Gettin Over the Fear

Spudinki45
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Spudinki45
I'm a 15 year old kid, that just started riding a year ago on a KX 85( I know I should be at least on a 125 but I'm just physically not there yet). I have the speed and ability around the track but for the life of me everytime I go up for any jump over 45 feet I just get scared that I'm gonna eat shit and roll off the throttle. I was wondering what are your tips of getting over the fear of hitting jumps?
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whateversclever69 4/1/2020 3:02pm
4/1/2020 3:02pm
Confidence. This sport is 70% mental. Get confident on small jumps, and don’t do things you’re not ready for. When you are ready, it’ll come easy.
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loftyair
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loftyair 4/1/2020 3:05pm
4/1/2020 3:05pm
Wait until you're 'not scared', then do it.
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TeamGreen
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TeamGreen 4/1/2020 3:10pm
4/1/2020 3:10pm
You're doing it right. Go jump some big flat-top jumps where it's virtually impossible to crash.
motoGleamer
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motoGleamer 4/1/2020 3:17pm
4/1/2020 3:17pm Edited Date/Time 4/1/2020 3:18pm
If you're scared, you're going to get hurt. Theres a big difference between being nervous and uncomfortable which I think is normal and necessary vs being scared imo.

As others have said, wait until you're ready. You'll know.
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kb228
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kb228 4/1/2020 3:22pm
4/1/2020 3:22pm
Just jump tables at the distance youre comfortable with. Extend it once youre ok with that distance. Once youre 3/4 over the table youre hitting the worst part. So a little more will help.

As mentioned above, its mental.
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Nairb#70
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Nairb#70 4/1/2020 3:32pm
4/1/2020 3:32pm
Try some liquid courage next time,LOL just kidding. Just grab a big handful and send it. Then you'll wonder what the big deal was.
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zippytech
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zippytech 4/1/2020 3:37pm
4/1/2020 3:37pm
Nairb#70 wrote:
Try some liquid courage next time,LOL just kidding. Just grab a big handful and send it. Then you'll wonder what the big deal was.
Tons a truth to that.
soggy
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soggy 4/1/2020 3:37pm
4/1/2020 3:37pm
get your technique 100% on smaller jumps to the point where you feel like you are totally in control of the bike and consistently hitting it the same way over and over. This will help your confidence when you step to a bigger jump.
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sumdood
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sumdood 4/1/2020 3:48pm
4/1/2020 3:48pm
I went to a riding school one time. His advice for jumping was to learn how to correct in the air, Practice landing on the front wheel on purpose, then the back wheel, then both wheels at the same time, then slightly on the front first etc. Try to get as comfortable as you can moving the bike around and making adjustments in the air. Then if things go a little less than ideal on the takeoff you won't go into panic mode and you'll know how to correct for a safe landing. And obviously start off on smaller safe (tabletop) jumps. Practice practice practice..
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TeamGreen
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TeamGreen 4/1/2020 4:07pm
4/1/2020 4:07pm
sumdood wrote:
I went to a riding school one time. His advice for jumping was to learn how to correct in the air, Practice landing on the front...
I went to a riding school one time. His advice for jumping was to learn how to correct in the air, Practice landing on the front wheel on purpose, then the back wheel, then both wheels at the same time, then slightly on the front first etc. Try to get as comfortable as you can moving the bike around and making adjustments in the air. Then if things go a little less than ideal on the takeoff you won't go into panic mode and you'll know how to correct for a safe landing. And obviously start off on smaller safe (tabletop) jumps. Practice practice practice..
Pure Wisdom
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motomojo
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motomojo 4/1/2020 4:44pm
4/1/2020 4:44pm
If you are afraid of getting hurt this is not the sport for you as you will spend time busted up guaranteed no way around it.
So you just started riding not racing? and you are concerned about jumping more than 45 ft.
I would say you have plenty to work on without adding jumps farther than that at this point.
Corners is where I would spend most of my time Thats the crucial thing to be good at...if you want to win races.
Corners is where you become one with your bike and learn how to control it. Jumping and everything else comes natural once that happens then just let it flow.
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CivBars
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CivBars 4/1/2020 5:03pm
4/1/2020 5:03pm
Make sure that your suspension is setup for your weight!
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davermz450
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davermz450 4/1/2020 10:41pm
4/1/2020 10:41pm
I see youre in AZ. Do you ride ACP? Dont be shy and ask someone who is on a similar bike if you can follow them for a couple runs at a jump. Get a keep of how fast you need to be going to hit the jump.
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Goon126
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Goon126 4/1/2020 10:48pm
4/1/2020 10:48pm
Speaking for myself, on bigger jumps still to this day I get a bit nervous jumping the first time. But once you decide to do it you have to fully commit or your going to get hurt. If you are doubting yourself a lot your not ready. Keep on practicing brother it will come
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Motofinne
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Motofinne 4/1/2020 10:51pm
4/1/2020 10:51pm Edited Date/Time 4/2/2020 1:14am
For me, it's all about technique and ability. Once you "know" you can handle jumps they never scare me (except jumps with ruts because i'm not used to them).

I just got into mountain biking and jumping was incredibly sketchy for me because it's so different to moto. The past couple of weeks i have managed to understand how jumping and dropping works on a enduro MTB and i have been hitting bigger and bigger jumps/drops without any issues thus far.

The short answer is confidence. But you wont be confident if you're not comfortable jumping. And you'll get comfortable once you have the proper technique, have the control of the bike when you hit a jump and you know exactly what happens with the bike when you jump.
Chance1216
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Chance1216 4/1/2020 11:16pm
4/1/2020 11:16pm
Practice, practice, practice. Small jumps and get comfortable. Even small increments of a foot or two is progress. It takes time. Be patient and in time, you’ll be surprised by your progress.
sumdood
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sumdood 4/1/2020 11:34pm
4/1/2020 11:34pm
sumdood wrote:
I went to a riding school one time. His advice for jumping was to learn how to correct in the air, Practice landing on the front...
I went to a riding school one time. His advice for jumping was to learn how to correct in the air, Practice landing on the front wheel on purpose, then the back wheel, then both wheels at the same time, then slightly on the front first etc. Try to get as comfortable as you can moving the bike around and making adjustments in the air. Then if things go a little less than ideal on the takeoff you won't go into panic mode and you'll know how to correct for a safe landing. And obviously start off on smaller safe (tabletop) jumps. Practice practice practice..
TeamGreen wrote:
Pure Wisdom
It was quite awhile go now, it was David Bailey, a friend said he was doing a couple one day classes at Carlsbad and he signed us both up. I think it was 100 bucks which seemed like a lot at the time but looking back was the deal of the century. He covered tons of stuff but a few things really stuck. The jumping exercises I mentioned, and a couple other things that sunk in were he told us to try and learn how the suspension works. He said fuck turning the clickers 2 or 3 clicks you won't even notice. "Turn them all the way in,all of them, then go do some laps, then turn them all the way back out, learn what the extreme of each end feels like, then you'll have a better understanding of what your playing with and what the clickers do. Another one was he had us go through a left turn over and over for like an hour and keep going faster and faster until you fall down Laughing Then you'll know how fast you can go through that corner. Every now and then he'd stop and pick a couple guys for the rest to watch, a good example and a bad example. Another one that really helped my starts was to not look at the gate until the starter is stepping into the doghouse, You can only "Super concentrate" on something for a few short seconds. You don't need to be staring at the gate on the rev limiter for 2 minutes before the gate drops. Try it. Stare at something, anything, a spot on the desk, whatever, don't let your attention waiver for as long as you can, you'll find that after a few seconds your eyes will move away for a spit second and you'll lose that "micro focus" I guess ? It's just how were wired you can't help it. So while you're sitting there try to relax and wait to stare at the gate until the last second. Then explode out of the gate.The funniest memory of the day was when he told us to go do some laps right before lunch. He was on his quad and after a couple laps he pulled out on the track to stop us, he was at the end of the little straight after the horseshoe turn. Problem was everyone was in full race mode and almost ran into him. He looked pissed and it was the only time he raised his voice the whole day "YOU GUYS NEED TO GET YOUR VISORS UP AND LOOK AHEAD" ! Laughing That was my one and only riding school. Best 100 bucks I've ever spent !
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HighPlainsSquid 4/5/2020 6:02am
4/5/2020 6:02am
sumdood wrote:
I went to a riding school one time. His advice for jumping was to learn how to correct in the air, Practice landing on the front...
I went to a riding school one time. His advice for jumping was to learn how to correct in the air, Practice landing on the front wheel on purpose, then the back wheel, then both wheels at the same time, then slightly on the front first etc. Try to get as comfortable as you can moving the bike around and making adjustments in the air. Then if things go a little less than ideal on the takeoff you won't go into panic mode and you'll know how to correct for a safe landing. And obviously start off on smaller safe (tabletop) jumps. Practice practice practice..
That's what I taught my son, too. When he first started jumping, he'd just let the bike kind of go. I could see dangerous situations coming up, so I told him to start doing _anything_ in the air... push it one way, push it the other, turn your wheel... anything. Two years later, he's pretty much out-jumping me completely with excellent control.

First day on a 250F after riding a '19 150SX for a year (which we still use for off-road and enduos)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-0V-4n-bz4

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mxer15
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mxer15 4/5/2020 7:35am
4/5/2020 7:35am
Just send it
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brandon_21888 4/5/2020 7:42am
4/5/2020 7:42am
I’ve noticed for myself that if I rolling something to many times or jump only 3/4 of the way or whatever to long that I’ll end up psyching myself out and it will seem bigger than it really is. I try to maybe do like three speed checks max and then just go for it.
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FortyHat
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FortyHat 4/5/2020 12:09pm
4/5/2020 12:09pm
Fear is healthy and normal. Trust how you feel about it because it'll make a difference in how well you execute, and just remember that everything is relative. You are likely doing jumps today that you would never have done several months ago, so just trust that you'll progress when you are ready, just like you have been. And I think one of the worst things you could do is send something before you are ready, and wind up crashing. That could be a huge setback for your confidence and progression, even if you don't get laid up with an injury.

Remember that everyone is different too. Not everyone has the same self-preservation / level of fear when faced with the same challenge. Just because someone else is doing a jump and you can keep up with them everywhere else on the track, doesn't mean squat. Wait until you are "ready enough".

You'll know when you are ready because you'll want to clear it slightly more than you are afraid to crash. At that point you're probably good to go, just fully commit to it and you'll wonder what took you so long as soon as you downside it.

And although we've all done it, I'm not sure I'd recommend following someone else over a new jump at your stage. Too many variables to rely on that.

Good luck!
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Steve125
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Steve125 4/6/2020 5:55am
4/6/2020 5:55am
Follow someone who is consistently doing the jump. Do a few laps with them without doing the jump.. Focus on going their speed and just flow with them. Then after a few laps keep that same focus you're using to keep up with them and just continue that over the jump. Get your mind off the jump and focus on maintaining the pace. Most jumps are scarier when you look at them from the stands. Don't think about that. Focus on speed and flow. Once you hit it you'll be surprised how easy it was.
spimx
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spimx 4/6/2020 6:09am
4/6/2020 6:09am
Just watch some James Stewart videos all day on YouTube. You'll get the hang of it.

Really, seat time bro. No other explanation. How many laps are you putting in when you do go to the track?
KMC440
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KMC440 4/6/2020 6:21am
4/6/2020 6:21am
Crystal Gayle t-shirt.
downard254
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downard254 4/6/2020 6:30am
4/6/2020 6:30am
My experience was to find a faster rider, typically a seasoned A rider (when I was a fast B or beginning A rider) and follow them in the preceding turn and straight up to and over the jump. Match their speed through the entire jump sequence. The only way that doesn't work is if on that particular lap, the faster rider doesn't complete the jump. 9 times out of 10, once I cleared the jump, my response was "that's it?"
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Timo_2824
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Timo_2824 4/6/2020 7:01am
4/6/2020 7:01am
I personally have never gotten over the fear of big jumps. I have hucked some big doubles to prove to others that I "wasn't" scared, but came to realize that it just wasn't for me. I suggest trying some hare scramble or enduro races, you get your dirt bike fix without having to roll jumps all the time.
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captmoto
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captmoto 4/6/2020 8:26am
4/6/2020 8:26am
davermz450 wrote:
I see youre in AZ. Do you ride ACP? Dont be shy and ask someone who is on a similar bike if you can follow them...
I see youre in AZ. Do you ride ACP? Dont be shy and ask someone who is on a similar bike if you can follow them for a couple runs at a jump. Get a keep of how fast you need to be going to hit the jump.
This is what I was going to suggest. It's better if the person seems close to your speed but makes jumps you don't make.
GCBC
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GCBC 4/6/2020 1:49pm
4/6/2020 1:49pm
video games.

I played mx vs atv unleashed and now im the fastest in the trailer park!
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blu113
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blu113 4/6/2020 3:27pm
4/6/2020 3:27pm
When your somewhat comfortable follow somebody over that is around your speed and just commit. You will always have fear until you do it a couple of times.
Howard_Racing 4/6/2020 6:19pm
4/6/2020 6:19pm
I was in the exact same boat at 14. I'm not sure if this is good advice but once i was faster than a lot of people hitting all the big jumps (mostly older guys) i was still terrified of them. One kid I knew started hitting them every lap and i asked him how, he said just hold it wide open. I over jumped my first triple ate shit and got the breath knocked out of me. After that i was pissed and just went for everything until i figured it out. Never had another bad crash on big jumps. Again not sure its good advice lol but it worked for me.
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