter98 (Aug 26, 2011)

jeffscott said:


> When you take off you have to jump both wheels at the same time....if the front drops of first without unwieghting it you will nose dive.
> 
> You can practice jumping off a curb take off from both wheels so you land on both wheels.


 I understand what you're saying, and I do this for the most part, but doesn't this pretty much pertain to a ramp style jump? The one's I've been having troubles with are the lipped jumps.


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## zebrahum (Jun 29, 2005)

You need to take a video of yourself jumping and post it. Basically every phone can take video these days, shouldn't be too hard to pull off. As high quality as you can manage.


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## Shooter98 (Aug 26, 2011)

zebrahum said:


> You need to take a video of yourself jumping and post it. Basically every phone can take video these days, shouldn't be too hard to pull off. As high quality as you can manage.


 Oh man, I can just see that thread now! lol...... post a video of my non jumping ability and give everyone free reign to have at it!


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## jeffscott (May 10, 2006)

Shooter98 said:


> I understand what you're saying, and I do this for the most part, but doesn't this pretty much pertain to a ramp style jump? The one's I've been having troubles with are the lipped jumps.


Have to do it on any style of jump...the lip just changes when and how hard.


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## zebrahum (Jun 29, 2005)

Shooter98 said:


> Oh man, I can just see that thread now! lol...... post a video of my non jumping ability and give everyone free reign to have at it!


I understand your hesitation, but it sounds like you are doing something fundamentally wrong and it could be a number of things. If you actually want advice on what to do to improve then your second hand accounts of what you think you might be doing isn't going to cut it. Do some searching and you'll find that the best advice people get is when they post videos of themselves. You're going to have to risk your ego a little if you want any decent advice.


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## One Pivot (Nov 20, 2009)

The yanking bars, and nose shooting down kinda sound like a rebound issue. Fast rebound will pull the front end back down right after you hit the lip and cause a pretty sketchy unstable feel.


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## Too_Fast_46 (Apr 16, 2011)

Shooter98 said:


> I understand what you're saying, and I do this for the most part, but doesn't this pretty much pertain to a ramp style jump? The one's I've been having troubles with are the lipped jumps.


First I hope you're hitting the jump at a correct speed (use your friends to figure that out.) Then this very well could be that you're letting the front tire roll through/over the jump when you essentially want to 'pop' off the lip. Of course technique can vary whether you're riding FS or hardtail, but what I'm trying to say is you should have neither straight legs or arms as you approach the jump. Just before the lip, start to pull up on the handlebars a little bit which will transfer your weight to the pedals. Once you're in the air, you'll likely be a little nose high at which point you will straighten your arms and level the bike out. Think like you would for a proper bunny hop, just not so extreme.


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## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

Full Suspension? That's makes a difference. As mentioned, above if the rear shock isn't set up right it could buck you when you take off.


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## Iridethedirt (Jan 20, 2008)

I think the problem might be in your starting/aggresive riding position. what we call the "attack position" you want to have bent knees, legs NOT contacting your seat, elbows bent, chest low. 
your weight should be in the pedals, and NOT on your bars. If you think about your bike disappearing you want to land on your feet, not your feet and hands. your hands and arms steer and maneuver the front end of the bike, and help you to maneuver your upper body. they should not be supporting body weight.
Your problem taking off front tire to one side or the other is because you ARE yanking the bars. You should be shifting your weight, in your hips, rearward to take weight off the front end, more than attempting to YANK upwards on the bars. this will lift the front end, but your weight is still over it, and it will come crashing back down, hence your nose heavy landings. I'll see if i can find something to post for you, video wise from some jumps we have out here. 

I'll do my best to write out the proper jump technique:
So you will be approaching the jump, you want to be in the attack position, standing, bent knees, chest low, elbows bent, your weight in your feet, centered between the wheels, or slightly toward the rear of the bike. As you come to the lip of the jump, you should be moving your weight rearward, and unweighting the bike in a fluid motion. 
oh hell... pictures incoming. I'll be back. lol


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## lightjunction (May 17, 2011)

I agree with some of the advice already given. Sounds like you're too far forward, which is causing you to land nose-heavy. As for the bars going one way or the other, that's more of a balance thing. It takes practice to learn how to pull up with the same force on each side. My advice is to start small. Get your skills dialed in over a small jump, then work your way up.


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## Iridethedirt (Jan 20, 2008)

here is a video example. not the best but it can hopefully give an idea
jumps - YouTube


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## 475856 (Feb 6, 2010)

Nice video as it shows in slo-mo how it's done The trick is to be up in the air with both wheels before the front wheel is over the edge or lip.. I had issues too until someone showed me the right way. You're too late to pull the front wheel up if you're over that lip/edge, specially if you're 200# like me...The lightweight riders have an easier time with jumping too so look at them and see how they do it also..


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## akiracornell (Jan 16, 2012)

every jumps different, some are decieving and buck the rear up. you have to visualize your trajectory to where your flat in the air. start small and jump curbs or build your own little kicker with a super mellow lip. though alot of work its yours so make it the way you want. maybe like 2 ft high with like a 6 ft transition. just keep hitting it faster and faster. put a little marker down like a twig and clear it. move out another foot at time. you be jumping far in no time. i like to kick the rear out just a bit to the right. it helps to stabilize me in the air. if you kick the rear out a little the front wont float away if you if you come off the lip off centered. i learned it as a kid off curbs. funny thing is i cant kick out to the left. i guess i just always jumped off curbs into oncoming traffic, go figure. my buddy can only kick to the left. i can do it a little to the left but not the most comfortable. if the jumps is a smooth landing i could probably get it fully sideways with wheels infront of me motocross style.

i dont even know how far i could jump on my mountain bike with 6in susp. I never really jump cuz i dont like landing to flat. i just ride and go fast and just float over mounds and stuff. im sure i could pull 20-30 ft or so with suspension if the landing is natural to the lip. now a day id rather go out than up. 

i remember my first real kicker on a bmx . 4 foot lip with about 8ft transition strait up. it shot me 4 ft above the lip about 8 foot out and the landing was almost straight back down. i know thats small potatos for mountain bike but it scared the hell out me lookin down 8 ft. over the gap. the landing was only 4 down so the landing was actually more mellow than i thought. but it was a rush. i felt sorta out of control for the moment but i got more control each time. 


any way start small and just keep hitting a bit faster at a time. when you hit your max distance your ready for a bigger jump. better yet if you build a little kicker on top of a mellow little hill; you you can jump into the hill for a landing. do it on long hill and you can just keep jumpin further out into the landing. just put like a 6in lip into the hill and have at, infact im gonna find a spot myself . nice idea.  just gotta find a spot cowabunga


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## While At Rome (Apr 25, 2011)

1. No reason to be white knuckle hard grip on your bars, loosen up. Try drinkin a beer or 2..Not joking. then do 30 correct bunny hops. the correct way, back wheel focused, lift front wheel, then lift back wheel, then adjust your pitch in the air to land flat on the ground. For real mountain biking this is a pinnacle skill that you must learn.

2. If your goin ass high on an FS bike, you need to push your rebound down. Your suspension will compress on the jump and with most xc tune air shock it will rebound quickly boosting ur ass end up. By reducing the speed of the rebound it will prevent this. If you are goin ass high on a HT you need to learn how to bunny hop right.


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

Arms or legs locked straight is almost always a bad thing on trails.

Suspension can cause nasty surprises if improperly adjusted. More likely, though, you let the front wheel start a downward trajectory while the rear is still on the jump or drop. Depending on your speed and the desirable trajectory, you can 
1) shift your weight away from the front when you reach the lip, or 
2) shift your weight to unweigh the whole bike at the lip.


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## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

While At Rome said:


> Ok ive read each post in this and honestly every one is useless to the problems you are having.
> 
> 1. No reason to be white knuckle hard grip on your bars, loosen up. Try drinkin a beer or 2..Not joking. then do 30 correct bunny hops. the correct way, back wheel focused, lift front wheel, then lift back wheel, then adjust your pitch in the air to land flat on the ground. For real mountain biking this is a pinnacle skill that you must learn.
> 
> 2. If your goin ass high on an FS bike, you need to push your rebound down. Your suspension will compress on the jump and with most xc tune air shock it will rebound quickly boosting ur ass end up. By reducing the speed of the rebound it will prevent this. If you are goin ass high on a HT you need to learn how to bunny hop right.


Well thank god you've found the forums. Now everyone else can stop posting and just ask questions and have you answer them.

Glad you're here.


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## zebrahum (Jun 29, 2005)

While At Rome said:


> Ok ive read each post in this and honestly every one is useless to the problems you are having.
> 
> 1. No reason to be white knuckle hard grip on your bars, loosen up. Try drinkin a beer or 2..Not joking. then do 30 correct bunny hops. the correct way, back wheel focused, lift front wheel, then lift back wheel, then adjust your pitch in the air to land flat on the ground. For real mountain biking this is a pinnacle skill that you must learn.
> 
> 2. If your goin ass high on an FS bike, you need to push your rebound down. Your suspension will compress on the jump and with most xc tune air shock it will rebound quickly boosting ur ass end up. By reducing the speed of the rebound it will prevent this. If you are goin ass high on a HT you need to learn how to bunny hop right.


Everyone else's information is useless? Lighten up, princess.

1) You're an idiot for the first sentence, but I'll back you up for bunny hop practice. Good advice. This is what's going to help hitting jumps more than anything.

2) If the OP knew how to actually jump a bike then we wouldn't need to be talking about suspension set ups because suspension isn't the issue here. The OP is making mistakes at a completely base level and that needs to be addressed. Quite frankly the OP hasn't even mentioned what bike they are riding but if it's the bike on their profile then it is a DB Overdrive Comp 29er.

29ers are not the ideal jump bike and if the jump faces are short then it might be very difficult to learn on them with a 29er. The reason I pleaded with the OP for footage of hitting the jump is because we would be able to see what's going on very quickly and fix it. Without that, this thread is going to keep going deeper and deeper into the toilet.


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## FadeToBlack (May 10, 2005)

+1 on iridethedirt's response.
Drive with the hips and heavy feet.


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## Katz (Jan 29, 2012)

Shooter98 said:


> ...Any time I get any sort of air off a lipped jump I end up landing nose heavy. It has created two huge crashes with destroyed front wheels. Again, I'm thinking I am too straight armed and would help things If I started straightening up a little off the jumps with my elbows bent?...


I used to have the same problem. In my case, aside from relaxing arms on approach, forcing myself to look further ahead helped me a lot. Something to try out if you haven't been doing it already.


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## Iridethedirt (Jan 20, 2008)

While At Rome said:


> Ok ive read each post in this and honestly every one is useless to the problems you are having.
> 
> 1. No reason to be white knuckle hard grip on your bars, loosen up. Try drinkin a beer or 2..Not joking. then do 30 correct bunny hops. the correct way, back wheel focused, lift front wheel, then lift back wheel, then adjust your pitch in the air to land flat on the ground. For real mountain biking this is a pinnacle skill that you must learn.
> 
> 2. If your goin ass high on an FS bike, you need to push your rebound down. Your suspension will compress on the jump and with most xc tune air shock it will rebound quickly boosting ur ass end up. By reducing the speed of the rebound it will prevent this. If you are goin ass high on a HT you need to learn how to bunny hop right.


LOL.

The frame by frame video of hitting a jump was useless?

The key fundamentals of rider positioning, were useless?

A proper description of the attack position is useless?

The concept that these forums have GREAT SEO and pop up on lots of google searches means nothing I guess, and the fact that OP might be having one of these problems, or none, but they can all contribute to landing nose heavy off a jump, and several other people might find this thread usefull when searching the web for advice. but you're right, your post fixed it all. Glad to have you here! LOL, ease up on being overtly critical of others, you gave some solid advice, but you made yourself look kinda arrogant with your post. welcome to MTBR...

But like was mentioned, good point on the bunny hopping, that is a very important skill to be able to huck off of a jump. the motion is virtually the same, and depending on how the lip throws the bike, requires all of the skills in handing your bike's "Attitude" in the air, that comes with learning a proper bunny hop. This skill, the adjustment of your bike's attitude in the air (whether the bike is pitched nose high, or tail high) is what helps you land on two wheels, no matter the angle of the transition, and this skill begins with the bunny hop. if you need more info on that, do a youtube search, there are tons of videos, just find one with good slow motion and go try to mimic the motions. watch several to make sure you find a good one that makes sense to you.

As the bike leaves the jump, depending on how well the jump is formed, it might have almost no lip, or the lip might be so severe the bike bounces off of it, which can lead the the aforementioned "buck" where the tail of the bike is kicked up higher than the front. happens with Full suspension AND hardtails, but improper suspension setup can make this problem FAR worse, or even cause it entirely off of mellow jumps. this can lead to some REALLY ugly crashes. Getting bucked, in fact is what lead to my OTB crash that caused a grade 3 shoulder separation. SO... how do you combat the dreaded BUCK? 
Well... aside from making sure your fork and rear shock (if applicable) are setup properly with the right amount of rebound dampening. 
Glad you asked: 
We will back up a step. Beginner mountain bikers who have had little to no instruction often times have very bad habits. This is not said in a judgmental way AT ALL, but, for the reason I READ the beginner forum, to help the novice rider out. I'm no pro, but I'm pretty good at it, and have been doing it for about 17 years. I've raced as a teen, and again as an adult. I've read countless books on technique, ridden with more advanced riders who helped me tweak my own talents, and skill set to improve, and further refine my skills, as well as done the same for other riders in person, and even coached kids on how to ride mountain bikes. Take my advice, or don't but its all learned from writings from pro riders, Olympic coaches, and personal experience of my own, and other more talented riders than myself. Take it for what it is.

I'm going to try to keep this very basic, and very on topic. It is difficult though, because so many of each skill bleed into other areas.

When learning to ride a mountain bike, and advance your skill beyond the basic fire road, into more technical terrain, these basic talents will become extremely valuable, as they are the basis for nearly all other riding skills.

First thing is first, I already mentioned this previously, but here it is again: ATTACK POSITION. perhaps the most important thing about riding a mountain bike. Knees and elbows bent, chest low, upper body almost parallel to the ground. This position allows you to maneuver the bike underneath you in all directions to allow for the rough terrain you're riding over.

The next aspect of riding is being comfortable moving around from the attack position, through the "Cone of movement" which is essentially your range of motion above the bike. as a beginner, you're more concerned with the front and back movement than the body english of the side to side. this comes into play in things like off camber cornering, and the like, but for now we will just focus on you shifting fore and aft on the bike.

Being in the attack position should allow you to move freely within the cone of movement, or, more accurately, allow you to move your upper body (hips torso and head) independently from the bike, and let your arms and legs move with the bike. So, from the attack position you can slide behind the seat, or lean WAY forward to the handlebars. Now, if the bike is trying to pitch down nose heavy, when in the air OR on the ground, you want to extend your arms, to HELP you move you hips back, get your butt out behind your seat, over your rear wheel. What you've done, is recenter the weight between the wheels. As the front gets lower than the back, the bike pitches forward, which pitches YOU forward, and unless you shift back, and recenter your weight between the wheels, over the bars you will go.

But, to the OP of this thread. please, put up a video, I can almost guarantee i can tell you what you're doing wrong as soon as i see WHAT you're doing. if you want, PM me, and you can email it direct if you're afraid of internet trolls trying to make themselves feel better about their riding skill by picking on beginners to our awesome sport.

I want to help new riders out, that's why i take the time to do this, and post video, etc. I'll answer anything I can.

if anybody else needs clarification of my descriptions, please ask, or even PM me. I'm happy to help.


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## CharleyGnarlyP290 (Apr 26, 2010)

If the poster is pretty new to the biking thing could it be caused from sitting on the saddle while jumping? I have seen people new to the sport hit a jump while seated and for whatever reason the rear end kicks up. This makes the body too far forward and there is no shock absorption with the body.
Just a thought on my part...


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## Iridethedirt (Jan 20, 2008)

CharleyGnarlyP290 said:


> If the poster is pretty new to the biking thing could it be caused from sitting on the saddle while jumping? I have seen people new to the sport hit a jump while seated and for whatever reason the rear end kicks up. This makes the body too far forward and there is no shock absorption with the body.
> Just a thought on my part...


yes, in case it does need to be said, NEVER EVER ATTEMPT TO JUMP YOUR BIKE SEATED.


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## Shooter98 (Aug 26, 2011)

Sorry I haven't responded much guys, I've been slammed at work.

1st off, no the bike is not the DB 29er, it's a Norco Atomik.
2nd I've been riding for some time but just getting back into the aggressive downhill and XC.
3rd, I'm on the saddle maybe 10% of a ride and NEVER over a jump, or stump or anything.

I do feel my attack position is good, such is the case with the massive purple and yellow bruise on the inside of my left thigh where my saddle hit on a decent jump. 
I think you guys have pretty much nailed my problems down to two things.
One being I'm not stopping my front wheel from dropping off a jump and two I'm not looking where I want to land. Once I come up to a jump I pretty much look at the ramp itself. 

These are my goals to work on this Monday and I will try to get some video. 

Thanks guys!


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## Iridethedirt (Jan 20, 2008)

just another thought, maybe try dropping your seat a tad lower when you're hitting jumps? i know that is a pain without a dropper post, and sometimes totally impracticle. but maybe while you're getting the feel back it could help. Sorry if i assumed you were a bit greener to this than you are. look forward to hearing back on your progress!


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## KVW (Aug 11, 2011)

Man I need to work on my jumping too. I'm in the same shoes OP!

THIS is what we need:

Chuck Quinton Rays Mountain Bike Park Foam Pit Session - YouTube

:thumbsup:


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## ghglenn (Jan 26, 2012)

I would start here: How to do a bunny hop - Step by Step Guide - YouTube

If you get this down, as you should before attempting to use a jump, you will have the proper attack stance, balance points, the unweighting of the bike, etc, dialed. The only difference when using a jump, you will need less effort to get the same air. Try bunny hoping up a curb, then when you get that down, turn around and bunny hop off the curb. This will help you with the timing necessary to do the same thing with a jump. Good luck, have fun, and take your time.


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## osmarandsara (Jun 26, 2006)

One thing the rider is doing (but failed to mention in the video) is that he is applying down-ward force on the bike with his feet (by pointing his toes up. That pre-loads the bike and helps him "pop" off the lip. He also helps the front get up by slightly pulling back on the handle bars.

Look at how high the front wheel is at 1:12. .his stance is fairly erect (the right knee looks almost locked)......


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## One Pivot (Nov 20, 2009)

Jumping is/should be a fairly natural and fluid motion. If you focus too much on where your toes are pointing , or other highly specific body movements, you'll tend to over-focus and do weird things.

Ive seen people say "pull up!" and new riders pull up unnaturally hard and throw themselves off balance. or "lean back!" and people hit a jump and toss the front wheel straight up and fall on their ass. Almost every bike skill is about central balance, and maintaining that point of balance. Jumping definitely falls under that, every movement is based on keeping your body and bike balanced to flow with the lip and landing. 

Dont over focus on the specific action or you'll over do it. You gotta get bunny hopping (both straight up, or the "j hop" as its sometimes called) action down to find your center of balance in the air. When you hit a lip, you're really trying to follow the jumps line and keep your bike on that path, not pull or push excessively.

When you watch a good rider jump, theres a very distinct lack of jerky movement, it should be very smooth and linear, following the contour of the jump, and adjusting to the contour of the landing.. the basis of this is getting the bunny hop down solid, as the fluid motion/balance is very similar to jumping.


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## While At Rome (Apr 25, 2011)

Shooter98 said:


> Sorry I haven't responded much guys, I've been slammed at work.
> 
> 1st off, no the bike is not the DB 29er, it's a Norco Atomik.
> 2nd I've been riding for some time but just getting back into the aggressive downhill and XC.
> ...


The thing that no one else really mentioned about the attack position is that your arms are ready to 'attack' but your weight is not really distributed on your bars.

Another thing is especially with a rig like that, you will need to drive the bike into the jump to preload the suspension. Jumping on a hardtail DJ bike compared to a DH bike is a lot different. You will absolutely need to yank up on the front end. Moving a 40 lbs bike is not the easiest thing for someone that isnt used to biking, let alone jumping.

A bad thing about learning to jump a big ol dh bike is that you can land almost any way--nose dive, wheelie, etc and the suspension will pull you down softly.


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## One Pivot (Nov 20, 2009)

You never need to yank a bike, even long travel suspension bikes. The yanking motion kills the jump. Even on big bikes its fairly fluid, you just time the preload/unload different! 

Jumping suspension bikes is harder because you have to time the preload, but you never yank the bike.


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## While At Rome (Apr 25, 2011)

One Pivot said:


> You never need to yank a bike, even long travel suspension bikes. The yanking motion kills the jump. Even on big bikes its fairly fluid, you just time the preload/unload different!
> 
> Jumping suspension bikes is harder because you have to time the preload, but you never yank the bike.


If you dont yank the bars up to bunny hop, then i dont know how anyone gets off the ground. And if you cant bunny hop you cant jump (well).

It also really depends on the size and lip of the jump.


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

While At Rome said:


> If you dont yank the bars up to bunny hop, then i dont know how anyone gets off the ground.


When I see a good bunny hop, it is a highly fluid motion. I wouldn't call any part of it "yanking".

More like shifting your weight and taking the bike with you smoothly.

... and please don't ask me to show you how to do it ...


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## Shooter98 (Aug 26, 2011)

Iridethedirt said:


> just another thought, maybe try dropping your seat a tad lower when you're hitting jumps? i know that is a pain without a dropper post, and sometimes totally impracticle. but maybe while you're getting the feel back it could help. Sorry if i assumed you were a bit greener to this than you are. look forward to hearing back on your progress!


 Yup, I drop the seat to the bottom once I start heading down. I thought of that one too


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## Shooter98 (Aug 26, 2011)

ghglenn said:


> I would start here: How to do a bunny hop - Step by Step Guide - YouTube
> 
> If you get this down, as you should before attempting to use a jump, you will have the proper attack stance, balance points, the unweighting of the bike, etc, dialed. The only difference when using a jump, you will need less effort to get the same air. Try bunny hoping up a curb, then when you get that down, turn around and bunny hop off the curb. This will help you with the timing necessary to do the same thing with a jump. Good luck, have fun, and take your time.


 I have the bunny hop down, kept it from back in my young bmx days but to be honest I never really applied it to launching a jump. I will absolutely try this next.

I do try and load the suspension up on the bike right as I'm entering a jump and it works pretty well. Trick I use while riding motox.

I know it's probably been lost in translation here but just a reminder to everyone, my jumps do fairly well of a ramp style launch. It's just the lipped style jumps I'm having problems with. I think it's just me being a big baby and being scared cuz the lip makes the jumps look much worse than what they really are. LOL!


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## ghglenn (Jan 26, 2012)

Shooter98 said:


> I have the bunny hop down, kept it from back in my young bmx days but to be honest I never really applied it to launching a jump. I will absolutely try this next.


Cool. Then try to translate the BH to jumping off the ramp. Just remember to gauge the effort of the BH movement/action to the jump. The motion is always the same. Also, I would suggest working on your timing by bunny hopping over things. This will translate to timing on jumps, help your attack position, and over-all feel of take-off and landing. Finally, you have to stay relaxed, and commit to every jump....as stated....look to the landing. Have fun.


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## chadalex78 (Oct 12, 2011)

If you dont get your back wheel up with your front, your back wheel will catch the lip, sending the rear of your bike up and the front of your bike down...


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## zebrahum (Jun 29, 2005)

While At Rome said:


> If you dont yank the bars up to bunny hop, then i dont know how anyone gets off the ground.


Man, for someone who spends so much time criticizing the advice of others you sure don't have a clue as to what you're talking about.

You absolutely never yank the bars when you're doing anything. During a bunny hop or a jump or a manual you use your weight shifting on the bike to get the wheel up. Physics dictates that if you pull on the bars then the wheel will come up but only breifly. If your weight is shifting back then you don't need to pull anything because the wheel will come up because your center of gravity is traveling backward and as long as you're hanging on to the bars, they will travel with your body. I suspect you're actually doing what I've described but you're describing it in a very poor way which will lead to confusion for someone trying to learn the moves.


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## WillT (Oct 21, 2011)

I don't mean to hijack this thread but can someone explain how to grip going into a jump? Where I ride it's hill after hill. I really want to try jumping a double then breaking. But when my hands hover over the breaks I don't feel like I have a secure grip and I'm going to jackknife. Does anyone have a solution?

Also, that bunny hop before the jump is calling preloading. :thumbsup:


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