This Tip Will INSTANTLY Improve Your Jumps - Really?

Here's a 30 second video about the two most common jumping errors that cause a nose-dive, but will this tutorial improve your jumping skills instantly...?

Honestly: No.

As a full-time coach with experience teaching Olympic riders and mentoring other coaches, I can confidently say that the phrase “This tip will instantly improve your jumps” is one of the most dangerous beliefs for adults learning to jump.

Quick tips can be helpful - but only if you’re willing to follow them with incremental, deliberate practice to turn that tip into a true, embodied skill. And let’s be honest - that takes time, patience, and focused effort.

You don't want to hear this? Well, this is a blog written by a professional skills coach who has one main priority: your safety! So sorry, if I have to break it to you, but I'd rather "break" the false belief, than hear about you breaking your bones!

Why do These Quick Tips Persist?

Especially some of the best riders of the world tend to give these "quick tips" - and I don't really blame them. For them, with a vast amount of expertise and excellent coordination skills, these tips can instantly improve their jumps.

But that's NOT the case if you're an adult learning to jump!

Short Discourse: Why the best riders aren’t necessarily the best coaches:

1️⃣ They rely on instinct, not step-by-step processes. What feels “natural” to them often feels impossible to "normal riders".

2️⃣They master high-level techniques so well, it’s hard for them to teach the „boring“ (yet fundamental) basics patiently.

3️⃣ They formed a "just do it" mentality through years of hard competition. Not everyone can push through fear like a pro - they forget most of us need small, manageable steps.

4️⃣ Lack of patience or empathy. Coaching demands understanding other’s struggles, racing involves pushing your own results.

5️⃣ Different goals. You may want fun and control; they usually aim for speed and performance.

6️⃣ Finally and foremost: Coaching is a skill. Training to win races doesn’t involve learning pedagogy, psychology, or the science of skill acquisition. Great coaching isn’t about showing off - it’s about helping YOU improve safely and confidently.

And that's what my blog, my social posts and most of all - my home training courses - are about. They are about YOU learning safely.

And that's why you should be extremely careful if you follow advice on YouTube or "Tips" from other riders, especially if they have been riding all their life or even at a pro level.

Why You Must Abandon "Quick Fix Mentality" to Learn Jumps as an Adult:

Jumping is one of the most rewarding yet high-consequence skills in mountain biking. Even tiny mistakes in body positioning or timing can result in serious injuries - or worse.

In my professional coaching experience, adults must approach jumping with patience and a long-term mindset. Similarly, skills instructors have a responsibility to guide their clients through jumping over time, instead of making misleading promises like “Learn to jump in 4 hours!”

The reality is this: As an adult, it’s neurologically and anatomically impossible to develop lasting, reliable movement patterns in a single session.

To jump safely, your body and brain need time to develop:

• Coordination

• Timing

• Strength

• Skill

• Experience

• Finesse

Think of it this way: Would you expect a single day at the gym to give you huge biceps? Of course not. 💪 The same applies to jumping skills - they take weeks or months of deliberate practice to build.

Here's a proven tip, though:

Start with the Bunny Hop

Before jumping, I highly recommend learning to bunny hop. Why? Because it provides you with:

• Control to actively angulate the bike in the air.

• Body-Intelligence to adjust your take-off, which determines 90% of your trajectory.

• Strength and grit to manage the physical and mental demands of learning to jump.

Want to find out more about how to learn to jump safely as an adult. Then you will like this podcast:

About Short Ramps

While I’m not a huge fan of short, “kicky” ramps due to their abrupt nature, they can still be valuable tools. They allow you to:

• Get in more repetitions with minimal setup.

• Experiment with different variables, like speeds, landing angles, and distances by placing the ramp in front of varying terrain.

If you'd like to purchase the ramp we use in the mini jump tutorial above, here you can find the foldable jump ramp to train jumping. Use the Code ROXY10 for a -10% discount 😊

Why is Jumping Short Ramps Hard?

Short ramps are notoriously hard to master. Everything happens so fast, and even tiny timing errors can have significant consequences (though this holds true for airtime in general).

About Universal "Truths" for Jumps:

Does the “90-degree stand up to the jump” tip (that I shared in the video at the beginning of this article) work on every jump? Absolutely not.

Jumping is an incredibly nuanced skill, and even the best riders in the world tweak their technique depending on variables like:

• Approach speed

• Distance to clear

• Landing angle

• Radius of the take-off

• Chainstay length

• Amount of suspension travel

• And so much more.

Expecting a single tip to work universally is a recipe for frustration—or worse, injury.

Why Quick Fixes Keep You Stuck

Chasing "absolute truths" or one-size-fits-all advice often leads to stagnation. Riders who rely on quick fixes instead of a structured, technique-oriented approach end up practicing flawed movement patterns. These habits might feel “good enough” for now, but they’ll limit your progression (and could even lead to crashes later on).

What to Do Instead

• Practice intentionally with a technique-oriented approach.

• Focus on form and understanding how variables like speed, distance, and ramp shape affect your jump.

• Give your body and brain the time they need to adapt. Neurologically and anatomically, this doesn’t happen in a few hours or days—it requires consistent, deliberate practice.

Jumping is a skill that rewards patience, self-awareness, and the willingness to practice the right way. If you’re ready to work on these skills and build your confidence, feel free to send me a message—I’d love to help you progress!

The Key Takeaway

Learning new skills as an adult takes deliberate, structured practice over time. If you want to avoid injuries, it’s crucial to build reliable motor patterns in a consequence-free environment before applying them to high-risk situations.

Jumping isn’t about quick fixes; it’s about consistency, patience, and safety. If you follow this approach, you’ll not only progress faster, but you’ll also stay in one piece while doing it. And if you work with expert guidance, you'll improve even faster and safer!

Ride smart, practice intentionally, and enjoy the journey!

Your Coach Roxy